CHAPTER 7
The woods were too dark to see the low hanging branches and protruding roots until I ran into, or tripped over them. Again and again, I hit the ground, skinning my hands and knees. Every time, I got up and hoped I was still running in a straight line. I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I doubled over, gripped the stitch in my side, and tried to catch my breath.
If only I had known that one day I would have been forced to run for my life, I might have put more effort into gym class this year. As it was, my lack in preparation resulted in me stopping every few minutes to whine, and wheeze, and talk myself into doing it all over again.
The pop-popping of gunshots echoed behind me. As scary as that sound was, I got relief in knowing that as long as I heard shooting, Nathan was alive. What troubled me was the rustling my ears picked up between the roar of gunshots. Every time I stopped, whatever it was sounded closer. Something behind me. Something big. Something that was coming fast.
Unless those guys back there were shooting at each other, it couldn’t be Nathan.
I dropped my head and ran. I pushed forward until my legs felt like jelly, until my throat was raw, my breaths were coming in short ragged gasps, and I was certain my heart was about to explode. When I could go no farther, I dropped to my knees and listened.
The unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps that crashed through the woods behind me was now too close for me to outrun. My only option was to hide and hope whoever it was ran past me. Then, I could backtrack and find Nathan.
I scampered behind a fallen tree a few yards away and peeked over it to watch for my pursuer. Only then did I realize I no longer heard gunshots. Either I had run out of range, or the battle was over.
Who had taken the last shot?
Nathan. Of course it was Nathan. It had to be Nathan. It would be really awesome if it was him running through the woods after me. I wasn’t optimistic.
There was a separation in the tree canopy that allowed just enough moonlight through for me to watch as a man I immediately knew was not Nathan drew closer. He slowed as he approached, like he knew I was near.
He was tall and fit like Nathan, but that was where the similarities ended. He was even scarier looking than the others, with unnaturally pale skin enhanced by the moonlight and dark empty voids for eyes that meticulously scanned the area. When he turned in my direction, I lowered behind the tree. I hated to not keep my eyes on him, but I couldn’t risk letting him see me. I stayed down long enough for his gaze to shift away from me before I lifted my head.
He was gone. My eyes darted around, desperately trying to locate him. I strained to hear one footstep, one snapping twig, one heavy breath. I heard nothing.
“Boo.”
I jumped away from the voice inches from my ear, and a scream rose up in my throat as I spun around, coming face to face with him. His eyes were no longer empty voids, but burning golden nuggets. They could have been tiny flames, and I was staring into the very pits of hell.
With a humorless laugh, he lunged for me. His grip was tight as it clamped around my waist, and he hoisted me up in one arm like I was a ragdoll. His free hand covered my mouth to smother my screams as he lugged me back toward the road.
I dug my heels into the ground, trying to slow our progress, but my feet ineffectively dragged behind me. I drove my fingernails into his arms in an attempt to inflict enough pain for him to loosen his hold. When that didn’t work, I went for his face. He shifted and tightened his grip so that I couldn’t even do that. I struggled to breathe with his viselike clutch around my chest, and that only intensified my desperation. I kicked my feet at his, and he stumbled slightly.
I did it again and again, struggling in his grasp. My breaths came in shallow gasps as his grip tightened. Finally, my persistence paid off. One of my feet got under his, and he toppled over, face first. He lost his hold on me as he went down. I landed on my knees and got up before he did. I ran, and hoped it was in the right direction.
Toward Nathan. More than anything, I hoped he was alive.
I heard the man-beast-thing behind me, closing the distance. I pumped my legs faster and harder to keep ahead of him. My chest burned for air, my vision blurred, and my ankle throbbed. I ignored it all. I had to outrun him. If he caught me, I was dead.
His fingers grazed my back, and then caught the heel of my foot. I stumbled and fell forward, smashing my face into the ground. The impact pushed the air from my lungs. I recovered quickly and crawled to my knees, but it wasn’t fast enough.
