“I tried to follow her, but she got a good head start on me. I kept following the direction she ran off in but she was gone.”
Everyone sat around the fire pit for a minute, either looking at one another with nervous glances, or staring into the trees expecting Steph to come galloping out at any moment. Finally, Sean broke the silence.
“We need to go out and look for her.”
Everyone, except me, nodded in agreement. Steph’s disappearance had them all on edge, but I still wouldn’t take my eyes off of Damien. I didn’t have proof he was a demon, but the whole situation was adding to that conclusion.
“How do you want to do this?” Chase asked, breaking the silence. He stood up and started to rub his hands together.
“Well, I think we should break off into separate groups and head into the woods. The more groups, the more ground we’ll be able to cover,” Sean said.
I didn’t like that idea at all. The possibility of even more of us becoming separated from the pack was inviting more danger. I knew Annie was at risk, but that didn’t mean everyone else was safe. Almost instinctively, I rushed over to Annie’s side.
“Good idea,” Damien chimed in, standing too and watching me closely. “But, I think we should leave some people behind at camp, just in case she comes back while we’re gone.”
“Good thinking,” Sean responded. “Anyone want to volunteer?”
“I think Annie and Hope should stay behind,” Damien said suddenly. “Out of everyone here, they know her the best and I think it’s a good idea to have them around when she gets back.”
“I don’t think so!” I bellowed immediately. The thought of leaving Annie behind without me was out of the question. “Who knows what happened to Steph? I’m not going to head out into the woods while Annie and Hope sit here and wait, alone.”
“Zoe, it’s fine,” Annie said somewhat uneasily, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Hope and I will just hang out here. I’m sure you guys won’t be gone that long anyways. Steph will show up any minute now.”
Damien was watching us intently, trying to listen in even though the wind was still howling and Annie was speaking somewhat softly.
“Annie, no,” I whispered. “Something’s not right here. I don’t feel safe leaving you behind. Trust me on this, either I stay or you come with me.”
She studied my worried face for a moment. “Don’t worry Zoe. Look around, what’s the worst that could happen here? We’ll die of boredom? Just go, we’ll be fine.”
“But-,”
“Zoe, relax!” she said sternly. “After the way I treated her, I want to be here when she gets back. I have to apologize for everything and if I go out and look for her, it could take all day and we have to go home tonight.”
At that point, everyone was looking at the two of us. If I stayed, she would have been mad but if I went, I was leaving her in danger. The thought of telling her what dangers surrounded us filtered in my mind for a moment, but again, I passed. There were too many people around and everyone seemed ready to go immediately.
“Okay,” Sean finally said. “Here’s how the groups are going to work. Emily and I will go south, Tyler and Jaime will head East, Chase and Aubrey go West, and Damien and Zoe will cover the North.”
During the course of the discussion, I realized that maybe it was a better idea to go with the person I trusted least. It would give me a chance to keep an eye on him and then Annie would be safer. On top of that, it gave me an out of telling Annie everything I knew.
“Fine, but everyone grab a map and let’s find her ASAP,” I snapped quickly. “She can’t be too far.”
“Agreed,” Sean added, to a resounding nod of approval from everyone else. “I’ve got a few extra maps in my tent so if anyone needs one, come get it. Everyone try to be back by three. It starts getting dark early here.”
Tyler and Chase followed Sean and Emily to their tent to grab some maps. Their dates, who looked extremely unhappy, slouched off towards their tent and started getting dressed. Damien, who was already in his hiking gear, walked a safe distance behind while Annie, Hope and I headed towards our tent.
“We won’t be gone long,” I whispered to them when we reached the door.
Hope nodded while Annie smiled wryly.
“If anything, I’m more worried about you than me. I’ll be able to go back into my warm sleeping bag. You’re going out into the woods in this crap,” Annie laughed nervously.
“Alright, you guys take care,” Damien said from behind me. “We’ll be back soon I’m sure.”
With that, he started to walk into the woods from where he came running earlier. I gave Hope and Annie one final hug each and plowed my way into the dark, stormy forest with the person I trusted least of all.
Damien got a second wind the further we plowed into the forest. Even though it didn’t take any effort to keep up with him, we were moving at a rather fast pace. His extremely long legs made for big strides, which helped us make good time to the northern boundary of the Black Lake area.
“What’s your plan?” I asked, quickly ducking under a huge snowy branch that Damien released behind him.
He stopped on a dime right after I asked, causing me to clumsily bump into his back. His head was down; staring at a narrow trail that ran between the trees. I pulled the map out of the back pocket of my jeans and saw that the trail made an enormous loop around our camp, a couple of miles easily.
“I was thinking we’ll start out going that way on this trail because that’s where we hiked yesterday,” he said, nodding towards the darker clump of trees. “That’ll take us to the lake. Then, if we don’t find her, we’ll just go back west through the trees on our way back to camp. At that point, it should be around noon. It’s a long hike.”
“Then let’s go, I want to get back to camp,” I said, stepping in front of him and heading off along the darkening trail.
