Isolated. M. A. Hunter

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       Also by M. A. Hunter

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       Dedicated to all who work in the

       UK Criminal Justice System.

       Thank you for keeping us safe.

      A white well

      In a black cave;

      A bright shell

      In a dark wave.

      A white rose

      Black brambles hood;

      Smooth bright snows

      In a dark wood.

      — Incantation, Elinor Wylie

      Chapter One

      Then

       Bovington Garrison, Dorset

      The spiky twigs scratched at Natalie’s face as she raced further into the pitch-black forest, trying to claw her back to where she daren’t return. Her chest burned with fatigue, but the burst of adrenalin brought on by the sheer terror of what she’d just witnessed prevented her aching legs from stopping. Pumping her arms, she willed the never-ending darkness to evaporate, but as she tried to focus on any sign of the path she’d come in on, the darkness swallowed up the ground ahead.

      She’d known it had been a bad idea to venture out here at the bewitching hour; she’d wanted to tell the others that she wouldn’t be a part of it, but they’d insisted and had muttered amongst themselves when they’d sensed her reticence. Whilst Natalie didn’t necessarily know what those mutterings were, she knew the other three well enough to understand the grumbling to be about her perceived weakness. And Natalie accepted that as the youngest in the group, she would forever be the weakest link, and in order to gain their acceptance, she would occasionally have to ignore her own feelings.

      As another branch scratched at her cheek, catching her just below the eye, she wished she’d never agreed to sneak out in the middle of the night and join them. If her parents ever learned of her deceit, she would be grounded for the rest of her life – and her dad’s belt would seek out its own punishment.

      ‘Your parents will never know,’ Sally Curtis had said at lunchtime on Friday as they’d stood behind the sports hall, pretending to smoke.

      Natalie hated the taste of the cigarettes that Sally pinched from her mum when her back was turned. Every morning, Natalie would promise herself that today would be the day when she told them that she didn’t want to smoke, but her willpower would wane when she’d see them exchanging glances, certain that if she didn’t go with them she’d inevitably end up as the chosen subject of conversation. At least they weren’t brave enough to gossip about her when she was in their presence.

      Natalie’s foot caught on a thick root, and then she was flailing… falling through the air, with nothing to stop her. Her palms bore the brunt of the tumble, but her chin and chest took up the slack. Every part of her stung, but she was too tired to get up and keep moving. If it was fate’s choice that it all end here and now, then so be it; she wouldn’t fight it.

      Lying still, her breath catching, she rolled onto her back, hoping to reclaim the wind that had been knocked from her. Through the towering bare branches, the large saucer of moon stared down at her, but for all its brightness, it offered little guidance to where the main path was. She was certain they hadn’t come this far into the woods. The walk to the clearing had only taken a few minutes so she should have found the entrance by now. Was she running around in circles? With the ground covered in dried branches and decaying leaves, it was impossible to know exactly how straight and level her running had been. What if she never found her way out?

      No, that was a silly thought. Daylight would eventually come and at that point she’d be able to figure a way out. The forest couldn’t have been much wider than a mile in any direction, so with daylight she’d find a way to the edge, whether it was the side she wanted to be on or not.

      Her palms were still stinging, the icy air swirling around her only heightening the warmth of the grazes. She was certain her hands must be bleeding, but even when holding them up to the moonlight it was impossible to distinguish blood from mud.

      She should never have let Louise take the torch. Three fourteen-year-old girls, and she – at thirteen, the youngest by four months – was the only one to think a torch would be a good idea.

      Bloody Louise! She hadn’t always been such a cow to Natalie. Back before Sally Curtis’s family had moved onto the base, Louise and Natalie had been best friends. But then Sally, with her blonde mop of curls and rapidly sprouting chest had turned up in September, and suddenly everything had changed.

      Not afraid to challenge the rules and push boundaries, Sally soon latched on to Louise, who was only too happy to be led. Jane also welcomed an extra member to the group, especially as Sally had that je ne sais quoi that had all the boys tripping over themselves to please her. Jane welcomed Sally Curtis, because Sally’s lack of need of padding somehow elevated the rest of them. Not Natalie, of course, whose chest, she felt, would remain flat as a pancake for all time.

      Branches snapping somewhere off to her left had Natalie’s head snapping round, her own breathing instantly silenced. Was it possible they weren’t the only ones who’d come into the woods on this dark night? Natalie focused on the black hole where she was sure she’d heard the movement, but couldn’t make out a thing.

      Maybe it was just a wild animal – a squirrel or rabbit of some sort. Yes, that had to be it. Certainly not the ferocious wolf-like creature with blood dripping from its fangs that she was desperately trying not to picture. No, wild beasts like that were things of lame horror movies and books.

      Right?

      More snapping – this time only yards from Natalie’s feet – had her breath puffing out like a steam engine, and she clamped her eyes shut, covering her face with her hands, hoping that whatever bloodthirsty beast it was would simply pass her by.

      ‘I’ve found her.’ Louise’s voice carried on the wind, and a moment later, woollen gloves were tearing at Natalie’s hands as she screamed and kicked out in desperate survival. ‘Natalie, stop, it’s us.’

      Natalie didn’t dare to believe it, and squinting up at the torchlight, she’d never felt so relieved to see Louise and a panting Jane crouching beside her.

      ‘What happened to you?’ Louise asked, deliberately shining the torchlight into Natalie’s eyes, until she batted it away. ‘One minute you were there and the next you were gone.’

      Natalie really couldn’t explain exactly why she’d started to run, at least not in any coherent manner, so she bit her tongue instead, recognising the warm feeling between her legs and hoping the darkness would hide the patch that had to be forming in the crotch of her black jeans.

      ‘I fell,’ Natalie said, pointing her palms towards the torchlight and seeing the grazes, which were far milder than she first feared. They certainly stung more than the dull redness would suggest.

      ‘Yes, well, what did you expect when you raced off without the torch? God knows how far into the forest we are now. Your inner compass was way off, mate. Come on, let’s get you up, and then the three of us can go home.’

      Louise nodded at Jane, who promptly grabbed one of Natalie’s hands, ignoring the grimace as she squashed Natalie’s palm and tugged