Whisper in the Black Rock Pines

Prologue

Sunday

Bump. Tap, tap.

An ear-piercing shriek of metal scraped along the truck’s side, slowing to a whine. Flinching, Avril Lampton pushed her boyfriend, Hank Parker, hard in the chest and scanned the forest. “What was that?”

“You wanted to be hidden in the forest.” He pulled her closer and nibbled on her neck. “It’s just the wind in the trees. The branches scrape against the truck, is all.”

Outside, the forest’s silence was deafening, the eerie stillness closed in around them.

Moonlight drifted through the trees in patches, turning the white rising mist surrounding them into strange, twisted shapes.

Avril moved closer to Hank as the mist swirled as if disturbed and pushed against the windows.

She shivered and goosebumps rose over her skin as long white fingers reached out toward her.

Somewhere deep in the forest a wolf howled.

She swallowed hard. “I know we wanted to be alone, but I don’t like it here.

It’s close to Halloween, and we don’t know what comes out of the forest around this time of year.

” She met his amused gaze. “Can we go someplace else?”

“Woo, woo, the Axman is coming.” Hank chuckled.

“Do you know how many guys use Halloween myths to make girls jump into their arms for protection? That’s what they are, Avril, myths.

Stories made up to scare kids.” He waved a hand toward the forest. “Who in their right mind would be hanging around here this late in the hope of finding a couple making out?” He pushed open the driver’s side door and a cold damp gust of air seeped inside.

“Nature calls.” He peered into the mist. “There’s no one here.

I’ll be back in a minute.” He dropped his feet out of the cab.

Fear gripped Avril and she grabbed the back of his jacket. “Don’t go. You can’t leave me here on my own.”

“I’m not taking you with me.” He gave her a withering look. “I draw the line at allowing girls to watch me pee. I won’t pee long.” He grinned widely at his play on words, switched on the light on his phone, and disappeared into the darkness.

The moment he stepped outside, the mist thickened as if swallowing him up.

Trembling, Avril watched the dimming silhouette of his light bobbing between the trees and then he’d gone.

Heart pounding, she stared in the direction he’d vanished.

The forest teemed with wildlife, but the silence warned her of danger.

Her pulse pounded in her ears as she searched the shadows, but nothing but the mist danced through the trees, and it was getting denser by the second.

Time crawled by. How long had he been away?

With trembling fingers, she checked the time on her phone and waited five excruciating minutes before punching in his number.

She stared at the screen in disbelief—no signal.

What’s happened to him? She pressed the button to buzz down the window, but nothing happened.

The temperature had dropped so fast, and without the heat of his body, her teeth chattered.

She grabbed the blanket from the back seat and wrapped it around her.

A branch snapped behind her, racing her heart.

She turned to scan the forest, but the mist pressed against the windows in a white shroud, moving in slow waves.

Patches opened like black eyes and peered in at her, open mouths screaming in silence.

A tap on the roof and then another. “Hank? Is that you?”

Nothing.

What if he’s been hurt? She checked the time on her phone. Fifteen minutes had passed. Fear trembled through her as she gripped the handle and pushed open the door. Cold damp air rushed toward her. “Hank? Stop messing around. I’m freezing cold.”

A spot of wet hit her face and then another.

She ducked back inside and turned, staring at the windshield as a few drops of something dark trickled down the glass.

She gaped in horror as a widening red slick slid down the center.

Terrified, she stumbled out of the truck, tripping on the blanket and falling flat on her face.

Crawling away, she looked over one shoulder to stare back at the truck.

In the middle just above the windshield, sat a head with Hank’s blank eyes staring back at her.

She couldn’t breathe. Panic had her by the throat.

Her legs refused to move. Unable to take her eyes from the horror, she dragged herself to her feet and ran blindly into the forest, tripping over exposed roots and dead underbrush.

Spiky pine tree branches ripped at her clothes and tugged at her hair with each step.

Darkness swallowed her. Which way should she go?

She stopped running and turned, searching for a path.

Ahead a stream of moonlight highlighted a trail as if guiding her to safety.

Gasping for breath, Avril ran faster into the thick mist. The path loomed ahead of her and she picked up speed, and then without a sound, a dark figure slowly swinging an ax stepped out of the mist right in front of her.

“No! No! No!” She turned to escape, but cold steel slid across her shoulder and the forest vanished in a scream of pain.