My eyes flash across the shimmering onyx surfaceof the water ahead of me and the shadows of the pines beyond. The crescent moon sheds just a sliver of light across the world, reflected in the surface of the water. Somewhere to my right a branch snaps. I jerk my head in that direction.
No one is there.
“Hello?” I whimper again, my voice shaking with nerves.
A slow, low laugh breaks through the unsettling silence of the evening. It’s a creepy, sinister tone that has my body tensing with the urge to flee. Someone is here. Someone is watching me.
“This isn’t fucking funny!” I screech as I let go of the railing and bunch my hands into fists. “Come on out.”
I take a step back. My heel catches on an uneven plank and I stumble. I manage to catch myself before I fall, but my focus shifts. There’s more noises off to my right. It sounds like someone’s running, rushing, hunting.
“Who’s there?” I shriek as I spin to face the woods. Empty darkness greets me.
But then a hand lands across my mouth. Large fingers cover my mouth and nose, cutting off my airway. My fingers fly to my face, trying desperately to free myself from whoever has me in their clutches. I flail and kick as my lungs begin to burn and tears prick my eyes.
They lean down, their face leveling with my ear. I can feel the cold plastic of some type of mask against my skin. And then they whisper to me, “Your worst nightmare, prom court whore.”
LACEY
Let’s Dance by David Bowie
I’m so tired of Sam’s disappearing acts. One minute he’s there and then, in a blink of an eye, he’s gone. And here I am, heading away from the party and into the woods in hopes that I can find him by the lake. For some reason, he just loves hanging around it. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or hot, Sam is always by the fucking lake.
“I’ll be right there, babe,” I mutter to myself, mocking his nonchalant voice as he whispered in my ear. I wrap my arms around myself, it’s cold as fuck out here. The night air bites into my exposed skin because, of course, I would wear the sluttiest thing I could find.
I scoff.
All for nothing because Sam is nowhere to be fucking found. Maybe I should just hook up with one of theother guys instead of wasting my time searching in the woods. I shouldn’t be out here, all alone. Nothing good ever comes out of venturing into the dark.
The music from the party grows more distant as I grow closer to the border of trees. From here, I can see the dock, which sits fucking empty. I let out a low groan, throwing my hands into the air.
Where is he?
“H—” A scream fills the air. My brows pull together immediately at the gargled sound that causes the hair on the back of my neck to rise. The woods grow eerily still, the water too, not even a ripple. Just stillness.
I tilt my head back, scanning the area. Only to see nothing but trees. My stomach tightens as I let out a shaky breath, trying to convince myself I’m being dramatic. Nothing is out here in the woods. Maybe some drunk assholes trying to get it on, but that’s it.
Despite the stillness, something feels off. Like a quiet before a storm. From somewhere in the distance, there’s a faint crunch. That causes every alarm throughout my body to stand on high alert. Once again, I find myself scanning the area, waiting frozen at the sound of more.
Crunch.
I brace myself for someone to pop out and scare me. I even take two steps backwards, putting distance between me and whatever the fuck is out there!
Crunch.
Crunch.
“Who’s out there?” I call out, noticing the trembles that are wracking through my body. The sound of rustling dead leaves andbranches has me jumping and taking more cautious steps. Creating even more distance. They say that when in danger our body has two ways to respond. Fight or flight. Well fuck, I might have discovered a third.
Freezing.
And as I sit there, completely paralyzed with terror, a small fox appears from the clearing of dead trees. “Of course, a fox,” I mutter as I exhale the breath I’ve been holding with a shake of my head. “Unbelievable.”
“HELP!!!” A pained high-pitch scream fills the night air, startling the fox and causing me to trip on a dead log when I try to move backwards. I scatter on my hands, using my legs to kick me away from the silhouettes forming amongst the woods.
There’s another attempt at a scream. “H—” But it’s just a gargled sound that sends a shiver down my spine. I freeze mid-ground, feeling my eyes go round and wide. My fingers are wet from the soil that seeps into my perfectly manicured nails. Another sound follows.
Shorter. Choked.
