Run Away With Me : A fast-paced psychological thriller

by Daniel Hurst

  But what?

  Adam walks through the doorway and sees me sitting on the bed beside the discarded newspaper. He has a bottle of beer in his left hand and his mobile phone in the other. It’s the mobile phone he forgot to take with him when we went into the village earlier. Was it a genuine mistake? Or did he leave it behind on purpose?

  ‘Anything interesting in the paper?’ Adam asks me as he takes a seat on the other side of the bed.

  ‘There’s nothing about Steven Owen and the hunt for his killer, if that’s what you mean,’ I reply, and I watch his face closely for his reaction. But there is none. At least not one that gives away what he is thinking. Instead, he just takes a swig from his bottle while spinning the phone around in his other hand.

  ‘That’s good. Maybe you were right about the police not looking at the CCTV footage on the lane. Maybe they aren’t going to be looking for me, after all.’

  ‘Maybe,’ I reply, but I’m not as happy about that prospect as I once was. Why is Adam so chilled out?

  Anybody would think he is on holiday with the way he is swigging his beer.

  ‘I say we give it another day or two then if there’s nothing else, we can go back home.’

  I’m stunned by Adam’s suggestion.

  ‘You think we could do that?’

  ‘Like you said, there’s nothing in the newspapers now to suggest the police are looking for us. Maybe I did get lucky, after all.’

  I wish he wouldn’t refer to himself as lucky. A poor man is dead because of him.

  ‘So maybe we can go home,’ Adam says. ‘Wouldn’t that be nice?’

  I listen to the words coming out of my husband’s mouth, but I’m trying not to read too much into them. One minute he is saying it’s too risky for us to go into the village, the next he is talking about us going home. Something doesn’t feel right about this, and the longer this goes on, the more I am beginning to think that. So far, a lot of things have happened, but Adam has always had an explanation for every single one of them.

  Except my phone.

  ‘Did you have a look at my mobile?’ I ask him as he finishes his beer and stands up to leave the room again.

  ‘Yeah. I can’t see anything wrong with it,’ he replies as he heads for the doorway. ‘I’m not sure what the problem is.’

  Just like the TV.

  Then he leaves the room, and I’m left sitting on the edge of the bed wondering why Adam is being the way he is.

  Nonchalant. Unflustered.

  Carefree.

  He is not behaving like he was a couple of days ago. He is not behaving like the man who begged me to run away with him, nor is he behaving like a man who killed somebody and is worrying about spending the next ten years in a prison cell. All of which is leading me to believe that he is not behaving like that because he is not really that man.

  I wonder if he has lied to me.

  I wonder if it’s not him who is in trouble at all here.

  I wonder if it is me.

  42

  ADAM

  It’s time for bed. Laura is already under the duvet, and I’ll be joining her shortly, but first I need to go around the cottage and make sure the usual things are in order before I do.

  Close the curtains. Turn the lights off. Lock the front door.

  I tick off the first two items on my list quite quickly, but I stop before doing the third. That’s because I won’t actually be locking the front door tonight.

  I need it to stay unlocked.

  I need to leave it open for our visitors.

  A quick check on my watch tells me that they should be with us within two hours, which gives Laura and I more than enough time to close our eyes and get some rest. But it won’t be long until we are disturbed by a noise in the night and go downstairs to investigate. That will be the point when Laura finds out the real reason why I brought her here.

  She is in for one hell of a surprise.

  I can’t wait to see her face when she discovers what I have done. I wonder if she will be impressed with all the work I have put in over the last few days. I doubt it. She’ll be too busy begging for her life, as she should. But begging won’t work. Nothing will now.

  The only thing that will end her misery and suffering tonight will be a swift death.

  I’d love to keep daydreaming about all the fun that is to come, but I need to finish up my tasks so I can get to bed. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to visit, but it’s just like parents say to their kids; “he won’t come unless you go to sleep.” So that is what I need to do. I need to go to sleep. That way, when I wake up, just like an excited child, all my dreams will have come true.

  I reach the front door and fiddle with the lock to make it sound like I have actually done something with it just in case my wife is listening, though I doubt she is. She’s probably reading that newspaper article again, the one I know she has been reading whenever I’ve not been in the same room as her. It’s the article about Bradley’s disappearance. I read it myself earlier when Laura was in the shower. It says exactly what I wanted it to say. The man is missing, but nobody knows what happened to him. But they will find out soon enough, and it will be a story that is worthy of having a much more prominent platform than page eleven.

  By the time my work here is done tonight, the story of the missing man will be front page news.

  I fiddle with the lock for a couple more seconds before walking away from the unlocked door and heading into the kitchen. I’m tempted to get another beer out of the fridge, but I only have two left now, and I should save them for what is to come. I know I will be craving one to toast to the success of this plan in a little while, and I know my guest will like one too. Therefore, I resist opening the fridge, and instead pour myself a glass of water from the tap before heading up the stairs. Reaching the top, I turn off the last light in the hallway before stepping into the bedroom and closing the door.

