Penelope ran as hard as she could. She managed to dodge the trash that was piled around the building without tripping, though she wasn't sure how. She wasn't thinking, not really. She was just letting adrenaline and instinct carry her where she needed to go—far away from here.

The long grass whipped at her legs as she ran back down the path that led back to the abandoned house. It still tried to trip her, but her legs pumped so hard that the tangled strands couldn't hold her.

She wasn't sure if anyone was following her. She couldn't hear anything beyond her panting breaths coming rough and ragged. She didn't want to stop or try to look behind her. That was a good way to trip, to get caught.

Instead, she focussed on what was directly in front of her. The path. The driveway. The road. She just had to run. She had to get away. She had to get help. Because if she didn't, then Liam—

No. She couldn't let herself think about it.

Her feet hit pavement and she turned, skidding as she changed directions. She raced down the buckled road, scanning the dark trees on either side for the gap that led to the other driveways. She remembered they had parked the SUV just a few houses down...

Fortunately, the moon was almost full, so the dark wasn't quite so deep. Its cold light lit the way, filtering through the trees that lined the road...

Then she saw it. The moonlight glinted off something in the trees. The side mirrors of the SUV, parked halfway down the abandoned driveway. She gave a gasp of relief and turned again, barrelling down on it. Running full tilt, she didn't have much time to stop and ran straight into it, barely able to catch herself with her hands. As soon as she stopped running, her legs turned rubbery. She had to press her hands into the cold metal of the car to hold herself up as she walked around the side, to the driver's door...

Then she stopped cold. In her panic, she hadn't thought of the most obvious problem: she didn't have the keys. Liam did.

She swore and pounded a fist against the driver's side window and racked her panic-stricken brain for what to do next. She wished she knew how to hotwire things, but her dad had missed giving her the growing-up talk on how to boost a car. She thought about breaking into the vehicle and hiding inside, but if Gunnar found it, she was sure the first thing he'd do was search it...

Where is Gunnar? she wondered. She was sure he'd be chasing her. But now that her breathing was starting to slow and her blood wasn't pumping quite so hard, she didn't hear any footsteps approaching. Maybe Gunnar wasn't chasing her. Maybe she had a little more time to figure this out...

But as she looked around at her options, her heart sank. There weren't any good ones. Her phone had no signal out here. The houses were unstable and a death trap on their own. The woods were unfamiliar and dangerous, even more so in the dark. The roads were safer and were a straight shot out, but it'd take forever to walk and—

In the distance, she heard the rumble of a starting engine. It had to be Gunnar. That eliminated that option, then. If he was going to take the roads, then she needed to stay off them. She scrambled around the side of the SUV, crouching down at the front, hoping he'd pass by without noticing the SUV parked halfway down the driveway. As if to help, a large swathe of clouds passed across the moon, dimming its light...

Through the trees, she saw a flash of headlights as Gunnar pulled onto the road. He didn't peel out like he was in any hurry. Instead, he drove nice and slow. He was searching for her. But the forest was dark and she hoped the just-as-dark SUV would blend in with the surrounding woods, easily missed, especially with the moon covered.

Gunnar's big black truck puttered slowly down the road, getting closer and closer... She peered over the edge of the hood, watching the road through the SUV's windows. She watched the truck approach and then, slowly, go on right past the driveway.

Penelope released her held breath as she slumped against the SUV. She rested her head against the hood as relief rushed through her. He hadn't seen—

Then there was a small screech as his vehicle suddenly came to a stop.

Penelope's head snapped up. She could see that the backlights of the truck had lit up red. Then a shrill beep-beep-beep broke the silence as the truck began to back up...

Penelope dropped to the ground, curling into a crouch. She watched through the gap beneath the vehicle as the truck pulled up to the end of the driveway and came to another stop, blocking the SUV.

The truck gave another grumble as it shut off. She heard the door pop open and the crunch of footsteps on gravel as Gunnar hopped out. She watched his fancy leather boots as they walked around his truck and started down the driveway...

