Zarah didn't know what to do.
She had seconds to decide whether to go after Arelie or stay and help Brenton and Cassandra. Arelie had taken Cassandra's gun. She was armed and Zarah wasn't. But most importantly, it was Arelie they were talking about. She was unpredictable and dangerous and someone Zarah definitely couldn't take on alone.
But seeing Brenton had shocked Arelie enough to make her shoot him and flee.
And Zarah had to know why.
Something about Brenton and Arelie's interaction just sat wrong in her stomach.
So, with no plan other than to keep Arelie in sight, Zarah careened out the door, following the flash of Arelie's blonde hair down the street.
"Zarah!" Cassandra yelled after her. "Come back!"
But Zarah was already gone.
She glanced over her shoulder, checking to see if Cassandra was following, but the street was empty behind her. Maybe Cassandra had been injured in the fall. Maybe she'd run back upstairs to get more weapons before pursuing like Zarah should've.
But it was too late now. If she stopped, she'd lose Arelie, and there was something deep in her gut telling her she couldn't do that.
Cursing herself for her terrible cardio and absolute lack of a plan, Zarah turned and ran full pelt, chasing Arelie from the bitumen of the road onto the hard packed dirt of the bush tracks.
The trees flashed past her, the ground uneven and scattered with twigs. She stumbled and lurched, every step threatening a broken ankle or a quick introduction of her face to the dirt. But Zarah barely let herself think about it. Her eyes were focused ahead, following the flashes of loose clothing and blonde hair.
Arelie flickered in and out of sight ahead, rounding corners and ducking under branches with an expertise Zarah couldn't match. The only thing that kept Zarah on track was the noise, the thumps and crunches of heavy footfalls and breaking sticks, the screeches of birds as Arelie zoomed past and they took off, startled, to the skies.
Zarah could only hope there weren't any creatures from the in between still in these trees hearing those noises too. If there were, Zarah could only assume Arelie and herself had effectively lit a homing beacon.
She could feel herself slowing, feel her movements becoming sloppy and Arelie drawing further ahead. It felt like she'd been running for hours, though she knew she wasn't even half way to the beach yet.
She was just beginning to think she'd lose Arelie completely when Arelie skidded to a stop and spun around, searching for pursuers.
Zarah dived behind a tree, slamming a hand over her mouth to muffle her heavy breathes. She pressed back against the trunk, holding still as the silence dragged.
Arelie's breaths were loud in the quiet, only intercepted by scuttling animals and rustling leaves. Zarah squeezed her eyes shut, her lungs screaming with the urge to let out big, gasping breaths.
Eventually, there was a crack of sticks — Arelie moving again, slower this time — and Zarah let out a breath of relief.
"Shit!" Arelie swore, the word was punctuated by a dull thud that Zarah assumed was a punch to an innocent tree.
The swearing started in earnest then and Zarah dropped her hand from her mouth and peaked around the tree.
Arelie was pacing around a clearing about twenty meters away, swearing and kicking up dirt and sticks. As Zarah watched, she fumbled a phone from her pocket and put it to her ear, tapping Cassandra's gun against her thigh with her free hand.
The agitation in her movements was obvious, and when whoever she was calling didn't pick up, that agitation tripled.
Arelie started swearing louder, a note of the hysterical entering her voice.
"Maud, pick up," Arelie snapped into the phone. "Brenton's here and he's with Cassandra and Zarah and I don't know what to do. I thought you said he was gone. Call me."
The last words came out as a hiss and Arelie hung up and dialled again.
When she got the same lack of response, she let out a frustrated scream and Zarah's breath hitched in her chest.
Danny had mentioned Maud to her, but only in passing. If Arelie was working with her, it was something the others might want to know.
She waited until Arelie's pacing had slowed slightly, and then waited some more. Only when her old school mate was facing away and Zarah felt sure some of Arelie's anger had dispersed, did she step out from behind the tree and creep back up the path.
