Page 50 of Crystal Skies (Stormcloud Station)

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The world was all dark shadows and swirling shapes. Julie’s eyes were open, but they wouldn’t focus properly. She tried to move her head, but it wouldn’t obey. It wasn’t that she was tied up; it was as if her muscles were paralyzed. Where was she? It was hot. The ground was dry and dusty beneath her. Flies buzzed around her face, but her hand wouldn’t seem to obey her mind to shoo them away. One landed on her cheek and crawled toward the corner of her mouth, greedy for the moisture to be found there. Feebly, she blew a gust of air through her lips to scare it away. But her lips were cracked, her mouth parched, and it was a useless attempt. She lay on the dry earth and stared upward. Was this how it was all going to end? Was she about to die here?

Finally, her eyes began to focus, and she could see the shapes above were branches, the leaves raining down dappled sunlight on her face. How had she got here? The last she remembered was getting into Chase’s car, then he shoved a syringe full of something in her arm. How long had she been unconscious? Squinting up at the sun through the leaves, she tried to see where it sat in regard to the horizon. It looked to be around mid-afternoon. She and Aaron had arrived back at camp just after one pm. So, that meant she’d been out of it for at least an hour, possibly more. Her dad and Dale and the rest of the crew would still be out on muster. They had no idea she was missing. No idea her stalker had finally got to her.

And what had he done with Maya? His half-remembered words returned to her, sending cold fingers walking down her spine. Had he killed her? Because that’s what it sounded like. Surely not. Surely, he wouldn’t kill his own wife. The thought was too horrific to contemplate.

What about Aaron? He couldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t believe it. If he were dead, she’d be able to feel it. There’d be some sort of seismic shift inside her. But if he wasn’t dead, then why wasn’t he coming to rescue her? A tear leaked from the corner of her eye. She wanted him to be alive so badly. She shouldn’t have yelled at him this morning. Shouldn’t have told him they could never be together. Because it wasn’t true. She did want him. He was the only one she’d ever really wanted. If only she had the chance to tell him that.

Noises began to filter through to her mind, but she couldn’t force her head to turn in that direction. There were muffled thuds and bangs, and now and then there was a grunt, as if someone was exerting themselves. It meant that Chase was still around. And he was up to something. But what? She needed to get out of here. Needed to get moving. Trying again to lift her hand, she willed her fingers to move, concentrating all her effort on that one tiny motion. At first, they refused to obey, but after what felt like an eternity, the thumb on her left hand moved. She felt the dust rub beneath the pad of her finger as she drew little circles on the ground. Soon, she was able to form a fist with that hand, but she still couldn’t lift it off the ground.

A dark shape loomed suddenly above her. “Hm,” he said, as if talking to himself. “Looks as if the drugs are wearing off.” He poked her shoulder, but she could do nothing but glare at him. “Good, I need you to be awake for this next bit. But not too awake,” he amended. “Don’t want to lose you like that other one. This has to be perfect.”

He bent down and picked her up beneath the armpits, dragging her across the dirt, limbs dangling uselessly, like a puppet with no strings, head lolling forward on her chest.

Move. Do something,her mind screamed. She curled her left hand into a fist, but it was weak, she had no strength. Chase must’ve dragged her for around twenty meters, out from beneath the shade of the trees and into the afternoon sunlight. At last, he lay her down in the dirt, and she blinked up at the sun, wishing the bright, blazing ball of gas would go away.

“Let’s get you ready,” he muttered with glee, leaning over her again. “You need to be pure when you meet Him.” This time Julie noticed his face was red, and dark sweat stains marked his shirt under his arms and around his neckline. He started to unbutton her shirt. What the fuck was he doing? He manhandled her like she was a mannequin, like she was nothing more than an object. Soon, her shirt was off, and then her bra. It was humiliating and degrading, and she closed her eyes, unable to endure it. Then his fingers found the button on her jeans, and he began to strip them off, as well. Panic rose in her throat. Was he going to rape her? Aaron hadn’t mentioned anything about the other women being raped. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do it.

Anger, hot and urgent, surged through her. She wasn’t going to let him get away with this. With every fiber of her being, she willed her muscles to work. This time she managed to get her right fist to form a ball, as she stared up at him.

“Hm, you’re surprisingly beautiful,” he murmured. “Our child would have been amazing, if only you’d allowed him to live.” He touched her then, his fingers surprisingly gently and reverent. What the hell was he talking about? The baby she’d aborted wasn’t his. He was delusional.

“You will be my crowning glory. Once I’ve redeemed you, then He will surely welcome me with open arms.” Chase stared down at her, eyes alight with some inner lunacy. She curled her lip at him, but he merely smiled. “I guess it was fitting that you were also the hardest of them all to retrieve. I had to bide my time, watch you until He told me it was right. Hide out in the scrub on top of that hill and observe you.” He gave a little laugh and stroked her hair. “You never even realized how close you came to me that day on the horses.”

Julie wanted to spit in his face. He was a disgusting pig. It sounded like he’d been watching them at camp for days, studying her, like an insect under a microscope. The only time she’d ridden a horse was when she’d taken Aaron up to the repeater tower. Had this snake been hiding up there and spying on her the whole time?

