Runaway. || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 14

My glance quickly switched to the side hedge along the lawn, where I suspected the sound had originated from. Although I couldn't see through the darkness around me and the thick fog that was developing, I knew there was somebody near me, and waiting to pounce, like a lion when it sees its prey.

Silence. I frantically looked around me and did my best to keep my breathing at a low, because I knew if I was heard they would know that I was afraid. I couldn't do that; I couldn't let them know that they could get the better of me. I wasn't going to let that happen. I wasn't.

As quiet as I possibly could, I tried to tip-toe over the grass, stopping after every few steps to listen and see if hear anything. All I could do now was pray that I wouldn't be caught, because for all I know if I was, nobody would know where to look for me. I would be dead and gone before I was even caught. That was the scary thing.

I remember when I was younger, my parents would tell me that if I ever got lost, to stay where I am so I would be found easier, like when we used to go shopping, for example. But this. This was a whole different ballgame. This wasn't childplay. This was real life, and I was the target. I am what they have been looking for all along. And I would need to get out as quick as I possibly could, before they finish me off and I no longer exist anymore.

I waited as I crouched down into the grass on my knees, waiting for the moment where I could possibly jump into the bushes and hide in an old shed or something until somebody finally came to find me. The quietness though that I was currently surrounded by, felt eerily cool and calm for my liking.  I wasnt comfortable here, or anywhere really that I am put out of my comfort zone, but this just took it to another level. I didn't like being faced with this, but obviously I knew that someday this was going to come back and haunt me.  And I guess today is that day.

I gripped my bag tightly in my fisted hand and swallowed, as I shifted my foot position underneath me and counted down the seconds before I felt that I should run. After three seconds, I heard a branch twig snap a few feet away from me, to the left. I glanced over and then launched myself up on my left foot, dashing towards my right hand side where I estimated the garden shed would be. I would just have to sprint across the driveway and around the side of the house to get to it.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. I dropped my bag as I tried turning the corner, letting out a small whimper as I felt that I had almost escaped and now this was not helping.

I panted and held my stomach as I jogged over and knelt down, feeling around the tarmac ground for my bag because I couldn't see anything. I crawled my fingers over the surface, starting to panic as I felt something rounded and…  leathery. A shoe. I quickly looked upwards as I heard a sharp but raspy laugh, simple but effective. Pulling out my insides and tying them up in knots for me to choke on.

I felt tears stream down my cheeks as I sobbed quietly into my hand. I had no one to help me. I couldn't scream because I would be killed, for sure.

The person did not talk, nor hit me, to my surprise, but he did roughly pull my up by my arms and drag me over the grass although I was only half-standing, so far away from Luke I couldn't barely even make out the outside light of his house anymore. It was just a faint glint in the blackness. All that could be heard were my sobs, my light but dragged footsteps through the grass and another pair of heavier footsteps that were easy to distinguish between my own. The person's grip on me grew tighter with each step, his sharp fingernails digging themselves into the crook of my elbow, leaving sure marks, if not blood on my skin.

I heard a creaky door open before I was thrown into the space and slumped against the ground, trying for all I was worth to stop crying, or at least to stop sobbing. Because by now I was starting to wheeze between my tears, and I could only imagine how it will result.