“I was in the middle of taking pictures to show the other girls when a guy appeared out of nowhere about halfway between the car and the building.”
My muscles stiffen as I recall that moment. “He was probably a quarter of a football field away and walking slowly. All dressed in black, with his face tilted toward the ground. At first, I thought he was wearing a black hoody over a baseball cap, but no. When he looked up, I realized the hood was stiffer than t-shirt fabric. His coat was sort of like a cloak you’d see on a Star Wars character. I might’ve thought it was a Halloween costume or cosplay, but he also had on a chalk-white mask. It was probably plastic, but it looked so blank and reminded me of porcelain. Like a Phantom of the Opera mask for the whole face.”
We pause, and I cross my arms over my chest, hugging myself. “I thought it might be for a theater play, so I waved. He raised a hand, and his glove was sky blue and looked rubbery. The kind you’d find in a box in a doctor’s office. It definitely didn’t fit with the outfit. And I remember thinking… what kind of things is he planning to scrub away in those gloves?”
Camrynn stares in the direction of the small lot, her head tilting thoughtfully. “Weird.”
“He began walking in my direction, and something told me to get the hell away. I started back to my car quickly. When I looked over my shoulder, he was running toward me.” Clenching my fists, I frown, my heart thundering even now. “So I ran. He was probably only twenty feet away when I got inside my car and locked it. As soon as I did, he turned and ran in the other direction. I would have tried to take a video, but it was too dark. With his back turned, there wasn’t much to see. Just a figure in black jogging away.”
Cami props her sunglasses atop her head. “That’s creepy.”
“Right?” I exhale a long breath as we continue to the parking lot. Faded food wrappers and other debris are scattered over the concrete.
“I talked to campus police, but this is off campus, so they directed me to Foxgrove PD. I knew there wasn’t much they could act upon. He didn’t actually do anything other than run toward me. There’s no law against that. But it felt menacing. I told Foxgrove PD about the encounter and tried to put it out of my mind.”
Drawing a breath, I shake my head. “Then the Casanova story broke. I went back to the police and reminded them about the guy. They were skeptical, which I get. He didn’t have a rose or a book. No weapon. No girl he was dragging to the car. And it was October, so people were going to Halloween parties. They checked the area after my first report and found the car. It was stolen and abandoned there. They figured kids had probably done it. And that the guy in costume was either cutting across the lot on the way to a Halloween party or was planning to rob someone. There was a meth lab nearby here that got hit by a rival operation. The police thought maybe the man wore the weird outfit to keep anyone from identifying him because he was going to do something illegal. I don’t know.”
Running a hand through my hair, I shrug. “I couldn’t shake the feeling that something more sinister than drug-dealing and robbery was going on with him. His creepy faceless mask haunts me.”
Cami’s eyes fix on something in the distance. I turn, my eyes following her gaze. There are some large black birds flying in circles over the western side of the building.
Cami purses her lips. “Carrier birds.”
Shielding my eyes, I squint. I’ve never heard of carrier birds. “Ugly.”
“Yeah, turkey vultures won’t win any beauty contests.”
“Vultures? I thought you said, ‘carrier birds’?”
“No. I said carrion, as in birds that eat the dead.”
Oh, my God. What?
“Come on.” Face determined, Camrynn strikes out across the wasteland like a Mad Max road warrior.
“Hang on!” I call out, yanking my phone from my pocket. “Before we go in search of anything creepy, we need to light the beacon.”
“What now?” she says impatiently, continuing to walk.
“Let me send a text, so someone knows where we are, and to come looking for us if we’re the victims of a vulture attack.”
Arya: hey, E. am with intrepid girl reporter, investigating a vulture sighting. pinned location. if we don’t make it back, send someone bigger than you to find us
Eden: k
Once I catch up with Camrynn, I freeze.
Between piles of broken concrete and twisted steel, a pair of hideous birds tear at the flesh of a body. The remains are gray and black, and soft and oozing. I don’t want it to be a person. Anything but that. I try to turn away, but I’m not fast enough. The matted hair on the side of the partially devoured face is unmistakably human.
My stomach lurches, and I spin around. Breaking out into a sweat, I bend forward. The contents of my stomach splash over the ground.
For fuck’s sake.
I stagger back from the vomit. I don’t want to smell it, especially since I’ve just caught a whiff of the putrid decay behind me. I retch again.
I need to leave. Staggering farther from the area, I wipe my mouth.
“Which missing girl is it?” My whole body has gone numb. “Can you tell?”
