Running (On hold)

Chapter Four.

I was woken up by a sharp jabbing pain in my shoulder, it was like someone was inserting a knife into my nerve and then removing it just long enough to check the colour of the blood before shoving it back in. I groaned as I sat up in the small bed. My finger nails dug deep into the white sheet as pain shot up my left arm. I hauled myself across the room to a small alarm clock that sat on the dressing table. It was 3am, but there was no way that I was going back to sleep with that much pain running through my body. I decided to go and clean up my shoulder a bit and try to wash some of the blood off which I hoped had dried by then.

I wandered out of my room and fumbled down the corridor looking for the bathroom as quietly as possible. I went to the only other door on my side of the corridor silently praying that it wasn't the door to John's room. I didn't imagine that he was the kind of man who enjoyed being woken up in the middle of the night. I raised my hand and pushed the door open as quietly as I could. It was stiff, like it had been closed for too long and got stuck like that, but I pushed harder. I was hoping that this was the bathroom and it was just stiff because John used his own bathroom, but I was wrong.

when the door was finally open, I could see that it was definitely not a bathroom, it was a bedroom. The room was small like most of the other rooms I had seen in the house so far, but unlike my room, it was packed with things. Luckily this was not John's room, it looked like a boy's room. The bed covers were navy blue and the walls of the room were a mixture of greens covered with posters. There were posters of a rugby players who I didn't know the names of, and school sports team photos dotted around the room. There was a pile of books covering the bedside table, my eyes skimmed over the titles: Harry potter, Percy Jackson, the Lord of the rings.

"They got him you know." I didn't finish reading the titles. I hadn't even heard John come up behind me, he was dressed in a long blue dressing gown and his hair stuck out at odd angles.

"What? who got him?" I was confused and I wanted answers.

"The people who attacked you yesterday," he paused and sighed "they got him and his mother."

"Why, what happened?" this wasn't answering any questions this was just raising more.

"I don't know!" Anger mixed with sadness in his voice. "I wasn't there! if I had been there they might still be here!" he held his head in his hands.

"it can't have been your fault"

"I was the one who told Harry to check the sheep! Not Laura! I should have gone to look for him but I said he would be fine! I said that nothing bad could happen! I was wrong Milly! I was wrong!" He was sreaming, his eyes were locked on mine and I could see the tears swelling and threatening to escape. I wanted to say something, but I was too shocked, not a word would come out of my mouth.

"all I found was a puddle of blood mixing with mud in the field." his voice was calmer now but it didn't seem like he was speaking to me, it was like he was remember the memories that he had tried to forget too many times. "I never saw them again." he faded back into reality and I forced the dry words out of my throat, "did you tell the police?"

"Of course I told the police you stupid kid! but what did they do! They couldn't find the bodies so they claimed that I had killed them! They thought that I killed my own wife! My own son!" tears dampend his cheeks as he walked further into the room and collapsed on the bed. I didn't follow him, the idea echoed around my brain and my fingers trembled.

"Is that what you think of me? That I would kill the only people who meant anything to me!" his eyes were pleading and honest, and if he had wa ted to kill me surely he would have just left me to die in the forrest. I took a cautious step into the room, towards John. Silence hung in the air as he looked at me sympathetically.

Finally John spoke, "Your in danger Milly, if they want something from you then they will kill you. And I'm your only chance to stay alive" the words struck me like ice and my whole body froze and then began to shake.

My life was in John's hands, and there was nothing I could do about it.