He was on me before I could get up. He flipped me over onto my back and lowered his face to mine. His lips twisted into a sinister grimace. The golden flames in his eyes surged. His breath smelled like death, and made me gag.
I struggled to squirm out from under him. He pressed a knee into my chest and threw his other leg over the both of mine, pinning me to the ground with his weight. He held both my hands above my head in one of his and, with his free hand, gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. From the look on his face, I knew that he planned to kill me right then and there.
Despite the knee pressed into my lungs, I got a big enough gulp of air to scream for Nathan. I only managed part of his name before I was backhanded in the mouth. It hurt enough to bring me up short. Temporarily.
I writhed beneath him and yelled again. This time, I got the whole name out before I received another smack to the face. Tears sprung up in my eyes, partly from the pain. Mostly out of frustration. Where was Nathan? I didn’t want to consider the possibility that he was already dead. If he was, I would be next. He was my only hope.
“Nathan! Nathan!”
It was pure fear that pushed his name out of my lungs as the beast on top of me clobbered me over and over. Finally, he clamped his hand over my mouth, shoving my cries back down my throat. When his hand shifted to pinch my nose shut, I bucked under him and shook my head from side to side. He was too strong for me. Nothing worked. The hand stayed.
The freak was going to smother me!
I didn’t want to die this way—alone, on the cold forest floor, at the hands of a monster. Adrenaline surged, and kicked me into warrior-mode. I worked my mouth open, got a chunk of his palm between my teeth, and clamped down—with everything I had.
“Argh!” He pulled his hand back.
I sprung out from under him, and kicked him in the stomach while he reeled from the bite. The kick barely fazed him, but it didn’t matter. Someone whizzed by me and slammed into him, allowing me to wriggle free. I watched the two shadowy figures wrestle on the ground in front of me. It was too dark, and they moved too fast, to tell who was who. One of them had to be Nathan. I hoped one of them was Nathan.
One finally gained the upper hand, flipped the other onto his back, and drove a knife down. A wet gurgled cry pierced the night as the one on top plunged the knife deeper. Then deeper still until the nightmarish noises stopped. I held my breath as the body disintegrated.
The remaining shadow turned to me. I scurried backward, suddenly afraid that I had been wrong, and it wasn’t Nathan. It was too dark. I couldn’t see him clearly. And he hadn’t said anything.
Why hadn’t he said anything?
Whoever it was grabbed my arm, and I screamed. My foot connected with something soft. There was a grunt, followed by Nathan’s strained voice, “Easy. It’s me. It’s okay.”
I froze in relief. He inched closer and I saw his face. His eyes.
I lunged forward, and stunned both of us when I threw my arms around his neck. This time, I didn’t care if he saw or heard me cry. I was so happy he was alive and, because of him, so was I.
The biggest surprise of the evening—and trust me, there had already been some whoppers—was that Nathan didn’t immediately brush off my fragile emotional state. He let me cry on his shoulder until his shirt was sullied to the point of humility, and I was the one who eventually withdrew, eyes diverted from his.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly.
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“No,” I whined with a sniffle I knew sounded every bit as pathetic as I felt.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him roll his head from side to side. I knew he had meant physically, not emotionally, but he didn’t correct me. Instead, he helped me to my feet. And that was the end of the nurturing side of Nathan. “You have a cell phone on you?” he asked gruffly.
I dug into my jean’s pocket, withdrew my phone, and placed it into his outstretched hand. He pulled his arm back and chucked it into the woods behind me.
My mouth dropped open. “What the—” I gaped at him. “What did you do that for?”
“It can be traced.” There was that accusatory tone again. I wondered if that was how they had found us. Something about the rigidness of his jaw and the flare of his nostrils warned me not to ask.
I wanted to know who those guys were, and why they had tried to kill us, but I bit my tongue on those questions too. I knew I wouldn’t get an answer. Not while Nathan was in his man-on-a-mission mode.
The list of questions grew, and grew.
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