Page 1 of Echo (A Monster’s Prey #2)

How much does a fresh start cost?

I sped down the rock road with intention. Every mile behind me was more space between me and my demons. I escaped.

All it cost was one life and a couple hundred dollars in gas.

That didn’t stop my eyes from flickering into the rearview mirror every few minutes to make sure no one was following me though.

When I was at a distance, the tall mountains were majestic and intimidating. The presence of nature's magnificent structure peered down at me as if it knew I was a fool.

Now that I was up here under the emerald blanket of giant trees, speckled with pops of vibrant colors from the wild flowers, nothing could match this place in beauty.

It certainly beat the nights spent in the emergency room in Miami. I didn’t want to be someone to benefit from a person dying, but the call from my great aunt’s lawyer, a long distant cousin, couldn’t have come at a better time.

The universe provides, I guess.

The call was a shock. I’d only met Pearl a handful of times at family reunions over the years. I knew her voice from her calls to my grandma, but that was about it. I didn’t know what compelled her to leave me the family property, but I wasn’t in a position to ask too many questions.

Please don’t be condemned.

“Look at the river, Ranger.” I pointed out to my German Shepard, like he cared, as we went over a bridge that was questionable at best. The only thing he probably cared about was getting out of these cramped quarters.

But he yipped as if he agreed, keeping me company, even if he didn’t understand what I said.

I pet him on the head in appreciation for the effort, as he whined and barked at the passenger side window. Surely some animal had gotten his attention, but I didn’t dare let my eyes stray from the winding road.

The turns were so sharp that I was sure a moment of distraction would land me in yet another hospital. Vivid pictures of twisted, mangled metal rolling down the mountain, with me trapped inside screaming for help, kept my focus where it needed to be.

This place was different from the bustling city I was accustomed to.

We hadn’t passed another car in miles. It was just me and Ranger out here, but it was far from silent.

The radio lost signal twenty miles ago, but the forest was alive with birds chirping and leaves rustling.

Eventually, I’d try to find a channel that worked, but I didn’t care enough at the moment.

“Turn right in point two miles,” the distorted GPS voice said.

The internet was struggling to stay connected too.I turned down the dusty, dirt road, following the directions that led to a large, run-down cabin house with some kids playing in the yard.

A giant man poked his head out of the rusty barn as I pulled closer.

He stepped further out, revealing more of himself. A large mud stained, neon-yellow apron covered what I guessed was a tattered flannel and jeans.

Maybe it was rust on his apron. As he got closer, I realized the color was louder than I originally thought. Must have been muted compared to the yellow.

No, something wasn’t right. My heart sped up. Some instinct I couldn’t identify filled me with unease. The stains covered a majority of his apron and arms. What the hell was that?

It wasn’t mud or rust. It was too bright. Suspicion tingled down my spine, like sticky ooze.

This looked awfully familiar.

It reminded me of my dad coming home at two in the morning, scrubbing his hands in the sink, then washing the whole thing with bleach.

Light finally made it through the canopy of the trees, illuminating the Picasso of bright red that hadn’t dried yet.

Blood.

There was enough blood on him to account for a grown man that wouldn’t be breathing for much longer. I sympathized, since the air wasn’t exactly coming naturally to me either. My lungs froze in my chest and refused to properly move.

My dad was a bad man. And he taught me, when you catch someone committing their sins, hesitation could kill you. He drilled it into me so hard that even as an adult his lectures auto played in my mind.

First and foremost, get the fuck out of there. Second, didn’t see no shit, don’t know any shit. Third, don’t look back.

I didn’t even need this house. I’d travel the world in my car. That was a great plan.

I threw the car in reverse and slammed on the gas. The smallest flicker of movement in my rearview camera made me stop just in time to avoid hitting a child.

What’s wrong with you? For all you know that’s a psycho baby that needed to be ran over, twice for good measure.

The man raised his eyebrow as he knocked on my window, leaving a smear of blood across the once clean glass.

Fuck.

I rolled down my window.

“Don’t be peeling off on my property. You hit one of my kids, and I’ll make you regret it.” His deep voice was unforgiving and stern. He wore a backwards baseball cap over messy brown hair, and I estimated he was in his late twenties. Still his voice commanded respect.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Why are you here?” His cold brown eyes narrowed on me, as if to dare me to tell him a fib.

I glanced down at my GPS proclaiming I was ‘here’. “Maybe I’m lost.”

A boisterous laugh burst from the man, making me jump out of my skin. “If you’re following one of them things, I’d say you are lost. Where are you trying to go?”

“Rinah farm?” Please don’t kill me. There would be a fucked up irony in running so far, just to be murdered by someone else I never even saw coming.

“Old Pearl’s house, eh?” His laughter settled into a frown of thought that bordered on disapproval.

“Yeah.” I eyed the blood on him. “I inherited the land.”

He noticed my preoccupation and glanced down at himself. “Sorry about my appearance. I assisted a calving cow that was having complications.”

“I’m sure.” If he was murdering someone in that barn, that was their problem. I wasn’t digging my nose in where it didn’t belong. I had my own monsters to escape.

“Are you alone, Ma’am?” His brows scrunched together and the muscles in his mouth tightened until I was sure it made his face sore.

The question sent up every warning signal to exist. “No. I lost the others. The rest probably already made it there.”

I didn’t load up all my belongings, into the back of this beat up four-door car, while my boyfriend was gone to work, and flee halfway across the United States to end up in a slasher movie in the Appalachian mountains. If that's what I wanted, I could have stayed at home.

Ranger barked as if to back up my lie. My ride or die.

