Chapter Twenty-Four
Sky
I clutch Ruby’s vape pen in my fist as I brave the cold night. This is completely unhinged of me, but I can’t take it anymore. I have to see him. I have to know he exists, that he’s alive, that we’re breathing the same air.
The wind whips at my hair as I stomp towards the edge of campus, my teeth chattering. This is a desperate measure, one unlikely to prove fruitful. I mean, what are the odds that he would be out here again? But I can’t take another night just dreaming about him. I’m beginning to forget what he looks like, the dreams getting muddy and losing their essence.
The soft lamps that dot Hillcrest like dying beacons don’t reach this far, and it’s darker than I remember. Unease chills my blood as a train whistles in the distance, and I look behind me, just in case. I can barely make out the spires of the academics building, given the low hanging clouds, and I realize why it seems so dark.
The moon is hidden.
I relax a little at the realization, and the worry can’t stick when I’m so intent on calling out Cade.
When I reach the little half wall, I’m shaking like a leaf in Cade’s jacket—from anger or the temperature, I don’t know at this point. I’m hesitant to sit down on the cold ground, and stand stupidly instead, looking around like a girl who’s on the cusp of being stood up. How am I too much of a wimp to ask someone what dorm Cade is in, but I’m not too scared to come out here and make a fool of myself? I mean, Ruby knows, and yet I can’t bring myself to admit it. I’m programmed to deny, deny, deny after a lie. To tell her now would taste like blood from a split lip.
I blow my breath into the sleeves of the jacket, trying to warm my fingers. I might as well take a hit while I’m out here, even though I only brought it as an excuse. At least if he doesn’t show, my trek won’t be for nothing. I draw on the sweet smoke until my lungs can’t take anymore, intent on finding that bliss I experienced last time. But when I exhale, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I suddenly don’t feel alone.
My first instinct is to look at the trees, and I squint into the shadows, hoping Cade will appear like last time. But it really is darker, and I can’t see anything. I take a cautious step forward, and then another, picking my way over the crumbling wall. Of course, the weed chooses this second to kick in, and my eyes unfocus.
“Cade?” I whisper into the woods, and then giggle. It feels like I’m summoning a demon.
“Cadeeee?” I try again, suddenly feeling light. “I know you’re out there.”
I know no such thing, but if he is, coaxing is my best bet. I step under a low hanging branch, using my extra long sleeve to push it out of the way.
“I’m in your forest,” I taunt. “Don’t you want to reprimand me?” I giggle again.
Oh, jeez . Maybe taking a hit was a bad idea. But at least I don’t feel so cold anymore. If anything, the wind is exhilarating now. I’m even more aware of the orchestra the leaves are conducting.
It’s all, whish, whish, swishhhh.
Right. I’ve lost it. I’m making a fool of myself out here. I suddenly hope Cade isn’t here, so he doesn’t witness this. It was a half baked idea, anyway.
Half baked.
Oh, my god I’m so hilarious.
I turn back around, making sure to watch my step, and laugh to myself. I didn’t know I was so funny. I don’t think—
I freeze.
A figure stands, almost looming, on the pathway back. My heart stutters as I take in the contours of their face, paint hastily smeared to form a sinister skull. Their arms hang straight and still at their side, unnaturally still. The fear trickling through me comes at speed drip. Something telling me this isn’t a freshman fucking around. Their form is too menacing, too black, and my heart starts to hammer. I don’t dare blink, and even though their eyes are shrouded in the shadows, I’m sure they don’t either. Their sights are set on me, and dread roots me into place. I’m all alone out here.
The figure breaks into a run, my slow mind taking a second to register. And that precious second is wasted as I stumble, stupidly, backwards, tripping over the wall. I land hard on my ass, but I can’t think about it as they advance on me, kicking up dirt like stalled wheels. I twist around, shove myself up, and start running.
I duck into the dense foliage, my adrenaline kicking into gear. I don’t have the luxury of choosing a direction, and push my way forward, too scared to look back. Branches whip at my arms, snagging and tugging on my jacket as I curse at how dumb of an idea it was to come out here. All because I wanted to see the dick of a guy who couldn’t even be bothered to tell me that our kiss meant nothing. Now, I’m being corralled into the woods by a lunatic, who paints their face and terrorizes girls stupid enough to leave their dorms after hours.
