Run Rabbit Run

 
"Ring me when you get home. Let me know you're safe" Jenna demanded
Chloe rolled her eyes and hugged her friend
"I'll be fine" she insisted.

Chloe and Jenna had been friends since high school and Jenna's paranoia had always amused her, this time though, she was a little nervous. It had just turned ten thirty, the sun had set and the few streetlights in the area were glowing dully amongst the darkness of the night. Not long ago, Chloe wouldn't have worried about walking back from Jenna's house after hours. It used to be safe, but lately that had changed. People had been attacked, one girl had been killed and rumour had it that a large gang of youths hanging around the streets were to blame for the crimes.

Chloe lived about an hours walk from Jenna's place. She would normally get a taxi home but having just recently lost her job, money was tight so the taxi had become a luxury she just couldn't afford. She was mentally kicking herself now for not leaving Jenna's house earlier.

"Are you sure you'll be ok? You can stay here tonight if you want" Jenna offered
They broke out of the hug.
"Thanks Jen but honestly, I'll be perfectly fine. You're such a worry wart!" Chloe laughed even though she was trying to convince herself more than her friend.
Jenna nodded "I'll see you tomorrow then. Still ring me though"
"I will, I will" Chloe replied. She waved to Jenna and walked away from the house, after a few steps she heard her friend's door click shut.

She put her head down and planted her hands in her pockets, shuddering more from anxiety than cold. She considered running home but talked herself out of it.
'There's only me out here' she thought to herself 'nothing to be scared of, it's safe'
Her footsteps were loud and deliberate on the pavement, she tried to stride with confidence.
Each time she made it to one of the pockets of light from the streetlamps, she breathed a sigh of relief. As though somehow the faint yellow glow ensured her safety. It didn't of course, it just brought a false sense of security and small comfort.

Thirty minutes later, Chloe had relaxed into the walk. She was actually enjoying it and had decided that she was glad for the excercise. She used to be a good runner, she even won awards in school for it, but it had been so long since she'd run or walked anywhere that she could already feel the strain and tension in her thigh muscles. She vowed to join a gym as soon as she found a new job.
Her recently discovered calm was shattered however, when she rounded a corner and almost walked right into a complete stranger.
The shock made her body jolt, as though electricity had passed through her system.
"Sorry" She gasped "I didn't see you"
The stranger nodded and continued on his way. He was tall and wearing a long black coat, his hair fell down to his neck, it was dark, possibly brown but it looked more black in the darkness. Chloe suddenly heard a sigh. She glanced behind herself to see the man snap his fingers in frustration, as though he had forgotton something. He changed direction and began walking behind Chloe.

Immediately she felt safer. Now she was not alone in the darkness. As some of the fear vanished, Chloe realised she was tired and she fell into a pace that she was more comfortable with, waiting for the man to pass her, but he didn't. He had been walking faster than her, she was sure of that. He had slowed down when she did. She listened hard for his footsteps and guessed from the sound that he couldn't be more than five feet behind her. She glanced back at the stranger. He was smiling but it wasn't friendly, it was a smile that made her uncomfortable. He began to mutter something that Chloe couldn't hear. She tried to ignore him and sped up once more but he quickened his tread too and his muttering grew louder, now she could hear.

"Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run" he almost growled
Fear stabbed through Chloe causing a pins and needles sensation to crawl over her skin.
Every part of her wanted to follow his advice, to run as quickly as she could away from him. She decided to do just that. Chloe shot into a full sprint and to her horror, he gave chase
"Here comes the hunter with his gun, gun, gun" he shouted, a disturbing laugh colouring his tone.
Chloe let out a sob, she wasn't crying, she was too scared to cry but it was like an involuntary sound. She tore down the street as fast as she could, her legs screamed in protest, the muscles aching. Her breath came in fierce, painful gasps that hurt her throat and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Chloe's entire body had moved into panic mode, adrenaline flooded her system, feeding her muscles, making them work harder than she could normally. She stumbled but caught herself and continued to run. She didn't want to look back, didn't want to know how close he was but she couldn't stop herself. He was almost on top of her, the same sickening smile on his face. Chloe yelped and tried to run faster but she was already going as fast as she could.

In one swift motion he reached out, wrapped his fingers into the hair on the back of her head and stopped running, dragging Chloe to a halt.
She cried out, feeling some of the hair tear from her scalp
"Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run" He laughed
"Please" Chloe begged, her fingers clawed at his hand, desperately trying to free herself from his grip.
"Don't give the hunter his fun, fun, fun" He whispered

Chloe screamed so loud it hurt. She wriggled and kicked but he was so strong it seemed to have no effect. He didn't tell her to be quiet, he didn't seem to care if anyone heard. He was calm and he remained that way even when he produced a knife from his coat. He held the blade up in his free hand where Chloe could see it.
"HELP, SOMEONE HELP!" She half bellowed, half screamed
But no one was coming, no one would help.

The moonlight danced on the knife's blade and then in a motion so fast it was hardly visible, the man slammed the blade into her stomach.
There wasn't as much pain as she thought there would be. Shock was contolling her keeping the worst of the pain at bay. She reached down to where the blade pierced her skin and felt the hot, wet blood trickling over her fingers. The stranger looked Chloe in the eyes, watching the life fade from her.
"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil" He smiled
Then he dropped her lifeless body, wiped his blade on his coat and walked away into the darkness of the night.

