When We Were 8

by catt dahman

  “We drink, eat, swim, and mind our own business. Seven days. Then, we leave for good and never look back,” Jill said. “We stop digging things up and stop researching, and we just get this over with.”

  “Sounds good to me. I could use a swim,” Angel declared.

  They packed snacks and a gallon jug of the bloody Marys, changed into swimsuits, and walked down the familiar trail.

  Years had passed, but they might have been thirteen or even eighteen again, and each turn of the trail was familiar. Each tree was like a missed friend.

  The river had flooded over the years and then receded; the banks had changed a little, but other than some undergrowth along the tree line, it looked the same. Jill hesitated a second before going to the water, looking over the rocks.

  “There’s no blood. Not anymore,” Tiffany said. “It’s all gone. In the past.”

  Jill still imagined Rex and John. She imagined seeing Ed staked out. But there was no blood to identify their guilt, only pristine, clean rocks and a pool of clear, cold water.

  The afternoon was clear, hot, and perfect for sun tanning and swimming. Once again, it was as if they had stepped back into the past as they enjoyed the water. Angel excused herself to use the restroom in the woods, laughing and saying she refused to pee in the river. She wore only her swimsuit bottoms, choosing to suntan her breasts, her perfect, round breasts that she was proud of.

  Nelwynn forced herself to stop staring and remembering how she had loved Angel. She couldn’t quite accomplish it, and so she was watching as Angel stumbled back to the beach, holding her arms over her breasts. “Who’s the wise guy?”

  “Usually me, but why?” Whitney and Samantha looked up from where they sat on the rocks. The other five were in the river.

  Nelwynn blinked and thought she saw a flash of something dark moving in the trees, but assumed it was an animal and turned to listen to Angel complain.

  “One of you decided to scare me?”

  “No one has moved. I peed in the water,” Cassie grinned. “What’re you talking about?”

  “I heard something. Like sticks snapping and a pebble bouncing off a tree? Come on, I know one of you did it,” Angel said.

  “I swear none of us were close to you,” Jill told her. She scanned the trees.

  “I thought I saw something.”

  “What?” Jill asked Nelwynn.

  “Nothing. I mean it was a blur, movement. Something dark moving. Probably a deer.”

  “Are you sure?” Angel asked.

  Nelwynn shrugged.

  “Maybe it’s one of your many fans,” Meg teased.

  “She doesn’t have any,” Nelwynn said.

  “Ha, ha, so funny. I did see something, and it looked human to me, but it was only for a few seconds,” Angel said.

  They stayed another hour, but Angel grumbled the entire time, and every so often, one of the others paused and looked to the trees. It was more of a bad feeling than anything.

  “Let’s go. Weiner roast and s’mores. Let’s get the stuff and have a good time, okay?” Tiffany led the way back to the cabin, excited by the promise of a campfire and relaxation. “I have a craving for marshmallows.”

  Whitney, standing beside Tiffany, raised a hand and tilted her head. “Did we leave the front door open?”

  “No, I closed it,” Cassie said. She eased the door open, and they stared at the living area. Their underwear and bras were strewn around the room, hanging from lamps, arranged on the table, and lined up on the sofa.

  “What…?” Jill couldn’t finish her sentence. Someone had taken their personal clothing and touched them before arranging them around the room. She snatched everything she saw that was hers and stomped around angrily.

  “Damnit. Perverts? Let me guess, those Watkins brothers?” Cassie demanded. “Who else?”

  “And who can we thank for them being here?” Jill pointed out, “or for us being up here close to them? Damned Mike Orinston.”

  “We don’t know that it was those brothers. It could be some random hikers or a perv passing through. You know the hiking trails wind all around here,” Samantha said. She took her clothing back. At the entry to the kitchen, she paused and said, “Oh, my God.”

  The women gathered, and Tiffany shrieked. Her blue sweater lay in view and had been abused for sexual gratification.

  “What the hell? Her sweater? That went missing last night!” Whitney thundered. She picked up the sweater, and using a few fingers, she rolled it and tossed it into the fireplace, sure that Tiffany would never wear it again. “Unless you wanted to have it cleaned?”

