And as she ran, trailing casings and blood, Trent fell back, with a cry and a thud. ---- The sky sank down, consuming his sight - blues turning black, much blacker than night. ---- His lips curved around into shuddering frames, breaths coming quickly, sounding like names. ---- A wish, a desire, to s...

He fell back. Maddy seemed bigger now, and her voice - was that how he sounded? His teeth clenched together, behind a face of defeat. This wasn't how winning was supposed to feel. When was it his turn to get one up on someone else? Why was she allowed to be right? That gun was still in her hands, st...

This was it. No turning back , she thought. She strained her neck looking up to the top. From a distance it seemed doable, from here it just seemed mad. And maybe that was a good thing, she wasn't to know. All she had left in the world was up there, and with no-one else to turn to, and nowhere else ...

"The bowlin' alley?" The place he and Violet spent so much time together? Where Ray would come along too, and pay for their games? Where they made fun of Mr.S as he tried to get a drunk customer to settle down? Where they watched a group of bikers score a perfect game? Where they celebrate...

His guard dropped. This girl- what was her name? She knew Violet. It shouldn't have been surprising, but it struck a chord with him somehow. Outside of their little circle, nobody really took an interest in the four of them. They were just refugees of popularity, clinging together in the dark. So th...

Her body felt cold, even to the touch. The camera she carried would've told her the time, but she refused to turn it on. It only had so much power left, and she didn't want to waste it. By her estimation, it was around six or seven o'clock, going by the announcements. They usually played while the d...

And then there was a creaking, a girl who started speaking, as her gun beside her peeking, chased his thoughts so quickly shrieking, not ready for a fight and not ready to die here in the heart of the old sea king. "It's me." He replied. "Trent. From school, Trent Savage." Though...

Her first instinct was to knock it down. There were plenty of rocks around; surely she could hit the bag. Stooping over, she felt the gravel against her fingers, brushed it from place to place to see what lay beneath. Plenty of dirt, yeah. Plenty more rocks, all smaller than the last, oh, and there ...

((Violet Druce continued from A Slight Change of Plans )) Her eyes felt sore. She rubbed them, knowing it would only make them worse, but she needed the relief; the sense of control. When she rubbed them, they didn't sting so much. It was only after she stopped that the irritating feeling returned, ...

((Trent Savage continued from You Are On a Rock Floating Through Space )) Where was she? He'd been right behind her, he- he'd been following her all the way from the lighthouse and now she- she'd gone. "Josie!" His clothes weighed him down, he needed to be lighter; faster. He kept on going...

((Leila Langford continued from In Honesty, We Didn't Plan This Far )) Day the tenth, hour the ninth. She'd ran so far, without sleep or food, just praying she could reach the boats in time. Navigating the island by memory of the places she'd been and the tell-tale beeping whenever she stepped insid...

And then she was gone. She'd tried to follow her, tried to keep up, but Helen was much too fast. Leila's legs wouldn't stabilise, and her head still throbbed from the little sleep she'd been having, and after a good hour or so of running haphazardly through the thickets and the trees that cropped up...

Mike didn't know what to do. When he heard the click, all he could think was how little trust Violet had in him; to watch the tapes in secret, to harbour them alone. But now he stood a good few feet behind her, watching the curves of the blanket shake, and listened as she choked on the nightmares th...

A harsh light struck her eyes, forcing them to close. Who was doing that? Then, a familiar voice. It carried a shaking concern, as though the girl was worried about her. Names spiralled around in her memory; names from school, names she knew, but never gave a face. This one... it sounded like someon...

Just a quick look , she'd told herself. I just need to see them. Just once. She'd been fighting the urge for two long days by now. Sitting there in her daypack, cradled beneath her clothes, they sat in wait, knowing that eventually their next owner would be unable to resist much longer. They played...