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Description
   The November night was icy. A storm had been brewing for days. The black clouds were sodden with days of built up rain, but that didn't stop the five friends from playing an exciting game of hide and seek. This game was an annual occurrence at the bonfire night party Kathryn's father hosted each year. The abandoned field behind their house made for a perfect setting for the children's game. It had turned into a type of ritual. This year, as well as the seemingly imminent storm the children only had two torches between five of them, which meant their game would be darker than usual. The unseen dips and undulations in the ground would make it dangerous, but to them, danger meant fun. The boys and girls split in to two teams, and they began.
   Two hours into the game, everyone was elated. The three girls: Kathryn, Isobel and Tessa couldn't stop when they were supposed to be hiding behind trees or in muddy ditches. They expected to be found but what did it matter? It was only a game. Suddenly, a scream rang out through the field. A scream that ripped open their ear drums and echoed in their heads. At a sprint, Tessa led the group of girls in the direction of the scream. It was her brother, she was sure of it.
   After stumbling their way across the uneven field the girls saw what had happened. It was Tessa's brother, Patrick; falling over a rock had left him tangled in barbed wire.
  "I warned him... George, I thought I told you to stay away from here - you know how much barbed wire there is!" Kathryn's brother shook as she shouted at him, he knew she was right but the state of Patrick had left him speechless. It was obvious that his injuries were serious. Deep gashes across his face oozed scarlet blood; the rusty wire seemed to have cut halfway through his arms and legs and the mud he was lying in was splattered all over him. His eyes were the worst of all; they had rolled back into his head.
"I...I... I'll go and get help."
Kathryn stammered, breaking the silence and backed away. She couldn't watch anymore. The horror movies that always haunted her were coming true before her eyes. Then she ran. She ram like her life depended on it; well, her closest friend's brother's did. Patrick needed help immediately, but in her hurry to reach the house and the adults, Kathryn didn't see the unnaturally large rabbit hole until it was too late.
   When Kathryn came round, it had started to rain. The storm that had been threatening to release havoc for days had finally come. Completely disorientated, Kathryn tried to stand, but as soon as she attempted to put pressure on her right foot, it collapsed beneath her. She must have twisted it in that hole. A drop of bitter tasting liquid trickled down her face. Lifting up her hand, she found that she had hit her head as well. A growl of thunder shattered the eerie silence. Again, Kathryn tried to stand up. This time, she managed it. She struggled to remember why she'd been lying there in the first place; had she fallen whilst playing the game? Or was there another reason? Something was pressing into her brain; something important. Unable to recall the events of the previous hours, Kathryn sat down again, not noticing the drenched grass through her soaked clothes. Coming to the conclusion that her friends would come looking for her, Kathryn slipped back into unconsciousness."
   *
   Kathryn jolted awake. Impossibly, the rain had got heavier, and the wind sounded like it was tearing apart the trees. Sitting up drowsing, she checked her mobile phone to see if anyone had called her. A message flashed onto the screen: "No signal." Even if they had tried to contact her, it wouldn't have got through. Kathryn stood up clumsily. Images flashed into her head. Patrick. Blood. Help. She had to get back. It had to have been at least an hour since that, undoubtedly more. Of course they weren't looking for her - they had more urgent matters on their minds. She would have to make her own way back. Cautiously stumbling across the field, Kathryn limped back the way she thought she had come. What she didn't notice, was that the fall had made her dizzy, and with the moonlight only breaking through the clouds in small shards, she had no way of knowing where she was. Soon Kathryn was alarmingly lost.
   At the time, going back through the nearest small forest had seemed like a good idea. Kathryn knew that she had to go through some trees to reach the safety and warmth of hon, but the path she was taking was totally unfamiliar. A roll of thunder echoed through the trees, reverberating off the sinister bodies that were closing in on her. Seconds afterwards, a bolt of lightning splintered the monochromatic sky. This was all the terrified girl needed to get out of there. Her natural adrenaline kicked in and she couldn't feel the pain in her ankle anymore. Trees grabbed her; tried to pull her back. Locking together, they were creating an inescapable prison.
   Rain was still beating the ground when Kathryn escapes. Pain stabbed her ankle. Panting, she sunk to the ground, emitting rough sobs. Branches had whipped her face, arms and legs; nature's cat o' nine tails. Out of nowhere a circle of light appeared about a hundred metres away.
"They've found me! I'm going to be ok! Help! Over here!" Relief flooding through her, Kathryn began to feel how much the night's events had drained her. A vibration buzzed in her pocket. There must be signal here. It must be Tessa and the others. The numb fingers of an exhausted teenager struggled to flip up the phone. It was an unknown number. Trembling, she put the phone to her ear and heard someone speak. The velvety tone of the woman's panicked voice was one she recognised. A voice that spoke of her childhood. A voice that couldn't be. An impossible voice.
