Escape!

A girl is running from her abusive boyfriend

      “NO!” I yelled at him. He cornered me again, and I ducked out of his reach. I crawled to the door, just in time. He was lunging at me again. I clawed at the doorknob, and it finally turned. I kicked the door open, and threw myself off the small porch. I landed softly in his front yard. I sprinted across the yard. I watched his shadow search for his car keys. I started to panic when I remembered that he lived in the middle of nowhere. I kept running straight, heading towards the lights of a small city a few miles away. I was screaming, but there was no one there to hear. How did I even get myself into this situation? I didn’t remember anything. I only remembered his dark eyes, full of hate and anger.

      I shook off the memories, and kept running. My head was so confused and distracted, and I switched directions without knowing it. I searched the sky for the city lights, but that source of comfort was gone. I heard the tires of his dad’s old car squeal as he turned the corner. I ran off of the road, avoiding the car’s menacing headlights. I almost smiled when I saw a lonely building up ahead. I snuck back into the shadows. I crept through the overgrown grass, and up the steps. I rested a minute, and caught my breath. I looked around at my surroundings. The building was obviously very old, and it was falling apart. It was made of red bricks. Over the door, there were six brass letters; c-h-u-r-c-h. I glanced up above the church, and saw a tall steeple piercing the milky, black sky. I inspected the handle on the door. It was highly polished, even though it was very, very old. I clenched the handle, and pulled. Nothing moved. I waited, and a crumble of bricks fell from the roof, onto the grass. I tried again, but this time I put all of my body weight into it. I pulled, and pulled. I heard a snap, and the door swung open.

          I coughed from all of the dust. The floor was lined with granite. I stepped on the floor, testing its strength. The floor didn’t collapse. I stood in the center of the church, and looked around. It was nothing like the movies. There weren’t any spider webs, ghosts, or bats. I stepped up to the altar. I wasn’t religious, but I felt a comforting feeling of protection. I tried to act respectful, but I found it very difficult. I stepped into one of the hallways where the congregation would have met after the services. There were offices lining the hallway. Hanging on each of the doors, were signs that had two letters written on them; NH. Under the two letters, there were words in parentheses that read; (Not Here. Please come back later.)

       I headed back into the main part of the church. I found myself a seat in one of the handcrafted wooden pews. I wasn’t thinking about anything, when a honk from outside shattered the silence in the empty church. I peered out through one of stained glass windows. His car was there in the parking lot. I felt my heart jump in my chest. I shrunk down from the window, hoping he had not seen me. How did he know I was here? I had no time to answer that question. I crawled to the back of the church, behind the altar. I squatted down, ready to run if anything happened. As I sat there for a while, I started to grow tense with fear. All of a sudden, I felt a hot breath down the back of my neck. I screamed, and turned around. There was no one behind me.  

       Just as I screamed, the doors to the church burst open. He stood there, his strong arms holding the doors open. I forced myself not to look at him, even though he couldn’t see me. He found two heavy bricks and propped the doors open. Taking his time, he looked down each isle of pews in silence.  He found a pew halfway through his search, and ran his hands along the seats. When he reached the wall, he turned around, and took a seat exactly in the middle. “I know you’re in here.” he said in a calm, persuading voice, “You don’t have to come out now, but it’s almost morning. There will be light. In the morning, I will search this church from top to bottom. I will find you.” He looked around one last time. He slouched in the pew, taking off his hat.

      In my corner, I thought that I would faint. It was getting awfully warm, and I was starting to hear mice. He was absolutely right. In the morning, the church would be flooded with bright light, and I could hide no longer. I could hide no longer. No longer.

 

     The next morning, two college students were reported missing. A reporter claimed that one was a girl, the other a boy. No one knows what happened. The local police investigated the young man’s house, and didn’t find anything suspicious. They were both A+ students, with great futures ahead of them. There will be further investigation on what happened on that tragic night.

 

I could hide no longer. No longer. 

Author's Note

An assignment for English class a year ago. This is the first story I have published on here, so please be nice!

Reviews

[Lemontine]

wow! that was amazing! I love all the emotion you put into this! good work!

[Shiningwolf]

This story took my breath away. I wanted to cry at the end. Sometimes you can never escape what fate has for you. This story was just utterly amazing. Thank you for your share.

[Aurora Lynn]

A very interesting story! I really enjoyed reading this (not in a weird way; it was a well-written piece). I liked the imagry that you used when writing this piece, the way that you described what was going on. You didn't just list what she was feeling and what she was doing; you SHOWED it to us, which is what really counts.

There was only one little thing that bugged me; the ending. I was a little bit confused at the last line. It seemed out of place, jarring the whole reading. I think that if you cut that last line, or maybe made it a bit longer it wouldn't jar the reader so much. But that's just a suggestion.

Other than that little thing, I really liked this piece. Thank you for writing!