Chapter 10 #2
By the time I made it down the stairs, my hands shook so violently I could barely grip the railing. This close, I could smell it; a warm, tangy rot that coated the back of my throat. I approached just enough to see bits of animal hair and viscera caked in the dried blood.
Lying nearby was the torn-up carcass of a bobcat.
The screams.
I turned away just in time to throw up all over the rocky ground.
Wiping at my mouth with the bottom hem of my shirt, I climbed back up the stairs away from the awful smell, took a few deep breaths to collect myself, and called Tate.
He swore when I briefly explained what’d happened last night. It was still early, and he sounded exhausted. “Are you alright? Are you sure you’re alone? They didn’t come back?”
I paced along the outer deck, scanning the trees and avoiding the gruesome sight below. “I’m sure. They could’ve broken in and didn’t. They… left a message.”
“A message? How? What does it say?”
“Check your texts,” I said, snapping a picture of the scene and sending it his way.
There was a moment of silence, and then, “Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“Is that a dead animal?”
“Yes. I think I heard them killing it last night. I thought it was a person screaming, but in hindsight, I’ve heard that before. I just panicked.” My words caught in my throat. “I thought it was Janine crying for help.”
He blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. Are you armed?”
“Only the bear spray.”
He grunted. “That’s right, how could I forget?”
Under different circumstances, it would’ve been funny.
His tone shifted from processing to planning.
It was very cop. “You shouldn’t hike out alone, and definitely not unarmed.
I’ll call the station to let them know what’s happened and get search parties back out in that area.
They’ll have to come and process the scene.
I’ll ask Leonard how soon a helicopter can be available to pick you up.
We’ll come back for the rest of your things later, but you’ll need to give a statement, and—”
“No, I can’t leave. I’m not leaving,” I interrupted, panic rising in my chest.
“What the fuck do you mean, you aren’t leaving? You were attacked last night, Reece. Someone chased you out of the woods. You were threatened.”
“I know,” I said. “I just…” I looked down at the awful message. I hadn’t yet been forced to confront the true depths of their cruelty, but there was no hiding from it, now. If this was any indication, missing was too gentle a word to describe what those hikers had suffered.
“Look, you didn’t hear this from me,” Tate said before he paused, as if waiting for a response.
“Okay,” I prompted.
“No, I need you to say you didn’t hear this from me. You can’t repeat this to anyone. Not Bobby, not your dad, no one, do you understand?”
I blinked, staring out at the low-lying clouds moving through the pass. “I understand.”
He sighed. “What you just described, we think something similar happened to Janine, too.”
Chills skittered down my spine. “What do you mean?”
“We know she used social media just after midnight, and didn’t report for roll call the next day.
We searched her tower and found her boots missing, but nothing else.
Her phone was still on the charger, and her jacket was hung up inside.
Nothing was disturbed. We think she left the tower willingly—to use the bathroom, or maybe she was lured out the way you were, I’m not sure, but it’s too fucking similar for comfort.
You need to leave. You can’t stay out there, Reece. ”
I ran a hand along the beard I’d let grow out. Turning to pace back along the deck, I was startled to find someone standing just behind me.
Charlie.
He was gray and see-through. His face and hair were ashen, devoid of all color, his clothes the same as they always were.
Even down to his unlaced boots.
I blinked. The realization washed over me.
I looked at my own shoes, still undone from our frantic flight to help Janine.
The answer to Charlie’s mysterious disappearance was right in front of me.
It always had been. Charlie tried to stop me from leaving the lookout last night, and I didn’t listen.
He’d grown frantic and panicked, but disappeared before he could tell me why.
And I think I know—I mean, I think I remember what ha—pened—
Last night, had he remembered his final terror-filled moments? Was he so upset because he already knew what was about to happen? Was he lured out of the safety of the lookout, just like I was, only to be killed?
The brokenness in his eyes said yes.
“Reece? You there?” Tate asked.
“I’m not leaving,” I repeated. I spoke the words into the phone, but they were meant for them both.
I couldn’t leave. Charlie would be cold without a fire. We hadn’t even celebrated his birthday yet.
Tate grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like idiotic asshole. “Did you hear what I just said? You might not have a choice!”
Charlie stared down at the scene below and turned away, passing through the wall and back into the lookout without acknowledging me. I’d only ever seen him do that once before, the very first time I saw him, when he’d pushed through the window to catch me before I fell.
The sight of it now knocked something loose in me.
“Listen to me,” I growled at Tate, my lip curling in anger.
“I was scheduled for an early supply run. I can either hike out on my own or wait for a helicopter to pick me up, but you can’t tell me I’m not coming back here.
I’m not listening to some fucked in the head freak.
The next time they try to play games with me, I’ll shoot them.
I’m being paid for the whole fire season, and I’m staying for the whole fire season.
Bring your search parties out here, scour the whole goddamn mountain for all I care. But I’m not leaving.”
He was quiet for a beat. “I’ll call Leonard. Hopefully, a crew can pick you up this morning. Work out your return with him. I know you think I’m being an asshole, but I really am just worried, Reece. You shouldn’t be in danger or stressed out over a job. It’s not worth it.”
I dragged a hand down my face. “I need to be up here, alright?”
“Why?”
I peered into the lookout to find Charlie sitting on the bed, with his head in his hands. “I just do.”
Istayed outside long enough to call Dad and explain what’d happened, and let him know that I’d be back today. His stance was about the same as Tate’s, but I said we’d talk about it later to avoid an argument.
Anxious to see Charlie, I paced back down the deck toward the door, looking for him through the windows. “Charlie?” I called, rushing inside. I scanned the room, as if there were somewhere for him to hide. “Charlie!”
The lookout was empty.
My sketchpad lay open on the desk, familiar handwriting scrawled across the page. In two strides, I crossed the room and picked up the note.
Reece,
It’s not safe for you here anymore. I’m very sorry I wasn’t there last night to help. The last thing I want is for you to end up like me. Thank you for being my friend and for making me feel human again. I’ll stay away so they can help you move out. Please leave a window open for Randy when you go.
Charlie
I crumpled the note in my fist before smoothing it back out, tracing my finger over his words as I read again and again.
Thank you for being my friend and for making me feel human again.
Jaw clenched, my eyes welled up. “I don’t know if you’re still here,” I said out loud, throat scratchy.
“But you don’t have to thank me for anything, because you’ve made me feel human again, too.
You’ve made me laugh and remember what it feels like to look forward to things.
I’m making you roasted chicken with crispy skin and peach cobbler when I get back.
And it’s your birthday dinner, so you’d better not stand me up. ”
The silence after weighed heavily. With a sigh, I readied to depart.
An hour later, I squeezed into the back of the helicopter with my trash and recyclables and watched as Dead Man’s Lookout grew smaller and smaller the farther away we flew. Just before it disappeared from view, I swore I saw a flash of movement—like someone stood at the window, keeping watch.
I thought of the message I’d left behind, scrawled in big, bold letters along the bottom of Charlie’s note.
I’M COMING BACK