She never got the chance to ask him, because he stood swiftly and disappeared out of her range of view. The hot sun beat down mercilessly on her fair skin. She practiced tensing both her fists again and again, trying to pump blood into her muscles and get them working. All of a sudden, her arm twitched, and she managed to lift it a few centimeters off the ground. Her body was coming back to her, but would it be quick enough? Her pepper spray was still in the pocket of her jeans, which he’d discarded in a pile a few feet away. Could she roll over and reach it? If she could get her body moving, she might be able to use it to blind him long enough to…

There was a loud thud next to her ear, and she managed to turn her head far enough to see what had made the sound. Her breath froze in her lungs.

No. No. No!

It was a crudely manufactured cross made from dead limbs from the trees nearby. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she thought it might explode through her ribcage.

But when he came for her, she feigned paralysis, as if she were still completely unable to move.

He picked her up awkwardly, but she remained limp and pliant, even while he puffed and strained over her. When he draped her inexpertly over the top of the wooden cross, it took all her will to remain unmoving, even though he dropped her head, so it banged painfully on the branch below. Time. She needed as much time as possible to regain her strength so she could get away. She could feel it coming back now, feel the numbness leaving her veins.

But when he positioned her arm along one of the spans of the crucifix, placing a nail in her palm and raised a hammer over his head, she could no longer stay still. With a yelp of pain and fright, she pulled her hand away, and rolled off the cross to lie face-down and prone on the ground. But then she feigned weakness again.

“Shit.” Chase swore, the word sounded foreign coming out of his mouth. He stood above her, his shadow a blessed relief from the sun. “Shit,” he swore again, but Julie remained still, as if her effort in rolling off the cross had expended what little strength she had left. “I don’t want to drug you again,” he muttered to himself. “But I can’t have you getting away.” It was like he was having a one-sided conversation with himself. Finally, he dropped the hammer in the dust a few feet away and said, “I’ll be right back,” and marched off toward the trees, where he must’ve parked his vehicle. Was he going to get more drugs to sedate her? She couldn’t take that chance.

Carefully, she rolled over onto her back and lifted her head to watch him walk away. It was now or never. Painfully slowly, she managed to drag her feet underneath her, until she was on her hands and knees. With a superhuman effort, she surged upward to stand on her feet, swaying dangerously. Escape. Run. Run away. But to where? Anywhere was better than here. She stumbled forward, heading toward a low rise of hills she could see on the horizon. One foot in front of the other, she managed a few steps, then stooped down to pick up Chase’s discarded hammer.

A huddle of scrubby acacia bushes beckoned her onward. If she could make it there, she’d at least be out of sight. Her legs began to move faster now, until she was almost jogging, her head still lolling to one side a little. If only she wasn’t naked, but there was no way she was going back for her clothes. It was hard going with her bare feet, but she ignored the small stones and sticks that dug into her soles. Faster than she imagined, she was behind the blessed cover of the small trees. In front of her, more open woodland stretched to the faraway hills, dotted with eucalyptus trees and the remains of the dry tussock grass. Quick, he’d be back any second, Julie shuffled forward, looking for a better place to hide. In her mind, if she could hide long enough, then perhaps she’d buy time for someone—Aaron—to come to her aid.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Chase said from behind her, appearing around the side of the bushes. There was a cruel twist to his mouth, and Julie knew she wasn’t getting away this time. She took off at a sprint—which was probably more of a slow trot in reality—headed in the direction of a shallow creek bed running toward the hills in the distance. But after only ten or twelve steps she felt a hand grasp at her arm, whipping her around, and she fell backwards onto the dirt, with him on top of her. She screamed and hit him in the head with the hammer as hard as she could. He cried out, and she pushed him off her, where he lay in the dirt clutching his head.

Using her hands to push herself up, she took off again over the red dirt, hammer still gripped tightly in one hand. Angling down into the creek bed, she stumbled along the dry bottom, where the flat rocks made it easier on her bare feet. There was a roar of rage from behind her. She didn’t look back, merely tried to run faster. This time she made it a good fifty meters or so, before he caught up with her. He grabbed at her, but couldn’t hold on. It was enough to knock her off her balance, however, and she tripped and fell, as he also landed heavily, grasping at her ankle to stop her from crawling away on all fours.

Her knees and elbows were scraped and bloody, but she kicked out at him with all her strength. She felt something tug and then release on her ankle and looked down to see him holding up the anklet Aaron had given her. With a surge of adrenaline, she sat up and rammed the hammer down on his head again. This time there was a satisfying crack, and he made a sound like a wounded wolf, almost a howl of pain.

Scrambling to her feet, she looked down at the man groveling on the ground, one hand holding his head, while blood oozed between his fingers. She could hit him again. Would that put an end to this? He looked up at her, his face contorted with pure hatred. Moving faster than she would’ve anticipated, he got to his knees and fumbled for the gun in the holster.

She turned and took off at a gallop.

Julie made it up onto the far side of the creek bed, jumping behind the trunk of a large river gum as the first shot rang out. She ducked but kept moving from one tree to the next, using them as cover, as two more bullets whizzed past her.

Oh fuck, was this guy never going to stop? She ran, and ran, and ran, her breath pounding in her lungs, as more bullets flew through the air.

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