  The cottage is now in darkness. All is quiet. All is still.

  But it won’t be staying that way.

  In a short while, all hell is going to break loose on this hilltop in the Cumbrian countryside.

  43

  LAURA

  The first thing I feel is the cold on my skin. It’s perishing, and I already seem to know that I won’t be able to last long out here like this. I’m not dressed for the elements. I’m only wearing my nightdress, and I have nothing on my feet. The horrible sensation of the muddy field underfoot is enough to tell me that.

  Why am I out here like this?

  What am I doing?

  All I know is that I have to keep running.

  I’m being chased, but I’m not sure what by. The sense of incoming danger is enough to keep me putting one foot in front of the other and heading into the gaping darkness in front of me.

  I think I hear the sound of a dog barking, but it’s quickly lost on the wind. But the helicopter engine isn’t. It’s far too loud, and I look up to see the aircraft hovering above my head and shining a torchlight right down on top of me.

  They’ve found me. Even all the way out here. There’s no escape.

  I’m going to go to prison.

  I suddenly remember what I am running from. The police. They are everywhere, and they are here for me. But I can’t let them take me. I can’t go quietly. I have to keep fighting, and the only way to do that is to keep running.

  I suddenly come to a ditch and leap over it, only just making it to the other side but not without landing badly on my left ankle. I feel the pain in my damaged limb but get back to my feet and keep going anyway. I am sure that the police officers will be able to clear that ditch too and I am certain that the dogs will.

  They have my scent, and they won’t give up until they sink their teeth into my flesh.

  I’m being blinded by the light from the helicopter above, but I raise my hand above my eyes to shield myself from the beam, and that’s when I see the row of trees in the distance. If I can make it into the woods, the
n maybe I can lose the helicopter. That will be one less thing to worry about.

  Then all I will have to deal with are the people and animals chasing me on the ground.

  My ankle keeps buckling beneath me, but I refuse to give in to the pain or the sense of inevitability about my capture, and before I know it, I have reached the trees.

  I reach out for one of the sturdy trunks and cling onto the bark for a moment as I take the weight off my ankle and try to get my breath back.

  My heart is beating impossibly fast, and I feel like it is only a matter of time until it leaves my chest completely and keeps on going, leaving behind my dead, useless body for the dogs to feed on. But then I discover I still have enough strength to push on and so I do just that, leaving the tree trunk that helped me in my hour of need and heading deeper into the dark woods.

  The helicopter’s spotlight is dimmed now that I am beneath the canopy, and while I can still hear the sound of the engine overhead, I feel more confident that I am more disguised by the thick foliage that surrounds me. But any relief I feel is quickly tempered by the sight of the huge wall in front of me.

  Where the hell has this come from?

  I don’t know, but I don’t have time to find out. The barking is growing louder and more regular behind me, and I can see the flashes of the torchlights from the many police officers who are on my tail.

  It doesn’t matter how this wall got here. All that matters is that I get over it.

  I reach the wall and jump as high as I can, not thinking for one second that I will ever be able to actually reach the top of it and pull myself up. But somehow, I am able to spring off the ground and soar to a great height, easily making it to the top and gripping onto the edge as hard as I can.

  I look down beneath me, and I see the dogs have already joined me at the wall. Fortunately, they aren’t able to leap as high as me and remain stuck to the forest floor, although their barking and snarling is a reminder that they will be more than happy to sink their teeth into me should I lose my grip on this wall and tumble down towards them.

  But I have no intention of doing that, and as I pull myself up, I feel for the first time like I might actually escape. There is nothing waiting for me on the other side of the wall but sunlight and solitude. All I have to do is jump down and I will be safe.

  I take a deep breath and leap from the wall, falling fast down to the floor but feeling totally relaxed about it as I go. That’s because I know I am leaving behind the helicopter, the police officers and the vicious dogs.

  The ground comes up at me quickly, and I brace for impact before feeling nothing.

  I am standing on the soft ground, and there is not a scratch on me from my endeavours. I can’t even feel the pain in my ankle anymore. A quick check behind me confirms that the wall is still in place, and that means the people and animals pursuing me are stuck on the other side of it.

  Glancing up to the clear blue sky above, I see no trace of the helicopter that tormented me for so long either. In fact, I see no trace of anything. Not a single cloud is in the sky. It’s beautiful, and it feels like everything is going to be okay now.

  With that in mind, I no longer have to run, so I set off walking. I don’t have a particular destination in mind, but I feel like time is on my side.

  I’m no longer being chased. I’m no longer wanted.

  I am no longer on the run.

  And then I see him. The man standing by himself ten feet in front of me.

  It’s Adam. He is holding out his hand. He wants me to come towards him.

  Of course I do. He is my husband. We are together again. We are both free.

  But then he vanishes.

  Where has he gone?

  Suddenly the sky darkens overhead, and the rain crashes down on me in waves. The rumble from above is not from a helicopter but the thunder from the large storm that is passing over. The rainwater is rising quickly at my feet, and within seconds it is above my ankles. I’m going to drown if I stay down here.

