As her hand gripped the doorknob, he spoke again. His voice was cutting.
“I wish I’d never met you.”
Much like what she had done to him, they were words he would never get back.
She turned and fled into the night. The door slammed shut behind her.
Zack remained standing behind the kitchen counter. His knees were wobbly. His gaze returned to the photo on the wall behind where Lily had stood. He suddenly found himself holding it in his hands. In the photograph, the two of them were standing together just outside his bakery. Surely the smiles on their faces were lies. At the moment, he couldn’t remember ever being happy.
In the picture, they were holding a cake he made for her. He gripped the picture tightly as he read the words etched in icing.
“Forever.”
Zack hurled the picture against the wall. Glass shattered, and the picture fell to the floor.
“You can’t hide forever,” Will said loudly, his voice echoing off the trees. Without looking, Zack could feel his friend’s gaze seek him out.
“What?” Zack asked. He turned around and watched Will make his way across the fallen leaves.
“You heard me. I know everything’s been rough on you. That doesn’t mean you should lock yourself away forever. You aren’t the only one who cared about her.”
“I get out,” Zack said defensively.
“The bakery doesn’t count. How long has it been since you’ve done something for yourself?”
Zack shook his head. The honest answer was one he didn’t plan on voicing. Not since the funeral, he thought silently.
The two men stood quietly for a few moments, listening to the sounds of nature.
“You really knocked Dave to the ground, didn’t you?” Will asked with a grin.
“Don’t ask me to apologize.”
“I’m not Cole. Dave probably had it coming.”
“Did you tell him I was having problems?”
Will’s smile faded, and he hesitated. “Those aren’t the exact words I used,” he said reluctantly before looking away.
Zack’s eyes narrowed at his friend. The anger rose again, unbidden. He wasn’t going to start throwing punches again, but that didn’t mean he was feeling particularly benevolent toward his old roommate at the moment.
It wasn’t right of him to share that, he thought. He could imagine the careless way with which Will probably imparted the private information. Will was extremely self-centered, which meant he experienced difficulty with traits like empathy and discretion.
Zack sighed and realized blaming Will wouldn’t do him any good. His anger at the world was enough to keep him functioning. It wasn’t enough to fill the black hole inside him. His counselor described the anger as a coping mechanism, a way he didn’t have to blame himself. Zack wasn’t sure about that, because he did blame himself.
“Sorry if I told Dave something I shouldn’t,” Will said. “Sometimes I don’t think about how my actions affect other people.”
The surprising candor of his self-assessment took Zack by surprise. Perhaps his old friend was maturing after all.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I guess we’re all guilty of that from time to time.”
“Well, if that’s that, we should get back to camp. There’s still enough time to start exploring before sundown.”
He turned to go. Zack stood still for a moment, watching his friend. He wanted to desperately to tell Will, to tell anyone, why he blamed himself for Lily’s death.
“Will,” he said.
His friend glanced back at him. “Yeah? Was there something else?”
Zack choked on the words. He couldn’t do it. He shook his head and joined Will in the march up the slope. The secret would remain his alone. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to confess. He did, more than anything. There were many opportunities in the past, starting with the funeral. He’d come close to telling Cole before. Even Zack’s counselor sensed he was holding something back.
Most of his friends knew he blamed himself for Lily’s death, but no one knew the full story. Zack wasn’t sure why he couldn’t share what happened between them. Maybe keeping the past buried was his way of protecting Lily’s memory, his way of seeking forgiveness for the words he’d said.
The others were waiting for them when they returned. Dave looked at him coolly. Zack could see a trace of blood under his nostrils. He immediately felt guilty.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he finally said. The rage told him not to apologize, but he knew it was the only way to clear the air. “Are we cool?”
Everyone looked at Dave, waiting for his response. He bit his lip and nodded.
“Sure.”
Zack could tell Dave didn’t mean it. He was probably reacting to pressure from the group. He considered extending his hand to the redhead, but the gesture felt empty and awkward. It was probably best to act like nothing happened.
“So what now?” Cole asked, changing the subject. Zack noticed lingering concern in his eyes whenever Cole looked at him. Unlike Will, Cole had picked up on Zack’s mood when they were inside the lodge. Now Zack regretted not confiding in him.
Will cleared his throat. “We can take the trail leading back through the Red Pine Forest, or we can take Dead Man’s Drop to the other side of the cliff and go past the lake.”
“We’ve already seen Red Pine on the way,” Dave said. “Even if we didn’t go through it. Besides, there’s plenty of forest nearby the lake.”
“I think I could use a swim after all,” Steve added. “I vote lake.”
Zack agreed with the others. The lake was beautiful, and there was a cave close by he wanted to explore. “Is anyone up for Shallow Water Cave? The map mentions it floods in the summer, but we should be all right this time of year.”
“Count me in,” Cole said. He tossed Zack one of the flashlights. The campers left their gear behind in the tent. Before they abandoned the campsite, Zack grabbed the two-way radio Fields gave him just in case.
