“Reece, wait—” Charlie said, but I was already out the door.
“Janine!” I yelled, eyes darting around to find the light again as I rounded the tower toward the stairs. “Janine!”
I realized I’d forgotten my own light source when I reached the landing, the glow from inside the tower too dim to make out the steps ahead.
But then Charlie was there. “You’ll trip and fall again, you idiot,” he huffed.
We didn’t have time to marvel that he’d done it—he left the tower.
Handing me the lantern I usually kept on my nightstand, he followed me down the stairs before we booked it for the tree line, barely illuminated ahead of us.
I’m definitely buying that high-powered torch.
The flashlight still bobbed ahead of us, too far into the trees to make out properly. “Janine, is that you?” I hollered.
As if in response, the light switched off.
Charlie put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me to a stop just before we entered the forest. “Wait,” he said, panting. His face paled, and his outline flickered, pieces of him turning hazy and see-through. “Something’s wrong, Reece. I don’t like this.”
“We have to help her,” I answered, also struggling to catch my breath.
“We don’t know if itisher. And I think I know—I mean, I think Irememberwhat ha—pened?—”
His eyes widened as his words became choppier. Frantic, he gripped my shoulder tightly, looking more and more frightened as he tried to communicate. “I can’t—R—ce. You can’t—alone!”
Fuck!He must not be able to get this far away from the tower. Or maybe it was the adrenaline?
Either way, I couldn’t let him leave. “No, wait, Charlie—please, don’t go. It’s ok, we’ll go slow. I’m sorry, please stay,” I begged, trying to hold on to him.
But it was too late. He blinked away.
And I was left alone, in the dark, with whoever—orwhatever—wandered through the woods in the middle of the night.
My panicked breaths were too loud in the hushed quiet.
A leaf crunched somewhere ahead of me, just outside the glow of the lantern. I swung it wildly, hoping to catch sight of whoever was out there, watching.
Predator, predator, predator,my instincts screamed.
“Janine?” I asked tentatively. My voice cracked.I really fucked up.I hadn’t stopped to consider what I’d do if itwasn’tJanine I found all the way out here, defenseless and alone.
And Charlie was gone.
He might not return for hours, or even days. I’d reacted without considering him at all, and whether he could handle the running and stress.
Another rustle of leaves, this time to my left. My heart pounded in my ears. I took a step back, and another. If it were Janine, lost and hurt, she would announce herself. She wouldn’t do this… Whatever this was.
She wouldn’tstalkme, like a predator.
Suddenly, footsteps pounded the ground, fast and loud as they charged.
Stumbling backwards, I turned and sprinted for the lookout, barely able to see anything. I could hear someone behind me, breathing heavily.
I kept running.
Reaching the stairs, I took them two at a time, uncaring of whether I slipped on the damp condensation. My boots crashed along the wrap-around deck. I slammed the door of the lookout shut behind me and threw the bolt into place.
Flicking off the lantern, I grabbed the can of bear spray.
