People trust people like me.
But they don’t know who I really am, what I’ve done, or what I am capable of.
I said at the start of this journey that I was going to kill them all, and I meant every word.
Her
Thursday 01:45
“Everything is going to be okay, Mum,” I say, not believing a single word of my own lie.
Then I hear what sounds like a gunshot in the distance.
I can see from the look in her eyes that she heard it too.
“We need to hurry—are you sure we are going the right way to get home?” I ask, dragging her along beside me.
“I think so,” she whispers, finally seeming to understand that we are in danger.
We only manage a few more steps before I hear the sound of someone running in the woods behind us. The night is so silent that the noise of branches snapping travels through the trees. It’s impossible to tell how far away they are, or see anything in the darkness, but I know they’re getting closer. The possibilities of what happens next play out in fast-forward in my mind. None of them are good.
We won’t be able to outrun them.
The best we can do now is hide.
I duck down and pull my mother onto the ground with me.
“Sorry, Mum, but you have to stay still and be quiet. Okay?” I whisper.
She nods as though she understands. The sound of someone running stops a short distance from where we are. I hold my breath, willing them to turn back or run the other way. But I don’t get my wish. They keep getting closer. I try to think of a way to defend myself and Mum, my fingers searching the forest floor for a rock or a stick at least, but they find nothing of use. As much as I don’t want to give up, I think this might be it.
I see the flashlight then, shining between the trees, and it isn’t long until the beam finds us. I’m blinded at first and can’t see who it is.
“Anna?” a voice says in the darkness.
I shield my eyes, then blink away tears when I recognize the person in the distance.
I have never been happier to see my ex-husband.
“Anna? Is that you?” he calls again.
“Yes! Jack, thank god you’re here!”
He smiles as he makes his way toward us through the trees. We’re safe. The relief that floods through me is overwhelming. I know that Jack will get us out of here, and that we’re going to be okay now.
Then I see the shadowy silhouette of someone behind him.
He turns to see what I’m looking at, but it’s too late.
The sound of gunfire echoes through the woods and Jack falls to the ground.
Everything is silent and still for a second, maybe two, maybe three, as though life itself has paused to see what will happen next. Then some kind of primal survival instinct kicks in. I pull Mum up and use the only word left in my vocabulary.
“Run.”
She does and so do I, but I’ve no idea if we are running in the right direction. She’s surprisingly fast for her age, quicker than me thanks to my twisted ankle. Whoever is out there is gaining on us; I can hear them not too far behind. Branches and leaves slap me in the face as we scurry through the woods. Moonlight breaks through the canopy of trees in places, but the forest floor is mostly cloaked in darkness, and I struggle not to trip and fall. I follow my mother, constantly trying to keep her in sight, but she soon gets ahead of me. Fear can make runners of us all.
When I realize I can no longer see her, I stop. I’m too scared to call her name. I don’t want to attract attention, so I spin around, completely disoriented. Lost. Then I hear them. Despite instinct urging me to run in the other direction, I rush toward the sound of my mother and another woman screaming at each other. Their high-pitched exchange is impossible to translate, simultaneous shrieks canceling out any discernible words. I find them just in time to see my mother fall to the ground. Cat Jones is standing over her, holding a bloody knife. She stares at me with those huge eyes of hers, then shakes her head and starts to cry.
“You ruined my life,” Cat says in my direction, sounding hysterical.
She takes a step toward me, the knife still in her hand. I can’t speak. I can’t move. I just stare at my broken mother on the forest floor.
“You pretended to be my friend,” Cat says between strangled sobs, getting closer. “You ruined my childhood. You followed me to London, pretended not to know who I was, so I pretended too. But then you tried to steal my job. And then you tried to steal my husband, and now—”
I hear another gunshot behind me. Someone is shooting in our direction, but when I spin around I see nothing but darkness. When I turn back, Cat has gone. I rush over to Mum and cry tears of relief when I see that she is still alive.