Chapter 16 Elle
ELLE
Tightening the drawstrings on my hoodie, I close the fabric around my face as I slip through the broken gate of the wrought iron fence surrounding campus.
Mortui Vivos Docent is inscribed at the top, which makes my stomach drop. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this—or should have made Asher at least tag along.
But that thought doesn’t stop my feet from moving.
According to the maps I’ve spent the last couple of days scouring, Avernia is bordered by the Primordial Forest on all but one side, where the entrance leads to town. The mountains stretch to the sky just beyond the trees, sealing the school off from civilization.
Even though it’s a short drive to the city limits, it feels like we’re all alone.
As I walk a worn dirt path through the tall trees, a gentle breeze grazes the leaves, making them rustle above my head. Despite the unease cramping my stomach, this stroll feels a lot different from the last time I was here.
I’m not sure what I’m hoping to find—maybe nothing. Maybe I’m trying to convince myself that this place is safe, and what happened eight years ago was just some fluke.
Until I get to the abandoned building and the half-burnt gazebo next to it.
The structure is falling apart and should be condemned, but just beyond and visible through the rotted siding is the quarry.
Walls and piles of rock stretch as far as I can see, eventually dropping into the ravine and landing at Lake Lerna below.
Legend says what goes into those black waters doesn’t come back out.
I know better though.
Sometimes they crawl out to haunt whoever’s near.
My feet move as if encouraged by invisible limbs propelling them forward, guiding me alongside the quarry to the base of the mountains. The lake is unsettled, its opaque waters rippling the closer I get.
The muscles in my stomach coil, and I reach up to smooth my fingers over my necklace, outlining the snake charm with my thumb.
Somewhere in the distance, a branch snaps, and I freeze. Fear roots me in place the same way it did eight years ago, and the urge to dive into the shadows pushes at my back.
It feels like a warning.
Energy lurks between the trees and bushes, slithering along the forest floor, waiting for an opportunity. I’m being watched. Preyed upon. I squint at the surrounding foliage, trying to tell myself no one else is out here at the moment.
The woods are silent beneath the sunset.
Somehow that’s worse.
An owl’s hoot echoes off the water, and I gulp audibly.
You’re imagining things, Elle. The forest isn’t going to hurt you.
As I come upon the embankment, my soles sink with each step I take, as if the lake has other ideas. When I glance down, I see hands reaching up, sliding over my boots and tugging—trying to consume me.
A pair of familiar eyes reflects on the water’s surface, and my mouth parts as fear flashes through me.
My throat collapses in on itself. I scratch at it the way you’d try to relieve a rash, my fingernails scraping the column until it feels raw. The bite of pain is what clears my head, though, and I release a long, shuddery breath.
It’s in the past, Elle. Everything is fine. This area is safe, and the fear is just in your head.
Manufactured by real events but made up nonetheless.
The mantra repeats as I scale the water’s edge, droplets spraying my boots as wind pushes waves at the shore.
Goose bumps snake their way over my skin. I turn from the lake at the same time a horrid scream pierces the air, coming from the exact place it did eight years ago.
Nausea rolls through me violently.
No.
Not again.
I spin toward the sound, terror rendering me immobile. Another scream echoes through the trees, and my petrification mounts.
“Shit.” I reach into my pocket with a shaky hand for my phone, checking the screen: 1 percent battery life and no service.
Weird, considering I charged it before I left.
Quickly, I type out a text and try to send my location to my brother before the juice runs out.
As soon as I hit the button, the screen goes black.
I stare at it silently, eyes wide, for several seconds. My heart thumps an erratic rhythm, the noise striking hard against my skull.
A bright light flashes through the trees in my direction, and I duck lower, glancing around frantically for cover. Laughter carries over to me, and when I scoot forward enough to peek through the trees, I see cloaked figures hovering close to another cave entrance.
Horror seizes my gut, solidifying it. How is this happening again?
Am I the problem? The magnet?
The catalyst?
I shouldn’t be here—that’s what the forest is whispering. Inaudible words, but I hear them nonetheless.
My lungs burn as fear skirts higher inside my chest, making my hands tremble.
