Far Away by Shanequa Kirkley

Prologue

2:00 A.M.

Brasilia, Brazil

“S***.”

He was gaining on her.

Every step that she took resulted in three of his own.

There was no way that she would be able to escape him.

Running, so far, had not been working...

…she had to hide.

That was when she spotted the tree.

Yes, the only place that she could hide.

It was dark enough for her not to be seen although it was not certain whether or not she would be found.

She needed to run a little longer, just a little longer.

There just needed to be more space between him and her.

She could hear how close he was.

Nothing was more important to her than getting away from him.

If caught, he would more than likely kill her.

“Daniella, don’t run from me!”

Ha, that was a laugh.

Daniella knew why she was running.

She knew that if she were caught, she would be killed almost instantly.

Just a few more feet and it would be all right.

Daniella jumped behind the tree she had kept her eye on only a second later, landing on her back.

Pain...

Ignore it.

She had to keep quiet and practically hold her breath while she was there.

He was getting closer…

Closer...

Closer still...

Until, finally, he passed her.

She exhaled and covered her face with her hands in pure exhaustion. She was tired and out of breath. Her entire body was shaking and she could feel all of her limbs going limp at the same time. Her legs felt weak and she did not know if she would be able to get back up again.

The darkness of the night surrounded her, making her feel even more breathless. It reminded her of the cold, dark water; the freezing chill that came through her and frightened her. She had to forget about the water and only think about the forest and how to get out of it. She could not see much in the dark and could not hear anything over the pounding of her heart in her ears.

She stood up and focused to get her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

All she could see was the outline of trees.

Daniella sighed and walked slowly through the trees.

She felt as if she was walking partially blind.

The darkness had overwhelmed her with fear and memory which made her breathing lessen. Eventually she found that she could not breathe. Daniella grabbed a tree and tried to take deep, even breaths. She had to find a way out of the woods and get as far away as possible.

She caught her breath and stood at full height, which was only five feet and four inches when she heard something.

A branch snapped which made it clear that someone other than herself was walking around.

Run.

She ran as fast as she could and tried to dodge the trees. It was only a hunch but she felt as if she were getting out of the woods. She could not hear footsteps behind her and yet she kept running.

She could not risk him finding her.

Catching her.

Killing her.

Daniella had run out of ideas, hiding plans and breath.

She had no weapons, no time, and was losing the last bit of will she had left.

She just had to run.

Her chest tightened from not being able to breathe and she floundered to a stop. Daniella tried to take deep breaths and slow her heart rate. She heard nothing but the sound of her breathing and the pounding in her head. The darkness was engulfing her, trying to merge with her and make her no more. Everything seemed fuzzy and out of focus. This was the first time in years that she ever felt vulnerable.

Get rid of the feeling.

Just find a way out.

“Hello Daniella.”

Daniella gasped and turned around.

He found her.

S***.

“Hello.”

“Why were you running from me?”

“I was not running from you, I was just getting some exercise.” Daniella tried to smile at her joke but her head was still pounding.

He walked up to her and placed his hand gently on her neck. His touch was cold as ice. “Did you tire of my company so quickly?”

“Of course not.” Daniella took a deep breath. The one thing that she grew to master was the art of sarcasm but it fell flat since she had trouble breathing. "I wanted to stay back there and let you kill me."

“Maybe you just wanted to go find someone else to bide your time.”

“There are many different men in the world that I would rather have but I do not think running through the woods in the dark is one of the ways I would have chosen.” Daniella leaned against a tree to get away from his cold touch.

She could still feel the chill running through her.

She had been practically playing a game of tag with this man.

Now she was it.

“Well then, you would not mind coming back to the house.”

“What for?” Daniella tried not to sound as scared as she was about the thought of going back there.

“We can talk and then we can find a safer way for you to get away from me.”

“Haven't you had enough of my company for a while?”

He shook his head and grinned. “You know that I cannot get enough of you.”

“You might have to.”

“Why?” he got closer and pinned her against the tree.

“Because I have things that need to be done.”

“While I completely understand that, you should give me a few more hours of your time.”

“Okay, but that is all I can give.”

“Let’s head back to the house.” He began to walk away.

She turned the other way and ran.

