Chapter 24 Fucking in Tom’s Tree House
TWENTY-FOUR
FUCKING IN TOM’S TREE HOUSE
KIMMY
Tom’s a real piece of shit.
We’d hooked up just a couple of weeks ago, but there he was, trying to fuck that Hamilton bitch.
Who the hell tries to make zombie founding fathers slutty?
I seethed from the edge of the bonfire, watching as he spun her around.
Connor’s new girlfriend had brought a gaggle of ridiculous sorority girls who seemed hellbent on being the center of attention.
The pink-haired one kept shooting glares my way, acting like she was a lioness, and they were her cubs.
I glanced at Laura and huffed. “Have you seen Linc? He’s been gone for like twenty minutes.”
Laura shrugged. “That short George Washington is missing too. Maybe they’re hooking up.”
“You don’t have to be a bitch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Tonight’s not going like I thought it would. I haven’t seen Linc since he went to pee in the woods.”
I glanced at the trees and sighed. “Come with me to find him?”
Laura pointedly looked down at her expensive boots and then back at me. “Are you kidding?”
“You suck.” I turned and trudged down the hill. “I swear to God, if he’s pulling some kind of prank, I’m going to kill his ass,” I muttered to myself.
Swatting away mosquitoes, I stopped at the edge of the trees and got my phone out.
Where the hell are you?
Linc
The treehouse.
I bit my lip and looked down the dark path that led to the treehouse we all played in when we were kids.
Seems wrong to fuck Linc in Tom’s treehouse.
Grinning, I skipped into the darkness.
Fuck him.
I walked for five minutes, my eyes wide to accommodate the darkness. Muscle memory carried me down the overgrown paths of our childhood toward the pond.
I’d just reached the bottom of the tree holding the tree house when the first burst of fireworks lit the sky behind me.
Looking up the tree, I sighed when I saw the ladder had been pulled up. When we were kids, the boys would beat us here and race up the tree so they could pull up the ladder and drop water balloons on our heads.
“Linc, drop the ladder down.”
There was a flicker of light in the small cutout window.
Muffled pops and crackles filled the air, so I yelled a little louder, “Linc. The ladder. Now!”
Sure enough, the rope ladder lowered. Testing the bottom rung, I immediately regretted my shoe choice. With every leg up, the heel of my boot tangled in the rope.
“I remember this being easier,” I grumbled halfway up.
Brilliant reds, whites, and blues flashed in the sky, illuminating the treehouse. In the opening, I caught Linc’s silhouette, and my stomach flipped.
Maybe he could be more than a hookup.
At the top of the ladder, I reached a hand up into the treehouse to pull myself up. Before I could get my other hand on the worn floor, there was a thunk, and my hand was pinned to the wooden board. It took a second before the pain registered in my brain, and I cried out.
“What the—” I poked my head through the opening and found a hunting knife sticking out of my hand.
A gloved hand reached down and yanked me up by the hair while the other ripped the knife out of my hand.
They whipped my head back and forth, rattling my teeth and craning my neck until I was face to face with a person in a blacked-out mask.
“Linc?” I asked, praying this was just a joke gone too far.
Fireworks flashed outside, illuminating my faceless attacker as they slowly shook their head.
“Please,” I begged, tears flowing down my face as I cradled my bleeding hand to my chest. “Where’s Linc?”
In a deep voice, they said, “Dead.”
“Oh, God. No,” I cried, thrashing in their hold.
I have to get out of here.
Swinging my leg out, I nailed them in the stomach, and their hold loosened enough for me to jerk away. Without thinking, I dropped through the hole in the floor, barely catching the ladder with my good hand.
My boot slipped on the rung, and I fell to the ground. Flat on my back, I stared up at the treehouse and watched in horror as the black figure lowered from the opening. I opened my mouth to scream for help, but all I could do was gasp.
A series of loud booms marked the grand finale of the fireworks show, and the bright flashes of light sent spots into my vision.
Rolling onto my stomach, I pushed up, ignoring the searing pain in my right hand. I scrambled to my feet and took off. Just steps away, my heel caught on a huge root, and I stumbled into a tree.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, so I held my breath, desperate to keep track of my attacker behind me.
Branches nicked my face and arms as I ran through the humid night. Heavy footsteps fell behind me. The closer I got to the field, the closer they got to me. I didn’t dare look back. I just kept pushing, riding the endorphins pumping through my body from the injury.
Gasping for air, I jumped over a huge log, cleared it, but landed on my ankle wrong. “Ah!” I couldn’t stop though. My body screamed in pain, but I limped along, determined to make it to safety.
How much farther?
The fireworks stopped, and everything fell silent. I could just pick up the sound of muffled music over the buzz of the cicadas.
I don’t hear him.
“Help!” I screamed, panting as I hobbled along. “Please! Help!” Crying, I kept screaming.
There were no more footsteps, and hope bloomed in my chest.
Almost there.
Ahead, a dark figure stepped out from behind a tree, and I stumbled. “No,” I cried.
They lunged for me, and I fell backward on my ass. Shuffling back, I slammed into a tree. “Please. Stop,” I begged, holding my hands up as they closed the distance between us.
They raised the knife in the air and swung it down, slicing my palms. I screamed until my throat was raw, but it didn’t matter. No one was coming.
The faceless attacker crouched down, wiping his knife off on my pants. Tilting his head, he clicked his tongue as he slowly shook his head.
“Please let me go,” I pleaded quietly, my voice hoarse.
I watched them warily, curling in on myself as they stood.
“Please,” I whimpered.
They sheathed their knife, and I gasped.
This is it. Everything is going to be—
They grabbed a fistful of my short brown hair and pulled me toward the treehouse. My back hit every stick, tree root, and rock as they dragged me through the underbrush.
“Help!” I called out, my voice breaking as a new wave of fireworks lit the sky.