With a gasp, I half-fall, half-scramble out. I whirl, almost expecting the mustachioed driver to be waiting to lunge at me. When I don’t see him, I scrape up all my courage and creep around to the other side of the car, to see if he’s crouched down and waiting.
But no. I’m alone.
I shiver in the cool air, rubbing my arms and glancing around. My chest tightens as a cold, dangerous shiver drags a blade up my spine.
I’m alone in the woods.
There’s not a single light. Not from a house, not from a streetlamp. Nothing. Shuddering, my eyes widen, trying to see into the darkness. I’m in a small clearing, the car parked at the end of a little, barely-paved road, a driveway to nowhere. There’s nothing here—just a dead end, the clearing, and the vast, dark woods, looming and leering down at me.
Raw fear knots in my stomach. I whip around, my breath coming fast as my eyes stab into the shadowy, inky blackness. There’s no sign of the driver, but then a thought hits me, and suddenly, I’m yanking the driver’s side door open to see if the keys are…
No.
But what I do see chills me to the bone.
Laid across the driver’s seat is a longish male wig, a glue-on fake mustache, dark sunglasses…
My eyes widen, a cold, eviscerating feeling stabbing into my gut.
And a black and white photo of me, walking out of the stage door of the Mercury Theater.
A snapping sound, maybe a stick breaking, sends my heart into my throat. I whirl as panic chemicals flood my system. My heart rate goes through the roof, my skin prickling to a million goosebumps as a wrenching shiver claws up my neck.
Another snap, from the woods at the other side of the clearing this time.
I start to pant, my breath shallow and disjointed. My pulse skips, and my skin turns clammy and cold.
What the fuck is this.
“H-hello?” I croak.
In the distance, an owl hoots. Something small rustles in a nearby tree.
A stick cracks violently behind me.
I whirl again, feeling my throat close as panic sets in. I whip around to stab my gaze into the front seat of the town car. With a cry that I swallow back, I lurch across the driver’s seat and grab my phone, which is still plugged into the charger.
It’s even on.
My hands shake as I snatch it out and scramble to unlock it.
Instantly, my hopes turn to ash in my hands.
There’s no cell signal.
I shiver violently.
I’m alone.
The sound of a heavy step in the underbrush near the edge of the clearing has my body shaking horribly as I whirl.
Actually, you’re not alone at all…
“Whoever you are,” I yell, my voice cracking as I back against the side of the car. “You should know that my family is extremely dangerous. They’re also wealthy, so—”
“I’m not interested in your fucking money.”
Jesus H. Christ. The same metallic, robotically altered voice from the car rasps dementedly from the woods somewhere in front of me. My heart lurches as fear stabs in me. Even the fucking birds squawk and fly away as the monster speaks.
Not a fake monster with a pretend mask and an agreed-upon safe word.
A real one.
“I-I’m armed!” I stammer, my voice breaking. “I have a gun—”
“No you fucking don’t.”
My skin crawls as I cling to the side of the car, my nerves shattering as my chest heaves. I glance down at my phone, open to my last text exchange with Kratos.
Kratos
Where are you?
Me
Are you home? I’m on my way
My mind races, trying to do the math. That was maybe an hour ago. By now, if I’m not home yet, or responding, maybe he’s out looking for me?
