Elspeth watched from the clifftop as the waves rolled in, devouring the last strip of bridge that connected the island to the mainland. Her heart plummeted, and her skin prickled with fear as her last chance of escape disappeared with the tide.

Grey clouds rolled in, darkening the land around her, and gulls tumbled through the air, soaring low over the water. They taunted Elspeth with their freedom, reminding her that she was trapped.

Her knees buckled beneath her, and she fell to the ground. Elspeth looked out across the horizon, just making out the faint outline of land through the mist. Tears rolled down her face, and her body began to convulse with uncontrolled sobs.

The scream that tore from her throat was raw and full of despair.

She was the only one left. Everyone else - Toby, Zac, Georgia, Ruth - was gone. Dead.

Elspeth knew that, unless she was able to escape the island, by morning she would be dead too. It was only a matter of time before He found her.

It was hard to think that not only 3 hours before they had all been alive.

Images of her friends’ slain bodies flashed through her mind.

Toby had been the first; courageous and as rash as ever, he hadn’t hesitated to jump in front of the killer and attempt to fight him off, giving her and the others a chance to escape. He had been gutted like a fish with a single, well-placed swipe of a knife. Ruth quickly followed Toby, and then Georgia.

Zac had been the last to fall. Elspeth shuddered as she recalled the gurgling sounds of Zac choking on his own blood, throat slit from ear to ear. She had watched the light fade from his eyes, the ghost of his fear and shock lingering in his glassy stare. He had been dead before his body had even hit the ground…

And now she was here, on the edge of the island, with no way to escape. The hire car lay abandoned elsewhere, and only route back down to it would take her back the way she came… back to where her friends lay, back to Him.

Elspeth’s head shot up at the unmistakable sound of a stick breaking underfoot. There was something about it that sounded deliberate, as if He had wanted her to know that He had found her… that there was no chance of escape.

Dread pooled in her stomach, and bile cloyed up her throat. Rising from her knees on shaking legs, Elspeth turned towards the dense woodland.

From the brush He emerged, eyes wide and hungry with sadistic pleasure. His thin lips were pulled back into a sneer, his yellowed teeth bared.

Her gaze fell down to the serrated knife in his hand, which was slick with blood. She watched as a red bead slipped off the edge to the ground, blooming like a flower at the impact.

“Times up, my sweet.”

Elspeth ducked to her left as he came at her, knife swinging wildly. She hit the floor with a heavy thud, hands scraping along the rocky gravel. Another sob bubbled up her throat.

She made to push herself up, but was impeded by a hand wrapping itself around her ankle and dragging her backwards. Elspeth screamed, clawing at the ground, desperate to grab hold of something, only to pull up tufts of grass, weeds and dirt.

“No, please,” she begged, kicking out with her free leg. She made contact, and he released her ankle with a cry, the knife clattering to the ground as he massaged his injured wrist.

Elspeth scrambled to her feet, eyes darting left and right in the hopes of finding a means of escape. With the path back barred, there was only one option, one hope, one chance.

Down below the waves crashed against the rocks, while the gulls soared up above, their keen eyes watching the scene unfold.

Behind her Elspeth could hear the haggard breathing of her killer as he lurched towards her again. She ran towards the precipice, turning back as she twisted her body round and threw herself off the ledge.

In a moment as if time had frozen, their eyes met… before gravity played it’s part and pulled Elspeth into the tumultuous waters beneath.