For the next hour, we trudged through the accumulating packs of snow on the ground. The snow continued to fall relentlessly, causing my lungs to start burning with the steepness of the trail. Damien remained silent, outside of randomly yelling out for Steph. But, the further we walked, the less determined he looked and the more nervous he became. His defined jaw was locked in place, but his wide eyes continued to search all around, back and forth between the dark forests that surrounded us. On occasion, random snapping noises came from the trees, causing him to jump slightly, which in turn, made my anxiety and nerves build up. The whole situation was weird and his constant glances into the black trees made me wonder if he was looking for Steph, or someone else.
We continued on in silence until we eventually came to a small opening in the trees. My jaw dropped in awe when we exited the forest and stood high up, at the edge of a huge ravine. Enormous, snow covered mountains rose up on all sides of the valley. Far below, down at the base, was an enormous, frozen over lake. Our tiny, treeless lookout point was carved into the adjacent mountains, and looked out over the entire scene. I slowly walked along, unable to blink at the vastness around us. Damien passed by me in a flash and sat down on a massive boulder that was placed towards the edge of the cliff.
“Where the hell is she?” he shouted, throwing his bag onto the ground in anger. “STEPH! STEPH!! WHERE ARE YOU?”
His shouting snapped me out of my trance.
“STEPH!” he shouted again, causing his voice to echo through the canyon.
“Damien!” I said, getting annoyed. “I’m sure if she were close by, she would have heard you!”
“What’s your problem Zoe?” he asked, redness growing on his face.
It was simple. Our search was useless.
“Think about it,” I said coolly. “These woods span hundreds of square miles. Even though she couldn’t be that far out, who knows where she is? I mean, you had the map so she could be anywhere.”
“You still think this is my fault?” he chuckled uneasily. “Unreal. I don’t know what your problem is, but right now, I just want
to find Steph. So why don’t you keep your thoughts to yourself?”
“So, you never answered my earlier question,” I asked, ignoring his request.
“Which one?” he sighed.
“Why you didn’t bother asking anyone else to go with you guys? I mean, we’re all on vacation, why not go on a hike together?”
He turned his head and just gave an exhausted laugh. “For the last time, there’s no conspiracy here Zoe. We were up all night, and she hoped that maybe the sun would break free and we could catch the sunrise. It was still dark out when we left and we thought it was way too early to ask anyone to come along. That’s it.”
“See the sunrise? How could you see the sunrise in this?” I retorted, pointing to the dull gray clouds rapidly moving overhead.
“Wow, Liam was right, you are persistent,” he mumbled from somewhere inside his palms.
The mention of Liam’s name hit me like a ton of bricks. It reminded me that he could be anywhere, holding Steph hostage and using his buddy to keep me distracted. I suddenly felt very alert and started glancing around us. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” he said, still not showing me his face.
“Look,” I said, not taking my eyes away from the trees. “Liam has nothing to do with this. I’m just not buying your story. Nothing adds up. First, you go to see a nonexistent sunrise, and then you guys hike back and decide to race each other back to camp in this weather? Add on the fact that Steph just happened to vanish right in front of you and none of it fits. ”
“That’s an interesting conspiracy theory you have,” he said faintly, finally lifting his head from his hands. “But, like I said, this was all an accident.”
“Right,” I said. “We should get moving again.”
“You’re right,” he replied, studying me closely. “It’s already past noon and we’ve still got a ways to go before we get back to camp.”
He tossed his bag back over his shoulders and sauntered back off into the trees. Watching him closely, I followed suit. The snow continued to fall in heavy doses over the next few hours. It was accompanied by a relentless wind, which made it impossible to keep yelling Steph’s name out. While we walked, tree branches kept violently blowing right into Damien, leaving many scrapes and scratches all over his face. Our search, which was already unsuccessful, kept getting more futile with each mile we walked.
There was no sign, not even a whisper of Steph while the afternoon slowly died away, evidenced by the deep shade of purple in the clouds. It took much longer to get back to camp than I had anticipated and Damien kept us on a straight line path that led due west. Then, out of the blue, we exited the trees again and found ourselves in a large, unfamiliar and deserted campsite. An empty fire pit and numerous sitting logs we in the middle of the grounds and a blanket of snow covered the rest of the space. Damien and I approached the center of the camp, where I hoped he would explain our next steps.
“Shouldn’t we be back at camp by now?” I asked, pulling the map out. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know,” Damien snapped back in an unpleasant and frustrated tone. “I thought we were on the same trail Steph and I took this morning. Stupid snow is making this impossible. Let me see that map.”
I handed the map to him and sat down on one of the logs. Staring up at the swiftly darkening sky, my uneasy and nervous feelings came back.
“Well, it’s getting dark, we shouldn’t stay here,” I said, trying to remain steady.
“You’re right,” he said, folding the map back up. “But I’ve gotta take a leak before we head out.”
“Lovely,” I said, rolling me eyes. “Hurry up.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll be right back,” he said without looking back at me.
He then walked briskly into the shadow of the trees while his flaming red hair vanished into the growing night.
