Sophie is crumpled on the sand. Joe drops to his knees, fingers pressed to her neck searching for a pulse. My heart is screaming no-no-no and I try to silently back away, but my feet crunch into the shingle and Amanda’s head jerks up. I am staring into the anguished eyes of a woman with nothing left to lose, except her freedom.

‘We need an ambulance,’ Joe shouts.

The gun dangles from Amanda’s hand. She is frozen to the spot. I don’t know what she’s planning to do but I can’t take any chances. I’ve seen and heard everything.

Run.

Willing my sick body to move, adrenaline floods my system and I stagger towards the silent owl, a shadow in the distance. Amanda may be older than me but I’m weak. Slow. My best hope is finding somewhere to hide, reaching higher ground to try and get a signal and call for help.

It’s dark. So dark. Clouds scud across the charcoal sky, blanketing the moon and stars. Dampness fills my lungs and as I draw a sharp breath nausea crashes over me in sickening waves.

Don’t let me down Callie, I think, as I try to sprint towards safety but my feet are sinking and I feel like I’m moving in slow motion. My mouth opens as I gasp for air. The taste of salt and desperation on my tongue. I clamber up the sand dune, my heart almost bursting with the exertion, feet scrambling for traction in the soft sand. My fingers cling on to tufts of grass as I heft myself upwards. My chest feels like it is on fire but I hear Amanda panting behind me and the survival instinct kicks in. The past few months I have spent wondering if I want to live, but this question is now obliterated from my mind. I’m terrified of dying.

I reach the top and steal a glance behind me. I can’t see the top of Amanda’s head appearing but she can’t be far behind. There’s a bump. And I think she’s slipped back down.

My energy is fading fast.

‘Jenna, wait please. I need your phone.’ she shouts but her voice sounds too close, she’s quickly catching up with me and I look around wildly trying to regain my sense of direction. Work out where the car is? Where the road is?

‘Jenna! Please. You’ve got it wrong. It was all for the girls. All of it.’

I take a deep breath and furl and unfurl my fists before propelling myself forwards once more, arms pumping by my sides. I look over my shoulder.

‘Jenna! Stop. Please don’t go. Don’t call the police. Let me explain.’ But she doesn’t sound remorseful. Fury pushes out her words and each one feels like a thump between my shoulder blades.

Run. I must not stop.

My trainers slap against the concrete and I don’t think I can hear footsteps behind me any more, but it’s hard to tell over the howling wind. I’ve got no chance of outrunning her. My best hope is that she has gone the wrong way.

I steal a glance over my shoulder but my feet stray onto soft earth and I lose my footing and stumble, splaying out my hands to break my fall.

The side of my face hits something hard and solid that rips at my skin. My jaw snaps shut and my teeth slice into my tongue flooding my mouth with blood, and as I swallow it down, bile and fear rises in my throat.

Don’t make a sound.

I’m scared. So scared. I don’t know what she’s capable of. How far she would go to stop me talking to the police.

I lie on my stomach. Still. Silent. Waiting. My palms are stinging. Cheek throbbing. Rotting leaves pervade my nostrils. My stomach roils as I slowly inch forward, digging my elbows into the wet soil for traction. Left. Right. Left. Right.

I’m in the undergrowth now. Thorns pierce my skin and catch on my clothes but I stay low, surrounded by trees, thinking I can’t be seen, but the clouds part and in the moonlight I catch sight of the sleeve of my hoodie which, unbelievably, is white despite the mud splatters. I curse myself. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I yank it off and stuff it under a bush. My teeth clatter together with cold, with fear, with fever. Where is she? To my left twigs snap underfoot and instinctively I push myself up and rock forward onto the balls of my feet, like a runner about to sprint. Over my heartbeat pounding in my ears I hear it. A cough. Amanda’s cough. Behind me. Close. Too close.

Run.

I stumble forward.

I can do this, I tell myself, but it’s a lie. I know I can’t keep going for much longer.

‘There’s no point running,’ Amanda shouts. ‘I know this park like the back of my hand.’

My legs are so weak. My head feels too heavy for my neck. It’s just a cold.

Move.

The clouds roll across the sky again and the blackness is crushing. I momentarily slow, conscious I can’t see where I’m putting my feet. The ground is full of potholes and I can’t risk spraining my ankle, or worse. What would I do then? How could I get away? The wind gusts and the clouds are swept away and in my peripheral vision a shadow moves. I spin around and scream. Amanda is right behind me.

Run.