Naomi:Dust? Girl. That’s a fucking person. Is this real? Like it’s not photoshopped or anything.
Terri:I think it’s real. The last eight pictures are taken at night. It’s a mix of blurry trees and bushes, and then these ones [pause] which are pointed straight up at the sky through the canopy. The last one is from the forest floor, like Jamie fell or the camera did. This one is the blurriest. You okay?
Naomi [voice thick]:I just… Imagine being lost in the middle of the woods, it’s dark, and you can’t see where you’re going so you use the flash on your camera. How is this not more well-known?
Terri:I keep asking myself that exact question. We’ve covered a few cases that aren’t widely talked about that really deserve to be. This one is just… It’s that last picture for me.
Naomi:Like, what happened to Jamie that it ended up on the ground?
Terri:Exactly. I can’t stop thinking about it. About how scared he must have been, you know?
Lovely Dark & Deep: Missing in the Woods Podcast
CHAPTER 11
A hard jostle jerks me awake.
Opening my eyes is a mistake. The world spins and spins and the only way to make it stop is to close them and take slow breaths through my nose. There’s grit in my mouth and a chemical cleaner taste on the back of my tongue.
“Hey, kiddo. Take it easy, alright?”
That voice. I open my eyes a sliver because Iknowthat voice. Ellis is looking at me from the driver’s seat of his car; his face is blurry yet somehow still concerned. Relief is a wave that washes through my body, followed closely by another intense urge to throw up.
I scrabble to unbuckle the seat belt before I hurl all over myself and his car, then yank the door handle. It’s locked.
“Whoa, whoa!” Ellis says. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
I gag and slap a hand over my mouth, trying to keep the hot rush of bile inside. He catches on and unlocks the door. I’m falling out of the car as soon as the locks click. There’snothing in my stomach to throw up but a throat-scorching mix of water and stomach acid. I heave until I’m panting and tears stream out of my eyes.
A door slams and gravel crunches. Jeans and hiking boots stand in my peripheral vision.
“Here.”
Ellis holds out a handkerchief. I take it and blow my nose. He hands me a second handkerchief. I don’t know why it’s funny, but it is. I huff a laugh and wipe at my eyes. Who carries a handkerchief? Let alone two?
The world is still swirly, but not as bad as it was. I take deep breaths and try to figure out what’s going on.
We’re still in the woods, but on a road. No looming monsters in the trees. No crosshairs either.
“I am so sorry.” Ellis crouches next to me. His hands hover over my body, like he’s afraid to touch me. Makes sense since he just hit me with his fucking car. “You hit your head when you fell. Probably a concussion if the vomiting is any indication.”
Sure enough, there’s a wet spot on the back of my head. Even the slight brush of my fingers over the pulpy skin makes me catch my breath.
“Where’s—” I clear my throat. “Where’s Ripley?”
“She’s in the back.”
I try to stand, but the waves in my head slosh and roll. An involuntary groan pushes out of my mouth.
“You can take your time—” Ellis stops when he sees my face. “Okay.”
“No,” I want to say. I have to see her. I think if I open my mouth again all that’ll come out is another groan.
Vertigo has me clutching his arm as soon as I’m standing. It takes an embarrassing amount of effort to peel my fingers from his biceps when it passes. Even more embarrassing is how grateful I am that he continues to keep a steadying hand on my back.
Ripley doesn’t respond to me opening the door. I put a hand on her side. It takes a moment, but she lifts her head to look at me. My stomach drops. It’s clear she’s doing her best to look at me. Despite that, her eyes roll in their sockets and her eyelids drift down.
She flops her head down like the effort of holding it up even a moment is just too much. There’s something under her nose. More black gunk? I use one of the many loose, crumpled napkins in Ellis’s car to wipe it off.
