Panting with exertion, Sam plunged an oar into the murky, fast-flowing water below him. Icy droplets sprang up in response and landed on the tattered rucksack by his feet, almost like they were taunting him. _We know what you’ve done, and so do they._

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He stole a glance over his shoulder in an attempt to gauge how long he had. The small fleet of boats on the horizon, which were quickly closin...

“You ready?” Ben asked, pressing the doorbell. Listening to the chime sound somewhere in the depths of the large townhouse looming in front of us, I gave him a weak smile and nodded. Sensing my anxiety, he squeezed my hand in reassurance. “You’ll be great, they’re going to love you!”

Before I could respond, the door swung open to reveal a slightly-balding, stocky man with kind, green eyes crinkle...

The flat was silent. She sat on the sofa, eyes blurring the scene of domesticity before her. Even with her vision obscured, she knew what each blob of colour was - the beige vanilla-scented candle on the coffee table, the pastel purple bottle she always drank out of because it held more than a glass and meant she didn’t have to continuously get up to fill it, the royal blue football mug that she h...