Chapter 53
The Cabin in the Woods
ATTENTION, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THING One is dead.
Kylie barely feels it when someone gently removes the poker stick from her hand.
She’s covered in sweat, her clothes sticking to her, every inch of her body shaking from head to toe.
She refuses to take her eyes off Thing One, now lying on the floor as a pool of blood forms around his head.
His blood, for a change. His eyes are open and glassy, and it’s all Kylie can do not to stomp on his fucking face with whatever ounce of strength she has left.
He may be dead, but it’s still not enough.
She would love to feel the bones of his nose crush underneath the weight of her heels, but before she can lift her leg, her knees betray her.
She feels herself collapse, and a pair of strong hands catches her and leads her to the small plaid sofa in the corner.
From somewhere in the cabin—this bigger, much nicer cabin—someone is screaming.
And screaming. And screaming. She hears a slap and the screaming stops, and there’s a flurry of discussion.
Something about someone having a satellite phone.
Then a man’s voice, the one who’d identified himself as a police detective when he found them, is speaking.
“Bear Lake Road,” she hears the detective say. “I need police and an ambulance. Five women requiring immediate medical assistance and one adult male DOA.”
DOA. Kylie exhales. That means “dead on arrival,” which means it’s really true; he’s really dead. The monster who took her and kept her and violated her will not be requiring medical assistance, thank you very much, because she sent that motherfucker to hell. She killed the devil.
She bursts into tears and feels Sydney’s arms wrap around her.
There are two other women in the cabin. One of them is moaning, trying to sit up, and she looks very familiar. The other is fussing over her, her face full of concern.
“Cam,” the worried woman says, her voice raspy. “I think she might have a concussion.”
Cam must be the detective, and he nods while continuing to speak into the phone. “One was struck in the head . . . How long? Maybe I can take them . . . No, that makes sense. We’ll wait for the paramedics.”
He makes another call.
“Chief, it’s Cameron Wallace. I’m up at Bear Lake Road.
I’ve already talked to dispatch, but wanted you to know I found two missing women, Kylie Kahl and Sydney Larsen .
. . No, not officially, I came with a friend who was looking into .
. . Yes, Barb Bonifacio . . . Yes, the situation is contained.
No active threats.” He pauses. “And, Chief, I have Alice Chu here . . . yes, our Alice . . . She’s under arrest. I’ll explain when you .
. . No, there’s no cell service, the cabin has a satellite phone . . . Okay, see you soon.”
He disconnects the call and turns to Kylie and Sydney, huddled together on the sofa. “Can I bring you two outside so you don’t have to . . . look at him? You can wait in my car.”
“I like looking at him,” Kylie says. “I’m glad that my last image of this motherfucker is him lying dead on the floor so I know he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
Someone starts screaming again, but it’s not either of the women closest to them.
It’s coming from the opposite end of the cabin, and Kylie realizes there’s yet another woman here.
They now have enough for a reality show, ha.
But not a show anyone normal would ever watch.
The woman appears to be handcuffed to the support beam, her hair mussed and her eyes wild.
“That must be Thing Two,” Sydney says in a horrified voice beside her. “Holy shit, Thing Two is a woman.”
Kylie makes eye contact with Thing Two, which turns out to be a mistake, because the woman shrieks even louder.
“You killed him, you bitch!” she hollers from across the cabin at Kylie before turning her attention to the detective.
“How could you let her kill him? You just stood there and watched as she hit him over and over again. What the hell kind of cop of are you? When PD gets here, I’m telling them everything, Cam. Everything! ”
“As you should.” The detective’s voice is calm. “They’ll have a ton of questions for you, Alice. But it’s funny, I don’t remember it happening that way. How about you, Barb?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s not what happened,” the woman who must be Barb says.
She’s sitting next to the dazed woman, whose eyes are open now and staring straight at Kylie.
“What I remember, Alice, is that your Jolly Green Giant boyfriend was choking the shit out of me, and so my friend here had no choice but to hit him with the poker stick until he let me go, to save my life.”
“What?” Thing Two cries, her face red. She’s practically foaming at the mouth. “That’s not what happened—”
“That’s exactly what went down,” Sydney says. “Right, Kylie? You were nowhere near him. We saw the whole thing from across the room. And we’ll be sure to confirm this with the police when they arrive, detective.”
The detective addresses the woman on the floor. “Cole, is that how you remember it, too?”
Hold on. Did he say Cole?
The woman on the floor manages a small smile. “Yes, it was all me,” she says, still staring at Kylie. “Hey, you. Am I ever glad to see you.”
From across the cabin, Thing Two screams again, a sound of pure rage and frustration if there ever was one.
It pierces Kylie’s ears, making her head hurt, making everything hurt.
Gently untangling herself from Sydney, she walks over to her old friend Cole Lennox and gently helps her to her feet.
She has a million questions, but there’s time for that later.
Their embrace is long and warm, and for the first time in six years, Kylie feels safe.
“God, you’re so thin,” Cole whispers, choking back a sob.
“Finally made my goal weight,” Kylie whispers back, and they laugh.
It’s time to go.
They both head for the cabin door, Sydney and the woman named Barb following behind. Just as they’re stepping out of the cabin and into the fresh night air, Thing Two screams again, and it’s the loudest shriek yet. Kylie winces.
“Seriously, Alice,” she hears Barb snap as they all head outside. “Shut the fuck up.”