It was a painfully slow process. She walked backwards, not daring to take her eyes off Arelie while simultaneously watching the ground, trying to avoid any sticks. Twice, she had to dive behind a tree, ducking down as Arelie turned in her direction.
Her method was working, though. She was almost gone, almost far enough that she could turn and run without fear of Arelie spotting her. But then, she stumbled, her shoe catching on a stick that protruded further into the path than she'd predicted.
Her foot landed heavily, the stick snapping beneath her, and Arelie spun and spotted her.
"You!" Arelie said, and Zarah turned and ran.
A shot blasted through the bush, a nearby trunk exploding with a puff of bark as a bullet embedded in it. Zarah screamed, ducking down and racing back the way she'd come, careening up the path with a new-found panic.
She'd just caught sight of the road when Arelie crashed into her, tackling her to the ground.
Zarah hit shoulder first, crying out as something snapped, and then she was rolling, Arelie tangled up with her. She came to a stop flat on her back, Arelie straddling her and the gun pressed to her forehead.
Arelie was puffing again, her hair and clothes now covered with dirt and debris and a furious glint in her eyes.
Zarah froze, fear stilling her.
"I'm not going to lie," Arelie said, her eyes narrowed. "I didn't think you were the one I had to worry about following me. How long were you standing there?"
Zarah just stayed still, her heart pounding, and Arelie's face darkened.
"That long," she said. "I see."
She hovered there for a moment longer, considering her options, and then she jerked off Zarah and hauled her up. Zarah groaned, her shoulder screaming in protest, and when she looked, her arm hung at an odd angle, the whole limb out of place.
Her head spun, her vision blurring, but Arelie shook her again, the pain bringing the world back into sharp focus.
"Calm down," Arelie snapped. "It's just dislocated. Nothing to faint about. Now, get moving. You're coming with me."
Zarah swallowed, trying to think past the pain.
"I didn't hear anything," she gasped out. "And I'm not going to tell you where Leah is."
Arelie scoffed. "Sure. Get moving."
Zarah cringed when the gun kiss the back of her head, and she started forward again, emerging from the last few trees and back onto Leah's street.
Yup. This had been a bad idea. A terrible idea, in fact.
She could see the house up ahead, standing still and quiet. Where was Cassandra? If Zarah called for help would she hear?
"Why did you shoot Brenton?" Zarah ground out, knowing her only hope now was a miracle and she may as well get some answers in case one did happen.
"Because I could," Arelie snapped.
The words were punctuated by a jab of the gun to the back of Zarah's head, and Zarah flinched, but she powered on.
"He's going to wake up, you know. Whatever you freaked out about won't stay secret for much longer."
"I realise that, thank you, Zarah," Arelie said, sarcasm heavy in her voice. "I guess I'll just have to ask Cassandra to trade Brenton for you."
Zarah's heart sunk. They had reached the road now, the house up ahead, and the time for solutions running out.
"She won't trade me for him," Zarah said. "Not if you want him that badly."
Arelie let out a harsh laugh.
"Really? I think—"
Arelie stopped talking half way through her sentence though, the gun suddenly losing contact with Zarah's head as Arelie froze behind her.
Zarah stopped and turned, surprised.
Arelie was a few meters back, her face suddenly pale, staring over Zarah's shoulder. She raised a hand to her mouth, pressing a finger against her lips in a shushing motion, and Zarah's stomach dropped.
Zarah turned slowly, careful not to let her sneakers scuff on the pavement, and looked back at the house.
Arelie's terror made her notice what she hadn't before.
The front door was open, as she'd left it, but the shadows in the doorway were forming into a very horrible, very recognisable shape.
As Zarah watched, one of those creatures from the in between emerged into the sunlit street, it's head kinked to the side, listening. Shredded clothes were hanging off it's torso and legs, tremors rippling along its body.
And Zarah instantly knew what had happened. Who it was.
"Danny?" she breathed.
It's head spun towards them, and Arelie let out a small, horrified squeak.
That was the only confirmation it needed. And as they both stood there, frozen, it stepped into the street and prowled towards them.
...
Next chapter out in two weeks!
- Skylar xx