My brows pull into a frown as I attempt to maneuver around it, noticing he doesn’t offer to help but just saunters on ahead. I plant my hands on the bark to help steady myself feeling the small rivets dig into my palms as I lift my leg over the tree, barely getting clear of it before setting my foot down gently into the ground. As I swing my other leg over, a blur of something stirs in my periphery, snagging my attention and making me falter. I manage to catch myself before face planting in the ground below, but only by slamming my chest into the tree. It knocks the wind out of my lungs, and I gasp for breath. My arms windmill backwards as my ankle catches a rouge root. My tailbone gets the brunt of my fall this time, and I let out a groan.
This place hates me. I’m sure of it. As I dust myself off, I look around trying to catch my bearings. My ass stings and I can’t seem to find whatever his name is. Chad, Brad, Landon, or some variation of that. I honestly wasn’t paying attention when he told me his name.
My friends are all up ahead and I’m eerily alone.
Twigs snap and I swear I hear a muffled scream coming from the trees. Goosebumps erupt on my skin and that feeling of being watched intensifies.
I can’t see anything but foliage and the longer I wait, the farther my friends get. Rushing to catch up to them, one of the guys asks if I’ve seen Brandon. Sothat’shis name.
“He walked on ahead of me the last I saw.” But looking around the group, he’s nowhere to be found. “Maybe hewandered off into the woods?” I offer, not sure where he could have gotten to, but somehow, I feel like that isn’t the case at all and worry begins to curl in my stomach.
“I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he just went back to the cabin,” the one who’s been cozying up to Faye says with a shrug.
We make plans to meet up with them later at the bonfire, where they’re having drinks and dancing amongst the scare actors. I for one, would like to hunker down in the cabin and read this book I started before I came here, calledHell House. It’s got these two girls whose dorm room burns down, and they’re forced to move into the fraternity house on campus. Only all the guys are secretly possessed by the seven deadly sins. I hate that I had to close my book to be here, but my friends mean everything to me. For them, I’d do anything. They’re the only family I have left.
With that sobering thought, we head back to the cabin to get cleaned up in time for the dinner. I just hope it’s better than the breakfast burrito they served this morning. Just as we’re about to clear the woods, a scare actor comes barreling out from the woods wearing a Jason mask and carrying a machete to match. We’re off and running once again, fear following close behind.
Chapter 12
Jack
She’s running from the scare actor with her friends leading the way. She’s slower than they are, giving me plenty of time to catch up.
Maverick wiped her memories of last night, claiming it’s better this way. That she needs time to adjust to our monstrous reality. Personally, I fucking disagree, even though he promises her memories will come back eventually. When she sees me, she doesn’t remember the night we shared and that fucking rips into me.
Unlike Hendricks and Maverick, I can easily walk in the daylight. My monster form comes only at my behest. It allows me to blend in as a human when I want. And right now, I want a moment with Lydia.
Just the two of us.
While sharing her last night was an experience, and one I’d repeat again for the rest of my life happily, I also want time to get to know her.
Thankfully, I know these paths better than anyone, making it easy to cut across the forest to intercept her path.
Her friends are too busy running that they don’t notice how far behind she’s gotten.
She grabs her sides and bends at the waist, trying to catch her breath.
“Need some help?” I ask, coming out from behind the trees.
She jumps and whirls around to face me. Her eyes trail along my body, taking in my tattoos that line my arms and crawl up my neck.
“Oh, shit! You scared me.” She clutches her hand to her chest, and my eyes follow the movement.
“You seem lost,” I say, stepping closer, circling her like a shark circling its prey.
“I—” she looks around and then frowns, realizing her friends took off without her. “Do you know how to get out of here? There are so many paths.”
“I can lead you back. For a price.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “What do you want?”
I give her a smile and offer her the cold water bottle I have in my hand. “I want to know your deepest fear,” I reply.
“My deepest fear?” She scoffs, but takes the drink gratefully, opening it and chugging it down. Her eyes track my every movement, like she’s trying to figure me out. She licks a stray bead of moisture from her top lip and that small, innocent gesture is enough to have my cock surging to life in my pants. Fuck, I am so far gone for this girl, and she has no idea who I am.
“I don’t really know. I guess…” she taps her chin with her index finger, “I would have to say being buried alive.”
“Fuck, that would be a bad way to go,” I answer.
