The Lighthouse

Chapter Six

It was cold and dark out. The moon was shining bright but it gave little light for her to see where she was running. She stopped to look behind her. Her long red hair blew in the light icy breeze. She could not see him but she could hear him catching up with her. He was huffing and puffing. His heavy boots were pounding the ground as he tried to catch up with her. She run straight for the sand dunes in the hope they would provide her with some shelter from this mad man. She was barefoot and breathless; her feet were sore from all the cuts but despite this she continued to run. Pushing on, she knew she was getting closer to the cliff edge. She could see the silhouette of the old lighthouse, where the mad man worked. The air was becoming saltier. The waves were crashing ferociously against the shoreline, indicating that there was a storm on the way.

She glimpsed back and tripped. She hit the ground with a thud. Pain soared through her palms and ankle. She tried to get up but her foot was caught in an uprooted branch. She tried to free herself but as she did so, she felt her hair being pulled by him, soon she was free of the branch but she was being dragged along the ground. She tried to break free but he was too strong. She heard a door creak open. He then picked her up and placed her in a cold, damp corner of a dark building. The only light was the flash light he was carrying. She could hear tape being pulled and she was soon being tied up. He placed a piece over her mouth. The door creaked again and then it shut with a huge slam.

At this point Holly woke up. Sweat was dripping down her forehead. She was gasping for air. Holly could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She looked around the room and saw that Kiwi had not moved. She scanned the rest of the room. There he was.

Standing by the window was the silhouette of the man she saw the other night at the top of the lighthouse. He was tall and stocky with his hair pulled back. Holly gasped and ran out of her room.

"MAM, DAD" she shouted

Her parents come rushing out of their room. They found Holly standing outside her bedroom, shaking and looking in. Kiwi came strolling out and yawned.

"What is it?" asked her father,

"There was a man in my room"

"Oh, Holly, don't be silly, there's no one in there, look", her mother said as she walked into Holly's bedroom and switched the light on.

"Mam"

"It's fine, look"

Holly cautiously entered her bedroom to find only her mother in there. Her father looked under the bed, in the wardrobe and storage cupboard. They were all empty. Holly began to relax.

"If there was someone here, kiwi would have woken you up"

"Yeah, I guess, maybe it was the bad dream I had", she said, letting out a slight giggle in embarrassment.

Kiwi got back onto the bed while Holly's parent's left them to get settled. Holly did not turn her lamp off straight away. She wanted to take another look around her bedroom and look out over to the lighthouse. There was no sign of the man. He had disappeared or maybe it was her imagination from the bad dream, Holly thought but was not sure, but one thing she knew, she had this overwhelming feeling of sadness for the girl in her nightmare. The girl looked like Lucy, but why would she be dreaming of her? Maybe it had something to do with the locket.