The wind had calmed slightly but the snow continued to fall heavily. Nighttime was coming rapidly and there wasn’t much time left to get back to camp before darkness took over. Dusting some snow from one of the logs, I took a seat and pulled the map back out. I eagerly studied the remaining distance between our current position and our campsite, hoping against hope that Steph had returned already and Annie was safe. An uneasy anticipation came over me while I waited for Damien to return.
But minute after minute passed and Damien still hadn’t come back. The longer he was gone, the more nervous I became.
“Damien?” I yelled over my shoulder through the wind. “Are you done?”
There was no response. I unsteadily rose from the log and began to approach the trees.
“Come on Damien, this isn’t funny,” I added. “We don’t have much time left to get back.”
Again, only the empty response from the wind greeted my words. I stood ankle deep in the snow, staring into the shadowy abyss that he had disappeared into. While I waited, fear built in my chest.
It was then that reality hit me. I’d let my guard down for one brief second and Damien had pounced on the opportunity. He was gone, long gone and Annie was defenseless. I was stuck behind and had no chance of getting to her before he could. Without hesitation, I bolted into the trees, following the footprints Damien had left behind. The thought of Annie being completely vulnerable to his power fueled my energy while I darted through the trees, not knowing exactly where I was heading.
After a few minutes, I began to slow down considerably. My lungs were on fire as Damien’s footprints faded along with the remaining light. Each breath grew shallower and the smoke from each exhale filled the overwhelming dark void around me. I was lost in the middle of nowhere while my friend was in danger. Tears began to trickle down my cheek at the thought of my weakness being the cause of Annie’s peril. I pointlessly twirled around in all directions, looking for any sign or whisper of a clue that would lead me on the right path.
At that moment, the most high pitched, bloodcurdling scream I’d ever heard rang out into the condensed night. My body froze on the spot and my eyes widened in terror. It was a girl’s scream and it was close.
It was Annie.
The instant I realized what had actually happened, my legs bolted off in the direction of the scream, moving faster than they ever had before. While I ran, the darkness that surrounded me turned into the familiar, eerie glow that I’d experienced only once before. Trees flew by one after another and my legs began to burn with each new stride. My heart sank with every leap through the forest, hoping against hope it was anyone but Annie.
It took another few minutes until the trees started to thin out in front of me. I slowed down gradually, but wasn’t where I expected, and hoped, to be. There wasn’t a fire burning in the middle of the area, no tents erected around the vacant ground and no sitting logs scattered about. Instead of finding our campsite, I stood feet away from a moderately sized cabin. The ranger station that I noticed on the map when we arrived, and that Damien pointed out, was erected in the dark, with no lights on anywhere.
I remained hidden behind the trees, listening intently for any signs of life. For a moment, I stared through the trees at the dark, lifeless cabin, wondering if Annie was even still alive. The side of the cabin that faced me was covered with glass windows that stretched from ceiling to floor. They glowed lightly in the night, but I was unable to see anything or anyone inside.
While I stood there and studied the scene in front of me, an unexpected rustling sound caught my ear from behind. I turned on a dime and saw a shadowy figure emerging from out of the darkness. Without hesitation, I leaped at the unknown intruder and tackled them to the ground in one swift motion. My hands wrapped around their neck and squeezed as hard as they could.
“What the?” a burly, strong voice gasped.
“WHERE IS SHE?!” I said through gritted teeth, trying to remain quiet.
“Zoe, calm down!” said the voice. His hands were up in surrender. “It’s me!”
Recognition dawned on me at once while Liam’s face illum
inated just inches from mine. Instead of releasing my grip, my hands clinched even tighter around his throat.
“Where is she?” I demanded again.
“She’s in there,” he croaked, pointing towards the cabin. “Let me go!”
“I don’t trust you,” I growled. “I heard the scream. And until I find out what’s going on, you aren’t going anywhere.”
Without any other options for answers, my hands loosened slightly.
“Who screamed? Was it Annie? Was it Steph?”
“It was Annie,” Liam said. “She’s in there right now, and we’re wasting time!”
His words brought the reality of Annie being in danger back into my head. I had no choice but to trust him. If he really was behind it all, he would have already hurt me. I released my grip at once while Liam stood up, rubbing his throat.
“You’re strong, that’s for sure.”
“Shut up! Let’s go get her!” I snapped.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “I don’t know who else is in there. We need to make a plan.”
“I know who’s in there! It’s Damien!”
His eyes glowed red for a brief second. “That’s impossible. It can’t be him.”
“Believe me, it’s him. But we don’t have time for this. Annie could already be dead in there!”
“Let me think for one second,” he said. He started pacing back and forth, staring at the dark cabin. After a few seconds, he spoke again.
“Here’s the plan. You enter through that side door there,” he said, pointing to the door closest to us. “I think that’s the kitchen. From what I see, if you go through there, you’ll enter the main area. She’s being held in the far corner, opposite side of the kitchen. Grab her and get out as fast as possible,” he whispered quickly.
My stomach sank at the thought of going in there, alone. I had no idea what to do or how to do it.
“But shouldn’t you?” I started to ask.
“No,” he said coldly. “I’m going to hunt the demon responsible for this. They’re here. I can feel them.”
A shiver shot down my spine while Liam glared carefully around in the trees.
Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) Page 33
