5. The Dark

I awoke shivering with cold, still tired and hungry. I had no idea where I was but estimated that I was at least three hours from home with no alternative other than to walk back. Solitude felt a lot less appealling. The moon was only shining intermittently now as clouds scudded across the sky. I heard an occasional distant engine and the familiar rush of air being displaced by the passage of a car. By contrast the sounds of the local wildlife were mysterious and immediate. This night was a different creature from those that I knew from late walks through town.

A new call began: a high keening that pierced the midnight cacophony like a knife. Probably a fox, I told myself but I was spooked enough to start moving in the opposite direction as best as I could. It came again, closer now and, it seemed, in front of me again. I turned to retrace my steps but my movements were clumsy and ponderous as I stumbled around in the flickering moonlight. The call came again, very close now, a staccato inhuman scream. I froze, rooted where I stood in fear. Whatever it was was faster than me and could see where I was blind. I closed my eyes and waited. I heard something brush against the undergrowth and heard the scream again, close enough now to hear that it contained a feral growl. I stopped breathing.

I stood like that for what seemed like an eternity until I heard the sound again, receding now. I gasped in great gulps of air and opened my eyes. Just a fox, I reminded myself, embarrassed of my cowardice. Adrenaline drained away as I relaxed but my feet felt heavier now. It was time to get out of there. In my frantic scrambling I had lost any remaining sense of direction so I started by trying to find the pond that I had slept beside.

It may have been very close but without visible placemarks I struggled to find anything. My feet caught on thorny brambles and cracked twigs as I stomped across the countryside until I found a path though who knew if it was the one that I had followed to get here or, if it was, whether I was going in the right direction. My priority now was to get somewhere at least half familiar so that I could think straight.

After my fright, I was conscious about drawing attention to myself so I was relieved to be walking on a path where my footfalls weren't so noisy. I established a good walking rhythm and began to make good progress towards whatever it was I was heading toward. I became aware of my footsteps echoing. There was something unusual about the sound though. At first, I thought it must be the way that the sound waves bounced off the scattered trees that surrounded me. As I listened closer, it started to dawn on me that I wasn't hearing an echo. My footsteps were even but 'the echo' was irregular. The sound of somebody walking with a limp.

I quickened my pace. Now solitude would have been most welcome again. The pace of the echo didn't alter. Though it sounded like the steps were slower, I could hear it better with each step as it closed on me. Still, I dared not turn. I scanned the ill lit scene before me, desperately seeking some sort of escape. It was close enough now for me to hear its ragged breathing. I could not avoid it any more. Now, as I turned, my own breath caught in my throat. The cloud was thick behind me, but illuminated by the moon's rays. Silhouetted in inky black against the clouds I saw a hooded figure stop to look back at me, silent except for its laboured breathing.

My blood turned to ice, freezing me to the spot once more though my mind moved rapidly. I dismissed the idea of speaking with it. If it had wanted a chat, it had a funny way of introducing itself. My instinct was screaming at me to run so as soon as my limbs would let me, I sprinted away. Terror had heightened my senses so I could see the path better now. I realised that if I stuck to the path, I would be too easy to follow but I couldn't risk flailing around in the deeper darkness. Every bit of my body protested at the strain it was under. My lungs struggled to take in the air that I needed to keep my aching legs moving and my heart pounded alarmingly. My mind urged it on but I had to slow to a jog.

I had bought myself some time at least. I couldn't hear the footsteps any more. I saw a track leading left away from the path and decided to divert. I had to slow further as the woodland became denser around me, blotting out the moon. Ahead I could make out a building with no lights looming up. Thick growth blocked the light either side. Through a tangled doorway I could see long, indistinct shadows of gnarled branches and pointed leaves where the weak moonlight could find gaps between the ivy that curled through the windows. Faced with the alternative of making my way back to the hooded figure, I pushed through the growth into the building.

It was darker than I expected inside and I had to tentatively feel my way around despite the urgency of the situation. I felt along a wall that seemed to go on forever until my hand found a gap that must have been a doorway. I imagined that I had reached the end of one wing and prayed that this entrance would lead somewhere where I could escape again or at least hide.

I was startled by a noise behind me. With panic mounting once more, I stepped through the doorway. As my foot passed through the space where I expected the floor to be, I had the impression of hanging in mid air before falling. There was a flash of pain and then nothing.

Next: Coming soon!