“Good.” He pointed back down the road. “You got pretty close. Turn around, hang a right back onto the main road, and take the next right up the road another couple miles. It’s got a white mailbox with black rocks around the bottom. Follow the dirt road for a mile or so, and you’ll be there.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Ma’am?” he said. I halted where I was shifting to reverse right out of this place. “I can assume you ain’t from around here.”

“No, I’m not.” Maybe I should have lied about that too, but with a community this small, I probably couldn’t have gotten away with that.

“Don’t walk the dog after dark.” He patted his hand on top of my car and walked back to his barn. “Be careful out there, ya hear?”

“Thank you, Sir,” I stuttered and turned the car around, ready to be literally anywhere else.

With a little luck, that was a well meaning piece of advice, and not a warning to watch myself. It sounded like he was basically my neighbor, and I really didn’t need him thinking I was going to snitch about any torture that may or may not be happening in his barn.

As I started thinking I missed my turn, a startling white mailbox came into view, loud and unmissable, against the green backdrop.

I’d expected it to be weathered and worn, but it must have gotten a touch up recently.

A mound of black, shiny rocks was piled around the bottom half of the mailbox.

The rocks were out-of-place, like they didn’t belong there.

I liked that the GPS landed me in the wrong spot.

That meant if someone got ahold of my address, they’d have trouble finding me.

But I didn’t like that there was such an obvious landmark for my questionable neighbor, to lead my problems right to my doorstep, as a quick and efficient way to get rid of his own problems. I turned onto the drive, and it wasn’t a quarter of a mile before a strange feeling crawled down my spine.

I slammed on the breaks in time to come across a disturbed line on the ground. A mess of a line of lighter tanish dirt that popped loud against the dark ground.

I climbed out of my car and walked to the strange line. It went into the woods both ways, and on the section that wasn’t road it was clearly white rather than tan.

Stepping off to the side of the road, I grabbed a handful of the white powder, letting it run through my hands. “Salt.”

I hummed and rubbed my hands together to remove the excess from my hands. My family was fucking weird. My grandmother would pour salt all around the yard to ward off malicious spirits, and she did it almost every day.

Why should I be surprised her sister did the same thing? If it went around the entire property, that was a lot of salt for an elderly lady to cart around each day.

A sudden sensation gripped all the hair on my body and yanked it to attention. I shivered as the knowledge that eyes were on me hit with full force. A feeling I was too familiar with.

The eyes that studied every move I made, waiting for me to make a fatal mistake. It was cold and hateful. My boyfriend.

Ex-boyfriend. I left him in the city, I reminded myself.

The warm sun hovering over me didn’t stop the ice filling my veins. A cool breeze brought with it a scent of wood and flowers, not sandalwood cologne.

I slowly scanned the area. There was no way he intercepted me. Unless he tapped my phone, heard where I was going, and got a plane ride here. I’d tossed the phone back in Florida, but if he’d been monitoring my calls that wouldn’t matter

Fuck. It’s an ambush.

Where is he?

Ranger barked from the car. I stood up slowly, despite my racing heart demanding I run. Dad always said, running told every predator that you were food. Considering my dad ate his share of prey, I believed him.

I put my hands in my pockets, checking for anything I could use to defend myself and came back with a receipt from a gas station and some pennies.

Damn.

My eyes scanned the area, searching for him. Could I make it to my car?

Sweat gathered uncomfortably on my body. I forced my breathing to stay even and clenched my fists to hide the shaking.

My stomach clenched as I came up empty. He’s in the treeline behind me.

I whirled on my heels and found a large shadow ducking behind a tree. I knew it. “If you kill me, you don’t know what my dad will do to you. I’ve kept him out of this to spare your life. Don’t squander your second chance by being stupid.” I couldn’t quite keep the quiver out of my voice.

I hadn’t told him what kind of man my dad was. Would he heed my warning? Maybe I should’ve sucked up my pride and gone home. He wouldn’t have been able to fart in that town without my dad knowing.

No. I fled home for a reason, that would be a stop gap at best.

The shadows moved again, and I could only hope that he was rethinking his choices. No. He wasn’t the kind of man that reconsidered anything. That was what initially drew me to him. He reminded me of home and safety.

I’d spent my life around murderers. I never thought twice about him being questionable. People like that always protected and loved me. Until they didn’t.

I made it so far, and it wouldn’t matter.

I narrowed my eyes on the treeline. If I died here, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of thinking he won. Even if that gratification would be short lived.

The shadow shot out of the treeline so fast, I barely had time to blink. I’m sorry, Daddy. I should have told you I’d gotten in over my head. I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me for falling for a man like you. Again.

The blur of brown ran past me, and it took me a moment too long to realize it was a doe vanishing on the other side of the road. I let out the breath I was holding and closed my eyes to recenter myself, with a laugh of disbelief.

Being on the run was fucking with my mind and making me paranoid. I shook my head and whispered to myself, “Get your shit together, Madison.”

I returned to the driver seat of my vehicle, fighting Ranger tooth and nail as he tried to bolt out of the car.

“Calm,” I commanded him, snapping my fingers and pointing to the passenger seat. He kept barking and growling where the deer came from. I was sure some large predator had chased the deer out for it to run so close to me. “I’m going.”

The hair on his shoulders stood on end, and a mental image of him busting through the window, to get to whatever mountain lion or bear was out there, filled my mind. I hit the gas, putting distance between us and that patch of trees. He went to the back seat to bark at the rear window.

“Wait,” I commanded to make sure he didn’t try to break out.

He went silent and still, waiting for my command to attack. He crouched, moving his body out of my line of sight.

A giant blur flew across the mirror faster than I could get a good look at whatever it was, but there was only one thing it could feasibly be; a huge bear. It looked skinny for a bear, it must have been starving. Which explained why it would chase its hunt so close to a human.

I thought about that man telling me not to walk Ranger at night, and it cemented what he said.

This place would take some getting used to.