Gracie's Short Stories

She knew running could only do so much. A time would come where she eventually could not run anymore. But she had to... she couldn’t stop now. She had already run so much, it would all be for nothing if she gave up now. The dogs were no longer barking, she wasn’t sure if they were even still following her. Had they given up? No. They wouldn’t, not that easily.

Crunch....

Somewhere nearby something, or someone, had stepped on a branch. The sound of it breaking made her hesitate for only a second before she made a sharp left turn by the tallest tree she had ever seen.

What was that? Are they getting closer? Need to run. Faster. Now.

She had to be closer to something by this point. She’d been on foot for hours now, only taking small breaks when she was sure the coast was clear. She finally broke free of the old, rotting cabin after being trapped there for what had to of been months. Or at least what felt like months. There was no way to tell time from the windowless room she resided in.

That was hours ago, in the cool summer morning. It was well into the night by now. The sun had set long ago leaving her to be led by moonlight. She tried to keep in one main direction. The only indicator she had at this point was the moon, which was high overhead. The moonlight and shine from the stars was all she had.

Crunch....

Oh, god. There it was again.

And suddenly there was the faintest sound of footsteps. And they sounded fast.

But she couldn’t see all of the branches on the ground through the darkness. And she fell.

And suddenly... all was quiet. Then, through what little vision she had at the moment, a figure appeared in the darkness: in the gleam of the moonlight, it was clear that it was holding a knife.

The figure came closer; and she tried to move away, but she couldn't. She had stopped breathing at that moment.

Maybe, just maybe he can't see me. He heard me, that's it. I'm not even here.

Her thoughts ran louder in her head as she saw the figure come closer. It wasn't walking directly at her, but it knew she was around there. Somewhere.

And by some miracle, some grace of god, the figure passed her. Not even fifteen feet away from her. She layed still. Only breathing when absolutely necessary.

It must've been only seconds before a pair of hands grabbed her. Her eyes widened, her every limb absolutely shaking. Her mouth opened in an involuntary scream. But before she could make even a peep, a large hand covered her mouth.

"If I were you, I would be very quiet right now."

She didn't know that voice. It wasn't him. He hadn't caught her. Not yet anyways.

Thank god. But if this isn't him, who is this?

She tried to pry the hand away from her mouth but the man holding her shushed her and told her not to move.

"I am going to take you back to my house, it is not a long walk, but I am going to need you to stay as silent as possible. You cannot make a sound because he could hear you and kill us both."

Does he know who's chasing me?

They walked, the unknown man having grasped her arm and dropped his other hand from her face. She shouldn't have trusted him as quickly as she did, but she had no other option. She kept think about how this man could be working with or exactly like the one she was running from. But she didn't want to risk the other man finding her. She would rather die than go back with him again.

After what was probably ten minutes, she could finally see the outline of a house. The pair quickened their pace until they reached the door. The lights from right inside shone out through the small glass window on the door. She could finally see the one who found her in the woods.

He was tall, which she already knew. And he had very pointed features. His eyes were a light shade of brown and his short hair was a darker brown. She didn't recognize him. At all.

After the man unlocked the door and ushered her inside, could she finally breathe properly again. He sat her down on the loveseat that sat against the light gray wall and went to get her a glass of water. She downed it quickly.

"Who are you? And how did... how did you know I was out there?" Her voice was raspy. As if she had been screaming.

The man didn't reply right away. He looked at her, then to the door. After a minute of silence he finally started to speak.

"You aren't the first runaway I've come across running from that property. I've set up a security system that alerts me whenever someone crosses onto my land for situations like these. I've tried calling the police, many times, but there is never any evidence against him. The two other girls I found running from him both retracted their statements days after they originally went to the police."

She could only imagine that he had gotten to them. It was the only explanation for their decisions to retract their statements. That meant he would get to her too. She couldn't do that. She had to run, to get out of here. Somewhere far away.

She looked up the her rescuer. He could help her get away. Right? He wouldn't keep her here against her will too surely. Seeing as he had just rescued her in the middle of the woods from him.

"I know you must be absolutely terrified and want to get as far away as you can possibly get right now, but you won't be able to go anywhere without some rest. Why don't you get some sleep, you can have the bedroom upstairs. The door locks so you don't have to worry about me coming in. Get some pajamas out of my drawer, the top one, and get to bed. We can discuss more in the morning when your head is a little more clear."

She didn't respond. She did however, stand up and walk towards the stairs. She easily found the bedroom and the pajamas. As soon as her head hit the pillow. She was out like a light.