Maybe I’m just high and being paranoid, or maybe it’s a joke and it’s just some loser with his friends around the corner getting a kick out of me bolting like a deer. The thought calms me enough to stop for a second, and I try to catch my already erratic breathing. But the second my own heart rate isn’t pumping in my ears, I can hear it. The snapping of twigs, the break neck speed of boots thudding against dense soil. He’s coming, and he’s not messing around.
I take off again, fresh fear gripping at my insides. What does he want? To kill me? I can’t imagine my life would play out like a horror movie, but that’s the only thing that comes to my mind. I run as fast as I can in my slippers; the ground becoming more damp the deeper into the woods I run. Sharp twigs stab at my legs, and I can’t help but shriek. God, no one is going to hear me out here.
Except for him.
I make a point to clamp my mouth shut, veering to the right, away from where I was whimpering like an easy target. My heart wants to claw its way out of my chest at the lack of oxygen, but it needs to calm down because I need to be quiet, and I need it to propel me faster.
Cheerleading seems like a lifetime ago, and I’m in no shape to keep up with the pace I’ve found. I need to hide. But the night casts everything into a shadow, and I can barely see two feet in front of me.
The wind suddenly picks up, gusting my hair across my face and blinding me. It’s cool against my perspiring skin, but not helping. Also, a primal part of me worries that it’s going to send my fear riddled scent right to him.
I whip my head back, looking for any sign of him gaining on me, but all I see is thick foliage that has closed at my back like an angry hand. I contemplate if I’m going to get lost out here, but I need to survive first. But do I really think he’s out to kill me and not just scare me?
No sooner than I think it, something hisses past my ear. I jump back as a dagger embeds itself in a tree right in front of me. Panic steals my breath as hot tears blur my vision. That could have easily sunk into the flesh of my back, and I flinch, as if it did, imagining the sharp tip puncturing vital organs.
I scream, not able to keep it down, and start running again.
I can’t tell if I’m hyperventilating or just exerted as I weave through the thicket of trees, dipping under branches. Twigs snag in my hair, and somehow I taste gritty dirt in my mouth. Sweat collects under my jacket, causing it to cloy at my skin, but I have to keep running.
At some point, I lose a slipper, and bits of the forest stab at my foot. It’s no doubt bleeding, but I have to keep going. I scream periodically, terror gripping me in waves.
I finally stop, exhaustion seeping into my bones like liquid iron. Surely, I’ve outrun him by now. I lean back against a tree, my breaths dry on my tongue, but my cheeks wet with tears. I glance around, wondering if I’ve gotten myself lost. But when I do, my eyes catch on an unnatural white, a flash that doesn’t fit with the shadows. I gulp, realizing I’ve made a grave mistake.
He’s right in front of me. Watching me. I shudder at his crudely painted face, at the chaotic strokes of white and black, melding together in a marred facade of horror. How did he get in front of me? Have I been running towards him, somehow in circles? Or did he slip around me?
He slowly lifts an arm, a blade glinting in the night. I’m pulled from my freeze and thrown back into flight as he waves the sharp point at me. God, this is a game to him. A sick fucking game. Fresh tears burn my eyes as I take off, but I don’t know how much longer I can do this.
“Help!” I scream, thinking I better try before I lose the ability to. “Please! Help me!”
Screw getting in trouble for being out after curfew. I want to live. I cry out for anyone, anything, even a wild animal that might take him out before me.
My foot suddenly doesn’t hit solid ground, and instead plunges into something icy. My balance ricochets me forward, and I land in frigid water. There’s a fucking pond out here?! I sputter the dirty water out of my mouth, but I’m soaked, padding at the water in the dark, and feeling my way to a rocky shore. I pull myself up and immediately fall onto my knees, the new weight of water holding me down.
Another blade whirls past me then, this one landing point first into the soil, and I scramble up. I run for my life, feeling imaginary knives piercing my back with every step. I shove at the forest, breaking my way through it, darting like an expert rabbit.
Until I’m not. I hit a trunk, or something on the ground that rams my toe bones into each other, and I cry out, tumbling to the right and onto my elbow. The pain steals my breath, shooting up my arm, into my shoulder, and settling in my teeth. I bite my tongue against my defeat and curl up, hauling myself against a tree and dissolving into sobs. I tried. I really tried. But I can’t run anymore. I wrap my arms around my knees, pulling them close to my chest, and put my head down.
I don’t want to see him when he reaches me.