by J L Raven
I went to the bar and poured all three of us drinks. “So. Crossing the river didn’t work, to say the least. That leaves the zip line.”
“Fuck,” Yasmine said. “We were supposed to be back today. Someone has to have missed us by now. The rangers will be up here to check on us as soon as they can, right?”
Adam looked at her like she was insane. “The guy wrote ‘Who’s next?’ He’s coming after us. We can’t just sit back and wait for something to happen. Three people are already dead because of him, including our two closest friends.”
It didn’t seem the time to point out that, going by the evidence, Tiffany was the murderer’s only victim thus far. “Look at how many trees are down out there,” I said instead. “Even if the park rangers come to check on us—assuming they’re even allowed to, since the inholding is private property—it’s going to take a while. Snowmobiles will help, but the bridge is out, so they’re going to have to find some way across to get to us.”
“They probably have rafts and waterproof thermals,” Yasmine said.
“I’m sure you’re right. But if there are trees blocking the road, that’s going to slow them down big time. I’m certain they’ll get here eventually.” I looked to Adam. “But it’s not going to be soon enough to save us. We’re going to have to save ourselves.”
He liked that, I could tell. “Right. Let’s set a watch tonight. Then first thing tomorrow, we make for the zip lines.”
Now
“It was dumb, I know, trying to get out of the inholding the way we did,” I say. Sheriff Hassan has the grace not to agree with me. “The river was too dangerous. But after Rick died, the thought of just staying there…and of course we had no idea how long it would take the park rangers to reach us, or if they’d even try.” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “We panicked.”
The sheriff’s brown face creases into a wry expression. “You aren’t the first. We get a lot of people out here who don’t realize how dangerous the wilderness can be.” He pauses. “How would you describe Melissa’s mindset when you tried to cross the river?”
“Not good.” I wipe at eyes that ache with exhaustion. I want to sleep so badly, but the sooner I get through the interview, the better. “And you’d think she’d stop drinking, given what happened to Rick, but she didn’t. We should have made her stay behind in the lodge, no matter how scared she was to be by herself.”
Hassan nods. “Understandable. Can you tell me what happened next?”
“Two of our co-workers were dead.” I blink rapidly. “If we were panicking before…well. At that point, it seemed like a simple choice. Get to the park and live. Or stay in the inholding and die.”
Day 6: Tuesday
Twenty-Three
“Shit!” muttered Adam.
I raised my head, blinking eyes that felt full of sand. I’d fallen asleep near the fire, wrapped in my sleeping bag with my head pillowed on a cushion from the couch. Adam was supposed to wake me up near midnight for my turn at watch, but judging from the watery pre-dawn light leaking through the glass wall, that hadn’t happened.
Yasmine curled up near me; she lifted her head as well. Her black hair had tangled into a rat’s nest, and dark shadows made her eyes seem haunted. I doubted I looked any better, and likely worse. For a moment, her expression was confused—then it flashed to alarm. “What’s wrong?”
We both sat up. Adam was still in the chair he’d settled into when we’d laid down last night. The lingering glow from the coals in the fireplace stained his pale face with orange. “I fell asleep. All night.”
Yasmine let out a hiss. “What were you thinking? That psycho could have come in here and killed us.”
“But he didn’t,” I said.
Adam stood up. “I didn’t think I’d sleep, not after…”
After he’d killed Melissa. Or at least contributed to her death in a major way.
“We were all exhausted.” I unzipped my sleeping bag and grabbed my boots from where I’d left them near the fire. A layer of grime covered my skin, and I’d worn the same clothes since Saturday.
God, I wanted a shower.
Adam grabbed the flashlight from the table beside him. “We need to make sure this nutcase didn’t sneak in while we slept.” He clicked the button, but nothing happened.
“The fuck?” He frowned and shook the flashlight. Then he unscrewed the cover to the battery compartment.
No batteries fell into his hands.
I put my hands to my mouth. “You used that flashlight last night, when we were checking the lodge after we came back. It had batteries then.”
Yasmine rolled to her feet and all but ran to the battery-powered lantern sitting on the table. “There’s no batteries in this one, either!”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “Oh my God. The murderer came in, while we were asleep. He was right here!”
Adam ran his hand through his hair. He looked almost deranged, his hair wild, his eyes shadowed, his lips chapped from the cold. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay!” Yasmine shouted. She hurled the lantern at him, but her aim sucked, and it hit the ground several feet away. “You fucking fell asleep and let this psycho creep around while we were asleep! He was probably standing there, staring at us, watching…”
Tears of either terror or anger streaked her face, and she broke down sobbing. Adam took a step in her direction, but she shot him such a venomous glare he stopped in his tracks.
“We need to take stock,” I said. The light streaming through the glass wall was getting stronger by the minute. “See if he screwed with anything else.”
It didn’t take long. Someone had opened our packs and removed all the food. A check of the kitchen revealed no granola and no snacks. The only food left was in the freezer next to Rick’s body, and the thought of eating it turned my stomach. Adam and Yasmine clearly felt the same, because neither of them suggested trying to defrost it over the fire.
