Page 32 of Grave Possession (Grave #2)

“Victoria?!” I startle. What the fuck? She’s been roughed up, her clothes dirty and torn.

Dried blood is crusted across her face from a gash on her head hidden beneath her hair.

She’s got a black eye, fat lip, and her throat is smattered in bruises, but she’s alive.

And she’s here…which means I’m one hundred percent in the right place.

She starts to sob as soon as she sees me, reaching out her arms for assistance. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demand. “Where’s Mallory?” I say, softer this time.

“G-Gone,” she coughs, “He—he took her.” Victoria hangs her head in shame, diverting her eyes from mine.

“Who?”

“I don’t know,” she wheezes.

Kneeling down, I tuck Mallory’s book into my back pocket, and scoop up her best friend.

This tiny woman with a personality the size of the sun is shaking in my hold, barely holding onto consciousness now that she’s safe.

“Hey.” I lightly jostle her as I return to my feet.

Her eyes flutter open. “Where did he take her Vic? I need you to tell me what you know.” Moving us out of the darkness, I high-tail it up the stairs, and out into the fresh air.

“I don’t know. She was here, I-I hugged her.

” She sniffles and coughs, stuffing down another sob.

“Then he grabbed me and choked me. I guess I passed out, and when I woke up they were gone. I heard you calling out, it’s what made me come to.

I hid as fast as I could in case it was him coming back.

” I nod, waiting for her to continue even though I know it’s like sandpaper on her vocal cords. I need to know where Mallory is .

The radio crackles to life, the static sound filling the quiet woods. “Can you stand?” I ask Victoria, and she nods. Slowly, I release her legs, still holding her torso against mine, and gently placing her feet on the ground. She clings to me, legs shaking, but maintaining a standing position.

“Hello? Captain?” I speak into the walkie-talkie.

Waiting with sweaty anticipation for a reply.

The silence stretches an uncomfortable amount of time before I realize he might not be able to make out my call through the interference.

I click the talk button three times in quick succession, wondering if he will even receive the clicking sound from this far away.

I turn my attention back to a very pale Victoria, wavering on her feet.

“Woah, hey. Vic?” Her hold on me loosens as she drops like a deadweight to the grassy ground.

Shit. Falling to my knees beside her, I roll her to her back, and ensure she’s still breathing.

I don’t have time for this Victoria! I have to go find Mal.

Tapping her cheek, “Vic! Hey Victoria! Please fucking wake up. I have to go, and I can’t leave your annoying, meddling ass here.”

A small chuckle comes from her, “I’m alive, asshole. I just can’t stand anymore…too dizzy…so tired.”

“I’m going to need you to stay awake, it’s a long drive back to Mallory’s.”

With closed eyes and signs of sleep overtaking Victoria, she quietly says, “Just throw me in the back seat.”

Poking her in the shoulder to wake her up, she opens one eye and scowls at me. “I’ve got a quad. You’re going to have to hold on. ”

“What? You’ve got to be kidding me,” she groans, the sound becoming less hoarse over time. “I can barely keep my eyes open, Lennox. I’ll fall off the quad, and break my neck.”

I know she’s right, but I can’t just leave her here. I’m torn, again. I know what’s morally right, which is what Mal would want me to do, but every cell in my body is vibrating with the need to find Mallory, no matter what.

I look off in the direction of the ATV, then grimly slide my gaze back to Victoria. She may be fierce, but she’s still tiny, battered, bruised, and undoubtedly traumatized for the rest of her life. I can’t leave her, but I need to. The pull to save Mallory is unrelenting.

Victoria must see the war raging on my face. Lightly placing her palm on my arm, “Go,” she says. “Find her and save her. I’m alive, she may not be for much longer.”

“Vic, Mallory would never forgive me if I left you and something happened.”

“And I’d never forgive you if she died because you chose to stay here with me.”

Fuck.

“Maybe if you sit in front of me and?—”

Cutting me off, she says “You’re wasting fucking time! Now go, and let me fucking sleep.” There’s the maddening Victoria I know and am proud to call a friend. I don’t know why Graham has such a problem with her.

“I’ll call for backup as soon as I have service,” I tell her.

“I know. I’ll be here.” She smiles at me, half-heartedly and sad, unable to hide how scared she truly is.

Rising from the ground my heart thunders in my ears. I can’t leave her out here in the open. She’s vulnerable to anything and everything: the weather…animals…serial killers.

Kneeling again, I pick her up. “Do you want to go inside the cabin?”

“Sure,” she says wearily, resigned to her fate to sit here alone for who knows how long.

Making my way quickly across the yard and heading inside, “I’m sorry I have to leave you,” I say.

Heading down the hall to one of the bedrooms that didn’t appear to have been slept in, I place her on the bed.

Dust wafts up into the air, and guilt threatens to drown me.

She’s still too exposed, weak, and unsafe.

Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, my eyes dart around the room, landing on the closet.

Glancing back to her, “Ain’t no fucking way you’re putting me in the closet, Lennox. ”

“It would be the safer place for you, Vic. You know it.”

“Fuck off, stop worrying about me, and go find Mallory.”

Huffing out my exasperation, I drag my hands down over my face, recomposing myself. “Okay, it takes me maybe forty minutes to get back to Mallory’s. I may get service before I?—”

My radio rapidly clicks three times, whatever I was going to say evaporates from my mind as I wait. The clicking comes again and then I hear my uncle’s quiet voice. “She’s here,” he whispers.

Then, there’s nothing.

Complete radio silence.

Victoria and I lock eyes, “Go, go, go!” she yells .

Nodding, I turn towards the door. Pausing, I turn back to her. “Can you shoot?”

“What?”

“A gun, can you shoot one?”

“Sure, point and fire, right?”

“Victoria,” I groan.

“ I’m kidding, of course I can. I was out hunting with my dad as soon as I could hold my head up, strapped into a carrier on his chest.”

“Good enough for me,” I reply, pulling my 9mm from its holster. I drop the mag to double check it, then slide it back in, handing it to her. “Be safe and be aware. I know it’ll be hard, but try.” I instruct.

She clicks the safety off, cocks a round in the chamber, then looks back to me. “Okay, okay. Now, go.”

Nodding, I turn back to the door.

“Lennox?”

“Yeah,” I say, hand hovering over the door knob.

“I saw her…it’s— it’s bad. If you see him, don’t hesitate. Fucking kill him.”

“Not going to be an issue.”