  I need to get to higher ground and fast.

  I turn back to the wall and run towards it, feeling assured that I will be safe just as soon as I pull myself back up on top of it again. But this time is different. I can’t seem to jump as high now, which means that I can’t reach the edge and pull myself up.

  The rainwater is above my knees, and I look down to watch it quickly engulf my waist.

  I lash around in the water for any way out of it, but there is none. Suddenly the dogs don’t seem so frightening anymore. Suddenly I would rather deal with them then face this rising tide. That’s because I know I am going to drown and there is no scarier thought than that.

  I close my eyes and hold my breath as the water rises up above my head and takes me under. I guess this is it. No point resisting now. At least it will be over quickly. At least I will finally find some peace from the incessant running I have been doing for so long.

  Just before my lungs burst and the water rushes into my mouth, I open my eyes, and I see Adam. He is floating right in front of me, yet he seems to be having no trouble breathing. In fact, he seems to be laughing. And then he points at something.

  I look to my left and see Bradley floating face down beside me. It’s clear he is already dead. I stifle a scream because I don’t want the water to rush into my mouth yet, even though I know I only have a few more seconds to live now. Then I notice that Adam is pointing to something else on the other side of me and while I don’t know what it is, I have a feeling that it is going to be far worse than what I have just seen.

  I slowly turn my head and brace myself for what awaits but this time there is no stopping the scream as it escapes my mouth. Samuel is floating beside me, but he is just as unfortunate as Bradley was.

  I cry out for my baby, and I try to take hold of him, but the water carries him away, and now my lungs are full of that same liquid.

  Slowly, I sink to the depths of this awful reservoir of death, but I’m not alone as I go. Adam is with me as I tumble down.

  And he is laughing all the way.

  44

  LAURA

  I wake with a scream so loud that Adam almost falls out of bed beside me.

  ‘Jesus, Laura! What is it?’ he asks as he grabs my arm and looks into my eyes, but I pull myself away from him, rushing to the doorway in a desperate bid to leave this room as quickly as I can.

  ‘Laura?’ he calls out, but I ignore him and get inside the bathroom, locking the door and leaning back against it until I can get my breath back and figure out what the hell I just experienced.

  There are nightmares, and then there is that awful scenario that just flashed through my mind. What was that? I don’t know, but I feel like I want to be as far away as possible from Adam until I do.

  ‘Laura? Are you okay?’

  I hear my husband on the other side of the door, and while I am sure he looks concerned for me right now, all I can see is his laughing face watching me drown in my dream. It was pure evil, and I can’t shake off that feeling, even if I know I’m awake now and it wasn’t real.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I tell him through the door. ‘Go back to bed.’

  But I don’t hear his footsteps in the hallway, and I can tell that he is still waiting for me on the other side of this door.

  I listen out for a moment but he doesn’t make another sound, and I wonder what he is waiting for, but it doesn’t matter because I’m suddenly distracted by the flash of light across the window.

  I walk over towards it, but I can’t see out because the glass is frosted like it is in most bathrooms. The light seems to have gone for now, but I definitely spotted it, and I’m not dreaming anymore.

  Somebody is out there.

  Was it a car headlight? Maybe, but who the hell would be driving around out here at this time of night? I wish I could see outside but I can’t. I’ll have to go to another window if I want to do that, but that means leaving the bathroom, and I don’t want to because Adam is out there.


  I realise then that I am terrified of my own husband. I don’t know why, but I know that I don’t want to see him until I have calmed down. Then I hear the creak of the floorboard on the other side of the door.

  He’s still out there.

  He’s still waiting for me.

  ‘Adam?’ I say, but this time there is no response.

  I step away from the window and go towards the door, and while I know that it is locked, I suddenly feel paranoid that he has a key and can get in here from the other side. But that’s ridiculous. There is no key. I’m safe in here. But I have to open this door sometime. I can’t stay in here forever.

  I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be hiding from.

  ‘Laura. Open this door. I’m worried.’

  Adam’s voice is quiet and soft, and I suddenly feel stupid. I’ve got nothing to be afraid of. He just wants to know that I’m okay after I woke up screaming. I can’t blame him. I must have given him a real fright when I went running from the bedroom.

  I put my hand on the lock and slide it across. Then I turn the handle and open the door.

  Adam is waiting for me on the other side. Of course he is. I want to give him a hug.

  But then I hear the noise downstairs.

  It sounds like somebody is coming through the front door so I freeze and hold my breath. Somehow this is even scarier than the nightmare I just had about drowning beside my dead baby while Adam laughed at me.

  That’s because I know this is real.

  I reach out for Adam’s hand and grip it tightly. Somebody is definitely downstairs. But who? And what are they going to do when they find us up here?

  I look at my husband’s face to make sure that he is hearing the noises too, and I see that he is because he’s just as still and silent as I am. But why isn’t he doing anything? Shouldn’t he be trying to scare them away?