Grey floor boards, cotton curtains, marble bench tops and faded cream cabinets. A young woman with flaming red hair, brighter than the red earth the house was built upon.

“Why not stay the night sweet heart?” She had said. Now those words made my skin crawl.

“Okay,” I had replied and curled up on the couch. I had thought she was a nice woman.

When I woke up, someone was standing over me. Yellow eyes bore into mine. I screamed. They tried to stop me. I kicked them off and ran for the door, but the woman with the flaming hair was there.

“Don’t run, sweet heart, she’s here to take you to a friend.” She grinned showing sharp teeth and her eyes blackened.

I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. The two cornered me, flaming hair on one side, bright yellow eyes on the other. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was instinct, but when the one with the flaming red hair came at me, I stabbed her.

I think I killed her.

I had plunged the knife into her stomach and twisted, pushed her to the floor and ran. The yellow eyes chased me through the house. I make it to the front door. I pull it open but a hand slams it shut. I slowly turn to peer at yellow eyes through my hair.

“Where are you going, sweetie?” The woman purrs as she strokes my face. My skin goes cold under her touch.

“What do you want?” My voices quivers as I try to hold back the tears.

The woman chuckles in amusement as she says, “you, of course.”

“Why?” I choked out as I hold back a sob.

“Because he needs you.”

Breathing in a steady breath I asked, “Who?”

“Come with me and find out,” the woman grins and grabs my arm.

I screamed and struggled against her, but her grip was so strong. She opened the front door and dragged me to a silver car. I stumbled along, desperately looking for anything I could use against her. A wooden picket stuck out from the red dirt, wires tangles around it’s base. As we edged closer, I struggled against her. The woman tugged my arm sharply, shooting me a glare. When she looked back towards the car the wooden picket was within reach. I grabbed it, ripped it out of the ground. The woman begins to turn to me. I shove the picket into her stomach.

The woman screams as her body bows forward. I try to run but the grip on my arm is just too tight. Gritting her teeth together she slowly pulls the wooden picket out with a feral growl. Blood poured out of the wound as her yellow eyes glowered at me.

“Well, that was rude.”

“Let me go!” I scream as I try to pry her fingers from my arm.

I see the wooden post move but it’s too late. It collides with my head and I fell to the red earth. I remember hearing her growling at me. The shadows beneath me a swirling black mess.

Then, I had that dream and woke up in Elijah’s house. Where was I supposed to go now? I had no idea where I was, but I’d been walking through the streets for hours. Nothing looked even remotely familiar. The properties here were huge, just like the place before.

“Hey! Excuse me!” I hear someone calling out but I keep moving.

“Excuse me!” They continued shouting as I continued walking along the road. The shade of the eucalyptus trees offered a small relief from the heat of the sun.

“Are you lost?”

I slow my pace as I consider looking in their direction.

I am beyond lost.

“Hey,” their voice is softer as they appear beside me.

I jump away from them and fold my arms across my stomach.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He brushes his dark hair out of his dark eyes and smiles gently at me. A black t-shirt and black jeans were a ridiculous choice in the middle of summer. It was already way over thirty degrees and it wasn’t even midday.

This guy must enjoy roasting in direct sunlight.

“I’m Claude,” he says and offers me his hand.

“Hey, Claude,” I reply and stare at his hand.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound left his lips.

“I am lost, actually.” I chewed my lip as I watched him grin at me.

“I thought so since you’re walking towards nothing.” Claude chuckled as he looked at my shoes and then back down the road.

“You wouldn’t be able to tell me where the nearest bus station is?” I asked as I looked down the road.

“Yea, of course, it’s just outside of town.” Claude pointed in the opposite direction and then tucked his hand back into his pocket.

I sighed at the realisation that I had been walking in the wrong direction. “Thanks, I’ll uh, be on my way then.”

“Hey, uh, do you need a lift? My car is just down the road.” Claude kept pace with me.

“Thanks, but I’ll just walk.”

“Well, from here it will probably take you a fews hours at least. It’s pretty hot out today, and the last bus leaves just after five. Are you sure?”

“Says the guy wearing all black in the middle of summer.” I retorted.

Claude smirked and looked at the ground again. “Well, I have a car with aircon, so it really doesn’t bother me that much.”

I scoffed and continued walking down the road back toward the intersection. The sunlight flickered through the leaves of the eucalyptus trees, my eyes hurt as they struggled to adjust. I was exhausted and I had no idea why. The further we walked in silence, the more tempting the offer of a car ride sounded.

We reached the intersection. I stopped at the edge of the road and noticed a black commodore parked on the roadside.

“You stopped to chases me down the road?” My skin prickled with panic.

“Well, I thought it would be creepier if a guy in a car followed you.” Claude tried to explain, but his expression showed that the more he thought about it, they both were pretty creepy.

“Right, so you normally chase random girls down the road and offer them lifts?”

Claude scoffed and then said, “no, usually I only offer lifts to people I know.”

“I think I’m just gonna go.” My nerves seered under my skin with warning.

He tried to say something but I was already crossing the road. When I glanced up I noticed another car driving toward me. Something about it seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I slowed to a stop and watched as it approached. The silver paint glittered in the sunlight, an uneasy feeling setting in my stomach.

“Hey,” I called out to Claude as I lightly jogged toward him and his car.

“Yea?” Claude whirled around with surprise.

“I think I’ll take you up on that lift.” I say as I reach the passenger side of his car.

“Oh, yea, sure,” Claude smiles as the car unlocks, “the bus stop right?”

“Yea, please,” I said as I quickly got into the car. I saw the silver car driving toward the intersection through the line of eucalyptus trees.

Claude followed my gaze and frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope, let’s just go, please.”

Claude started the car and pulled onto the road as the silver car slowed at the intersection. The windows of Claude’s car was tinted, but I recognised the two women in the silver car.

The red head is alive.