Quickly, I type out a text and try to send my location to my brother before the juice runs out.
As soon as I hit the button, the screen goes black.
I stare at it silently, eyes wide, for several seconds. My heart thumps an erratic rhythm, the noise striking hard against my skull.
A bright light flashes through the trees in my direction, and I duck lower, glancing around frantically for cover. Laughter carries over to me, and when I scoot forward enough to peek through the trees, I see cloaked figures hovering close to another cave entrance.
Horror seizes my gut, solidifying it. How is this happening again?
Am I the problem? The magnet?
The catalyst?
I shouldn’t be here—that’s what the forest is whispering. Inaudible words, but I hear them nonetheless.
My lungs burn as fear skirts higher inside my chest, making my hands tremble.
Convincing my parents to let me stay after they took an injured Asher off-campus was hard enough, but there’s no way they’ll let me off the hook if they know I purposely ditched Quincy at the quarry party to go make out with some girl I just met.
But Quincy was busy, and I was bored.
Now I’m fucking lost.
Shadows flicker around me as I try to use the available glow from the party to climb through brush and bushes. I swear I hear footsteps every couple of seconds, but when I glance over my shoulder, there’s never anyone there.
I’m not sure how much time passes before I make it to a clearing. It borders the lake, which the quarry above curves around, making just one shoreline accessible between it and the mountains. The moment my feet hit the softer earth and cool air cascades over my exposed arms, I’m shoved to the ground.
The buckle on one of my heels breaks, sending the shoe flying.
I don’t see the attacker before I land on my hands and knees, but I can feel their palms digging into my shoulders as theypush me. Terror pulses in my throat, making it impossible to emit any noise as I roll over, trying to get a glimpse of the person.
They’re wearing an elongated gold mask and a dark cloak that covers their entire body. The mask looks as if it’s been shaped from raw metal and has eye and nose holes but nothing else. Their eyes blend in with the surrounding trees—walnut or moss-colored, it’s impossible to tell for sure in the dark.
For a moment, we simply stare at each other.
When they reach for me again, I scramble backward, my elbows scraping against the dirt, collecting evidence. Leaving it.
I can sense how close I am to the water, my plunge imminent.
Both their hands close around my esophagus, squeezing tight. My vision blurs a bit at the corners until all I can see is the moon above us, full and round as it watches me lose.
Desperately, I grope the ground, arms flailing as I search for something—anything. The attacker isn’t using quite enough strength to incapacitate me, which either means they’re dragging my death out…
Or they don’t know what they’re doing.
Still, they don’t let up, and instinct kicks in.
My fingers brush against something smooth and skinny. I grab it, angling the object as stars dance in my eyes.
Theirs hover close, two frenzied, endless pools of darkness.
I don’t think I’ll forget them as long as I live.
A shiver skates down my sternum, terror embedding itself in my core. I look at the sky above, preferring that to the evil before me.
The stars are safe. Beautiful. Perhaps they’ll protect me.
Swallowing hard, I lift my arm as their thumbs begin digging inward. Fire scalds my throat where they press, andI grit my teeth against the urge to surrender, instead rearing back and driving the pointed heel of my broken shoe forward.
