Hunted: Harry Styles Fan Fiction

Kate

Chapter 5 

It was hard to breathe as I started to inch my way toward the stairs, stopping every few feet. I didn’t know where that monster of a man was, but I knew he was here somewhere. I could feel my heart about to burst in my chest. My fear was starting to get the better of me against my will. Calm down, I thought. Just calm down. I peeked around the corner looking for any sign of my attacker. I waited silently for any sound of movement, but none came. Maybe he left, I thought. I cautiously put one foot on the first stair. I shifted my weight, and the stair creaked loudly. I immediately backed off for a moment.

Silence.

I tried another part of the stair, and it was quiet. I wielded the hefty pipe in my hand, lifting it over my shoulder at an angle, so it was ready to swing at a moment’s notice. I carefully crept up the remaining stairs, still without sight nor sound of the man. This wasn’t right. He had to be here somewhere. Why would he have gone to all the effort to chase me down if he was going to give up so easily?

He wouldn’t have.

I reached the top of the stairs, my eyes scanning the nearby rooms for signs of his presence, aside from the obvious tension in the air and the pounding of my heart. I searched the dusty floors for footprints going in or out of the house. I could see my own prints heading straight for the stairs, and I could see another, larger set that led from the door to the stairs on the other side of the wall. I could feel my blood freeze over as I found yet another set of footprints that came into the house. They were bigger than my tracks, but not quite as large as the man’s. How many of these people are there? I was only a few feet from the sliding door, and I almost had myself convinced I could dart out the door until the thought occurred to me that maybe they were waiting for me outside that door.

Waiting for me to get cocky and make a mistake.

Waiting to capitalize on it.

I decided it was for the best to retreat into the darkness of the basement and try to find that knob again. That door had to go somewhere; it was my only hope for survival. I picked my way back down the stairs again, avoiding the ones that creaked, moving as silent as a shadow. I snuck to the door again, this time getting down on my knees and feeling around more thoroughly. I searched everywhere near the door, and there was still no sign of the knob. I decided I’d have to disassemble the rest of the handle. I felt around on the door for the hole. My fingertips brushed against the rough edge, and I found the metal tip of the opposite side of the handle. I pushed on it gently, sliding it out of the hole on the other side of the door. I released it, and head the end clatter to the ground. I listened hard, and it sounded like it was rolling down a set of stairs or a stone walkway, the sounds echoing back up to me. Was there a tunnel down there? My hopes were soaring now. I used my long fingernails to remove the latching mechanism, and finally pushed the door open. 

“Oh thank God,” I whispered to myself as I stared into what appeared to be a work tunnel. The walls were narrow, and the ceiling was fairly low, but it was the only hope I had now. I ducked through the doorway, and raced down the long tunnel. It was mostly blackness, but as I neared the exit, I could make out the faint glint of light off of puddles that stood outside. I took great care to sidestep them before peeking out of the exit. I glanced around while I stood silently, listening for sounds of pursuit. It seemed the house sat upon a cliff of sorts, and the tunnel came out a few hundred feet below the house, under among a deep forest. I crept out of the tunnel and started to run through the trees trying to put some distance between the men and myself, so that if they did figure out I’d escaped, I’d have a good head start on them.

I wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that the moon had finally risen, or that I’d spent a good portion of the last couple hours in total blackness, but there was more than enough light to see by as I sped through the forest. I could easily make out the shapes of obstacles despite my speed. A strong breeze rustled the leaves on the tall trees overhead and chilling me to the core. I pushed harder, still running, my feet crunching on leaves that carpeted the forest floor. I thought I could hear the swishing of rushing water nearby, and I ran toward the sound. After a few more minutes, I came upon a huge lake that glowed silver in the moonlight, it’s long fingers reaching up the shore with each wave.

On the horizon, I could see faint pinks starting to feather themselves into the sky, pushing away the dark. I don’t think I’d ever been so relieved to see a sunrise in my life. That’s when I saw it. Two floating lights that weaved along the opposite shore of the lake.

Headlights.

I wasn’t excited about there being other people around. For all I knew, they could be involved with my captors. After all, there was at least one other person who was an accomplice, and I’d never even seen them. I would trust no one but myself and Harry.

Roads always go to civilization, I remembered my wilderness training that I’d gotten at summer camp when I was twelve. Follow the road, and choose your path wisely.