In The End Box Set | Books 1-3 Stevens, GJ (story books to read TXT) 📖

for. The car rolled forward and he nodded with impatience to the open passenger door.

Motorbike engines continued to ring through the night. Dots of light bounced over the countryside, not so far in the distance. I swear I could hear the heavy breath of the four-legged beasts racing in our direction.

I had no choice.

My butt scarcely touched the fabric before being forced back in the seat, my hands crushed together against the gun as the car sped. Lunging forward, metal clattered in the footwell as he dabbed the brakes and the door slammed at my side. With no seat belt to hold me back, I caught the mirror image of ambling legs in the red light's glow before being enveloped again by the darkness.

“Where are we going?” I said, my voice unsure as I stared out of the side window to search the dark horizon. I caught the tang of alcohol in the air. My gaze roved along the line of the land in the distance, lingering on every imperfection as I squinted. The car moved too quickly to make out all but the direction we were heading.

When he hadn’t replied for what seemed like a long time, I turned to watch his profile. I stared at his concentration, trying to get a measure. I studied his clean-shaven face, his smooth skin as he leant forward with his muscular chest pushed up towards the steering wheel, peering out wide into the distance.

The beat in my chest refused to settle, doubt filling my mind as I looked at his face, only just more than a silhouette.

Had I left the hornet’s nest only to jump straight into the web of a poisonous spider?

From what I’d already seen, he was young, a similar age to myself. In the darkness he looked like he’d not seen the sun in years. He was tall, but not lanky and wore a black t-shirt under a dark shirt half tucked into his jeans. His short back and sides hair matched the black of his clothes. If first impressions were anything to go by, he didn’t look like he scared easily.

I’d seen many men like him before; had felt sorry for their choices in my early days as a court reporter.

“Where are we going?” I said again.

This time he replied, his voice calmer than his focused expression portrayed.

“Anywhere,” he said, coughing away the tremble in his voice as it wavered. “You saw those things? Right?” he said, as he gripped his hand back tight to the steering wheel. He turned to catch my reply and I nodded. “What are they?” he added, his eyes wide on me for the first time.

I shook my head and he turned back to the road, leaving behind a feeling of unease I just couldn’t shake. With the moon high in the sky, my night vision had improved. His must have too and he turned back, for the first time seeming to take note in the dark, looking back with what could have been concern at how I sat uncomfortable with my hands at my back.

The car slowed as we took a corner, both of us pulled up in our seats as we couldn’t help see the floodlights lighting up the road ahead, the dark trucks parked across its width. Dots of figures moved around in the light. A roadblock.

His hand jumped at the switch for the headlights and he slowed the car to a stop. Twisting around, his brow furrowed in my direction.

“What’s wrong with your hands?”

I took a deep breath, my options racing through my head. I could jump from the car and run in to the darkness. The dogs would have lost the scent by now. We’d travelled far enough to get from what had frightened him, but would he risk following me? It all depended on his intentions.

I shouldn’t take a chance. I should run, my gut told me over and again. If only I could get the door open.

I twisted in my seat, showing my cuffed hands, leaving the gun still resting in the small of my back. I waited for his reaction, trying to suppress my urge to scream as I questioned why I was giving myself up to him.

“You weren’t running from those…” He paused with the same hesitation I’d seen before; the same stall in the brain people have as their minds try to come to terms with a new reality. “Those things?”

I shook my head whilst trying to keep calm, opening my eyes wide and holding my breath.

“What were you running from? Did you escape from the police?”

I gave a shallow shake of my head.

“A man,” I said, letting my voice catch. “He tried to…,” I said. “He… He…” I stuttered.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to say,” he said, pushing out his hand in my direction.

I backed away, pushing myself to the door, conscious of the pistol pinching in my back as he snapped his hand away.

“But, he, he’s a soldier. I can’t,” I said, looking up to the roadblock. “I can’t let them find me,” I said, peering straight into his eyes. He stared back, then looked down to my hands still twisted down on show at my side.

He turned to the lights ahead, twisting back to me with a nod. He grabbed the wheel, pinning me in my seat as he sped up and swung the car out to the side, bumping us off the road.

The car jumped up and down, metal clattered in the footwell, the underside of the car scraping against what sounded like giant boulders.

We kept going. Kept bouncing along the rocks. The ground undulated beneath us until the impacts stopped. With a great thud against the tyres I felt the smooth road and our world calmed.

As we drove through the darkness, I felt an overwhelming urge to