  “It cost three hundred dollars, but no,” said Tiffany as she made a face. “Wash your hands.”

  “I’m going to scrub them, actually,” Whitney called from the kitchen where she fled to run hot water.

  Tiffany sat down and shook violently. “He, whoever he is, was in here when we were down in the cellar last night, and he stole it. He brought it back and did that on it and got our underwear. What kind of pervert is he? Why’d he bring it back to do that here?”

  Cassie cursed and then said, “Someone looking for power and to scare us. A real perv.”

  “Them. The Watkins brothers,” Meg said.

  “We don’t know that,” Jill reminded her.

  “So what now? We can’t exactly leave because of the will and the threat, and we have no cell service. So what can we do?” Cassie asked, with her hands on her hips. “That’s gross what someone did to her sweater. And it’s sneaky, too.”

  “What we do is this. We’ll go with the plans. We’ll go to the campfire. We’ll have fun. After we eat, two of us will pretend to go into the woods to pee, but we know this place. We can sneak back, and the two of us can catch the person or people who come in here and do things,” Jill said.

  “Two? Okay, better make it you and me. You’re tough, and I’m tougher,” said Cassie as she nodded.

  “And do what to them? Ant hills again? Archery practice?” Tiffany asked as she glared at Angel.

  “I can scare them off with my side arm. Or I can threaten with something about busting them and scare them away,” Meg said.

  “Unless your pistol goes off and we have another accident,” said Jill as she made quotes in the air.

  “It won’t,” said Meg who tossed her head. “I’ll leave it here for Cassie, and she can threaten them.” Meg looked unconcerned.

  “I’ll go with Jill,” Cassie said.

  “Okay,” Jill agreed. She didn’t want to be on any mission requiring alone time with Meg; the slap might have been years in the past, but Jill remembered it well. She remembered who opposed her and who was on her side.

  Chapter 4

  As soon as the sun set, it was dinner time, and the women laughed and walked to the campfire, stoking it to a roaring blaze in seconds and warming themselves before the orange flames.

  As planned, Whitney and Angel danced a little, giving anyone watching a show. They almost forgot their plan as they stuffed themselves with hotdogs, cooked perfectly and then decorated with what they had in the cooler: ketchup, spicy mustard, sauerkraut, onions, and relish. Cassie made more drinks, and they had bloody Marys, margaritas, chips, salsa, and s’mores.

  Cassie and Jill announced they had to go to the woods and walked together. As soon as they were hidden behind the trees, they carefully walked toward the cabin, alert to sticks and brush, so they remained silent. They easily slid along a wall and positioned themselves to watch the inside of the cabin. Neither dared to whisper.

  Jill rubbed her calf as a cramp gripped her, and Cassie shifted her position quietly. Two hours dragged by, and nothing happened. Cassie pointed to her watch and shrugged; it was close to the time that the entire group should return to the cabin; their plan had failed, and maybe the perverts had moved along or decided to skip an evening attack.

  They walked from their hiding places and frowned. “Not a great plan?” Jill asked.

  “Maybe pervs need a night off.
Who knows? We tried anyway. It was something we would have done when young, anyway.”

  “Yeah. It wouldn’t have been as disappointing as it is now,” said Jill, scratching at a bug bite.

  Cassie grabbed another container of drinks, and the women walked back on the trail, not bothering to be stealthy. Cassie walked with her machete in one hand and the drinks in the other, cradled close to her body.

  Before they were close to the campfire, they heard laughter, hooting, and cheers. Neither woman could imagine what was going on at the campfire and traded glances.

  Angel danced in a sexy, languish manner that was sinewy, like a snake. Her body rippled, and she was bare down to her tiny short shorts. Her ribs showed how tiny she was now, something shocking because she was actually far too thin in an unhealthy way. Her white-blonde hair was drenched in sweat and flopped against her shoulders.

  A man sat on a log and hooted and cheered Angel’s dancing, but Samantha sat in his lap and let him rub her breasts. Samantha didn’t look as if she were fully immersed in either the man or Angel’s sexy show. She stared into space.

