Page 26

WRONG TURN

SAVANNAH

W hat was that noise? It’s impossible to decipher anything over the roaring of the wind, and clapping of thunder.

Am I lost? Probably. The path is so hard to follow in the rain.

It became too slippery to walk on so I moved into the bush to follow along beside it, but now I think I’ve lost it.

Everywhere I look there’s trees and brush, no path to be seen through the sheet of water enclosing me.

“Savannah!” My ears perk up, was that my name? It’s muffled by the storm, but I’m sure it was. Either someone’s out here looking for me, or it’s a skinwalker luring me to my death, because I don’t think I’d be losing my mind this soon into being lost in the forest.

“Savannah! Are you out here?” The voice is closer now. It’s masculine, definitely not one of the girls out here searching for me. Maybe they got a hold of the authorities and I can go home now. I can’t wait to put this whole horrible trip behind me.

“Hello!” I scream, hoping whoever it is will hear me.

“Savannah?”

“I’m here!”

“Stay where you are, I’ll find you.” The voice is louder, getting closer. “Are you on the path?” it yells.

“No!”

“Why not?” The voice is a growl against the nape of my neck.

It scares the hell out of me, and I scream out from both shock and fear.

I whip my head around, and there stands Lukas, trying to hold in his laughter.

I’m not even mad it’s him and not search and rescue.

If he found me, he can get me back to the cabin.

“Follow me, I’ll get you back to the girls,” he says, and I nod, trailing behind him. However, the longer we walk, the more trepidation pools in my gut. The water runs down in tiny rivers past my boots, which wouldn’t be happening if we were going the right way.

I worry my bottom lip between my teeth, wondering if I should even open my mouth and voice my concerns. He lives up here, he probably knows the area like the back of his hand. Fuck it, we should be following the water down the path back towards the cabin, not climbing up the mountain. “Hey, Lukas?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” He freezes in his steps, turning to face me.

“Why wouldn’t we be going the right way?”

“Well…I…umm…”

“Would you like to lead us back to the cabin?” he snarls.

Why is he getting so angry? It’s like a switch has flipped.

He’s a completely different person now, I don’t even recognize him.

I understand that men don’t like to be questioned or challenged, but I don’t think a simple question warrants this kind of reaction.

“If you’d like to lead the way, be my fucking guest, bitch. ”

“What the fuck, Lukas?”

“Stop calling me that!” he snaps.

“What?” I cower.

“Lukas!” he roars, “That’s not my fucking name!”

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. Fear like I’ve never known sinks all the way down to my marrow, freezing any response I had on my tongue.

I was terrified when I saw Bridget mutilated.

But this? I’m in real danger now, and the terror is crippling.

I look at him, really observe him. There’s dark stains all over his clothes, a wickedness seeps from him infusing the air around us, its darkness seeming to snuff out any lingering light in the woods.

“What’s the matter, Sav? Killer got your tongue?” His smile is malicious as it spreads across his face unnaturally. “At least you know how to stay silent in the face of danger, Bridget didn’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

He killed Bridget? Shit. Shit. Shit. Of course he did. It’s why he’s out here looking for me. I separated from the group, just like she did.

I turn and run, pushing my legs as fast as they’ll carry me.

I weave around trees, their wet branches slapping against my face.

It hurts like a motherfucker but it’s nothing in comparison to what I’ll endure if he gets ahold of me, whoever he is.

What were we thinking, letting him into our little group of weak and defenceless women?

How stupid are we? He didn’t even give us his real name.

I will myself not to look back, but I can’t help it.

I have to know where he is. I can’t contain the scream that erupts from my throat when I see he’s hot on my ass.

He could reach out and grab me if he really wanted to.

But, of course, this is all a game to him.

The hunter and the hunted. Cat and mouse. Predator and prey.

I take a sharp turn to the left, and then dart to the right. He slips on the wet underbrush, skidding and kicking muddy leaves up into the air. I buy myself precious seconds as he scrambles back to his feet, massively pissed off and covered in mud now.

“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you!” he hollers. Yeah, like I’m going to listen to him. “Savannah, I’m serious. That’s the wrong way!” Bullshit, it’s probably the right way. Most likely a straight shot right to the cabin, and my safety. “Savannah! STOP!” he demands. Not a fucking chance, psycho.

I push myself harder than I ever have before, my feet carrying me loud and fast through the forest, bobbing and weaving through the thickening brush. That means I’m getting closer to the base of the trail, I think. Hope plants a seed as I become a force plowing through the woods.

But the ground is too wet, and there’s too much momentum behind my body that I can’t stop. I break through the forest, but by the time I register the drop, I’m already in a free fall.

Lukas appears at the cliff face, watching me plummet to my death.

His face is the last thing I see before my back collides with the sharp landslide of rocks.

Agony tears me apart upon impact as every bone in my body breaks, the ringing in my ears is piercing enough to pop the drum.

There’s a tornado of emotions ripping through me, followed by a reel of my favourite memories.

They chase away the fear and pain, replacing it with a warmth that flows over me.

I’m not scared anymore. I’m calm. I know I’m dying, and peace finds me as my eyes fall shut, my energy dispersing back into the universe.