"HELP ME SAVE ME FIND ME LOOK FOR ME" she wrote it over and over, scribbling it messily over any blank surface she could find. "HELP ME SAVE ME FIND ME GET ME OUT" she wrote it again, angry tears rolling down her pale cheeks. It was as if a voice was screaming in her head. It didn't matter how many times she wrote it, the letters wouldn't drown it out. Shadows crept along the walls, dancing like spiders. She kept her head low, scrawling with one hand and roughly pulling at her hair with the other, trying to rip the feelings from her head. Her pen ran out, and she cursed to herself, but kept writing. Each line she wrote harder, engraving each letter into the table. A creak was heard from the stairs leading to her bedroom She threw her gaze towards her closed door, a lump of terror rose in her throat. Flustered, she threw her pen to the ground and stood, knocking her chair with an audible bump. She cursed again, reaching for her backpack.

Her walls were covered with pictures, drawings of a blue police box, and a man with a bowtie and a funny hairdo. She didn't know what they meant, why she couldn't get them out of her head, but she couldn't leave them up. She ripped every single one of them down, stuffing them into her bag, along with her notebooks and stationary. She looked down at her outfit, and growled. She couldn't run in this, not the running she needed to do. Her blue sailor skirt only went down to her knees. She considered changing into some jeans, but she didn't have the time for it. Instead, she grabbed her riding coat and hastily put it on, then threw the bag over her shoulder. Her feet were still bare, so she grabbed her converse trainers and tied them up quickly, then stood. She took a look around her room. Once her only safe haven, now the centre of her fear. A loud scraping came from outside her closed door, like long, sharp fingernails across an old, black chalkboard. She was cornered, there was nowhere to run now. She wanted to cry out in frustration, but kept her emotions contained. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, Except…

Yes! The window! She ran to it, working at the latch. Dust fluttered from it's panes, making her nose tickle. The window hadn't been opened for years, she had always been terrified of falling from it, but she had no choice. She unslung her bag again, and started to rummage under her illustrations.

'Eureka!' she exclaimed, clasping her hand around a small letter opener. She dug it under the latch, wiggling it furiously until it gave way, leaving her to throw the window wide open. She glanced back at her door. Someone was jiggling the handle, bursting to get in. She chucked the letter opener back into her bag and zipped it up, then made sure the window was wide enough for her to leap out of. She knew it was possible she wouldn't land properly. It was a long way down, easy enough to shatter bones, but she didn't care. Anywhere was better than here, where she would be completely helpless to whatever was coming. Taking a deep breath, she leaped gracefully out of her bedroom window.