But Larissa went to the side of the road and bent down to take a photo.
The branches creaked a little louder, and the wind suddenly whistled ice-cold through my hair.
I shivered.
“We should go. There's nothing here, Larissa,” I insisted, hoping that there really was nothing out here.
I had the feeling that it was getting icier and icier.
But Larissa didn't seem to be so convinced, because she continued forward to where the forest began.
“Larissa, come on, the deal was that we'd leave if there was nothing there.”
Larissa didn't look back at me, but walked further into the thicket.
“But I think there is something there. There must be something here.”
The fact that there was nothing there was somehow more comforting than the thought of anything else. What should be in a forest like this?
As if the forest was telling us to leave, a branch crashed to the ground just off the side of the road to my right, and I was so startled that an abrupt scream escaped my throat.
“What the... Bayla! What's wrong with you?!”
Larissa came running to me.
I'm sure she thought something had happened to me, but my heart had just dropped, and I was clutching the seat.
“Can I leave you alone without something happening to you?”
That had been a lousy statement. Just because I was clumsy didn't mean I was a little kid. I didn't like this place, and I had a good right to be scared of falling branches.
“I don't think you should leave me alone at all when you take me into a forest like this.”
She looked at me blankly.
“What? It was your idea. I didn't want to come here?”
“And it would have been smarter not to come here.”
Larissa spun around.
My eyes widened at the sight of a man with countless scars on his bare scalp. His eyes were completely black. The veins around them stood out.
Larissa took a step back and bumped into me and the motorcycle.
My heart slipped into my pants a second time, only this time a little deeper. I held my breath.
The abnormal-looking man spread his fingers before clenching them into fists, inhaling the air in a deep, threatening way.
“How come you both smell so good?”
I swallowed because I knew immediately that we were dealing with something inhuman. A freaking werewolf?!
I should have known. We never should have come here. There were reasons why there was no one here. We were alone. Alone with a supernatural psychopath.
“Larissa, let's go, please!”
I quickly handed her the helmet.
“You're not going anywhere!”
The man contorted his face into a disgusting grimace, and came closer.
We both shuddered but didn't move an inch.
Every step closer he came, my heart tightened. I didn't want to die. Not like this. Not in Blairville.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a second man stood between us and the disgusting psycho.
Larissa glanced quickly at me, as if she no longer understood the world. She looked frightened, which was a rare phenomenon. Anyone who grew up on the streets of Sacramento had actually seen a lot.
Her uncertainty increased my fear.
“Who gave you permission to be so greedy?” the one in the long black coat asked, turning his face away from us. He had dark brown hair and was slightly thinner, but very tall, taller than Larissa.
“Get out of my way!” the bald man pressed out. He sounded angry, furious and demanding.
“You're too conspicuous.”