  A second man was on a blanket with Tiffany, and both were naked, their bodies shining with sweat in the firelight. Tiffany giggled. Neither cared that they were being watched.

  Jill’s first thought after noting that Angel was too skinny was that this was out of character for Tiffany. It sent adrenaline through Jill’s body because the strangeness scared her. She thought, That could have been me and wondered what that meant.

  Meg and a third man groped at one another, and both were nearly naked; her blouse was flung to the ground.

  Whitney and Nelwynn sat together and held hands, ignoring the others except to comment on Angel and then giggle.

  Cassie and Jill both stopped in their tracks, stunned. Samantha and Tiffany were both married, and the entire scene was so surreal and confusing that Cassie and Jill stood in stunned silence for a while. Were their friends making love to perverts? Being abused? Drunk? What was happening?

  “Hey, what the hell, Tiffany!” Jill yelled, breaking the silence.

  Tiffany raised her head, her eyes were unfocused, but she didn’t seem to understand who was yelling at her or why. “Huh?”

  “What is going on here?” Jill demanded.

  “I. Damn. I feel sick.” Whitney stood and staggered to the edge of the clearing where she vomited. She groaned and clutched her stomach with one hand and rubbed her head with the other. Her calves tensed as she fought to keep her balance but fell into the remains of her dinner. “What the hell?”

  Meg and Samantha were as confused and lost as the rest, their eyes blank and mouths slack. Only Angel looked alert as she danced, humming to herself. “Oh, relax. We’re having fun. Relax. Let yourselves go. It’s fun.”

  “What kind of fun?” Cassie asked. She felt her arms break out in chills bumps. Something was wrong with the way Angel talked.

  “With everything else happening, wasn’t it about time we had some fun? I just helped them along. Look at our new friends,” said Angel as she moved her hips more suggestively.

  “Friends? Aren’t these the bastards who messed with our stuff and ruined Tiffany’s sweater? Watkins brother plus one?” Jill demanded. As she said it, she knew she was wrong. These men didn’t look like the mug shots Mike had placed in the file folder. These men were fresh-faced, and they had piled heavy backpacks to one side of the camp.

  They were innocent hikers.

  But she didn’t understand what was going on.

  Cassie sniffed and said, “Pot. You smoked pot, and, Angel, what did you mean? What did you do?”

  “Everyone needed to relax. I shared some little pills; it’s okay. There was no harm. We’re having fun. Have a drink,” Angel said as she motioned to the containers of alcohol.

  Tiffany raised her cup to have another drink. She wanted her buzz back and to forget everything else, except this hot, sexy man who was all over her. “More dwinks?” she asked as she slurred her words.

  With her machete in one hand, Cassie set the gallon jug down and rushed Tiffany. With her hand, she slapped the cup from Tiffany’s hand so she didn’t drink any more and hoped Tiffany would sober up quickly and stop the destructive behavior. Cassie thought Angel had used some unknown pills and drugged everyone, causing the debauchery; drugging people was dangerous in so many ways.

  The man, who was with Tiffany, reacted by reaching for Cassie. Naked, he felt sexy and wondered why this was happening, but he also had to explain to the new woman that it was all consensual and fun. It was the best, most exciting backpacking of his life to meet up with six attractive women. Eight women, now that two more had come along. He grabbed at Cassie.

  Cassie flinched, spun, and swung the machete without thinking. She never meant to hit the man, and she cried out as soon as the blade hit his flesh low, severing his penis.

  Tiffany, her stupor broken, dropped beside him, trying to cover the bleeding stump, shrieking the entire time. He lay on the ground twitching as his blood spurted and his mind reeled.

  The second man, his friend who was with Samantha, pushed her away and lunged at Cassie, horrified that they were being attacked. Samantha cried out as a patch of skin on her back raked away. She kicked at him as she winced with pain and while he and Cassie fought over the machete.

  Samantha’s foot hit the man as Nelwynn, already on her feet, threw herself against him. He lost his balance, falling drunkenly into the fire.

  His screams split the air.

