CHAPTER 1

A little sincerity is a dangerous thing and a great deal of it is absolutely

Fatal

Oscar Wilde

A hand reached out of the shadows and wrapped itself around her mouth.

Ssh, the person whispered, don’t move; don’t cry out, it warned.

She stood there, tears running down her face as she heard gun shot after another resounding in the streets.

One minute she was in the shadows, the next she was being pulled through the trees of the forest, to the river that divided the town.

His hand grasped hers angrily and she couldn’t see his face, shadowed from the trees and dark sky. Even though his face was shadowed, his eyes glinted unfathomably, and the way he held his body as they ran reminded her of someone she had met two years ago, when her father had given her up to foster care.

They skidded to a halt when they reached the river bank, and she was able to turn round and glance at his face, but before she could have glanced at him, his hand was covering her face again, and no matter how much she squirmed and wriggled, his hold would not loosen from her body, and the fear of being physically hurt was gnawing at her insides, telling her to stop him… whoever he was.

She gasped as her feet were swept from under her and the hand over he face shifted lightly so she could see the sky but not her kidnappers face.

She heard water slosh and rocks grinding together, and then she heard the closeness of falling water.

Was he going to leave her in the water? Abandon her where she couldn’t fight her way away?

Bella twisted her head and bit hard on one of the kidnapper’s fingers, drawing blood. The kidnapper merely grunted and tightened his grip.

She opened her mouth and screamed, loud enough to scare an owl in a nearby tree and send it flying off into the night, its hoot-hoot slowly ebbing away as the owl disappeared into the cloak of darkness.

Finally, the sound of water stopped and she heard the thump of feet on the ground, ringing hollowly in her ears. Bella closed her eyes and wished herself to wake up, to forget everything that had been happening and to return to her former home, sink into the soft mattress of her bed and sleep.