Page 12 of Last Summer

Chapter ten

SAW

CHRIS

Sunday Night

Abby’s body tenses as I slowly pull out of her, already missing the warmth.

The smell of sex lingers in the air. I open my mouth to speak, when suddenly, Danica bursts into the yurt.

“Seriously?” she asks, throwing her arms in the air.

My fingers move to my lips—trying to silence her.

I nod at the computer which I’m pretty sure is still streaming.

But she continues talking anyway. “Did you guys get a red envelope too?” Her lip quivers, and it almost makes me feel bad seeing how scared she actually is. Almost .

Abby is the first to speak as she begins to gather pieces of her discarded clothing.

“Yes, we both did.” Danica looks at us with confusion, eyebrows knit together, face grimacing in disgust. “And you’re fucking like nothing happened?

Are you two serious?” She raises two digits in the air.

“There’s two people fucking dead.” Her gaze shifts between us. “TWO!” she shouts.

Not knowing what to say or what to do, I just plop myself on the small lounge chair inside the yurt, folding my arms behind my head. I watch Danica pace as Abby finishes getting dressed.

“We need to go,” Danica mutters to herself.

“Oh yeah, Sherlock, and how do we do that?” Abby’s beautiful face turns into a cold scowl. “Danica, what do you want us to do?” She folds her arms in front of her chest, and the two women face off before Danica resumes her pacing around the room.

“Maybe don’t just continue to fuck for money like nothing is wrong.

Maybe find a way to get help.” Her voice cracks in the end as she glances over at the screen that is very much still on and watching everything we are doing.

If we want to get out of here alive, we might as well play along until we can find a way to escape. But how can I reason that to Danica?

“Okay,” Abby scoffs as she shakes her head. “So, let’s be clear here.” She points at Danica. “You want us to not make money because of two accidents.”

Accidents . Well, that’s one theory.

Gaslighting in its finest form. Women sometimes are the cruelest creatures. “How about you both calm down?”

They both turn towards me, and in unison, they snap, “NO!”

Fine. Can’t say I didn’t try.

I sink back into the chair and watch the screen.

It’s too quiet in the chat room—maybe whoever is behind the screen isn’t watching anymore.

But now, how do I get them both to stop bickering and actually come up with a plan?

Danica is right, we do have to find a way out of here—sooner rather than later.

“Danica, just try to relax. Freaking out won’t get us anywhere,” Abby demands which sets off the bomb.

Danica's nose flares, her chest rising quickly as she holds back whatever she’s about to say. Quickly, she shoots me a look. “Whatever, you two can continue to fuck and make your precious coins. I’m going to get the fuck out of here.”

And with that, the precious little bird leaves the nest. Abby lets out a deep breath I'm sure she’s been holding in this entire time. “Danica, wait.”

I guess I have to follow them. It’s safer if we stick together, you know strength in numbers and all that.

The yurt’s flap swings wildly before it settles.

Rising to my feet, I throw on some pants and follow behind —slower than the two storming and stomping angry women.

My eyes flit around, observing our surroundings, you never know what waits for you in the woods.

It’s dark out—abnormally dark—no moon, no bugs chirping away, no wind, just the sharp chill of something lurking. And I fucking hate it.

Danica’s farther ahead of us, but I can see her silhouette as she walks past the firepit. Abby manages to catch up to her. Her voice is low, but I can still hear it.

“Are you seriously trying to tank this for all of us?” She closes in on Danica.

“Did you see how much money we are getting, what we would be walking away from?” Not the words I expected Abby to say since she doesn’t seem like the type who’s desperate for cash, but she’s not wrong either.

It seems like we’re all willing to put our safety at risk for cash, drugs, and sex. Kinda fucked up.

“Newsflash, Abs, I don’t care about the fucking money,” Danica retorts, placing a finger to her temple as if mimicking a loaded gun. “You think a few grand is worth dying for?”

“Jesus, you’re being paranoid—”

Danica spins. “Lucy is dead. Sarah is dead. Who’s next? Chris? You?”

Abby steps further into her space. I should probably intervene, but I don’t have the energy for any of this. If I need to, I’ll cut them loose. Dead weight always gets you killed in the end.

