CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Evie
High School
He raises the gun and aims it at the ground, firing off three rounds at my feet.
I scream and stumble backward, scraping my shoulder on the gnarled bark of a locust tree. The adrenaline spins me around and I take off through the trees as fast as I can. There’s no path anymore, I’m just running wherever there aren’t trees blocking my escape and the moon is showing through the trees enough for me to see.
I need to get back to the park. If I can get back to the park, I can find a way home. But which way is the park? I never paid attention to how we got to this place in the middle of the woods. I didn’t think I had to.
Because he would always be there to show me the way out.
Now I’m cursing myself, wishing I’d been smarter. I always followed him because he knew where he was going. He knows these woods inside and out. He’s stayed out here for days at a time. I would never come out here by myself, only with him. And now I’m trying to run from him, in the dark, and I have no idea where I am or where I’m going.
These woods are deep—a vast ocean of trees dividing Canaan and Hellbranch. But I know there’s a road that cuts through the forest, and I’ve been down it many times. It’s where all this started weeks ago, at Grumpy’s where we all ran from the cops after the race. If I can’t find the park, maybe I can find that road.
Maybe while I’m at it, I can take a walk back in time and make a different choice. If I could, I would’ve listened and never gotten into his car.
Stop it. Focus and find a way out .
I’ve been running for a long time. The only reason I’m getting winded is because of the terrain. Otherwise, if this was level ground, I could keep running until I hit pavement. I wouldn’t stop. I can run for miles. But I have to slow down to see where I am. As if I’ll know…
I duck behind a massive oak to catch my breath and quell the gasps and sobs sputtering from my chest.
Calm down. Focus.
I try to listen, but the forest is so fucking loud at night. I never noticed until right now when I’m actually trying to hear whether he’s running behind me. The insects and tree frogs are screaming, peppered with snaps and scampers in the leaves. It doesn’t help that my heart is pounding in my ears. But even with all that, I don’t hear his heavy footsteps.
Then I remember. I reach behind me into my back pocket and pull out my phone. My hands shake uncontrollably as I unlock it and flinch in terror as the screen lights up the darkness around me. Moving quickly, I pull up my text history and slam my thumb down on a name—any name. I have barely any signal, but I can’t worry about that right now. I furiously type out a text as fast as I can and press send before shoving my phone back in my pocket.
Except, when I look down, I freeze in horror. My fluorescent yellow shorts might as well be a flashing road cone around my waist. I listen for another moment and then crouch slightly, pushing them down my legs. Then I yank them off my sneakers and drop them next to the tree. Thank God I decided to wear bikini underwear tonight instead of a fucking G-string…
Why are you worried about your underwear? Would you rather die than someone see your naked ass?
When I look up, I nearly have a heart attack.
Standing no more than 20 feet away is a giant buck. I freeze, my eyes bugging out of my head as he stares back at me, probably wondering what the hell I’m doing on his turf. He’s huge, with a thick ash brown body and massive antlers like nothing I’ve ever seen. On any other day, I’d be so mesmerized I’d probably start crying at the sheer beauty of it. But, tonight, he just looks like something else that wants to kill me.
After what seems like forever, his ears twitch and he gives a sharp turn when he hears something in the distance that I can’t. I startle as he whips around and tears off through the trees, tossing leaves and branches in his wake.
I have to run, too. I have to move, or else he’ll find me and catch me. And God knows what he has planned for me then. I run in the opposite direction of the buck, thinking that if he heard the racket the buck made fleeing, maybe he’ll think it’s me and follow it.
It’s possible, isn’t it ?
I take off again through the trees, in my underwear, sneakers, and tank top. The terrain isn’t as uneven here, so maybe I can move quicker. I just try to focus on the ground so I don’t trip and break my ankle.
Is this what it’s come to—running through the woods in the middle of the night trying to escape someone that I love—that I thought would protect me in situations like this? After everything, I never thought we’d end up like this.
But it’s not like I wasn’t warned.
I should’ve listened and never come here. Why didn’t I listen when he warned me?