Into the Black

She burst into the nursery and slammed the door, shoving the heavy oak dresser in front of it.

"Leo, wake up!"

The boy sat up, eyes wide. He didn't cry. He seemed to have been waiting for this.

"We have to go. Now." Elara didn't bother with shoes or coats. She grabbed Leo, lifting him onto her hip.

She heard heavy footsteps in the hall. The doorknob rattled. Then, a heavy impact against the wood. Julian wasn't playing anymore.

"Open the door, Ms. Vance," he said calmly from the other side. "Don't make this messy."

Elara ran to the window. It was painted shut. She grabbed the heavy brass lamp from the bedside table and swung it with all her strength.

*Crash.*

Glass shattered outward, letting the storm in. The wind screamed, soaking them instantly. Below, the metal fire escape was slick with rain, clinging to the side of the stone manor.

"Hold on to my neck, Leo. Do not let go," she shouted over the wind.

She climbed out. The metal was freezing. Her bare feet slipped on the grate.

*BANG.* The nursery door splintered inward. Julian was in the room.

Elara scrambled down the ladder, the rusty metal biting into her hands. She didn't look up. She heard Julian shouting something, but the wind tore his words away.

They hit the ground, mud instantly soaking through her socks.

"Run, Leo!"

She grabbed his hand, and they sprinted toward the treeline. The woods surrounding Blackwood Manor were dense, ancient, and pitch black.

Behind them, floodlights snapped on, bathing the lawn in blinding white light.

"There!" a voice shouted. Security.

Elara didn't stop. Branches whipped her face, tearing at her skin. The ground was a slurry of mud and pine needles. Leo stumbled, but she yanked him up, dragging him forward.

"I've got you," she gasped, her lungs burning. "I've got you."

They plunged deeper into the darkness, the lights of the manor fading into a glow behind them, the sound of pursuing footsteps heavy in the wet earth. They were cold, they were lost, and they were hunted.

But as Elara squeezed Leo’s hand, and he squeezed back for the first time, she knew they were something else, too. They were free.

She pulled him into the thicket of a massive oak tree, crouching in the mud, listening to the men shouting their names in the distance. The storm raged on above them, covering their tracks, washing away the world they had left behind. Elara held her breath, staring into the dark, waiting for the next move.