by Simon Lelic
“Luke? Luke!”
I tripped in the water, and landed knee-first on a rock. The pain shot all the way through me, like an electric current or something, like when you bang your funny bone, except way, way worse. And I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure I screamed. In fact, I did, because someone must have heard me. Fash, I think, because it was definitely one of the boys who called my name. Except somehow whoever it was had got ahead of me, into the trees on the opposite bank. And that’s when I realized that we’d all been separated, that everyone must have set off running in different directions. Which made that feeling that something awful was about to happen even worse.
When I got to my feet, I found I could only hobble. I almost fell again climbing the bank, but managed to use a tree root to haul myself up. On flatter ground the going was easier, but I was still only moving at half speed, and I didn’t know in which direction I was supposed to be heading. In the dark, and with the rain . . . it was like running through static. Like floundering to get to the picture on the other side. And although I called out again, and thought I heard someone shout back, the sound out there was all messed up, too. Because of the rain. And all the trees, I suppose. I couldn’t tell what was ahead and what was behind me.
“Luke! Wait, will you?”
I’d seen movement up ahead through the darkness, a shadow flashing between the tree trunks. And even though it was Luke’s name I called, the truth is it could have been anyone. But I veered in that direction, limping as fast as I could to try to catch up. Because the other thing was, I kept thinking about Mason. I could picture him crashing through the undergrowth behind me—coming after me, in fact—and that just made me move even faster.
I don’t know how long it all took. The five of us running through the trees like that. Probably not all that long, but at the time it didn’t feel as though it would ever end. It was like being in a nightmare or something. A nightmare within a nightmare, where there’s no way of telling what’s really real. Which is why, when I heard it, I wasn’t sure at first whether I’d really heard anything.
But what happened was, I tripped again. Over a root or something. And I landed on the very same knee. Which, even though the ground was softer, was so painful I thought I was going to black out. I couldn’t even scream this time, because the pain was like a . . . like it had locked up all the moving bits inside me. I wanted to scream, and it was just right there, at the back of my throat, but that was as far as it could get. I couldn’t yell, couldn’t have talked, couldn’t even breathe.
And then, when the pain subsided, I lay where I’d fallen, moaning. Crying, in fact. And my knee . . . I mean, take a look for yourself.
See?
And now compare it to the other one.
Do you see what I mean?
Apparently all I did was bruise it, but it felt at the time as though someone had taken a hammer to my kneecap. It feels a bit like that even now, if I’m honest. Not that I’m complaining. They offered to give me a crutch at the hospital, but it’s like . . . it’s a bruise. You know? Like, big fucking deal. And, yeah, it hurts, but I’m not going to go around with the equivalent of a great big sign around my neck asking for sympathy. Not after . . . not after what happened.
So anyway, I’m lying there, my hands either side of my knee, and that’s when I thought I heard it.
The voice.
I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It’s like I said, for all I knew it was just my imagination. A trick of the rain or something. But it seemed as though it was coming from up ahead, from near where I’d seen that shadow. I couldn’t see anything when I looked, though, and I couldn’t make out what the voice was saying. But the thing was—the thing that made me listen so closely; the thing that freaked me out, if I’m honest—was that the voice sounded like it belonged to a girl.
And, no. Before you ask. It couldn’t have been Abi’s. Christ, I’d recognize her bleat anywhere. With Abi’s voice, sometimes, it’s like with bats. You don’t hear it so much with your ears, as feel it in the back of your skull. And anyway, it turned out later that Abi had run in the other direction entirely. At least, that’s what she claimed.
But it didn’t sound like Abi’s, is my point. And obviously it wasn’t Mason’s, or Fash’s, or Luke’s. I forced myself back onto my feet again, and tried to move closer, but the next time I stopped to listen, all I could hear was the rain. It was falling heavily, and the sound was like gravel coming down through the trees. But then there was another voice, deeper this time, and this one sounded more familiar. I strained to hear, but whoever it was seemed to be whispering, hissing almost. I caught a word or two—home, maybe. Help. Hurry.
And then both voices stopped. Instead, there was movement again, first on one side of me, and then on the other. There was a yell, a scream of pain, and this time I was certain it was Luke.
“Luke!” I called, stumbling forward. “Luke, where are you?”
He didn’t answer, even though he’d sounded so close. I felt tree roots trying to snag around my ankles, and branches clawing at my face. And then, suddenly, I was in a clearing. It wasn’t large, and it was almost as dark as it had been in the trees. But there was just enough light that I was able to see: Luke lying bleeding on the ground, and Mason standing over him looking down, his hand still clutching that broken bottle.
ABI
I MISSED IT all. Whatever it was that happened. By the time I found the others, they were in the clearing, arguing as though we’d never left the cave.
“You were standing right over him! And there was no one else here!”
“But you found us pretty quickly, didn’t you, Cora? Meaning you couldn’t have been very far away!”
“Guys. Guys!” This from Fash. “For Christ’s sake, stop shouting at each other, will you?” He was crouched down for some reason, his torch on the ground beside him, and when he spoke I saw him glance out into the trees. Like he was afraid. Like he thought there might have been something out there, and he was worried all the shouting would bring it back.
