This man’s mask blazed neon red, and horns crowned the top of it.
He caught my arms, holding me at arm’s length.
“Please,” I begged, lowering my voice to a whisper, as if this man would be my savior.
Stupid, stupid Blair.
He tilted his head, like my plea amused him.
I was certain that behind the mask, he was smiling.
This man was just as ready to sign my death sentence.
My words were as meaningless as the dead branches littering the forest floor under our feet. Rotting. Useless. Something you could easily break.
He dug his gloved hands into my shoulders. “I don’t know,” he said, as if thinking. “Do you think she’ll look better crying or begging?”
His chilling words weren’t directed at me. They were for the man now crowding my back again. My initial terrorizer.
The masked man in front of me dragged his hands slowly down my shoulders, over my collarbone, until his palm rested against my chest, right over my racing heart. “You have nowhere to run here, Blair. Nowhere to hide from us.”
He held me in place as I tried to jerk away from him. I slammed my eyes shut, accepting defeat.
The man behind me pulled my hands to my back. Dread knotted in my stomach when zip ties sliced into my skin.
At the same time, the man in front of me forced my mouth open. I struggled, whipping my head relentlessly, but his grip tightened. He reached into his pocket and pulled something free. I gagged when he shoved a rag inside my mouth. Before I could spit it out, tape sealed over my lips.
I retched at the pungent taste of chemicals, and vomit swept up my throat. I quickly forced it down, still tasting the remnants of the concoction.
Everything went black when they pulled a cloth over my head.
The man behind me patted my cheek through the cloth. “Time to have some fun.” He shoved me forward.
My head spun as they dragged me deeper into the woods. I dug my heels into the ground, pressing the soles of my sneakers into the dirt in a desperate attempt to stop them.
One of the men sighed in annoyance.
I sucked in a breath, tasting something rancid, when the other pulled me back. He ripped my shoes and socks off.
My feet pressed into the moss-covered ground. Twigs and needles stabbed into the bottom of my feet like thorns.
The men guided me in unpredictable directions.
Left. Right. Forward. Backward.
Never warning me or giving me time to adjust.
They were trying to disorient me to make sure I couldn’t track where we were going.
“Hush, little Fawn,” one whispered. “You can’t hide now that you’ve caught our eyes.”
He didn’t recite it like a chant.
It sounded more like the Devil himself reciting a nursery rhyme with a sinister twist.
“This isn’t just a game,” he continued. “We’ve laid our claim.” A pause. “Now, let the fun arise.”
Goose bumps prickled my skin as he repeated the rhyme.