Convincing my parents to let me stay after they took an injured Asher off-campus was hard enough, but there’s no way they’ll let me off the hook if they know I purposely ditched Quincy at the quarry party to go make out with some girl I just met.
But Quincy was busy, and I was bored.
Now I’m fucking lost.
Shadows flicker around me as I try to use the available glow from the party to climb through brush and bushes. I swear I hear footsteps every couple of seconds, but when I glance over my shoulder, there’s never anyone there.
I’m not sure how much time passes before I make it to a clearing.
It borders the lake, which the quarry above curves around, making just one shoreline accessible between it and the mountains.
The moment my feet hit the softer earth and cool air cascades over my exposed arms, I’m shoved to the ground.
The buckle on one of my heels breaks, sending the shoe flying.
I don’t see the attacker before I land on my hands and knees, but I can feel their palms digging into my shoulders as they push me. Terror pulses in my throat, making it impossible to emit any noise as I roll over, trying to get a glimpse of the person.
They’re wearing an elongated gold mask and a dark cloak that covers their entire body.
The mask looks as if it’s been shaped from raw metal and has eye and nose holes but nothing else.
Their eyes blend in with the surrounding trees—walnut or moss-colored, it’s impossible to tell for sure in the dark.
For a moment, we simply stare at each other.
When they reach for me again, I scramble backward, my elbows scraping against the dirt, collecting evidence. Leaving it.
I can sense how close I am to the water, my plunge imminent.
Both their hands close around my esophagus, squeezing tight. My vision blurs a bit at the corners until all I can see is the moon above us, full and round as it watches me lose.
Desperately, I grope the ground, arms flailing as I search for something—anything. The attacker isn’t using quite enough strength to incapacitate me, which either means they’re dragging my death out…
Or they don’t know what they’re doing.
Still, they don’t let up, and instinct kicks in.
My fingers brush against something smooth and skinny. I grab it, angling the object as stars dance in my eyes.
Theirs hover close, two frenzied, endless pools of darkness.
I don’t think I’ll forget them as long as I live.
A shiver skates down my sternum, terror embedding itself in my core. I look at the sky above, preferring that to the evil before me.
The stars are safe. Beautiful. Perhaps they’ll protect me.
Swallowing hard, I lift my arm as their thumbs begin digging inward. Fire scalds my throat where they press, and I grit my teeth against the urge to surrender, instead rearing back and driving the pointed heel of my broken shoe forward.
Right into their left eye.
Anguish erupts from their being; they twist away, reaching for the shoe to yank it out. I retch as blood gushes from the wound, splashing against my face and chest. I can’t afford to pass out right now.
The hooded figure falls forward, clutching at their mask as if trying to tear it off while their wailing shakes the treetops.
I push onto my knees, aware that I don’t have much time before my attacker recovers. Struggling to my feet, I rub at my neck. It still feels like they have their fingers around it, and that coupled with the gore sends a surge of panic through my chest.
A shadow off to the side catches my immediate attention; a body lying on the ground seems to lift slightly. I inch a foot toward them, paralyzed by fear and confusion.
From the corner of my eye, I see the assailant stagger to a standing position, and then they start in my direction, letting out a scream that rattles against my skull.
Bracing, I wait for impact, ducking at the very last second. The masked figure, soaked in their own blood, loses their footing. They slip on the mud, and their limbs go slack, their body catapulting forward.
Plunging right into the lake.
Their body contorts, thrashing as they try to get their bearings. Their one good eye is frozen in horror as the water swallows them whole.
My heart pounds in my ears. I wait for them to come back up. For bubbles to appear on the surface, indicating their return.
But nothing else happens.
Silence blankets the forest. Even up above where the party is going on, all noise has ceased. For me at least. My chin quivers.
I open and close my hands over and over, trying to make sense of what just happened. Throat tight, I lean over the edge of the embankment to see if there’s anything visible—running on the instinct to save instead of destroy.
The water’s pitch-black. Opaque twilight looks back at me, each ripple a taunt.
Swallowing, I force myself to focus on the immobile figure a few yards away.
They’re lying on their back at the edge of the lake, one foot still submerged in the water.
As I walk over, I can see their clothes—a thin sweater and slacks—are in tatters, having been shredded by who knows what.
A beast or fellow man… There’s no telling out here.