The hair on the back of my neck prickles and my steps slow instinctively. My head comes up and I glance around, narrowing my eyes as I look into the dark trees.
Esme is slow to notice the change in my demeanor, but when she does, panic laces the question. “What’s wrong? D-do you hear something?” She slows as well, tripping and nearly dropping Alan’s feet.
When my gaze goes to her, I frown, trying to gauge her current state. “No,” I lie, goosebumps erupting on my arms under my hoodie. “No, I’m fine. It’s nothing.” It isn’t nothing. At least I’m not willing to brush this off just yet. But I can’t have her panicking on me, so I try to make myself seem normal and we start walking again.
Thankfully, it only takes us a few more minutes to get to the shore of the bay. This side is particularly rough, with a nasty current that’s dragged more than one idiot under to be swept out to the ocean and never seen again. Hopefully, it’ll do the same for Alan.
“You can put him down,” I tell her, and immediately Es drops him beside the edge of the small cliff. The water here gets deep immediately, instead of gradually like so many of the beaches around here. But I planned this out too, and I know exactly what I want to do.
Unfortunately, Es isn’t looking like she’s going to be much help for this part. Staring down at the water, her face is pale in the light of the half-moon over us. Her hands tremble until she shoves them in her pockets, and even then I see the muffled light of her flashlight shaking with the movement.
She can’t help me anymore.
Well, she could. But it would be pure torture for my roommate. I don’t want to break her like that, and something softens in me enough that I reach out and gently touch her arm. Her gaze goes to me, desperate and pleading, and even without her saying it, I know what she wants.
Please don’t make me do this.
“Why don’t you head back?” I gesture back to the trail. “I’ve got this, and it won’t take me long.” There are enough rocks forme to do what I need, and I won’t have to pick up Alan for this part of the plan.
Still, Esme hesitates, clearly torn between wanting to escape and thinking she should be responsible. “I…” She looks down at Alan, then up at me. “But I?—”
“You’re fine. I’m fine. It’sfine,”I tell her, though I don’t smile for reassurance. I doubt it would do much for her, anyway. “Just head back, okay? It’s fine.” But I try to make my voice soothing, which isn’t my normal. Still, it seems to work on Es. Her shoulders relax a little and she nods once, jerkily, then looks at Alan again.
So I step between her and him, pushing her away from the cliff, away from his body, and back toward the trail. “Go,” I say, my voice a little firmer. “Start the car. Get warm. Give me a bit, and I’ll be there.”
This time, she doesn’t argue. Her lips flatten, and she takes one last glance at Alan, like she doesn’t want to forget this moment even though he’s wrapped up in garbage bags made into tarps. I let her do it, giving her the time to decide for herself; to my relief, Esme turns and walks away. Like a robot, she walks back into the woods, her steps crunching on the dead grass and twigs that litter the edges of the trail.
I wait until she’s completely gone, neither her steps nor light visible, before I turn back to Alan with a sigh. “God, you’re making my life difficult,” I grumble to the dead man. Quickly I cut open part of the garbage bags to expose his blood and flesh, hoping it’ll draw the attention of fish and bigger marine life and entice them to gobble him up.
“First, you started dating my roommate. Which, cool, whatever…” My words are soft as I work, and I use the twine and duct tape I brought to secure medium-sized rocks to my homemade body bag. “But you were shitty to her. Then this?Really? Well.” I scoff. “Maybe this is karma for you threatening to kill my snake.”
When I’m done, I stand up to survey my work. The waves crash against the cliff under me, and my body vibrates as I stare down at the body at the edge of the rocks.
“I wish I could say I’m sorry. But I’m not.” I plant my foot on his chest, or where I think it might be. “See you in hell, I guess.” With a quick kick, I send his body plummeting over the edge, and watch with sick satisfaction as he bounces off a few rocks before hitting the water.
His body only floats for a second, ripples exploding away from him on all sides, before the rocks do their job. He sinks slowly, his body dipping into the black water and not reappearing.
The hair at the back of my neck rises again, and I look around, flashing my light around the woods and the trailhead. “Es?” I call, wondering if she’s come back instead of going to the car. “Is that you?”
No one answers. There’s nothing. No sound except the waves and my soft heartbeat. Nothing other than the wind and the ocean in my ears and the light of the moon above me.
I’m alone.
Right?
But the feeling persists, ruining the tranquility of my moment. When I look down again, Alan’s body is completely gone, and I pray to whatever lives nearby to eat him quickly. I’d rather his body never be found than hope the cops end up pinning this on the PNW serial killer of the year.
“Fuck you, Alan,” I whisper, hating how goosebumps erupt along my arms and make me shiver. I can’t help myself. I give one last look around the cliffs, to see if I’ve missed anything, before deciding that it’s just me being uneasy with the situation.
I don’t let myself look around again. Whatever this feeling is will fade, and I’ve done all I can to assuage it. With quick steps, I head back up the trail, toward Esme, and tell myself this is the last time. This won’t happen again.
Itcan’thappen again.
Chapter
Five
“Could I speak to your manager?”