"Please go. Run. Don't look back just run." The voice belonged to Kathryn's mother. Kathryn's mother who had died in an accident three years before.
"Please Kitty. Please..." Hysteria choked the last words she said. Kathryn didn't notice. She was too hooked on the second word. "Kitty". No one called her Kitty. Only her mother. It had been her pet name for Kathryn; Kitty Kat.
"This is sick! You're... You're... You're... Just sick!" Kathryn screamed down the phone before furiously hanging up. However just before she fell to the ground again, she noticed the screen still said: "No signal."
   By the time the distraught girl looked up, the mist the had been swirling over the ground had thickened out and was making sight almost impossible. Through the suffocating mist Kathryn could still see a faint circle of light. It hasn't moved. The only thing it could be was someone holding a torch, and, stranger or not, it was better than being alone. Kathryn pulled herself yet again to her feet, and began then wary walk across the uneven ground.
   For the first time that night, the moon appeared in the sky, her full circle lighting up the dark landscape. Kathryn's guiding circle of light had disappeared. As she had approached the mysterious light source, the sound of rocks tumbling through water had become louder and clearer. Although there was no sign of the torch bearer, the light from the moon showed her the source of the noise. Directly in front of her was a fast flowing river. Swollen by heavy rain, a current whipped through it, stirring the water into a frenzy. Moonlight danced of the surface creating amazing patterns that, had they been made under different circumstances would have been beautiful. Now they just looked sinister because Kathryn was concentrating on what she couldn't see, instead of what she could. Suddenly, Kathryn's memories and Kathryn's present state synchronised. There was only one river in this field. Now she knew how lost she really was. She shouldn't be here. It was forbidden. Her father had forbidden it after her mother's accident. Staring into the water, she saw panicked, tear stained face. The speed the water was moving at meant that she shouldn't have seen anything, but there it was. Her reflection - but there was something odd about it. Her hair was darker than that, and it was straight, not curly. Her eyes were blue, not green.
"Mum...?" Kathryn's raw throat choked. She meant in closer. A leaf rustled behind her. Something touched her back. Startled, Kathryn lost her balance and fell into the clutches of the river. The icy water embraced her; as it had embraced her mother. With it's grip of death it squeezed the last remnants of air from her lungs. All feeling escaped her, as a shadow snatched away the last threads of moonlight.

Description
   The November night was icy. A storm had been brewing for days. The black clouds were sodden with days of built up rain, but that didn't stop the five friends from playing an exciting game of hide and seek. This game was an annual occurrence at the bonfire night party Kathryn's father hosted each year. The abandoned field behind their house made for a perfect setting for the children's game. It had turned into a type of ritual. This year, as well as the seemingly imminent storm the children only had two torches between five of them, which meant their game would be darker than usual. The unseen dips and undulations in the ground would make it dangerous, but to them, danger meant fun. The boys and girls split in to two teams, and they began.
   Two hours into the game, everyone was elated. The three girls: Kathryn, Isobel and Tessa couldn't stop when they were supposed to be hiding behind trees or in muddy ditches. They expected to be found but what did it matter? It was only a game. Suddenly, a scream rang out through the field. A scream that ripped open their ear drums and echoed in their heads. At a sprint, Tessa led the group of girls in the direction of the scream. It was her brother, she was sure of it.
   After stumbling their way across the uneven field the girls saw what had happened. It was Tessa's brother, Patrick; falling over a rock had left him tangled in barbed wire.
  "I warned him... George, I thought I told you to stay away from here - you know how much barbed wire there is!" Kathryn's brother shook as she shouted at him, he knew she was right but the state of Patrick had left him speechless. It was obvious that his injuries were serious. Deep gashes across his face oozed scarlet blood; the rusty wire seemed to have cut halfway through his arms and legs and the mud he was lying in was splattered all over him. His eyes were the worst of all; they had rolled back into his head.
"I...I... I'll go and get help."
Kathryn stammered, breaking the silence and backed away. She couldn't watch anymore. The horror movies that always haunted her were coming true before her eyes. Then she ran. She ram like her life depended on it; well, her closest friend's brother's did. Patrick needed help immediately, but in her hurry to reach the house and the adults, Kathryn didn't see the unnaturally large rabbit hole until it was too late.
   When Kathryn came round, it had started to rain. The storm that had been threatening to release havoc for days had finally come. Completely disorientated, Kathryn tried to stand, but as soon as she attempted to put pressure on her right foot, it collapsed beneath her. She must have twisted it in that hole. A drop of bitter tasting liquid trickled down her face. Lifting up her hand, she found that she had hit her head as well. A growl of thunder shattered the eerie silence. Again, Kathryn tried to stand up. This time, she managed it. She struggled to remember why she'd been lying there in the first place; had she fallen whilst playing the game? Or was there another reason? Something was pressing into her brain; something important. Unable to recall the events of the previous hours, Kathryn sat down again, not noticing the drenched grass through her soaked clothes. Coming to the conclusion that her friends would come looking for her, Kathryn slipped back into unconsciousness."
