A Long Night

A Long Night
Isla’s POV

The cold rain hit my face, sharp and endless as I crawled out of the vent and dropped hard into the mud. My knees buckled. My wrists screamed from where the ropes had dug in, blood slick on my skin.
The night was black and howling. The air smelled of smoke and wet earth. Somewhere behind me, the motel burned. I could hear the crackle of flames over the rain, faint but alive.
I didn’t know what happened. I didn’t know if they’d killed Damian, but I only knew that I just had to run.
My feet hit the ground before my mind caught up. I stumbled into the trees, breath tearing in and out of me, heart a wild drumbeat in the dark. Every branch felt like claws. Every shadow looked like hands reaching out to drag me back.
My bare feet slipped on the wet ground, mud sucking me down. I didn’t care. I kept going.
The thunder rolled again, long and low, echoing like the growl of something ancient.
I glanced back once. The motel was a distant orange glow now, fire crawling through its broken windows. I couldn’t tell if it was a rescue or a funeral pyre.
“Damian…” I whispered his name into the wind. It vanished before I could hear it.
A branch cracked somewhere to my right. I froze.
Voices.
“Check the tree line!” one shouted. “She couldn’t have gone far!”
My lungs stopped working. I pressed myself against the trunk of a tree, heartbeat loud enough I was sure they could hear it. A flashlight beam sliced through the rain, sweeping over the wet ground.
“Tracks here!” another voice yelled. “She’s barefoot!”
I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.
Move.
Now.
I turned and ran again, deeper into the woods. The trees closed in around me, thick and heavy with mist. My hair clung to my face, rain mixing with sweat and blood.
All I could think of was keep moving.
I don’t know how long I ran. Minutes. Hours. Time didn’t exist in the dark. My breath came out in ragged bursts. My body screamed at me to stop, but fear kept me alive.
Finally, I saw it—a concrete pipe half-buried in the ground, wide enough for me to crawl into. A drainage tunnel.
I slid inside, scraping my knees on rough cement. The air was damp and smelled like rust. I pressed myself against the wall, shivering uncontrollably. My clothes stuck to me like a second skin.
I stayed there, listening.
The footsteps came closer. Voices, angry, arguing.
“She’s in here somewhere!”
“You sure? The tracks stopped!”
“Shut up and look!”
The beam of a flashlight cut across the tunnel’s entrance. I froze, barely breathing. The light hovered there for a second—one long, unbearable second.
Then it moved away.
Their footsteps faded, swallowed by the storm.
I waited until I couldn’t hear them anymore. Then I let out the breath I’d been holding. My hands were shaking so hard I had to press them against the wall to steady them.
I tore a strip from my sleeve and wrapped it around my wrists. The fabric turned dark with blood, but it stopped the sting a little.
The cold settled into my bones. I tried to think. Tried to believe Damian was still out there.
He had to be.
He heard me on that call. He had to.
I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my forehead on them. The silence in that tunnel felt too big.
I thought about his hands on my skin, the way his voice dropped when he said my name. The promise in it.
He always kept his promises.
Didn’t he?
A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it. I wiped it away with shaking fingers.
Crying wouldn’t help.
Not now.
I looked around. The tunnel stretched into darkness, one end open to the woods, the other disappearing into shadow. Something flickered deeper inside—faint light, maybe from an old electrical box or wiring.
Curiosity pushed me forward. I crawled closer.
It was an emergency radio box, half-broken, wires hanging loose. When I touched it, a spark jumped. The static startled me.
Then—nothing.
I hit it again.
Static flared. A faint hum, like a heartbeat.
I leaned close. “Please,” I whispered. “Work.”
I grabbed one of the loose wires, twisted it, and spoke into the old mic. My voice came out cracked and desperate.
“Damian… if you can hear me… I’m alive. I’m—”
The static snapped, cutting me off. The light went dead.
I stared at it, throat tight. For a second, I thought I’d imagined it all. But then I saw the faint glow still pulsing in the wire, slow and steady.
Somewhere, miles away, maybe—just maybe—he heard me.
That thought gave me the strength I didn’t know I had left.
I turned back toward the mouth of the tunnel. The rain had softened to a steady drizzle. The forest beyond was cloaked in fog.
I crawled out slowly, every muscle screaming. My legs felt like glass. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I couldn’t stay.
Each step was agony. My vision blurred, but I kept walking.
Then, out of nowhere, a light swept across the trees again. Closer this time.
They were still searching.
I ducked behind a fallen log, mud caked up my arms. The flashlight beams cut through the fog like knives.
“She can’t have gone far!” someone shouted.
I held my breath. My pulse pounded in my ears.
One man stopped a few feet away. I could see the glint of his gun, the steam of his breath in the cold air. He turned slowly, scanning the area.
If he stepped one more pace, he’d see me.
My heart stuttered.
A crash of thunder split the air. The man jerked, cursed, and turned back toward the others.
They moved away.
I waited another minute before crawling out. My whole body was shaking now.
I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.
The trees thinned out ahead. Beyond them, faint city lights flickered like ghosts through the fog. If I could just reach them, maybe I could find help.
I pushed forward, one step at a time.
The ground dipped suddenly. My foot slipped, and before I could catch myself, I slid down a muddy slope. The world spun. I hit the bottom hard, the breath knocked out of me.
Pain burst through my ribs. For a moment, I couldn’t move.
Then I heard it—an engine. Faint but close.
“She went this way!”