escaping The Ragged Cove was behind me and it seemed to taunt me. Turning my back to it, I peered in the direction that I had come, and some miles in the distance, I could just make out the twinkling lights of the town. Looming up into the night like a twisted finger, I could see the steeple of the church in the dark. Cupping my hands, around my mouth, I blew into them. They were fast going numb. Turning to look at my car sticking up out of the ditch, I lent against the boot and tried to force the rear wheels back onto the road.
“Please!” I groaned. “I just wanna get out of this godforsaken place. Is that too much to ask?” I shouted into the dark.
The car rocked up and down like a seesaw, but however much I tried, I couldn’t get the car out of the ditch. With each passing minute, the snow grew deeper and deeper around my shins.
Knowing that I had to make a decision as to what I was going to do, I considered my options. I could stay in the car and hope that someone came by and helped me, but the chances of anyone being out on a night like this was remote. The roads were fast becoming impassable, so I knew there was little chance of being rescued by a passer-by. I could stay in the car with the heaters running, but I doubted they could melt an ice cube, and I would more than likely freeze to death. I didn’t have any blankets or warm clothing in the boot, and the rate that the snow was coming down, my little car would be covered within a couple of hours. I didn’t fancy dying entombed in a 1960’s Mini, buried beneath a mountain of snow.
Then remembering my mobile phone, I rummaged for it in my pocket. Pulling it out, I looked at the signal bar which continued to glow red. Holding the phone above my head, I tried to search for a signal.
“Please!” I hissed. “Just give me a break. I deserve one with everything that I’ve been through!”
But however much I turned and moved towards the border, the signal bar remained that constant, angry red.
Putting the phone away, I looked back at the town below me. I figured that if I crossed the fields, it could be no more than a couple of miles away. I could stick to the road, but it wasn’t as direct with all its twists and turns and would probably double the distance of my journey. But however much my life depended on it, I really didn’t want to go back there. What was I going back to and how many days would I have spend there before the snow eased and I could get my car back onto the road? I really didn’t want to go back to that Inn, and now that I’d been banned from the police station, I had no reason to be there. I didn’t know if I could face any of them again – I didn’t know if I could face Luke again. But I couldn’t stay out on the road. Not only was I exposed to the freezing weather, I was a sitting target for vampires.
So taking my torch from the car, I pulled the collar of my jacket up and set off across the fields, back towards The Ragged Cove.
Bent forward at the waist to protect myself from the freezing wind and falling snow, I trudged across the fields. The snow was falling so hard and fast that when I glanced back at my car in the distance, I could hardly see its little red frame and my tracks had already been covered. Ahead and to the right, I could see what looked like a wooded area. So cutting diagonally across the field, I made my way towards it, hoping that the trees would offer me some shelter.
The snow whipped and howled all around me, and in the noise of the wind, I was sure that I could hear the far off sound of screaming. Looking in the direction of those cries, I thought I saw shadows flitting back and forth across the skyline. Turning around in the snow, trying to locate those sounds was disorientating and it wasn’t long before I had lost all sense of direction. Peering into the distance, I was sure that I could see a dark smudge on the horizon, and hoping that it was the wooded area, I set off towards it.
I hadn’t
“Please!” I groaned. “I just wanna get out of this godforsaken place. Is that too much to ask?” I shouted into the dark.
The car rocked up and down like a seesaw, but however much I tried, I couldn’t get the car out of the ditch. With each passing minute, the snow grew deeper and deeper around my shins.
Knowing that I had to make a decision as to what I was going to do, I considered my options. I could stay in the car and hope that someone came by and helped me, but the chances of anyone being out on a night like this was remote. The roads were fast becoming impassable, so I knew there was little chance of being rescued by a passer-by. I could stay in the car with the heaters running, but I doubted they could melt an ice cube, and I would more than likely freeze to death. I didn’t have any blankets or warm clothing in the boot, and the rate that the snow was coming down, my little car would be covered within a couple of hours. I didn’t fancy dying entombed in a 1960’s Mini, buried beneath a mountain of snow.
Then remembering my mobile phone, I rummaged for it in my pocket. Pulling it out, I looked at the signal bar which continued to glow red. Holding the phone above my head, I tried to search for a signal.
“Please!” I hissed. “Just give me a break. I deserve one with everything that I’ve been through!”
But however much I turned and moved towards the border, the signal bar remained that constant, angry red.
Putting the phone away, I looked back at the town below me. I figured that if I crossed the fields, it could be no more than a couple of miles away. I could stick to the road, but it wasn’t as direct with all its twists and turns and would probably double the distance of my journey. But however much my life depended on it, I really didn’t want to go back there. What was I going back to and how many days would I have spend there before the snow eased and I could get my car back onto the road? I really didn’t want to go back to that Inn, and now that I’d been banned from the police station, I had no reason to be there. I didn’t know if I could face any of them again – I didn’t know if I could face Luke again. But I couldn’t stay out on the road. Not only was I exposed to the freezing weather, I was a sitting target for vampires.
So taking my torch from the car, I pulled the collar of my jacket up and set off across the fields, back towards The Ragged Cove.
Bent forward at the waist to protect myself from the freezing wind and falling snow, I trudged across the fields. The snow was falling so hard and fast that when I glanced back at my car in the distance, I could hardly see its little red frame and my tracks had already been covered. Ahead and to the right, I could see what looked like a wooded area. So cutting diagonally across the field, I made my way towards it, hoping that the trees would offer me some shelter.
The snow whipped and howled all around me, and in the noise of the wind, I was sure that I could hear the far off sound of screaming. Looking in the direction of those cries, I thought I saw shadows flitting back and forth across the skyline. Turning around in the snow, trying to locate those sounds was disorientating and it wasn’t long before I had lost all sense of direction. Peering into the distance, I was sure that I could see a dark smudge on the horizon, and hoping that it was the wooded area, I set off towards it.
I hadn’t
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