Running Shoes (The Shades of Northwood) Read Online Free

if she would get splinters in her feet, and felt cold
smooth floor beneath her. Marble. She glanced down and found she
was no longer holding on to the bony fingers; only a strange cold
outline of a hand signalled there had ever been anything there. All
around was dark but light must have been creeping in from somewhere
because, as Katie stared into the darkness, her eyes adjusted and
she could just make out shadows far away and leaning against what
she assumed were the walls to this place. She stepped forward a
bit, using her feet to feel the ground at every step just in case
it fell away or there was something to trip her. Stepping forward
was the only thing to do. It was also crazy as a jack in the box.
Something rustled. The dark shapes. They were moving. Katie thrust
her hand behind her and pawed the air for the door, a way back to
safety, although she knew it had either closed and locked or
disappeared totally the moment she had stepped into this place.
Forward was the only way to go. She knew that. She willed herself
to run in measured, even strides like she had trained to do. But
she was frozen. Fear did that and maybe there was a little of that.
The shadows were so far away they could be anything from a giant
fluffy bunny to a psychotic clown with thoughts of doing her good
or harm. But it wasn’t the idea that something might hurt her that
held her in place – it was knowing they were alive and moving
towards her. A footstep clicked down on the hard floor and echoing
around like a stacked heel with some weight behind it. Echo… echoes
were caused by sound rebounding in an open space like a cave or a
canyon. So the noise had to be bouncing off something –walls, she
guessed, and walls meant a room which meant there must be a door
out of here. That was logical but Katie’s legs seemed not to
comprehend logic. Then the rustling started up again. Nothing moved
when she looked but every black hump and lump seemed a tiny bit
closer when she turned. And that was enough for Katie to will her
feet into unwilling movement. One step. Two steps. That’s all she
managed before the footsteps of one of the shapes started again. It
was just a little two far away to be within touching distance but
Katie certainly was not going to look around to see how much leeway
she had. If she did, she knew, the sight would be so terrifying
that she would be afraid to move or even breathe. She put her hands
to her ears and did her best to step forward calmly but quickly.
These blobs of black would doubtless know if she started running
but she did, her hands falling towards her sides and pumping out
the rhythm of her strides. There was darkness stretching on forever
and no end in sight. And the clicking footsteps were always coming
after her and pretty soon they were joined by more and more sets of
heels – too many to count. No rustling, no voices, just footfalls
that never seemed to run but never seemed to get farther away, no
matter whether she walked or ran. For one heart-stopping instant,
Katie decided that there was no way out of here. Running put no
distance between her and whatever was chasing her – maybe it would
be just as well if she halted and let these unformed things catch
up to her, grab her, swallow her whole. These splashes of black in
the nearly black which had no faces or names. And then, so far away
it may have been a trick of the light, such as it was, or the
mirage of a frenzied and frightened mind, a thin strip of light
opened up. She headed for I knowing that if she slowed then there
would be no escape from this nightmare. A nightmare where the
monsters were unseen, where there was no light to show the true
horrors it contained. Heels clip-clopped after her. The chink of
light was growing a touch larger with every step. But it wasn’t
close enough. The leader of the phantom pack hunting her reached
forward with one deeply dark limb and came within inches – maybe
centimetres – of her shoulder. Katie felt the air