A thin layer of soil covered in jagged rocks, Dead Man’s Drop proved every bit as challenging to descend as the name suggested. The steep incline was nothing like the slope they’d taken up Whispering Reach. Zack considered it fortunate they didn’t have to make the trip with their backpacks. When he came close to slipping several times, Zack peered over the ledge. A fall from such a height was more than unappealing.
By the time they reached the valley below, everyone was wiped out. Steve wasted no time changing into his shorts and jumping into the lake. Dave joined him. The large man was covered in sweat. The three friends watched them swimming from the shore, cloaked in the shade of Whispering Reach. The sun glistened brightly off the water’s surface.
Steve paddled to the bank. “Are you guys coming in?”
“Not me,” Zack answered. “I’m not getting wet today.”
Cole nodded in agreement. “Besides, we should probably get started looking for that cave.” As Zack took out his map, Cole looked at Will. “What about you?”
“I’ll stay here with these two,” he answered while dangling his feet in the water. “There’s a trail that leads by one of the rivers not far from here. When they’re finished swimming, I want to check it out.”
A flock of ravens rose from the forest not far away. The birds ascended into the cloudless sky, passing over the campers as they sailed toward the cliff.
“Okay,” Cole said. “When should we meet up?”
“Seven sounds about right,” Will replied. “That gives us enough time to get back to camp before sunset. We’ll all meet here.”
The group split up, and the pair walked into the forest. It didn’t take long to find the path leading to Shallow Water Cave. A faded wooden sign with a painted red arrow pointed them in the right direction.
Zack was glad Cole chose not to mention what happened with Dave. As they neared the outskirts of the cave, his attention turned to the task at hand.
“Watch your step,” he said as he stepped into the entrance, which was narrower than he’d expected. “You might want to duck,” he added.
Once they moved inside, the cave began to expand. The air was musty and cold, and the earth was damp. Zack flipped on his flashlight. Behind him, the beam of Cole’s flashlight illuminated the cave.
“Wow,” Cole said, stepping around a column. “It’s even bigger than I thought.” After inhaling a lungful of dust, he sneezed loudly. “It smells awful in here.” The echo filled the cave. Zack suspected Cole was glad he wasn’t wearing his glasses. There was dust everywhere.
“Look up there,” Zack said. He trained his beam on the ceiling. “Bats.” There were clusters of the flying mammals hanging from the cave ceiling. Cole’s eyes widened nervously.
As the two campers advanced farther within the cave, neither noticed a body leaning against the stone wall in the dark recesses of the cavern. The figure was slumped against the wall, its lower torso submerged in a deep pool of water. Unlike the animal carcass on the cliff, the remains were, without question, human.
***
Dry leaves crunched underneath his boots. Austin Fields cast a look back at his all-terrain vehicle before moving farther into the woods. The continuous expanse of the forest was a labyrinth of sorts. Despite the park’s size, he was far too experienced to get lost. The same couldn’t be said of the campers who frequented Drifter’s Folly. After several minutes, the ranger reached a tent close to the river.
“Hello?” he asked in an attempt to alert anyone in the vicinity to his presence. There was no answer. The ranger stared down at the tent, which was rather clumsily put together. The zipper wasn’t pulled up all the way, which gave him a glimpse into the contents inside. The tent was empty. It seemed too small to belong to the men he’d run into on the Beggar’s Road.
It was a poor location for a tent. The bare earth was wet beneath his feet. The tent was covered in mud, some of which had already started to dry. Fields searched for any clue as to the whereabouts of the tent’s owner. He found nothing. There was a single sleeping bag inside, indicating a sole occupant. Whoever set up the tent was probably out exploring alone. It would be light outside for several hours, so that wouldn’t be much of a problem for the time being. If the camper didn’t return before sundown, it would be a different matter.
Fields came this far to deliver one of the two-way radios to the mystery camper and share the message he’d conveyed to the five men headed for Whispering Reach. Now it looked like he’d made the trip for nothing. He wanted to wait for the camper to return, but there were other matters requiring his attention. Retrieving a pen from his pocket, the ranger scrawled a hasty message on the back of one of his spare maps. He unzipped the tent farther and lowered the note inside, along with the walkie-talkie, inside. Hopefully, the camper would see the note whenever he or she returned.
Fields started back across the wet earth. The river roared in the background, its current stronger than usual. A muffled sound echoed through the trees to his west. The ranger stopped. Perhaps the camper had returned after all.
“Hello?” he called.
The whistling of the breeze was the only reply. Fields stared into the forest. He felt uneasy. Shadows rotated as the trees swayed in the wind, spinning like ballroom dancers.
“Is someone there?” The ranger’s hand instinctively reached for his sidearm.
The forest remained still. Fields sighed and released his grip on the weapon.
***
Rodney Crowe watched Fields standing in the open woods. For a moment, he thought the ranger sensed him. The killer dismissed the thought instantly, as he was too well hidden. Crowe saw the ranger’s eyes flicker down to his gun.
You can’t hit what you can’t see, he silently remarked.