He came to a stop just feet away from the back of the SUV. She heard him give a little chuckle.

"Liam has the keys, doesn't he?" Gunnar called.

Penelope cursed under her breath.

Gunnar started walking again. A beam of light flickered on at his feet—the rounded beam of a flashlight. He went along the far side of the SUV, pausing to press the flashlight against the windows, checking to see if she was hiding inside. She had been right about that.

But while he was distracted...

Keeping low, she stepped back from the SUV, then, keeping her footfalls as light as possible, turned and ran for the house. She made it to the side, then ran alongside it, hoping to make it to the back before—

The flashlight beam fixed on her.

"There you are!" Gunnar cried, triumphant.

Penelope cursed again but kept running. She slipped around the corner, to the back of the house. She scanned her surroundings, her mind racing as she wondered where she should go next...

The house? No, it was a dead end. She didn't know the state of its insides, and Gunnar could easily corner her there. The woods? The woods that bordered the back end of the lot would have lots of places to hide. In there, she could easily lose him. But she could also get lost herself... Maybe, if she could get away from Gunnar, she could double back and get Liam before—

But she didn't have time to figure it out. She could hear Gunnar's rapidly approaching footsteps as he ran after her. She dove behind a crumbling retaining wall, just in time for the beam of Gunnar's flashlight to cross over the backyard. She watched it trail across the trees at the edge of the forest, then a small half-collapsed shed in the corner, before skimming over the edge of the retaining wall...

"Come on, Penelope," Gunnar called out, casting the flashlight's beam across the yard again. "Let's talk. This isn't what you think. I'm not going to hurt Liam. I thought he was a trespasser and I overreacted..."

Sure, you did, Penelope thought bitterly, thinking of Xander. Gunnar didn't know that she had been down there, that she had seen everything.

"I can explain," Gunnar said. "Just let me explain!"

Penelope kept quiet.

"You can't hide forever," Gunnar said, his tone sharpening like he was getting annoyed. "And you can't make it back on your own. It's dangerous out here.

Yeah, Penelope thought. Because of you.

She could hear his footsteps getting closer. "Come on out, Penelope... I can help you. Let me help you."

A shrill cry broke the quiet of the night. Gunnar gave a shout and the flashlight's beam danced across the yard as it tumbled out of his hand.

Now! Penelope leapt up from her hiding spot and raced across the yard, throwing herself behind the shed. Once she was sure she was out of sight, she peered around the edge, back towards the house. Gunnar had the flashlight again, and in the light, she could see that his scowling face had a new set of deep, bloody scratches trailing across his forehead. In his other hand, he had a wad of something, something that was dripping... He turned the flashlight on it and she saw that it was the mangled body of a raven.

A raven attacked him?

"Keep your fuckin' eyes off me," he spat and then threw the dead bird to the ground. It landed with a sickening splat.

There was another squawking cry, this time from behind her... from the woods. She looked back and, in the moonlight, saw the trees dotted with small dark shapes.

More ravens. Hundreds of them. Maybe more.

Penelope swallowed as her eyes darted between the little figures.

What do they want?

She had once thought that the birds were somehow communicating with her for the Raven. But if the ravens were messengers for that... that thing that Gunnar kept in the cellar, then...

One little raven fluttered down from its high branch, landing just inches from her. It tilted its little head, then opened its beak.

"FOLLOW ME."

What? Penelope stared at it, then turned to see if Gunnar had heard it. He had. His flashlight was now trained on the trees, mere feet from where she was hiding.

"I know you're here, Penelope," he called, getting closer. "I know you're here..."

She looked back at the bird. It bobbed its head and then took off again, flying up to the branches over her head. Again it croaked, "FOLLOW ME," before flying off. The others took to flight, too, the beating of a hundred wings rising into a deafening rhythm as they all flew off, deeper into the forest...

As they drifted away, she heard a crack of a twig behind her. Gunnar was closing in...

She had no more options.

She dove into the woods, after the birds.