“How did he get in?” Adam wondered. “The doors are still barricaded.”
“Does it matter?” I asked. But he was already checking the windows. I shook my head and started to put together what little we had left. At least the hand and foot warmers still remained. Yasmine went to the bar and drank a swig of vodka straight from the bottle, her hands shaking so badly I could see the tremble from across the room.
A short while later, Adam came back. “The window in the men’s bathroom was unlocked. I know we locked it earlier. He must have snuck in while we were at the river yesterday and unlatched it so he could get in last night. It’s so high up and so small, I didn’t think to check after we got back.”
Yasmine didn’t say anything. She was furious with Adam, that was obvious from the way she refused to look directly at him. As for Adam, he didn’t seem to know what to say. The situation had spiraled far beyond his ability to control, and I guessed he didn’t know how to even begin to process what was happening.
Fine. I’d take charge if he didn’t want to. “We need to head for the zip line, before anything else happens. It’s light enough outside now to see where we’re going.”
“God.” Yasmine held the vodka bottle tightly and shook her head. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“It’s that or spend another night with this guy creeping on us.” I paused. “And he might not be satisfied with just some batteries and granola next time.”
“I know.” She carried the bottle to her pack and stuffed it roughly in. “Liquid courage.” Slinging the pack on her back, she straightened. “Let’s go, before I lose my nerve.”
Adam trailed after the two of us as we made our way down one of the winding paths in the direction of the zip lines. The damage from the storm was even more apparent on this side of the inholding. Fallen trees and branches blocked the path at irregular intervals, and the forest was filled with threatening creaks and groans. Once again I cursed the meteorologists who had failed so spectacularly
with their predictions. Mother Nature was a bitch, and if I had my way, I’d never leave the comfort of the indoors again after I got out of here.
If I got out of here.
I shook my head sharply. That sort of thinking wouldn’t help. I’d adapted to the challenge so far; I just had to keep moving forward. Focus on everything I had waiting for me in the outside world. My family, Heather, our dog.
A tree had fallen on the sign for the zip line, but after going down a hiking trail by mistake, we found it soon enough. Though a low bank of clouds hung in the west, moving rapidly closer, the rising sun painted the tops of the trees in gold. With any luck, we’d get off the line before more snow moved in.
The trail ended in a large clearing. One of the tall trees ringing it had a platform halfway up, and a ladder bolted into place in order to reach it. Adam had carried three harnesses from the lodge. A large information sign at the base of the tree reminded us of the safety procedures.
Yasmine went to read it, then shook her head. “We don’t have any helmets.”
Adam shrugged. “I didn’t see any in the cabinet.”
“They were there when we did the tree climbing exercise.” I looked uneasily from Adam to Yasmine. “Do you think the killer took them?”
“Screw him,” Adam said. “We’ll be fine. We should go ahead and put on our harnesses.”
I glanced warily up at the line leading from the platform high overhead to some unseen point deeper in the forest. “Do you know how to do this?”
Adam nodded. “It’s pretty simple. Just make sure your harness is secure. Once we get up there, we’ll clip our harness to the pulleys and let gravity do the rest. One at a time. We don’t want to go too close to each other and risk a crash.”
“How do we stop?” Yasmine asked. Her voice shook, and I noticed she carefully didn’t look in the direction of the high platform.
“There’s a block at the other end to stop you safely. But there were gloves still in the cabinet.” He held up three pairs of large leather gloves, the sort welders might use. “You can grab the line to slow down if you need to.”
Yasmine didn’t look happy, but she only put down her pack, pulled out the bottle, and took another slug of liquid courage. We put on our harnesses, following Adam’s instructions, and then checked one another to make sure everything was tight enough.
I swapped out my insulated gloves for the leather ones. They weren’t nearly as warm, but hopefully I wouldn’t be wearing them that long. “I’ll go first,” I volunteered.
“Good idea.” Adam glanced at Yasmine. “Why don’t you go next? I’ll come up behind you. That way you won’t fall.”
“I don’t know, are you going to spend the whole time screaming at me?” she asked bitterly.
“Christ, Yasmine, now is not the time.”
“Then when is it?” She turned on him, fire flashing in her eyes. “When is it, Adam?”
“After—”
“After what? After you marry Senator Gilcher’s daughter, so her fucking daddy will be in your pocket for good? After you launch your political career?” Tears streamed down her face. “I gave you everything, sacrificed everything, and you just threw me aside like a piece of trash.” She pointed at me. “I trust Lauren more than you, Adam. At least she hasn’t stabbed me in the back.”
Silence fell over the forest, broken only by Yasmine’s heaving breaths. She took another long pull on the vodka bottle; the glass glinted bright in the rays of the rising sun.
The crack of a rifle rang through the forest, and the bottle exploded.
Twenty-Four
For a moment, we all stared in stunned horror at the glass shards lying on top of the snow, as the echo of the shot faded. Then Adam’s eyes widened. “Go! Move, move, move!”