“Cora?” I said, because even though she had her back to me, she was the one standing closest.
She spun and clutched a hand to her heart. “Abi, Jesus . . .” She lurched, then, and gave a wince, as though something was the matter with her leg.
“What’s happening?” I said. “Why are you all—”
And then I saw Luke.
“Luke?”
I rushed forward. I was already out of breath from running, but seeing him on the ground like that, I felt my heart rate double.
“He’s OK,” said Fash, who was beside him. “Just a bit dazed. Right, mate?” He moved the torch so that the light was pointing at Luke’s chest, close enough to allow us to see his face. He was propped up on his elbows, and his eyes were half-shut. Against the torch beam, I guess, and the pain, but also because of the blood that was dripping from his forehead.
“You’re hurt!” I said.
“I’m all right,” he said, kind of groggily. “Just got a bit of a headache, that’s all.”
He raised his hand to touch the cut on his head. It was hard to tell how bad it was, because the blood was mixing with the rain.
Mason and Cora edged closer, so that all five of us were in a sort of huddle. Fash was the only one with a torch—he told us later that he’d grabbed it from the floor of the cave before following the rest of us into the woods—and he kept lasering it out into the trees, first one way, then another. Cora looked even more jittery than Fash did. She was watching the woods, too, but she also seemed to have one eye on Mason. Even Mason kept glancing over his shoulder. He was still holding that bottle, I noticed, and when he saw me looking at it he tightened his grip.
“What happened?” I said to Luke. “Did you fall?” I looked around for something he might have tripped on, but I already knew from the way the others were acting that that wasn
’t what had happened at all.
“Yeah, Mason,” said Cora. “What happened?” She half turned to face me. “He was standing right over Luke when I found them,” she told me. “Just the two of them alone in the clearing.”
“I told you,” Mason said to her, his voice all angry and tight, “he was lying on the ground when I got here. And anyway, where the fuck have you been?” he added, and I realized he was talking to me.
“I was looking for you lot!” I said. “For Luke. I got lost, and . . . and I heard you lot yelling.”
“You got lost,” said Mason, making it sound like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “Which doesn’t explain why you’re so out of breath.”
“I’m out of breath because I was running,” I said. “Because I was scared. OK? To be honest, I’m still scared! I don’t like any of this at all.” I followed the beam from Fash’s torch, but all I could see was the rain, and the tree trunks at the edge of the clearing. Past them there was just this blackness, hiding the eyes I felt sure were looking in.
Luke had hauled himself to sitting. He touched his head again.
“I didn’t fall,” he said to me, and I realized he was answering the question I’d asked him before. “Someone . . . swung a branch at me. Or . . . or something, anyway. I ducked, just in time, but . . . but I’m pretty sure they were trying to take my head off.”
I felt my eyes widen.
“I saw someone,” said Fash. “Out there. When I was stumbling around trying to find you lot.”
“Who?” said Cora, but Mason interrupted before Fash could answer.
“So you happened to lose your way as well, did you?” Mason said to him.
“We all lost our way,” Cora snapped. “In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s pitch-black out here, and Fash is the only one who’s got a torch.”
“Which is exactly my point,” said Mason. “Fash has got a torch. So how the fuck did he manage to get lost?”
“I didn’t say I got lost! I said I was looking for you lot!”
By this point I’d had as much as I could take. “Stop it!” I yelled at them. “Just stop it, will you? Stop arguing. It doesn’t help anything.”
Which seemed to do the trick. For the time being, at least.
“Who did you see, Fash?” said Luke, getting back to what actually mattered.
“I don’t know. Just a shape, really. By the time I swung the torch they were gone.”
Cora was frowning. “I might have seen someone, too. It was hard to tell. And I thought . . .”
“Thought what?” said Luke.
“Nothing, just . . . I thought I heard voices. That’s all. Like, a girl’s voice, maybe.”
The rest of them turned my way. “Don’t look at me,” I said. “I wasn’t talking to anyone.”
“No, it didn’t sound like Abi,” said Cora. “It sounded like . . . I don’t know who it sounded like. I fell, and hurt my knee, and it was hard to hear through the rain.”
No one said anything for a moment. The rain wasn’t as loud in the clearing as it had been under the trees, but there was still a constant hiss.
“So what are you saying, Cora?” said Mason. “I thought your theory was that I hurt Luke. That’s what you seemed to think before.”
“Well, what would you expect me to think?” Cora said. “You’re the one standing there still holding that broken bottle. The same one you were threatening us with in the cave!”
“Don’t start,” I said. “Please don’t start arguing again. Can’t we just go? Whoever’s out there just attacked Luke! And we’re just standing here right out in the open. What if they come back?”
I looked again toward the trees. Fash, next to me, did the same.
“There are five of us,” said Mason, raising the bottle. “And only one of them, from the sound of it. Assuming there’s anyone out there at all.”
“You don’t think there’s anyone out there?” said Fash.
