Page 14 of Bear With Me

It must be the residual dregs from the date, but I find myself smiling as I make the drive through Hillsborough to Declan’s cabin. The sun’s barely up when I get there, but I can tell by the lack of cars in the drive that he’s already gone to work. God, it’s only been a couple of hours, but I’m already excited just to see him again.

The woods look completely different in the daylight. They’ve lost a little bit of their magic. I wrap my arms around my waist to stave off the early morning chill. Without the big, reassuring presence of Declan by my side, the trees have a decidedly creepy quality. I laugh at myself as I pick my way through the trail, even though I may be walking a little bit faster.

I search the grass and plants for the glint of my phone but still don’t see anything. A stray root catches my ankle, bringing me down with a strangled scream. The hard impact with the musty earth knocks the air right out of my lungs. Dew-slick vegetation coats my legs. Fantastic. I am definitely going to be late for class, which is not the impression I want to make.

I roll over to my stomach, my hands sliding on the wet ground as I get back to my feet. I start to wipe them on my shorts, but realize it isn’t dew, but thick, red blood. The memory slams into me like a Mack truck.

Heavy breathing fills my ears and a strangled scream fills my chest. I’m lost, running through the woods without an end in sight. I twist my ankle, but I keep running because whatever is behind me is going to kill me if I stop. Branches catch on my clothes and I lose one shoe along the way, but I don’t stop, I can’t.

A terrifying high-pitched scream comes from all directions, sending ice through my chest. I sob, my head twisting wildly to find a break in the trees, but they’re endless. The scream comes again, but this time it sounds closer, like it’s right behind me. I’m so worried that it’sright therethat I don’t see the limb crossing my path and I come down, slamming into the ground.

I turn over with a groan, the wind knocked out of me, when I hear a twig snap.

I come back to reality with that sound echoing through my ears.

My gaze spins wildly and lands on the body of a young woman, her foot jutting out onto the trail, the lip of her sandals dangling from a single toe. I stumble back and slip on the bloody foliage again, but manage to keep my footing by grabbing hold of a branch.

The leaves shift with the wind, giving me a clear view of the mutilated body. An arm obstructs what is left of her face and her bare body is stained red. It pools around her and splatters across leaves. A river of it flows across the trail. Thick ragged slashes pucker across her stomach, legs, and even across the skin of her pearl-white breasts. There are entire chunks of her flesh missing, likely from animals that had come for a midnight snack.

Her other hand stretches out to the side, open, beckoning.

I choke on my sobbing breaths as I fumble on my unsteady feet. I make my way back to Declan’s house blindly, but the image of the body stays burned into the back of my eyelids.

I throw up in the bushes before I ever make it out of the woods. A sour taste lingers and my vision flashes white as I yank open the door to my truck. I stumble trying to get into the cab and lean my head against the cool leather to catch my breath.

What kind of small town is this?

chapter five

SULLY

The sheriff’s station isn’t quite what I’d expect, though by the looks on the faces of the deputies, they didn’t quite expect me either. I stumble through the glass door, smearing blood over the department logo.

The fluorescent lights are dull and one of them flickers drunkenly in the corner. Ratty old chairs and a couple of tables like the ones you’d find in an old doctor’s waiting room fill the space. There’s even a glass partition with an older lady sitting behind it. I stagger across the room, knocking my shin on one of the chairs and slapping my hands down on the slice of blue paneled countertop.

The lady behind the glass partition doesn’t look up until she finishes whatever she’s writing on the clipboard in front of her. Her name tag reads Debbie. When she does, her eyes catch on my blood-stained hands and widen.

“My god, are you okay?” she asks, standing.

“Someone’s…hurt. In the woods. Someone needs to go help her,” I babble.

Debbie disappears behind the wall and then the only other door in the room opens and she beckons me forward. “Are you hurt?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine.” I look down at my hands numbly. “It’s not my blood.”

Debbie leads me into an empty conference room of sorts. She guides me to an old, worn black office chair and I sit down before the strength completely leaks from my legs.

“Did you hurt someone?” she asks carefully.

“No, I just found her.” Tears sting my nose. “I don’t think there was anything I could do. She didn’t…she was dead.” My voice breaks and I look away, studying the dust-glazed fern in the corner.

“Can you tell me where she is, so I can send someone over?”

“Um, I’m not sure exactly, but it was behind Declan Cain’s cabin. There’s a trail behind his house that leads into the forest.”

She grabs one of those little pointy cups from the water cooler and brings it to me. I cup it with both hands, frowning at how they bloody up the white paper.

“I’ll be right back,” she says. “I’ll bring you something to clean up with.”