“You know what, maybe it should be you; at least maybe then we’d get some peace and quiet,” Abby spits at her friend with more venom than I thought possible from the petite blond.

Ouch .

I move a little closer now, but I still don’t say anything as they continue to take jabs at each other. Something is wrong. My gut knows it before the rest of me does. Danica starts to walk again—moving deeper into the trees.

Abby follows behind her.

But just as she steps into the cover of the trees, there’s a metallic crunch.

A loud snap.

Followed by a blood-curdling scream.

I run.

By the time I reach the clearing, Danica is crouched in the dirt, blood covering her hands as she screams Abby’s name over and over.

My eyes move to where her hands are, and the sight is straight out of a horror movie.

. Abby’s thrashing on the ground, sobbing—one leg twisted into the steel jaws of a bear trap.

It’s not rusty or old, which means it was placed here for one of us.

The surgical steel gleams in the night—the teeth buried deep into Abby’s flesh as the mechanical latch hums. Blood spills from her shin in violent pulses.

“He-help,” Danica whimpers, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes and tears trailing down her face. Abby looks like she’s about to go into shock—eyes wide, pupils dilated so big you can’t even see the irises of her eyes. “Pl-pl-ple—” she chokes out.

What the fuck am I suppose to do?

I kneel before them, my hands clasping around the metal. “I’ll have to tear this off,” I say, looking at Abby who is shaking—teeth clenching together before she nods her head, giving me permission. I don’t wait before I’m tugging the device.

Causing her to scream in agony.

Flesh tears, more blood spills, and the device remains latched.

Fuck!

I try again.

Another scream. “Get it off me,” she wails. My hands are slick with her warm blood and I’m already sweating, but I go again, pulling with all my might. But all I do is peel the flesh from her limb as if it was a potato that I’m peeling.

It’s no use.

She’s stuck.

Through my thick lashes, I look up at Danica who looks at me for answers, or reassurance maybe, but I have none. Before I open my mouth to speak, the sound of a whistle goes off.

Then a glint of light.

Zing.

The movement is so quick—all I feel is the breeze as it moves past me and buries itself into Abby’s shoulder.

She screams, and I fall on my ass.

Danica freezes.

Frantically, I scan the woods around us—but there’s nothing. No movement, and only the sound of Abby’s screams fill the air. I need her to shut the fuck up, “Abby, lovely, I need you to fucking zip it,” I say just as another shard of sharp glass cuts through the air.

THUNK .

Luckily, it misses my head and instead buries itself in the tree bark besides me. “RUN!” I shout at Danica, then, looking down at Abby with a tad bit of guilt, I mouth, “Sorry.”

She sobs, her bloody hands clasped around her mouth trying to hold back the urge to scream. “Please don’t leave me.” she begs as a trail of crimson runs down her arm. “Please.”

Danica shakes her head, frozen in terror. I snap my fingers. We gotta move. “Danica.” I try to reach her again. “Run.”

Another shard shoots past us, flying straight into Abby’s thigh, slicing through a vein. Blood begins to pour out of her into the dirt below. She’ll bleed out quicker now. Good.

“DANICA!” I shout, startling her. She hesitates for a couple of seconds before she takes off with me following behind her.

“Don’t leave me!” Abby’s screams from behind us. Danica sobs, stopping mid-run, but my hand connects with her back and I push her forward.

“Run!” I demand.

When another shard slices the air between us, I hear it land with a wet crunch. I look over my shoulder., only to see the last piece of glass has slammed into Abby’s mouth, bursting through the back of her skull. “Abby! No!” Danica whimpers, falling to her knees as her friend's body goes slack.

The woods fall silent again as I walk towards Danica. My body is on autopilot as I kneel beside her, hands soaked red as we look at the gruesome display before us.

And then a phone buzzes in my pocket—one of the satellite phones provided for us to use when recording. Pulling it free from my pocket, I look down.

UNKNOWN SENDER : Don’t worry, ladies always go first.

Then another buzz. Another message

UNKNOWN SENDER : Wanna play a game?