Operating entirely on instinct, she threw a wild punch, catching him full in the face before he had a chance to drive the knife into her. Ash kept fit. She worked out three times a week and had recently started doing boxercise. She thanked God for all these things now because the punch was a good one. It knocked him into the banister and made him loosen his grip on Ash’s wrist.
Pulling free, she turned and ran, following Tracy.
But Tracy had stopped at the top of the stairs and was looking down them with an expression of pure terror. ‘There’s another one coming!’ she screamed. ‘He’s got in the front door!’
Ash didn’t even have time to look, let alone take in the fact that there were possibly two of these psychopaths rather than one, and that the other had come through a door that she knew was locked. She didn’t even look back towards her husband, because there was no time for that. Her survival instinct had kicked in. She sprinted the length of the landing, towards the door to the bedroom she and Nick should have been sharing that night, yelling at Tracy to come with her.
Ash hit the door at a run, flinging it open without even giving a thought to who might be behind it. She could hear Tracy right behind her and she hauled her in. As the dark figure of the killer moved towards them she slammed the door shut, noticing with huge relief that there was a key in the lock. Pressing her whole body against the door, she turned it with shaking hands. She could hear him outside, his breathing calm and steady, as he tried and failed to turn the handle.
A split second later the door shook on its hinges as he slammed into it from the other side. It was only a small lock and she knew it wasn’t going to hold for more than a few seconds.
They were trapped.
The door shook again, and this time she heard the sound of wood splitting.
Looking round desperately, Ash spotted the sash window. It was the only way out. Vaulting the bed, she dashed over and flicked the catch on the lower window, yanking it upwards as hard as she could. The drop to the patio below was a good fifteen feet, but they had no choice.
‘Come on!’ she screamed at Tracy, who was still staring at the door. ‘Move it!’
Tracy ran over, took one look through the window, and turned to Ash. She started to say something, but Ash wasn’t listening. As the door shook once again, almost giving way this time, she grabbed Tracy by the collar and pushed her into the gap. ‘Go! Go! Go!’ she screamed, clambering out after her.
Tracy jumped, letting out a long shriek, at just the moment when the door flew open and the killer came striding into the room. He made straight for Ash with the bloodied knife raised, like something out of one of those horror films that had always scared her as a teenager.
Ash threw her legs out of the window and slid through it, grabbing at the window ledge with both hands as she swung round, hoping to lessen the distance between herself and the ground before she jumped. But as she let go a gloved hand grabbed her wrist. Suddenly she was dangling helplessly in mid-air. The killer began to lift her back up with an almost unbelievable strength, while bringing his knife hand down in the direction of her throat.
Knowing she had just seconds left, Ash pulled and struggled with all her might, wriggling like a fish on the line, and the next second she was falling through the air.
Ash hit the tarmac feet first and a stinging pain shot up her legs. She rolled over and leaped to her feet. Tracy was already staggering towards the trees a few yards away. Ash caught her up and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her along as she tried to put as much distance between them and the house as possible.
‘I’m hurt,’ whined Tracy, slowing down. ‘I think I’ve broken my ankle.’
‘I don’t care!’ hissed Ash, staring her right in the eye as they fought their way into the forest. ‘Run on it. You’ve got no choice.’
For a long moment, Ash thought about leaving Tracy behind, knowing she’d be far quicker on her own. But she stopped herself, because she knew she’d never be able to live with the guilt if she bolted now.
She took a quick glance over her shoulder and thought she saw a figure moving just inside the trees. It spurred her into running even faster. This time Tracy kept up, although she was limping badly and her face was taut with pain. What was truly terrifying Ash was the fact that these men, whoever they were, hadn’t uttered a single word. They were going about their murderous work as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Ash had no idea why the four of them were being targeted. It had to be something to do with the girl, but she wasn’t even with them now, so why were they still coming? Whatever the reason, Ash had an awful feeling that they weren’t going to stop until she and Tracy were dead.
They were tearing through the branches now, ignoring the bushes and brambles that slashed at them, concentrating everything on escape. These were big woods. There would be plenty of places to hide. They could find somewhere, then wait for morning and raise the alarm.
Ash felt the first stirrings of hope. They were moving fast and there were no sounds of pursuit. Tracy was in pain, but adrenalin and fear were driving them both on, deeper and deeper into the forest.
Then her friend let out a terrible scream and Ash’s hope vanished.
6
Tracy went down hard, rolling over in the dirt. For a split second Ash thought her ankle was in fact broken, but it was worse than that. Much worse.
A mantrap, the type used by hunters, had slammed shut on one of her legs, its metal teeth digging deep into the flesh. Tracy wailed in pain as she sat up and tried to pull it off. Ash immediately crouched down and tried to help. But the damn thing wouldn’t budge. It was stuck fast.
‘Help me, Ash, please …’
‘Hush, Trace,’ whispered Ash, still pulling on the rusty clamps. ‘You’ve got to be quiet.’ But it was hard to keep the panic out of her voice. She knew that even if she did free Tracy, there was no way she was going to be able to run any further. Her leg looked in a bad way. Blood was seeping through her jeans in a dozen places.
Tracy knew it too. Ash could see the terrified hopelessness in her eyes.
‘Please don’t leave me.’
‘I won’t,’ Ash told her with a determination she didn’t feel. ‘You’ve just got to be quiet. They might hear us.’
She stopped what she was doing and listened to the silence, trying to work out how far they’d come from the lodge. She could no longer see its lights, and guessed they’d made a few hundred metres. The leaves here were thick, and there was a large knot of brambles a few feet away, which they could probably hide under without being seen. If she could just move Tracy and keep her quiet.
The mantrap was attached by a thick piece of rusty wire to a bolt sticking barely an inch out of the ground. Ash started to dig the bolt out using her bare hands, figuring it was quicker to move Tracy with the mantrap still attached to her than to keep trying to remove it from her leg.
‘Oh God,’ whispered Tracy. ‘It hurts so much.’
Ash gave her a reassuring smile, truly feeling for her then. ‘It’s going to be OK, I promise.’
As she lifted her head and listened again to the quietness of the forest, trying to pick up any sound of pursuit, she heard it.
The baying of dogs.
And it was coming closer.
Tracy and Ash exchanged glances. Tears began to stream down Tracy’s face now as the realisation that this was the end of the line took hold. ‘Oh God no. Please, Ash. Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to die.’ Her voice was rising, affected by the same panic that was also rising up in Ash like an unstoppable force, making her whole body shake, as if it was about to go into spasm.