About the Author!

First and foremost I think it's best that I introduce myself.

My name is Steph and I'm twenty four years old. I could talk about my family and friends or my pets or my current employment status etc. But, since this blog is mainly reserved for writing, I thought I would instead focus on the point at which I decided I wanted to write for a living and how things have progressed from there, so here goes: 

I first realised I loved to write back in high school. I found I was always at my happiest when I was scribbling away at a plot or developing a new character in the back of my maths book. I hated school, passionately, and I only ever enjoyed English and Drama. My teacher for both these subjects, was a fiesty, funny, energetic lady by the name of Ms Mezzone. She became a real insperation to me and always encouraged my writing.

Back then, though, my dreams were a slightly different shape, I focused my energy on acting and really wanted to build a career out of that instead.
Drama gave me such a thrill and I loved the idea of learning a script and then shaping it to fit into a performance. I think the task of having to ensure the right emotion was present when delivering lines was one that I found particularly attractive. On reflection it's obvious to me that although I did love acting, the writing stayed with me. I never stopped doing it, but it became a hobby and performance arts became my career choice.

Naturally, when I left school I went on to study Performing arts at college and it was on that course that the writing bug bit me hard really.
One of our assignments was to write a short script, I can't recall why we had to do it, but I'm so glad we did because the form tutor offered me the opportunity to flesh out my written piece, cast it, direct it and put it on for one night, I didn't take much convincing and immediately got to work on my script. It was a comedy, based around a park bench and the unusual (and often eccentric) individuals that used or passed the bench in a single summers day.
The play was entitled 'Bench Life' and the audience reaction to it gave me a bigger adrenaline rush than I'd ever experienced. I did act in 'Bench Life' but the fact that it was my own material recieving applause was much more exciting than simply performing.

All this time I had continued to write in my spare time, and having realised after 'Bench Life's success that I had enjoyed it so much, I changed my mind about my career. I decided I wanted to write novels.

I've always been quite a creative person and I love writing fantasy.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's powerful and effective when the entertainment industry challenges a viewer or reader with a harsh reality or something to make them think, and I'm not denying the true genius (and importance) of films such as "Schindler's list" or books like "To kill a mocking bird", that said I've always been a firm believer in just entertaining the audience. I've never really wanted to 'challenge' a reader, instead I wanted (and still aim for) them to be able to dive into the lives of my fictional characters and just escape their reality while they read. I think fantasy is perhaps the best genre for this, basing a book in a land where the possibilities are endless and magic is as real as you or me, demands that the reader suspends reality for a short period and that, in turn, offers escape.

Based on this I turned my attention to a short story that I had first started writing in school. The title of which (at the time) was "The Black Music Box" and all I really had at that point was a talking cat, a young girl and a black music box that had some sort of sinister secret. It was only a few pages long but once I began plotting it out it grew and grew. Now it's title is different, it's characters are developed, familier and have grown in numbers and the plot (which is almost completely different to that first draft) has been split into three, turning what was once a short story in the back of  a work book, into a trilogy that I hope will be well recieved. As I write this, I am in the editing process of book one in the trilogy and am seriously considering Kindle publishing as the way forward but only when I am absolutely certain that I've done the best I could.

I've also returned to scriptwriting and am working on a mini series that I hope to post onto Youtube towards the end of this year.
And that's not all, the recent offer of an opportunity to ghost write an autobiography was just too good to pass up on and hopefully that process will begin in the next few months.

It's odd when I think back to the choices I made in school. Strange that I didn't really ever think about writing as a career move and now, it's pretty much all I think about. But I guess you live and learn. All I know is that reading fantasy captured and expanded my imagination and writing it allows me to build on that. The beauty of a book you write is that you really can make anything happen, create any outcome, change anything you like and in a world where it's possible (and frequent) to feel a complete lack of control, writing fantasy provides my escape and I wouldn't change it for a million pounds (that said if you would like to offer me a million pounds to test the previous statement, I would like to point out that I retain the right at any time to go back on my word)

Steph 

Why Blog?

As someone who dreams of being a successful, proffessional (and hopefully full time) writer in the future, it's come to my attention that one of the best ways in which to advertise your writing in today's world is to have an online blog. So this is mine, I would ask anyone reading this to bear with me (or if you're reading this in the future, it might be better to scan through to a later blog as my aim is to improve over time). I've named it 'Write, Wrong and all things in-between' because primarily it's for (and about) my writing but I'd also like to use it to record other things in my life. So, here is what I hope 'Write, Wrong and all things in-between' will deliver to the reader(s) (assuming, of course, that I have any!):

• Short stories, You know, the wierd and wonderful ones that pop into your brain when you're not really up to much!
• A blog, much like a diary, that shares my views on the day to day happenings of my life... think Adrian mole (hopefully minus the obvious, although admittedly hysterical, delusions of grandeaur)
• Anything else that I happen to type up.... becuase I can, so ner!

Well, that's it in a nutshell.

Steph