Having lot’s of fun playing hockey and sitting around talking with friends.
The Hunt- Episode 2
Elise sprinted up the stairs two at a time. Where was Tommy? How comes it had a piece of his orange shirt on its arm? Had it taken him— kidnapped him? Worse? She could barely bring herself to think about it.
She burst out into the bright, spacious ground floor. It was bustling up here. Lots of interested women (and a few desperately bored men) examined the store’s collection of make-up. It took only s a few seconds to spot Athena’s bleached blonde hair moving in between the aisles of mascara. Elise raced round and up to her.
“Athena!” she cried, grabbing hold of her arms and swinging her round.
“Elise!” Athena gasped and apologised to her customers, who shrugged nonchalantly and wandered off.
“Athena,” Elise gulped, trying to let the cool air and soothing perfume calm her. “There’s a thing downstairs.”
“A thing?” Athena raised her eyebrows.
“Yes,” Elise nodded frantically, “a thing. Like a… a shadow. It’s done something to Tommy. He’s gone. Vanished.”
“Vanished?” Athena remembered the recent disappearances of the three people. Two of them had been in rooms with locked doors and windows. In order to get into Fiona Adamson’s room, they’d had to smash the window. There’d been a chair lodged under the door handle.
Athena hurried to the basement stairs smiling sweetly at customers who shot her odd looks. But at the top of the stairs, she paused. “Come on, Elise!” she hissed over her shoulders.
“No,” Elise shook her head, “it might be still down there.”
“Oh come on,” Athena stepped back, took her hand and pulled her forwards, “I need you to show me where it was.” And before she could argue, Athena had dragged her to the bottom of the steps.
It was eerily quiet downstairs. The chatter of happy shoppers seemed a long way off. It was dark down here compared to the bright light upstairs. “Where’s the light switch?” Athena muttered in annoyance, fumbling along the wall. She found it, and the basement was flooded with the artificial lighting. “Where did you see this thing?” she asked. Elise crept over to the joke toys’ column.
“Round there,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Athena asked loudly. Elise shrugged nervously. Athena stuck her head round the column. “Oh my – “ she began but Elise interrupted her: “Is it there?”
Athena’s heart pounded and she quickly turned back to look at her. She was grinning. “No of course not!” She grabbed Elise and pulled her round. “Do you see it?”
“No,” Elise said, “but I’m telling you, it was right here. I saw it, I swear!”
“Sure,” Athena smiled and walked over the to the desk, “now come on, get on with your job.”
“But Tommy” Elise protested.
“But Tommy what?” Athena asked impatiently “That ‘thing’ probably was Tommy, dressing up and scaring you for a laugh. He’ll have run off now.” She stepped behind the counter, looking down to check she stepped over the wires. Then, she screamed.
Elise ran round to the counter. The shadow man, with his square head and featureless face, was sitting, crouched under the counter. He was facing Athena. With a move like lightning, his hand shot out to Athena. She wasn’t fast enough. With another scream, his hand fastened around her leg. And then she was gone. In her place, stood another shadow man. It was unlike the first. Instead it was a perfect silhouette of Athena.
The Shadow Man released the ankle of the Shadow Athena. Elise couldn’t move. She was frozen. Shadow Athena turned her blank face towards Elise, and reached out her arm.
The Hunt: Episode 1
The Hunt Episode 1
Calvin Stokes went missing Tuesday, Fiona Adamson last seen Thursday and Leon Saxton discovered missing on Friday. Each one vanished without a trace. Each one vanished without any notice. And no-one knows where, why or how.
Athena Sharp dropped the newspaper back onto the counter. “This is ridiculous,” she said indignantly, “Why isn’t this headline news?”
“I agree,” Elise Luthier straightened the blue pens on her desk next to the cashier, “in some areas, one person is missing and the media swamp the place.”
“I suppose that’s because they that that someone will have seen something,” Athena twirled her earring round, “and there’s always someone to point the blame at. But here, there’s no-one.”
Elise gazed around the toy area of Fletcher & McCafferty department store. About ten children ran about the colourful basement, playing with the sample toys. Watching the children enjoy themselves was definitely the best part of her job. Relaxed, she inhaled deeply and caught a scent of the jasmine and rose perfume that Athena favoured.
Just then, Elise heard a clatter of noise and turned to look. “Tommy be careful,” she told the boy in the orange shirt seriously, “and don’t get hurt. Now, quickly, put that box back on the shelf where it came from.” Tommy shot her a wicked, gap-toothed grin and ducked behind a column holding joke toys.
Athena breathed out deeply. “Rather you than me,” she whispered, “his smiles unnerve me. And I’m not sure if he’s just naturally clumsy, or whether he just does it on purpose!”
Elise smiled at Athena’s annoyance and reached into her pencil skirt pocket and pulled out a couple of pounds. The coins felt cold in her palm. She handed them to Athena. “Buy me a wrap on your break,” she told her, “chicken, like normal.”
“Sure,” Athena took the coins and picked up the mirror that she had originally come to collect. “I hope Jay doesn’t mind I took so long!” She grinned as she hurried to the stairs in the left corner of the basement.
“So do I! Or I won’t get my wrap!” Elise called after the vanishing blonde-haired figure of Athena. She looked back down at the newspaper on her desk. One name in particular jumped out at her. Leon Saxton. She knew him. He’d been ill on the day he’d disappeared. He’d been ill since Wednesday. And it was now common knowledge that Fiona Adamson was pregnant. Calvin Stokes had cancer.
There was something about this. These people… this lack of attention: none of this was on the front page. Hardly any media or police involvement. All this bugged her. What was going on?
It was only when the power cut for a few seconds that she remembered what she was doing— or what she was supposed to be doing. Watching that the kids didn’t do anything stupid or dangerous.
Elise heard another small crash to her right. Her crystal blue eyes flicked across the room. She noticed the box that Tommy had knocked over earlier, and remembered Athena saying that Tommy was naturally clumsy. She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance and stepped out from behind the counter.
“Tommy,” she said, picking up the box and setting it carefully back on the shelf, “remember to be careful!”
There was no reply. Not even a suppressed giggle. She looked around her. There was no-one there. Not a sound, either. They’d fixed the heating, so it was silent now. Oh why had they done that? Now she longed for it to whir noisily, willing it with all her heart, although she wasn’t sure of what she was afraid of.
“Tommy, don’t run off on your own,” Elise said loudly, “it’s not safe. The people… they don’t know where they are…” her voice trailed off. Her heartbeat pounded. She could hear it.
Elise glanced backwards. No-one. She reached and held onto the joke toys’ column— still looking backwards. “Tommy…?” She turned round.
A huge, black shape leapt out at her. It was a whole head and shoulders taller than her. Its head was just more or less square and… featureless. No nose. No mouth. No eyes. No ears. Just a solid, black shadow.
Elise gasped and stumbled backwards. The thing extended a large, pure black hand with long, slender fingers. She leant back as far as she could without falling. It just missed her. Elise turned on her heel and fled. For from the outstretched arm dangled a piece of orange fabric.
Uth 