   *
   Kathryn jolted awake. Impossibly, the rain had got heavier, and the wind sounded like it was tearing apart the trees. Sitting up drowsing, she checked her mobile phone to see if anyone had called her. A message flashed onto the screen: "No signal." Even if they had tried to contact her, it wouldn't have got through. Kathryn stood up clumsily. Images flashed into her head. Patrick. Blood. Help. She had to get back. It had to have been at least an hour since that, undoubtedly more. Of course they weren't looking for her - they had more urgent matters on their minds. She would have to make her own way back. Cautiously stumbling across the field, Kathryn limped back the way she thought she had come. What she didn't notice, was that the fall had made her dizzy, and with the moonlight only breaking through the clouds in small shards, she had no way of knowing where she was. Soon Kathryn was alarmingly lost.
   At the time, going back through the nearest small forest had seemed like a good idea. Kathryn knew that she had to go through some trees to reach the safety and warmth of hon, but the path she was taking was totally unfamiliar. A roll of thunder echoed through the trees, reverberating off the sinister bodies that were closing in on her. Seconds afterwards, a bolt of lightning splintered the monochromatic sky. This was all the terrified girl needed to get out of there. Her natural adrenaline kicked in and she couldn't feel the pain in her ankle anymore. Trees grabbed her; tried to pull her back. Locking together, they were creating an inescapable prison.
   Rain was still beating the ground when Kathryn escapes. Pain stabbed her ankle. Panting, she sunk to the ground, emitting rough sobs. Branches had whipped her face, arms and legs; nature's cat o' nine tails. Out of nowhere a circle of light appeared about a hundred metres away.
"They've found me! I'm going to be ok! Help! Over here!" Relief flooding through her, Kathryn began to feel how much the night's events had drained her. A vibration buzzed in her pocket. There must be signal here. It must be Tessa and the others. The numb fingers of an exhausted teenager struggled to flip up the phone. It was an unknown number. Trembling, she put the phone to her ear and heard someone speak. The velvety tone of the woman's panicked voice was one she recognised. A voice that spoke of her childhood. A voice that couldn't be. An impossible voice.
"Please go. Run. Don't look back just run." The voice belonged to Kathryn's mother. Kathryn's mother who had died in an accident three years before.
"Please Kitty. Please..." Hysteria choked the last words she said. Kathryn didn't notice. She was too hooked on the second word. "Kitty". No one called her Kitty. Only her mother. It had been her pet name for Kathryn; Kitty Kat.
"This is sick! You're... You're... You're... Just sick!" Kathryn screamed down the phone before furiously hanging up. However just before she fell to the ground again, she noticed the screen still said: "No signal."
   By the time the distraught girl looked up, the mist the had been swirling over the ground had thickened out and was making sight almost impossible. Through the suffocating mist Kathryn could still see a faint circle of light. It hasn't moved. The only thing it could be was someone holding a torch, and, stranger or not, it was better than being alone. Kathryn pulled herself yet again to her feet, and began then wary walk across the uneven ground.
   For the first time that night, the moon appeared in the sky, her full circle lighting up the dark landscape. Kathryn's guiding circle of light had disappeared. As she had approached the mysterious light source, the sound of rocks tumbling through water had become louder and clearer. Although there was no sign of the torch bearer, the light from the moon showed her the source of the noise. Directly in front of her was a fast flowing river. Swollen by heavy rain, a current whipped through it, stirring the water into a frenzy. Moonlight danced of the surface creating amazing patterns that, had they been made under different circumstances would have been beautiful. Now they just looked sinister because Kathryn was concentrating on what she couldn't see, instead of what she could. Suddenly, Kathryn's memories and Kathryn's present state synchronised. There was only one river in this field. Now she knew how lost she really was. She shouldn't be here. It was forbidden. Her father had forbidden it after her mother's accident. Staring into the water, she saw panicked, tear stained face. The speed the water was moving at meant that she shouldn't have seen anything, but there it was. Her reflection - but there was something odd about it. Her hair was darker than that, and it was straight, not curly. Her eyes were blue, not green.
"Mum...?" Kathryn's raw throat choked. She meant in closer. A leaf rustled behind her. Something touched her back. Startled, Kathryn lost her balance and fell into the clutches of the river. The icy water embraced her; as it had embraced her mother. With it's grip of death it squeezed the last remnants of air from her lungs. All feeling escaped her, as a shadow snatched away the last threads of moonlight.