And Milo…Milo was on her other side, tail thumping—until, of course, he raced forward and leapt into my arms, as if he weighed 10 pounds and not 90.
I nearly dropped to my knees with relief as Milo barreled into me, tongue lolling, tail wagging so hard his whole body wiggled. I buried my face in his fur for one brief moment before looking up at Flora, heart still trying to beat its way out of my chest.
She was wearing hiking boots and cargo pants, along with a faded red canvas jacket with the hood up over her long blonde hair. She looked like Little Red Riding Hood. It struck me as very, very strange.
But what wasn’t strange about this town? These woods?
That monster?
“Evenin’,” she said.
“Flora?” Holden’s voice came from behind me. “What…what are you doing out here?”
She raised her eyebrows at us. “I live here.”
“I could’ve sworn your place was miles away,” Delilah muttered.
Flora tilted her head. “Where’d you start?”
“The trailhead up by Foggy Creek,” Whit offered.
“Ah…” Flora said. “Yeah—you really should be more careful about camping there on the night of the new moon.”
All we could do was stare at her as the adrenaline faded, no one speaking—until Holden opened his mouth again, reminding us all that some kind of eldritch god was in hot pursuit.
“You—you saw it, right?” Holden asked. “Heard it…that thing back there?”
“Defineit.”
“That thing with the antlers,” Shane said. “The tall one. Looked like a person but like…wrong?I mean you’ve all been saying it, the Gloam?—”
“It doesn’t like to be named,” Flora said. “But yes, I saw it.”
“Was that you whistling?” Noelle asked, voice still trembling.
Flora nodded. “It likes music.”
None of us replied—because what the hell are you supposed to say to that?
Then she tilted her head over her shoulder.
“You can come with me,” she said. “Spend the rest of the night at my place. It’s cramped for seven folks, but…it’s not safe out here tonight.”
No one moved at first.
“But our campsite—” Holden interrupted.
“Yeah, you won’t find that until tomorrow,” Flora said with a shake of her head. “We can all pile into my truck and I’ll take you back to the trailhead in the morning.”
I looked back to exchange a look with Noelle, who still seemed petrified. Her eyes were unusually bright in the lantern light, though…the blue almost green.
For a moment, they shone like moonstones.
She swallowed hard. “I think we should go with her,” Noelle said.
“I mean—fuck yeah,” Shane said. “Sign me up. Like obviously don’t put me in a stew or anything…but I’m sold.”
Flora smiled slightly. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I only eat children. You’d be way too gamey.”
