“Come on Ellie! Do you have to?”
“Yes! Now you can either wait for me here or at the station?”
“At the station, but then you will have to walk there all alone… and through that park” Sarah gave a dramatic shudder.
Ellie just shook her head and gave out a little chuckle. “I’ll be fine. You go ahead; I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes, ok?”
Sarah just tutted and nodded; she left with a flick of the wrist and a quick shout over her shoulder. “Be careful Ellie! Cya!”
**
Ellie was smiling to herself as she skipped out of the shop holding the bag she had just bought. She held it tight, like a cuddly toy. When Sarah sees this she will understand why I wanted to go back and get it! Ha she’s not having it though! NO WAY! Ellie thought to herself as she crossed the empty road. A sly grin was stuck to her face. As she looked around she realized it was dead. Nothing in sight was open or alive, other than the shop she had just come from. “How odd?” Ellie said out load, making her voice echo around the street, bouncing off every wall of every building. The grin fell off her face as soon as she saw the park before her.
Ellie had walked through here many times before. Every time she came into town she strolled through this same park. It held many of her secrets. In the light, she would laugh as she stepped foot into its warm forest. Now though, staring at it; it felt strange, abnormal, unknown to her. The trees that usually danced in front of her eyes, stood looming darkly above her. The narrow path that she usually danced happily along was black and menacing. Its winding route hiding behind the thick trunks of the oaks; disappearing into the darkness.
With a deep breath Ellie walked over to the opening and started down the winding path.
*
After about 5 minutes Ellie was feeling much better. She had left her frightened self behind and was pacing strongly through the woods, trying to get to the station as quick as possible. It was then that she saw a flicker to the side of her. Like a shadow jumping from tree to tree. Ellie’s heart stopped. She was sure she had seen it. Rustling of leaves. Her mind was in overdrive. Horrible thoughts were flying into her head at 130mph. “Oh no! Sarah was right. What am I going to do? My Mum… Dad! Omg Dad! I need to tell you I love you, dad! I’m sorry I walked out on you! I will never get to tell you now! Why did you do it dad? Why did you not come home on so many nights? I have to ask you.. I need to know. What do I do? I have to get out of this! Come on Ellie, you’ve got things to live for! ” All of these things were running through her head. Fear was making her tremble. Ellie tripped over a stick. She hit the ground with a hard thump. Ellie let out a soft whimper as she rolled over and expected her knees. Her jeans were ripped exposing her legs which were covered with blood. Her jeans were soaking it all up, turning them a dark maroon colour. She looked around helplessly looking to see if the unidentified person was anywhere. She couldn’t see a thing except those menacing trees. Ellie scrambled back into a standing position and again started to walk. Even with the intense pain and the limp she carried on strong. It was only then that she realized she had left her new bag. She stopped dead. In Ellie’s mind she was thinking: “what the hell are you doing? ITS ONLY A BAG!” but the rest of her was screaming: “GO BACK! GO GET IT! IT COST YOU ENOUGH, YOU CANT JUST LEAVE A £254.98 BAG LYING IN THE WOODS! GO BACK AND GET IT… NOW!” Ellie turned slowly on her heel and headed back to where she had just come from.
Ellie was soon on the floor again; searching for her bag. She spotted it. It was just lying at the foot of a huge tree. Even though there was nothing blocking her path, she felt like she mustn’t go to it. She let out a long sigh and crawled towards the bag. When it was just within touching distance she grabbed it and leaped up. Ellie was breathing really heavy now; making her chest rise and fall hard. She began to walk incredibly quickly. She was nearing the end of the park when she stopped dead.
*
“Wellll well ell……….what have we herrreeee??”
He asked with a husky voice.
Ellie started walking with her head down. She was too frightened to even glance up from the floor. She could tell he was drunk; he could hardly get his words out. This wasn’t the worse bit though; he was wearing a mask. A horrible, terrifying mask. It was a balaclava, but it was blood red and torn. The fact that it was torn was the worse bit. She had done this before, the rips where down near the neck. Holes where forming all over it. You could tell it had been used many many times, although something was very familiar about the mask. Ellie felt sick rising up in her throat. This disgrace of a human being was an expert at this. Ellie had only seen him for a split second before she started pacing away from him. He was built very big; like a builder. He had on a dusty overall which was stained with what looked like gravy. “How odd?” Ellie thought.
Ellie let herself glance backward. Shouldn’t have done that. He was right behind her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed down on her hard. She let out an almighty scream before he was able to cover her mouth with a sweaty hand. Ellie landed flat on her back. She heard a crack and she let out another scream, but it was no use, his hand muffled all of the sound that helplessly tried to escape. He was lying on top of her now; all of his weight forcing the air right out of her.
They say that before you die your life flashes before your eyes. Nothing happened when Ellie stared up at the monster kneeling on top of her. Hatred just bubbled up in her body as he grinned down at her. Alcohol was wafting all around her making her heave. As much as she willed and tried, she let a pitiful tear trickle down her face. Uproar came from his mouth. A nasty, merciless laugh. Something jolted inside her as he reached down towards himself. It clicked. A painful reality that tore her apart willed her on. As he was no longer holding her, she reached up and snatched the familiar mask off. She let out an almighty cry and threw down the mask. Anger filled his face. Until he looked down at the victim he was preying on. Horror now framed his eyes and his mouth dropped open.
“Dad, how could you?”