Chapter 27
27
A s helpful as Nate had been, I still didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, so there was no way in hell I’d go telling him all about Abigail’s diary in my room. His confusion about how I knew her name sort of confirmed he hadn’t been the one to take it, as well. Unless he was a hell of an actor but he seemed to hate me too much to fake anything resembling that vulnerability.
I brushed him off with a weak explanation about campus rumors, but he’d still seemed haunted as he left me in the library.
My focus was totally shot, so a half hour later I gave up trying to study and packed my things up. Heath had tried texting again, and I replied as I walked out of the library.
Ashley: I think I need to know what else happened with Jade. Not the gala…what happened while I was in Paris?
His reply came quickly and sliced me deep.
Heathcliff: you mean while you were in Carter’s bed?
My jaw dropped and I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at my phone in shock. He wasn’t wrong, but at the same time it stung.
Ashley: Wow. Really? Forget it, today was a huge mistake.
Heathcliff: Fuck. I didn’t mean that. Can we meet and talk in person?
I raked my fingers through my hair, anxious regret swirling through me like fucking food poisoning. I knew better than to trust these guys— any of these guys—and yet I kept falling for their bullshit. What was wrong with me?
Biting my lip, I stared at my phone, debating what to reply. Agree and talk it out like adults? Or tell him to go to hell because my feelings were hurt?
Before I could make a decision, someone grabbed me from behind and tried to hook a bag over my head… again . I ducked my head just in time to dodge the maneuver, fighting back against the person who’d grabbed me.
“Let me go!” I shouted, panicking. “Help! Someone help me!” I was on the path outside the campus library and it was still daylight. Someone must surely be around to see I was being assaulted.
Thrashing, I kicked out at the much larger attacker but it was no use. There were two of them, and the second came back around to bag my head once more. But not before I got a good look at them…
Or rather, at their masks.
“I don’t want to play your stupid games!” I yelled, trying really fucking hard not to hyperventilate when the bag tightened around my neck, holding it secure. “I quit! Let me go, I don’t want to be in your stupid society!”
Neither one of the masked assailants said a word, just strong-arming me into submission as they zip tied my wrists and started hauling me along the path. My vaguely messed up sense of direction guessed they were taking me toward the parking lot, not the dorms, and my anxiety kicked into a higher gear.
What did they always say about not letting kidnappers take you to a second location?
This was the society, though. The masks and robes were a dead giveaway. So maybe this was just another stupid trick, like the whole jumping off Cat’s Peak thing had been? That gave me a small measure of reassurance, knowing it was all just smoke and mirrors.
Hell, this might even be Nate again. He’d just asked me to fail the next challenge so did that mean he knew a challenge was upcoming? Like right now, and he was involved?
“Listen,” I tried in a calmer tone, attempting to keep up and not fall, but also having absolutely no vision whatsoever. “I really, really don’t want to play these games. I didn’t want to be in the Devil’s Backbone Society to start with so if you could just…pretend like you didn’t find me and I’ll submit a written resignation to whatever committee runs this show? That would be great.”
No reply. They just kept marching me forward and the distinctive roll of a van door alerted me to the fact we were at the parking lot already. Shit, that was quick.
“Come on, guys,” I tried again. “This is too far. Let me go and I’ll?—”
The one at my back shoved me hard and I tumbled forward, hitting the metal floor of the van. Fuck.
“This is insane!” I exclaimed, groaning a little with pain. Not having my hands free to break my fall meant I’d taken the hit on my hip and shoulder, but thankfully avoided hitting my face. “You’re literally abducting me in broad daylight. The school has cameras, there’s evidence! I could report you to?—”
My threats cut off with a sharp sting in my arm. I sucked a sharp inhale, confused for only a moment before the realization dawned. Chemical taste hit my tongue at the same time as my head started spinning…they’d fucking drugged me.
As I slipped into unconsciousness, familiarity sparked in my foggy mind. Abigail had written about a similar experience. In her version, she’d been dumped in the forest and left to find her way back to campus with no food, no map, nothing.
Apparently, that’s what I was in for, but at least I had the hints Abigail had left in her journal. She’d gone into detail recording her ordeal…I just needed to remember what she had written.
When the drugs eventually wore off, the first thing I noticed was how cold I was. Shivers wracked through my whole body before I could even make my eyelids open. When I finally peeled my gritty lids apart, dread pooled in my guts.
I was right.