She knew that if the house was the way he was headed, then the road had to have been the other way.

The trees flew by her.

She did not even worry about not being able to breathe anymore. The only thing she wanted to do was get out of the woods and away from him.

She had found that it was too easy to get away from him that time.

He had something up his sleeve and Daniella did not want to be around the find out what.

She could hear his footsteps and then the sound that she had been dreading since she had run out of the cottage deep in the woods.

He shot off a gun.

Closing her eyes, preparing for the pain, the bullet entered her shoulder and she could feel the metal exit through all of her muscle and tendons. The pain was tremendous and she wanted nothing more than to hit the ground and not get back up.

But she could still hear him behind her.

She knew that she had to get to the road soon or she would be done for.

Daniella was tired and aching to get to a hospital for rest and help with her shoulder, but she kept going.

He was getting closer.

He was right on her ass and she tried to run faster. He grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her to the ground. The wind was knocked out of her instantly.

After a minute, she took a deep breath and almost choked on it.

She was sure that she was going to die.

He stood over her. “Can you breathe, darling?”

Daniella did not say anything for a while. She had to make sure both of her lungs were still inflating correctly. “Yes, sweetheart, I am breathing without problems.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that. Do you need help getting up off the ground?”

“No, I’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Are you going to run again?”

“I would but I think it would be pointless.”

“How do you figure?”

“You are faster and can catch me easily.”

“Come along Daniella.”

“Can't you just let me go now?”

“I'm sure you know that I was not going to let you go.”

She sighed. “I know.”

“Then why don’t you just stop trying to fight it and come back to the house?”

“I am sure that there is something else up my sleeve that will help me get away from you.”

“I don't think so.”

“I guess we will just have to see.”

Daniella sighed.

She had been trying to buy time.

She knew that she was close to the road and someone had to see her out there.

He was being difficult and now she did not know what to do about it all. The only thing she had not done yet was plead. “Can’t we just stay out here?”

He touched the side of her face and smiled. “Yes, of course we can.”

Daniella sighed as he crouched over her body and touched her face.

She knew that there were other cottages near her now that she was close to the road, but the last thing she wanted was someone calling the police.

So she kept quiet.

Daniella knew that she had to let him do whatever he wanted with resentment in her heart and a pain in her shoulder. She closed her eyes and then she heard footsteps.

Not his footsteps, but someone else’s.

She opened her eyes and surveyed everything noticing that he had stopped touching her.

There was a man.

A police officer.

He appeared to be in his late teens, had shoulder length black hair pulled back and tied up accenting round hazel eyes. “May I ask what you are doing out here in the woods with this young lady?”

“We are having a romantic evening together." He lied. "Aren’t we honey?”

Daniella conveyed nothing but peered into the man’s eyes.

She knew that he understood what was going on.

Finally she began to breathe normally knowing that this was almost over. She knew then that nothing was going to happen to her.

Nothing…As long as the man stayed.

“I think that the little lady should come with me.”

“Why?”

“Just safety precautions.” The man cleared his throat. “You never know what happens out here in these woods now a days. It is dark enough for people not to notice.”

“But

“Do you have a problem with me taking her?”

“No.”

“Is there something that she knows? Something that you do not want her to tell me?”

“Of course not.”

“Wonderful." He grinned, reaching out his hand to her. "Let’s go ma’am.”

Daniella nodded, grasped his hand, letting him help pull her up and followed the man.

She glanced back only once to see him smiling at her in the dark. “I will see you soon my love.”

They were inside of the police car that he had come up in and had driven far from her tormentor before she began to talk. “Thank you for saving me back there.”

“No problem. Who was that?”

“A vast problem.”

“Oh. And who are you?”

“Daniella. Daniella Rodriguez.”

“James Dunst.”

“Thank you, James.”

“Where are you going to go?”

“Anywhere that he will not go. I think that I will go back to where I came from or I will hide out somewhere.”

“I want to help.”

Daniella tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to pull the car over, which he did. She smiled at him and got out of the car. She shut the door and walked around to his side of the car. He rolled the window down and she leaned over, kissing him.

When their lips parted she gazed into his eyes. “Stay far, far away from me." She warned. "For your own good.”