Finally, my fingers bumped my phone. I lifted it up, first looking at my splinter. At some point, the band-aid must have slipped off in the river. It looked exactly the same as before. Perfectly healthy, the skin healing, but just under the surface, the old wood sat. Why wouldn’t it come out? It was as if he was clinging to me.
I scrambled up to my feet, brushing myself off before I aimed the flashlight at what I’d tripped over.
My body stilled. It felt like I’d been dunked in ice water. Adrenaline flooded my system making me shake in anxiety.
The cameraman was in the dirt.
“Hey,” I said to him, my lip trembling. My eyes scanned around but I couldn’t see anything. It was all dark. Goosebumps popped over my flesh and yet again, I sensed eyes on me. I swallowed as I looked back at the cameraman. He hadn’t moved at all. Not now and not when I’d barrelled into him, falling on top of him. He hadn’t flinched, jerked, shifted, and his chest wasn’t expanding for breath.
“Please” I whispered, not able to finish the thought aloud.Please don’t be dead.
We were only twenty feet on the trail past where I'd last seen him walk away.Twenty feet. We'd pumped up our floats and laughed while he was laying right here. It made the muscles in my stomach tense in discomfort by the idea that he was close enough for us to help yet we hadn't because we just didn't know. Had he tried to call out and we were joking around too loud for us to hear?
I bent down, sucking in sharp breaths. I reached out trembling fingers to press into his neck. My hand jerked back in shock as I felt cold flesh. I fell on my butt and kicked out, trying to get distance. My foot connected with the body and it jerked.
My kick caused it to shift. Wide eyes and an open mouth aimed my way—dead and unseeing. My mind careened away from the sight, tried to go somewhere happier. Caspian and me in the tent, his kisses on my neck.
I felt faint and swayed as I scrambled to my feet. My thoughts swirled like I was drunk even though I hadn’t had anything to drink. I hopped over the body and took off back where I’d just come, trying to keep my eyes on the ground so I didn’t hit anything. My heart thumped in my chest as I breathed in and out my mouth. Where was Caspian?
I tried to ignore the fear creeping in and concentrate on not tripping. I tried to imagine the edge of the trail growing closer and closer, Caspian waiting for me, all the bandmates sitting around. I tried to pretend I was safe.
But there was a noise... something was behind me.
Something wasrunning.
A scream bloomed from my mouth, shattering the allusion that all would be okay as the discordant noise shot into the woods. Suddenly I wasn’t just jogging back to the guys, I was running for my life.
My lungs burned, a metallic taste slid over my tongue. My thighs strained, my shins gave sharp shots of pain each time my heel hit the ground. I ached deep between my legs and could feel Caspian's cum still leaking out of me and collecting in my bathing suit.
Nothing about this felt comfortable, nothing felt right, and no matter how hard I pushed, how much I tried to suck in more air. No matter how much that metallic taste coated my tongue. I couldn't get away from whatever was behind me.
I could sense the moment I’d lost the chase, the moment whatever was behind me had the ability to reach out and touch me. The sensation felt like hopelessness and frantic terror melting together into a sickening gooey substance.
I screamed but it cut off, my lungs out of air as someone grabbed me. I inhaled, ready to scream again but a rough, calloused hand slapped over my mouth, muffling the noise. A tremor went through my entire body so violently I felt I might be sick.
Fear was white-hot and blinding, making me dizzy and for a moment I felt as if this couldn’t be real. That reality couldn’t be trusted because this couldn’t happen to me. Not that I knew what was happening. All I knew was I felt limp and dizzy, my mind detaching from my body as I was dragged off the trail. There was one arm around my waist and one hand over my mouth.
There was a dead body on the trail just behind us.
The crunch of brush under our feet, the chittering of those damn raccoons, and the vibrant chorus of a million grasshoppers filtered back into my ears as I shook off detachment and came back to myself, kicking and screaming.
I thrashed as tears slipped from my eyes but there wasn’t much I could do. He just kept pulling me deeper into the woods, holding me against his body as he went. Not once did he talk or make any noise. I watched in a panic as the trail grew further away. I screamed through his palm, crying.
Thick leather swayed around, rubbing against my arms and legs. I tried to stretch my feet so I could touch the ground but I couldn’t reach. This man was a giant, probably taller than even Caspian. I began clawing at his arms that were covered in his leather duster. His grip tightened and I felt sharp points pinprick where his dark fingers dug in.
In the next second, he’d flipped me around and pushed my back against a tree. He pressed his body against mine and the smell of dirt and smoke engulfed me. His hand still covered my mouth and I had to take deep, long breaths through my nose to try and get all the air I needed. I tried to look up at his face but he forced my cheek into the bark, keeping me from looking at him. The rough texture of the tree scraped at my skin.
We didn’t move for what felt like ages. He was tense, quiet. It was as if he was waiting for something to happen, listening out for someone to come. Were more people coming for me?
Then he suddenly pulled back so abruptly that I gasped, my body falling forward. I couldn’t right myself in time and fell to my knees in the brush. My already skinned knees gave a sharp bite of pain. I jerked up, fumbling backwards on my ass, my eyes darting back and forth but I couldn’t see where he was. Was he gone?
Movement caught my eyes, someone darting behind trees.
No, he wasn’t gone. I flipped around on my hands and knees trying to claw my way towards the trail and up onto my feet but then a sharp static noise filled my head. I cried out, clutching my ears.
The noise subsided and I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes widening. I knew that noise. Understanding came over me. Goosebumps popped over my skin and my lip trembled as I heard boots crushing twigs and leaves behind me.
The monster was here. Mothman had found me.