I ran for the ladder and scrambled up it as fast as I could, dislodging the snow piled on the rungs onto Yasmine and Adam below me. The moment I reached the platform, I turned, and saw Yasmine making her way up far faster than I would have imagined she could. Her terrified gaze locked with mine, and I nodded encouragement. “You’re almost here! Don’t look—”
Another shot, and Yasmine flinched and screamed. “Keep going!” Adam yelled from behind her, and she did. A minute later, I helped her onto the platform, Adam on her heels.
My hands shook as I latched my harness to one of the pulleys. The rising sun half blinded me, and I had to squint against the brightness to get the carabiner attached.
“Lauren, go!” Adam ordered.
I gave it one last tug to make sure I was securely fastened to the pulley—then leapt off the edge of the platform and into the air.
The zip line caught me, and suddenly I was flying through the canopy. The wheel of the pulley sang against the line, and the air against my face turned into an icy gale thanks to my speed. The zip line followed a cleared path through the forest to another platform. Conifers covered in blankets of snow closed ranks to either side, and the slope dropped precipitously far below.
In any other circumstances, the experience would have been amazing. Thrilling. As it was, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I expected to hear the bang of the rifle at any second. Feel the impact of a bullet, my blood trailing behind me like a gruesome streamer as I whooshed down the line.
The second platform was coming up way too fast. I grabbed the line with my gloved hands. I couldn’t get a grip, and for a horrible moment I thought I had no chance at control. Then friction took over in the fight with gravity, slowing me enough to hit the striking block a bit more gently than I would have otherwise. My boots sank into the snow on the platform, even as Yasmine shouted, “Out of the way!”
I unclipped and moved to the side. A few seconds later, she slammed into the striking block at full force. It did its job, absorbing the blow, but she still swung wildly forward, her feet knocking snow off the platform and into the forest below. I grabbed her harness, steadying her long enough to unclip her.
“Shit!” She latched hold of me, her whole body shaking with either adrenaline or terror.
“It’s okay.” I tugged her away from the line. Like the first platform, this one was built around a tree, and I guided her to its solid trunk. “You’re okay.”
Adam came behind her after a short interval. “We’re almost there,” he said as he unclipped. “Unless this guy brought his own harness with him, he’ll never catch up. One more line, and we’ll be off the property.”
Yasmine glanced at him. “Can’t we just climb down and go on foot from here?”
Adam let out an impatient sigh. “Did you even look at the map? This next part is the roughest terrain in the whole place. There’s a rocky slope, followed by a sheer drop into a ravine. That’s why we’re taking the zip line to begin with. It’ll let us off on the other side of the ravine, and from there we can try to make it to the road and safety.”
The report of the rifle echoed through the woods.
Yasmine screamed and ducked. A figure dressed all in winter camouflage stood on the platform we’d left only minutes before, sighting down the open path of the zip line right at us.
The sight seemed to galvanize Yasmine. She shoved me out of the way, sending me staggering against the railing, and ran for the second line. I had to squint against the bright beams of the rising sun as she clipped onto one of the pulleys. The line bent and sang under her weight as she jumped off, vanishing into the wash of sunlight.
Adam crouched, back flattened against the side of the tree. “Go!”
I clipped on, shading my eyes so I could make sure the carabiner was secure. Then I jumped off, into the thin air.
The ride on the second line was different from the first moment.
For one thing, this leg of the zip line headed straight into the sunrise. I couldn’t see anything; the blinding glare was too much to make out where the line ended. And secondly, the descent was far steeper than the first. Within seconds, I was going much faster than I had been on the initial line. The gro
und whipped past beneath me, a craggy slope lined by tall trees.
This speed couldn’t possibly be safe. Something was wrong.
Yasmine screamed.
I grabbed the line with both gloved hands, but it whipped through my grip like smoke. Her shriek of terror cut off almost as soon as it began, ending in a horrible, wet crack.
I tightened my grip on the line, a scream of my own tearing free from my lungs. My gloves eroded against the line, but I couldn’t tell if I was getting any slower. Just as I couldn’t tell what waited ahead, thanks to the sunlight burning right into my unprotected eyes.
Then I passed low enough that something came between me and sun. I blinked at the sudden dimness—then screamed again.
A huge fir tree had toppled directly across the zip line. Its uppermost boughs had caught in the trees across from it, so rather than bring down the line altogether, the fir only weighed it down, increasing the angle of descent—and the speed of any riders.
Yasmine hadn’t seen it until almost too late. She’d smashed into the fir’s trunk at high speed. Now her body dangled limply from her harness.
And I was heading straight for her.
Twenty-Five
I screamed a third time, my throat raw. My hands tightened around the line, and my body twisted, desperate to avoid the impending collision.
I’d already shed some of my speed coming down, and now I slowed perceptibly. I drew up my feet, trying to brace—
I hit Yasmine, hard enough to jar my legs and spine. Her legs swung wildly at the impact; the upper part of her body was pinned against the angled trunk. I bounced off, then swung back, smacking into her again.
This time I saw her misshapen skull, and the smear of blood and hair against the bark. Her head dangled at an odd angle, and as the impact swung her around, her open eyes stared blankly at me.
