Never Run (May Moore Suspense Thriller 1)

PROLOGUE

"Wait up!" Breathlessly, Courtney Flax pulled back against her boyfriend's grasp. "Not so fast!"

The grass brushed her ankles, chilly and damp from evening dew. Ahead, Eagle Lake gleamed in the moonlight.

Courtney thought the expanse of water looked dark and somehow foreboding. In mid-May, she knew it would still be icy cold.

Gary, her boyfriend, had suggested the swim on the way back from their friend’s house. Now, she was thinking it was a bad idea.

"Come on, Court," Gary said, tugging her forward again. "It'll be fun. Trust me."

"But Gary, it's freezing."

"Court, don't be such a baby," he said. "Life’s an adventure!"

"Gary, seriously. I don't like swimming in the dark. Can't we do this some other time?"

"It's a full moon! You'll be able to see just fine."

"I don't think so," Courtney said, bracing herself with her feet glued to the silvery grass. "I'm cold."

"Oh, c’mon," he said, tugging her hand. "It's not that cold."

Courtney forced down a wave of fear. "Maybe not for you," she said.

She glanced to the side. They were alone at the lake’s edge. The moon didn’t provide much light. All it did was make the shadowy water seem more threatening.

She looked up at her boyfriend. His face was hidden in darkness.

She'd always thought the lake was spooky at night. Too deep, too quiet, too still.  But Gary's grip was inexorable as he urged her toward the wooden pier.

"Uh-uh." Now Courtney tugged her arm away from him. "I'm not jumping off that! I'd rather go in from the shore."

Fear thrilled through her. No way was she going to leap off that pier into the dark water. Who knew what might be waiting?

She felt relieved when he let go of her hand.

"Okay, Court. Whatever you say. But there's nothing to be scared of." He sounded grumpy.

Gary stomped off toward the water.

Courtney let out a breath of relief. For a moment, she'd felt like Gary was going to try and pull her onto the pier and push her into the lake.

Clearly wanting to show off to her now, he ran, taking off toward the edge of the wooden planks. For a moment, he paused, looking out over the water as he took off his jacket, and his shoes. Then, he sprang, leaving the pier and plunging into the icy darkness.

Courtney stepped tentatively across the grass. She wouldn’t mind just getting her feet wet. She didn’t want Gary to think of her as a ‘fraidy cat, or a bad sport.

But then, as Gary surfaced, he started screaming.

"Help! Help! Court, help me! It's got me!"

Courtney gasped, staring at the inky water, her heart thundering in her chest. The night suddenly seemed colder, denser, darker.

"What?" she cried. "What's happened? Gary, are you okay?"

"Help me!" Gary's voice echoed across the water. "Get me out of here!"

She ran toward the lake’s edge, stumbling over the damp grass.

There he was. She could see his head bobbing, faintly, in the moonlight.

"What's wrong?" she cried.

For a long moment, he didn't reply, and her stomach clenched in horror.

And then, she heard him spluttering with laughter. "Only kidding! I was joking, Court. I was playing with you! I'm fine!"

Slowly, she felt her heart slow again. For a moment, she'd been utterly terrified. That hadn't been a nice joke.

"You know I get spooked out here. That wasn't fair," she said angrily.

"I couldn't help it, Court. You're too easy to tease sometimes. Now come on in."

Doubtfully, she edged toward the shore.

"I don't want to swim," she repeated.

"It's freezing! Colder than I thought it would be. Maybe you shouldn’t swim. But I dare you to go in up to your knees," he encouraged her, more kindly this time.

Cautiously, she made her way to the lake.

Going in up to her knees was a dare she could take. She kicked her shoes off and stepped in, gasping as the cold hit her skin. Just a few more steps. Then she could get out again.

She was only ankle deep when she felt something in the water, bumping against her foot.

She yelped and took a step back, her heart thudding in her chest.

"What is it?" Gary called out. Now he sounded spooked.

Peering down, Courtney could see something near the edge of the water. A shape that surely should not have been there. Pale and strange looking, it bobbed below the surface of the lake.

"Gary, there's something in here, and I don’t like the look of it," she called, her voice now shaking with fright.

Gary spluttered with laughter.

"Court, you got me there. That was a good one. I actually felt scared there for a minute. Come a bit further in," he said.

"Wait! I’m not kidding you. There really is something here. Stop splashing around. I’m trying to see what it is. It looks really spooky."  Her voice rose to a shriek.

“It's just a log," he tried to reassure her, swimming closer.

"It does not look like a log!" she cried.

As Gary approached, the lapping water was pushing this -- this thing – toward her and into the shallows.

She wasn't imagining it. What she had dreaded was becoming clearer. It was the body of a young woman.

Her face was bluish white, her lips apart, her eyes wide and unseeing. Pale hair streamed out around her.

A body. In the lake.

Courtney leaped back, half-falling as she thrashed her way out of the water. She was crying now, in terror at what was there, her mind reeling with the impossibility of it all.

She pressed her hands over her mouth to stifle the horrified screams, hoping that Gary, who was now swimming fast in her direction, would somehow be able to reassure her that it really was nothing. A log. A floating weed. A trick of her imagination, nothing more than moonlight on water.

But, as Gary splashed into the shallows, and stared down at what lay there, he started screaming, too.