Haven

12. Panic

The rest of the message fell on deaf ears. The cup slipped from her fingers, clattering to the ground and smashed to pieces. She didn't bother trying to clean it up, her mind was only focused on one thing; Daniel was onto her. If he had started hovering around Alice, it was only a matter of time before he figured out where she was.

Panic crept through her being slowly and started to hasten as her mind went through different scenarios of Daniel finding her. A little piece of her sanity told her that she was still safe, she hadn't been found, but the rest was determined that he was on his way here now.

Caught in her fear, she spun around and dashed to her room. The knife was still sitting in her bedside drawer and she clutched it tightly, hands trembling. Idiot! It won't help you, the sane part of her mind argued, but Norah wasn't listening. She couldn't see past the fear clutching at her chest, making it difficult to breathe and she stumbled into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She managed to lock it and slid down onto the floor as a panic attack set in.

Breathe. Norah had had a panic attack once before; during her final year of school, her English Lit exam had been a killer and the night before she'd suffered a full blown panic attack. Except back then, Adam had been there with her, his voice a soothing anchor, calming her worries and easing her through it. Right now she was all alone.

Breathe, she instructed herself. Her chest tightened painfully, her breath coming in short audible gasps that pulled at her lungs. With each pull, her panic grew and tears blurred her vision as she rested her fist against her chest. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall Adam's face, his gentle tone telling her it would be all right. Just focus on your breathing, Norah, don't think about anything else. Just in and out.

She focused on those words, forcing her body to follow their instruction. Minutes passed and the tightening in her chest began to fade. Her breathing gradually began to even out and then finally, it was over. Her body trembled with exhaustion and she curled her legs up, burying her head in her knees. Her eyes drifted shut and she continued to focus on her breathing, only one thought passing through her mind.

I wish you were here, Adam.

*                             *                             *                             *

She was running, she didn't know why or where, but her feet kept moving forward, the panic in her chest warring with confusion. What was she running from?

"Norah, come out and play..." The words were light and accentuated, causing the panic to heighten and her breath to quicken.

Daniel.

"You know what I want, Norah. Just give me the diamonds and then we can have some fun..."

Her feet moved faster, arms pumping and looking around, she realised where she was - Bellvale Forest. She wasn't completely sure, but she hadn't been in many forests in her life and it was the first one that came to mind.

She wanted to turn, to see if he was getting closer, but her head refused to move to look behind. She heart footfalls, keeping pace with her own and her breath started coming out in short gasps, fear overriding her common sense that this was a dream.

"Norah."

The voice came from right behind her and shrieking, she fell to the forest floor. Her body finally turned and she backed herself against a large tree, the bark cold against her back and she finally came face to face with her nightmare.