  Cassie stomped and pulled her hair with frustration and regret. “Nelwynn, help me. Get him out of the fire. Pull his legs. Come on; pull.” Unfortunately, his face, hands, and chest were charred and covered by embers that burned at the fat on his body. “He didn’t mean to….”

  The third man, who had been with Meg, knew he was in danger and tried to run, but Meg pounced on him like a wildcat, straddling his back and clawing. She had to stop the man from running. She screeched. To her, she was back years before fighting Rex and John, knowing how bad they were and that if they escaped, she and the other girls would be killed or sent to prison.

  Angel calmly took a pike they used to move logs and yelled to Meg who dodged and dropped to the ground. Angel skewered the man and although she was tiny, she was strong and determined.

  Terrified, Jill still stood, rooted to the spot and clawed at her face. Until everything was quieter except for moans and sobs, she couldn’t move. Whitney and she had watched everything happen within seconds, unable to stop it or to make sense of the events. Everyone had over-reacted. Cassie’s actions were accidental, but Nelwynn and Meg attacked like banshees.

  Jill went to the man with the severed penis, but Tiffany stood, blood covering her, and shook her head. “He’s dead. He’s just. Dead.”

  “Put on some clothes. Over the blood. Cover up,” Jill ordered Tiffany.

  Cassie looked from him to her machete with confused eyes. “What? I didn’t….”

  “Accident. My, God, it was an accident, Cas,” Jill said. She was aware that those same words always came back to haunt them.

  She went to the burned man that Nelwynn watched curiously. Nelwynn slurred her words and made no sense, but she still muttered over the man. Jill could see the faint rise and fall of the man’s chest as he moaned with pain. She looked at his blackened face, his eyes and nose burned away, his fingers that were nothing but black twigs, and shook her head, saying, “He won’t make it, and he’s suffering.”

  “Bad burns,” Nelwynn rolled her eyes and fought to understand what had just taken place. Her lips and tongue felt rubbery, and she found it hard to form coherent sentences.

  Cassie cursed and made a terrible noise, a kind of groan and cry, but raised the machete and slammed it into the man’s neck three times while blood flew into the air. She couldn’t stand to see the man’s blackened skin and to hear him crying with pain. She hit him hard, sinking the blade in as deeply as possible until Jill grabbed her arm. She felt she ha
d to end the agony.

  “He’s dead, Cassie. He’s dead. He’s stopped moving, see?” said Jill.

  “Why?”

  “Nelwynn, he was suffering. Do you see the burns? She had to,” Jill said, “and isn’t that always how it is? We have to do shit we hate?”

  “What about him?” Cassie pointed. The third man was bleeding badly, scared, and felt tired. He held his hands over a hole in his chest that Angel made with the pike. Cassie shook her head and said, “All he did was run, and you did that to him?”

  “We always did if they tried to get away,” Meg said.

  “But not now. He’s alive and has a hole in his chest! You didn’t kill him. You left him this way. And it isn’t back then; it’s now. What are we going to do?” Cassie screamed.

  Furious, Jill turned to Angel and told her, “He’s yours. Finish it since you started it,” she said as she handed over the knife that Uncle Mike gave her years before, turning her back and refusing to watch Angel finish her task. “How could you?” Jill asked Angel.

  Angel handed the knife back and said, “Cassie did it. She cut off that guy’s dick. I didn’t do that.”

  Jill put the knife back into her pocket. “What did you do?”

  “I thought we should relax, and I had some pills. I dropped them into the drinks, and we smoked some pot, nothing big.”

  “Nothing big? You drugged the other girls and these men? They were just hikers passing through,” said Jill as she rubbed her wet, burning eyes. “Innocent men.”

  “I know that. But they were hot, and a girl likes some action,” said Angel, grinning. “No men are ever innocent. I know better.” Even your husband….”

  Jill drew back a fist and hit Angel with all she had. Angel fell to the ground, holding her jaw, and Jill wrung her hand; she had hit Angel hard. Before Angel recovered, Jill leaped on her and began to pound her face, not caring how much her fists stung with the blows.

  Cassie grabbed Jill around the waist and lifted her off Angel. She held her until Jill’s face lost the feral look and her eyes were human again. “You done?”