Page 35 of Seal My Fate

A moment later, the man hurls himself against the door with a THUD. The cabinet shakes, but it doesn’t give—at least, not yet, but I don’t know how long it’ll hold. I search around the room for something, anything to use as a weapon, but there’s only a rustic bed with floral linens, and vintage décor.

“We have to get out of here,” I panic, my heart pounding.

BANG!

A bullet splinters through the wooden doorway, flying past our heads and smashing into a lamp. Wren stifles a scream.

I rush to the window. It’s a fifteen-foot drop down to the dark yard below, with nothing to break the fall, but we don’t have a choice.

“Over here!”

I fling open the shutter-style panes and scramble out into the cold night air. Vaguely, I remember a safety talk from the fire department, back in elementary school.Don’t jump, drop. I lower myself out until I’m hanging by my fingertips, then let go.

THUMP.

The ground rears up fast, but I manage to fall and roll to one side on the damp grass. Wren’s right behind me, climbing out onto the ledge. “Hurry!” I call up, hearing the loud thuds as the intruder tries to break the door down. Wren dangles there a moment, clearly terrified. Then she drops.

“Oww…” She lets out a cry of pain, landing hard and crumpling to the ground. “My ankle!”

“We have to go!” I try to drag her up, but she cries out again, finding it hard to stand.

BANG!

Another gunshot sounds, too close. The intruder’s in one of the other bedrooms now, leaning out of the window, firing directly at us.

“Go!” I scream at Wren and haul her to her feet. We take off towards the dark woods. Wren whimpers in agony, limping on her damaged ankle, but I put an arm around her shoulders and manage to support her weight as we half-jog, half-stumble away from the lights of the house, and into the dark.

“That way,” I pant, pointing to the looming shadows ahead: the woods that border the cottage. “We can’t outrun him. We have to hide!”

Another gunshot sounds. Wren clenches her jaw and keeps moving, but I can tell that every step hurts like hell. We stagger across the back field, and finally reach the tree line, diving into the cover of the undergrowth. Here, leaves and mud are thick underfoot, and the trees quickly block any light from view, leaving us shrouded in darkness.

It's creepy as hell, and we don’t even have a torch or cellphone to light the way. But that’s a good thing, I remind myself, that just means we’ll be harder to find. Because I don’t doubt for a second that he’s coming after us.

That man was shooting to kill.

I try to keep my terror under control and think straight.

“I think the main road is that way,” I gesture to the left, wracking my brains to remember. “The village is a couple of miles away. If we can reach someone, call for help…”

Wren nods, tears in her eyes.

“Come on,” I say, already listening for the sound of pursuit. “We have a head start, but he’ll be coming after us, and fast.”

We keep moving, staggering blindly through the dark trees, until the forest swallows us up, and there’s no sound at except our own ragged breathing, and the muffled shuffle of our footsteps dragging through the mud, and my heartbeat pounding in my ears so loudly, I have to fight to stay alert for any other noise.

It’s torture. Every step, I’m wondering if it’ll be our last. Waiting for another gunshot to sound, and rip through the silence of the forest.

Is this how it ends?

I bite back a sob.It’s too soon!I only just got Wren back. I only just found Saint. My whole life is waiting, full of possibility, but instead, I’m consumed with terror, stumbling in the dark trying to outrun a killer.

Still, I force myself on. One foot in front of another, deeper into the dark. But Wren’s leaning more heavily on my shoulder now, and soon, I’m exhausted from the weight.

“Tessa…” Wren whimpers slowing. “Please, it hurts. I need to rest.”

“No.” I tug her onwards. “We have to keep going. He’ll find us.”

“Ican’t.” Wren crumples, falling into the dirt and almost pulling me down with her. She stays there on the ground, sobbing with pain. “I can’t take another step. I’m sorry. You need to on without me.”

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