After a prolonged silence, Fields turned and headed back to his all-terrain vehicle. Crowe remained concealed in the forest, watching until the ranger passed out of sight. It was almost too easy. Crowe quietly traced Fields’ steps until he found the abandoned tent. The ranger’s instincts were correct. He was right to try and alert the camper who’d pitched his tent near the river. With the current as strong as it was, it would be difficult for the camper to find refuge if attacked. Conversely, it would be child’s play to slit the man’s throat when the time came.
The killer slowly zipped open the front of the tent. His eyes scanned the note Fields left behind. Crowe decided to leave the note in place. The unwitting victims who had descended on Drifter’s Folly that weekend needed all the advantages they could get. The game was about to begin, and everyone was playing. Even Ranger Austin Fields.
Crowe didn’t want to be caught standing around when the tent’s owner returned. It wasn’t that he feared a confrontation with the man. He would come for the camper before the night was over. For now, the timing was wrong. Now was the time to anticipate. It was an emotion to savor.
His lips were smeared with blood where he’d bitten into the fox’s heart. No matter where he killed, the ritual was always the same. He would stalk the park for a few weeks, learning the lay of the land. If he was in the mood for a challenge, he might allow himself to be spotted. When the night of hunting approached, he would kill a forest animal and consume a piece of its heart before beginning his work. The ritual held significant meaning for him. Everything was prey for something else. The only real way to achieve power in the world was in becoming a predator.
The five campers on the Beggar’s Road had been headed in the direction of Whispering Reach. If they stopped at the cliff, they might find the carcass. The thought pleased him. Crowe remembered the man with the black hair who almost spotted him in the forest. Large groups were always more fun to hunt. The dynamic was exceptionally interesting to watch. As circumstances became more desperate, the hunted always reverted to a more primal state. This would help them survive—for a time. Before the night was over, however, everyone in the park would die. It was always the same.
Crowe licked the blood on his lips in anticipation. There were only a few more hours left.
Chapter Four
5:46 pm
It was the day of Lily’s funeral. Although Zack’s sense of betrayal hadn’t abated over the months preceding her death, the bitterness ebbed with each day. He’d just started learning to live again in a world without her in it, and then that world came crashing down around him.
Thunder ripped through silence as the casket was closed. Zack could only watch expressionlessly. Rain pelted him from above. He was standing as close to the family as he dared. No one knew all that passed between the couple, but he suspected Lily’s parents were aware they parted on bad terms.
When it was over, Lily’s mother found him. Mrs. Sanders looked like she’d aged ten years since he last saw her. A black umbrella shielded her body from the rain. Despite being almost a foot taller than the demure woman, Zack couldn’t shake the feeling she was looking down at him.
“You,” she said darkly. Her eyes flashed in concert with another round of thunder.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he managed to say. The words rang hollow.
“She did this because of you,” Mrs. Sanders said. Having spotted her, the woman’s husband tried to pull her away from Zack. She broke free of his grip and looked Zack dead in the eyes. He felt compelled to say something, to offer some kind of explanation.
“I never wanted this to happen.”
“Then why didn’t you save her?” Her tone changed from accusatory to pleading. “She was drowning and you cut her off. You left her alone.”
“There was nothing I could do.”
This was the lie that was to become the first of many he would tell himself
.
The rage reappeared in her eyes. It was a feeling he would come to know well in the months ahead.
“Of course not. You’re too much of a survivor for that.”
Those words stayed with him, partially because she was right. In that respect, he was always different from Lily.
He might’ve never met Lily Sanders if not for an impromptu phone call from Will. He was in college at the time, about to complete a degree in business administration. Zack’s head was buried in his notes when his cell phone went off. It was Will. He was in a bar—one of his many regular haunts—and in serious need of a driver to take him back to campus. It wasn’t the first time one of Will’s nights of fun ended this way, and Zack seriously considered letting him find the way back to school on his own. For some reason he decided to pick his friend up in the end, swearing it would be the last time he allowed Will to take advantage of him. By the time Zack arrived at the bar, Will had changed his mind. He no longer wanted to leave. After persuading Zack to stay, he returned to his preoccupation with hitting on women.
That was when Zack saw her. One of the women in Will’s path of havoc caught Zack’s eye. When they were together, Lily often claimed she looked plain, but that night she appeared captivating and enticing. Zack struck up a conversation with her and apologized for Will’s conduct in advance. They hit it off almost immediately. Will later complained that he intended to flirt with Lily all along, and that Zack swooped in too early. Zack found this perspective comical at best. He’d lost track of the number of girls he’d been interested in who Will moved in on over the years.
Cole’s footsteps echoed in the cave, and again Zack’s recollection ended abruptly.
“This place is amazing,” Cole said.
Zack silently agreed. He lowered himself from the ledge and dropped to the ground below.
“Watch out for the pool of water,” he said, shining the flashlight so Cole could see his way to the bottom. Faint light from the beam glinted off dark water. The farther they went, the more water seeped inside the cavern. The cave seemed to go on forever.
A Sound In The Dark Page 4