“You’re kidding,” said Cora to Mason. “Right? Fash saw someone. I did, too. And we all heard someone when we were in the cave. That’s why we’re standing here now. Remember?”
“I heard something,” Mason answered. “Not someone. Something. And all Fash saw was a shadow. As for you . . . you don’t even know what you saw.”
“So one of us attacked Luke? Is that your theory?”
“Let’s just say I’m keeping an open mind,” Mason snarled, and my eyes went again to that broken bottle.
“What about you, Luke?” I said, before Cora could answer back. “Did you see whoever it was who attacked you?”
Luke hesitated, as though trying to remember. “I didn’t see a face,” he said. “I had my back turned until I heard something behind me. And when I spun, the only thing I saw was that branch on its way toward my head.” He touched his forehead again, then looked at Mason. “But whoever it was, it wasn’t anyone standing here,” he insisted. “I’m sure of it.”
Mason was trying to stay angry, I could tell. But right then, when Luke said that, the only thing he looked was afraid.
With Fash’s help, Luke got to his feet. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get going. How’s your leg, Cora? Can you walk?”
Which was typical Luke, you know? It’s like, he was the one who’d just been bashed over the head. And yet the first thing he does when he gets back up again is ask someone else if they’re OK.
“Honestly?” said Cora. “It’s agony.” She moved, testing her weight, and her right leg buckled beneath her.
“Fuck’s sake,” muttered Mason.
“We’ll find you something to lean on,” said Luke, ignoring him. “In the meantime, put your arm around my shoulders.”
“No, wait,” said Fash, stepping forward. “Hold on to me, Cora. The last thing Luke needs is to be bearing somebody else’s weight.”
“But where are we going?” I said, as Cora hooked herself on to Fash. “I swear, I am not spending the night in that cave. I’d rather sit here in the middle of the clearing. At least we’d have a chance of seeing someone coming.”
“We can’t stay here, Abi,” said Fash. “We’re already half-drowning as it is.” He looked at the sky, scrunching up his eyes against the rain. I shivered, suddenly chilled. It was hard to believe that, twelve hours before, I couldn’t have imagined feeling cold ever again.
“We should keep moving,” said Luke. “Head home.” And then, before Mason could argue, “We’re done, Mase. The search party, if that’s ever what it was . . . it’s over. We’re going back to tell the police what we saw.”
And when Luke spoke like that, like a teacher would, or your dad or something, there was no sense arguing. Whatever he said was the way things were going to be.
But then he winced, as though at a sudden pain in his head.
“Mate,” said Fash, “there’s no way we’re going to make it home in this state. You need to rest. Cora can barely walk. And we must be twenty miles from where we started.” The torch he was holding flickered, and he gave it a waggle. When it was working again, he pointed the beam at the floor. “And what if someone else trips while we’re walking along in the dark? What if you start feeling dizzy or something? You can’t mess about with head wounds, dude. My mum must have told me that a million times.”
Which all made sense, but I was serious about what I’d said before. “I mean it, guys. I am not sleeping in that cave. Because if that’s what you’re suggesting, Fash . . .”
He was shaking his head. “We should go the other way,” he said. “The river’s east, right? So let’s head west.”
“What?” said Cora. “Why?”
“Because however far it is to the river, the road has got to be closer. And if we get to the road, at some point there’ll be a car.”
“Wait,” I said. “Why don’t we just call someone?” It was so obvious, I
don’t know why none of us had thought of it before.
“Using what?” said Mason. “Someone stole our phones, remember?”
“We could use the one we found,” said Cora, catching on to what I was saying. And I swear, it was the first time since Sadie had gone missing that, when Cora looked at me, she actually smiled.
“Right,” I said, bobbing my head. “Exactly.”
“Except there’s no reception out here,” said Luke. “We know there isn’t.”
“But if we head toward the road, get out from under these trees,” said Fash, “maybe we’ll get a signal on the way.” He looked at me, Cora and Luke in turn. We nodded, all of us, and I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of hope.
“And which way’s the road, Fash?” said Mason. “You said west, right? So all we need is a sunset to show us the way.” He turned his free hand toward the sky, palm up, and made a show of taking in the dark.
“My brother’s compass,” said Luke. “All we need is my brother’s compass. It’s in my bag. In . . . in the cave,” he added. He looked at me, knowing how I felt about going back there.
The torch flickered again, and Fash gave it a whack. “I reckon we’re going to need to get our stuff anyway,” he said. “This torch is about to conk out on us. But look,” he said to me and Cora, “why don’t you two stay here. Me, Luke and Mason can—”
“Uh-uh. No way,” said Cora. “We’re not splitting up. Not again.”
And as much as I hated the thought of going inside that cave, or even of going anywhere near it, I hated the thought of being on my own out there in the darkness even more.
“We’ll all go,” I said. “I don’t see that we’ve got any other choice.”
Which settled it, we figured. We had a plan. The only problem was, nobody seemed to know which way the cave was. And as we were standing there trying to work it out, that’s when the torch finally died.
FASH
“WHAT WAS THAT?” said Abi.
