The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1) (14 page)

He ran out the back door, his nerves still
shaking from the gun shots he fired. He had just shot two people, and took one
life. It didn’t feel real to him. The entire thing happened in an instant. One
second he was with his grandfather, the next he was in the arms of a big man
who smelled like he wore too much cologne.

Branches hit at his face as he raced through the
woods, not knowing exactly where he was going. All he knew was he had to keep
running. Running meant survival. He thought he could hear them on his trail,
chasing him. He was out of breath, sucking in mouthfuls of air. A cramp grew in
his right side. He struggled to fight through it. He’d be okay if he could get
to the stream. His grandfather told him to run east until he reached the Black
Rock stream, then turn right and follow it as far as it went all the way down
to the dirt road. Lee and Ruth would be a quarter of a mile away. They would
keep him safe, his grandfather promised.    

He couldn’t stop the tears from coming. He left
his grandfather on the floor, bleeding. He left his father too. He couldn’t go
back to help, he had to keep running, to the stream.

He thought about his mother. Would he see her
again? Would that even be possible? It felt like he was running from an old
life and the further he ran the further he left it behind. He didn’t stop. He
didn’t look back over his shoulder to see if they were coming. He only ran.

He’d keep running until he got to the stream.
He’d keep running until the sun went down and he couldn’t see his way anymore.
He’d keep running until his body gave out on him. He’d keep running forever if
he had to because running was survival. We only stopped moving when we died.

So he ran. And he ran. And he thought he could
hear the sound of the stream ahead of him.   

If you’ve made it this far, thank you, as it
means the story was able to hold some amount of interest for you. I wrote The
Midnight Stand as the first part of a larger story that I hope to continue
sharing with you.  If you enjoyed this book, or even if you didn’t, please feel
free to leave comments and reviews on Amazon. You can even contact me directly
with comments through my website.

I’d also like to thank Tina Affortunato and Catherine
DiPaolo for reading through my manuscript with a detailed eye that I could
never manage and correcting the many grammatical and structural errors in it.    

For more information on upcoming books please
visit my website:
www.louisaaffortunato.com