The sun is setting as I veer onto the dirt road leading to the cabin. A caravan of Hellcats follows me, nearly 30 in all, with the mission of finding Felix.
Visions of that fateful night enter my mind, but they don’t cause distress.
That night was a lesson. It taught me how to use this monster to do something when evil strikes, and I’m going to use it to save the love of my life.
Felix took my broken heart and put it back together, and I’ll slaughter anyone who stands between him and me.
I love him with my whole heart, and I’ll never cower away from saying it again.
My eyes trail down to the phone strapped to the hand clutch. My blue dot is quickly approaching the red.
Hot breath. Heart thuds. Fingers itch.
The cabin appears, and I stop the bike, leaping off it and running toward the house. I peek through the window to see if anyone is there. I see a mess of blood on the floor, and my foot kicks open the door, my gun ready to blow a hole inHargrove.
There’s no response, and I creep in to find someone lying on the ground, a pan next to them.
Hellcats spill into the space, voices clamoring.
The back door is open, and I run out onto the deck to find a trail of blood along the wet ground.
And footprints.
I dart into the woods, following the prints I see on the ground. I hear Hargrove screaming Felix’s name. My heart squeezes in my chest because that means he’s alive.
My boots pound the ground—legs moving faster and faster.
The calm before the kill consumes me. My body’s a machine with a single mission.
Kill that man, and take Felix home.
Felix
The trees won’t shut their goddamned mouths! I just want to curl up into a ball and—
“Felix! This way.” I follow Mother’s voice, sprinting past little creatures that scurry on the ground with bloody paws.
I hear the monster screaming my name—its voice is more terrifying than before.
“Felix!” I turn and see—
“Torren!” I run to him, but my body falls through his. When I look back, a panther crawls toward me, gnashing its teeth. The trees bend forward, all of them with Torren’s face in the bark. “We hate you, Felix. We hate you.”
No! Please, don’t hate me!
“RUN FELIX!” It’s my mother. Focus on her voice.
The monster is approaching. His howling echoes aroundme.
Keep going. Run. Run.
The monster screams my name, the sounds booming throughout the forest.
“Keep running, my love! He’s coming.”
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
I turn to look behind me, and the panther gallops toward me—