The DB dickheads had dumped me in the middle of a forest somewhere and it was pitch-black night. How long had I been drugged? How far had they taken me? I had no clue. It hadn’t even been dusk when they took me, though, and based on how high the moon was now…it’d been a while.
Another shiver chased through me and I sat up, rubbing my bare arms.
Wait. Why are my arms bare?
I’d been wearing a sweater and jeans when they’d taken me but not anymore. Nope, somewhere along the way I’d been stripped of my clothing all the way down to my black lace bra and panties. Hugging my arms to myself, I looked around in the clearing where I’d been dumped, hoping they’d left my clothes somewhere nearby.
Nothing.
Instead, I found a scrap of paper nailed to a tree with one word scrawled across it.
WHORE.
Well. That definitely suggested Nate had a hand in this whole mess, seeing as he was the only one really pushing that tired old narrative. Was he trying to kill me, though? It wasn’t winter yet but it was definitely too cold to be running around in underwear at night.
“Fail the challenge, huh?” I muttered aloud, rubbing my arms for warmth. “Fuck that . I bet the only way to fail this is to not make it back, and I’m not fucking dying out here.”
Not interested in hanging around and freezing to death, I peered around for some kind of location clue. Had they dumped me in the same place Abigail had been taken? That would be ideal, because then I could refer back to her description. If I could remember it, of course.
“What was the first thing she saw?” I asked myself aloud, pacing around the clearing while I wracked my brain. Trouble was, the drugs had left me fuzzy and a little disoriented. Not to mention the way my head was pounding with a chemical headache.
…when I woke up I thought a monster with a dozen eyes was standing over me, about to eat me alive. When nothing happened, I realized the truth. It was just a tree. A really creepy old tree with branches like arms and a twisted bark pattern that emulated eyes…
The diary passage came back to me right as I laid my hand on a tree with what seemed like a dozen eyes. Hope surged and I grinned. They’d brought me to the same place, and Abigail had left me all the clues I needed to get home.
“Fail the challenge? Eat a dick, Nate.”
I set off, following the somewhat hazy memory of Abigail’s notes to find the next significant marker she’d mentioned. Still, even knowing I had the map in my mind didn’t help how cold I was, or the fact that I was barefoot in a dark forest.
By the time I found the stream Abigail had described, my teeth were chattering and my feet throbbed from the dozens of sharp sticks I’d stepped on. Paranoid about infection, I sat down on a rock and dipped my feet into the icy stream to wash some of the dirt out.
Pain lanced through both feet, and I sobbed as I hugged myself. Fucking Nate. He’d taken it way too far this time, and I was sick of keeping my mouth shut. The minute I got back, I was going to Max with everything he’d been putting me through. Enough was enough.
I took a little time to rest there at the stream, letting the cold water numb my feet and then drinking a little. Was it safe to drink? No clue. But expiring due to dehydration sounded pretty shit, so I had to take the risk.
Eventually, I forced myself to keep going. I needed to, just to stay warm. For a little while I tried to jog to raise my core temperature but when I tripped over a log and smacked my cheek on a rock I had to admit defeat and stick with a slower pace. This time with an even worse headache and blood dripping from a cut on my face.
By the time the sun began rising, I started to wonder if I’d gone the wrong way or missed a turn or…something? But it was pretty simple to follow the line of the creek, surely I hadn’t fucked it up that badly?
At a loss for what to do, and quickly losing confidence, I continued my achingly slow pace along the path of the creek, and finally spotted the collapsed bridge Abigail had written about.
It was such a relief to see that I burst out in tears, running the last short distance to get there. Frantic and sobbing, I searched for the bag of supplies Abigail had described. In her version, she’d found an old hiking pack with sleeping bag, water, first aid and dehydrated foods.
Either things had changed, or her find was just a lucky coincidence that had nothing to do with the challenge because no such treasure waited for me. The tears came harder when I had to admit to myself that I was shit out of luck. The only thing I found to even hint at what she’d described was an old flannel shirt snagged on one of the broken bridge supports.
It was torn and filthy, but it was better than nothing. My hands shook as I struggled to free it from the rotten wood, then I grimaced as I threaded my arms into the sleeves.
The garment smelled atrocious, but it offered a small measure of warmth so it was officially my most prized possession. I huddled into it, grateful for how big the previous owner must have been as it hung well past my bum when standing. Curled up into a little ball, I could get my whole body inside, so I decided to take a rest like that and hope my body would warm up with the rising sun.
I just had to pray there were no hungry bears lurking this area…though I’d still take my chances with a bear over Nate right now. Exhausted, I fell deeply asleep with little effort at all.