“Fuck,” I whisper when Dennis kicks the door open. The winter wind rushes into the warm living room like a vengeful ghost. His footfalls are heavy as his boots clomp against the floor. He’s clearly done sneaking around.
I peer around the kitchen island, my shaky grip on the knife tightening so I don’t drop it. Dennis is standing in the middle of the foyer wearing a black ski jacket, black snow pants, and a black balaclava that covers his face except for his eyes. He’s clutching an ax, dragging it behind him, and it scrapes the floor ominously.
“Hey, Red.” His deep voice is muffled. “I know you’re in here.”
I stare at the door to the backyard, wondering if I can make a break for it, but he’s only a few steps away. Sweat trickles down my back, tickling my spine as I consider my options. Dennis slinks into the living room, and I flinch when he kicks the coffee table, sending my tea cup to the carpet with a wet thunk.
He hefts the ax over one shoulder and looks down the hallway to the bedroom, cocking his head as if considering his next move. “Should I ask you about your favorite scary movie, Red?” He chuckles, and the sound makes me shiver. “It’s actually a bit ridiculous how cliché this is, isn’t it? A secluded house in the woods, a psychopath wielding an ax, stalking a moronic woman.”
My lips tighten.Please go down the hallway.
The thought runs through my head on repeat and a thrill of triumph tickles my stomach when he moves in that direction.
“Did you really think you could run? You were actually pretty easy to find. Again,” he continues. “I just didn’t expect you to drag along those two idiots everywhere you went. But don’t worry. I’ll be sure to take care of them when I’m done with you, and it’ll look like a jealous love triangle gone wrong. So tragic.”
As he places a hand on the wall and peers down thedarkened hallway, I make a run for it, dashing to the back door. I hear him cussing as I run outside. But my woolen socks skid on the icy porch planks, and I fall hard onto my tailbone with a loud grunt.
“Fuck.” I try to push myself up, but it’s so damn slippery.
Dennis strides outside and grabs a handful of my hair. I scream as he pulls, sharp pain lancing through my scalp. Somehow, I still have the knife in my hand, and I swipe blindly behind me, striking something solid.
“God dammit!” He reaches for my wrist, twisting it so the knife falls from my grip with a clatter and skitters off the edge of the porch. “You little cunt,” He drags me back to the house while I thrash and yell.
As soon as we’re back inside, he kicks the door closed and turns and presses his gloved hand forcefully over my mouth. His warm breath grazes my ear. “You will pay for that.” He smells like cigarettes and cinnamon. He shoves his finger between my lips and down my throat, and I gag, trying to resist the urge to vomit as my stomach contracts.
Dennis lowers his masked face to mine, and I can see where the fabric is torn and soaked with blood where I slashed his cheek. “I love that sound, but it would sound even better if you were choking on my cock.”
Anger sparks in my veins, and I bite down on his finger with a feral growl. He pulls his hand back and slaps me across the face. Pain whites my vision, and I stumble, tripping over my own feet and falling to the floor.
I crab walk away from him as he laughs and picks up the ax from where he left it leaning against the couch. Dennis stalks toward me and lifts the weapon, bringing it down next to my hand, where it embeds itself in the floor.
I scramble onto my hands and knees and dart around him as he struggles to pull the ax free. I jump to my feet and sprint for the front door, throw it open and run outside. I dash down thesteps, across the yard, and veer around the pond into the thick of the woods.
I hear Dennis’s frustrated cry as he follows me, his boots trampling through the snow and underbrush. The wind pulls at my flannel, and my stocking feet ache with cold. My lungs start to burn from exertion as I stumble blindly in the darkness.
I have no idea where I’m going, but I pray there’s a neighbor out here somewhere. I break through the tree line and stumble into a small clearing. I spin and catch movement as Dennis lurches toward me.
I take several steps backward and hear a sickening crack. I freeze, my eyes falling to the ground beneath me, and I realize with rising panic that this isn’t a clearing—I’ve stepped onto a snow-shrouded frozen pond.
My pursuer stops and hefts the ax over one shoulder, cocking his head in a predatory way. “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” He nods behind me. “That fallen tree looks pretty fresh. It probably broke the ice.”
I don’t move, but it doesn’t matter. My weight alone is enough. The ice crumbles, and I sink into the freezing water, the breath leaving my lungs as numbness takes over. Thankfully, the pond isn’t too deep, and when my foot touches the bottom, I push toward the surface. Except my fingers touch a ceiling of ice. Somehow, I’m no longer below the hole I made. My lungs start to ache as my oxygen runs low, and everything seems slower and darker as I push fruitlessly against the barrier, my movements growing weaker. My mouth opens involuntarily, and frigid water stings my throat and nose.
Suddenly, there’s a sharp pain on the back of my skull, and I burst free of the water, shivering uncontrollably. I hit the hard ground, sprawling across it on my knees, my entire body stiff and flaring with pain. I cough and spit water, and then I roll over, gasping as I stare blearily at the masked figure looming over me. I realize that Dennis must’ve yanked me from the water by my hair. Itry to scream when he gives my strands another sharp tug, the feeling like needles in my scalp, but it comes out as a pathetic croak.
He leans close to my ear. “I’m not ready for you to die yet, Red. I’ve got plans.” Dennis pinches one of my nipples through my thin shirt, and I yelp. He laughs and hauls me back toward the woods, but his boot slides on a slick branch, and he releases my hair as his arms windmill. He lands with a loud hiss.
I dart away from him, taking off into the forest. I vault over a fallen tree and flatten my body to the ground, wedging myself between the curve of the trunk and the forest floor. My breaths are quick and ragged and my heart batters my chest so hard, I can feel it pulsing in my temple. I’m sure he must be able to hear me.
“Red!” Dennis stomps through the woods, crackling and cursing with every step, but he doesn’t sound close.
At least not yet.
I shove my fist in my mouth, trying to calm the fear that’s pervading every nerve in my body. I’m shaking uncontrollably as I burrow deeper into the damp tangle of ferns, moss, and snow.
Something scampers across my wrist, and I bite back a scream when a huge brown spider drops onto the leaves near my face. I’m fully aware that spiders in the Pacific Northwest aren’t dangerous, but I still have to resist the urge to severely overreact to my new eight-legged friend who’s chosen to park itself within an inch of my nose.
“Not poisonous, just creepy. Breathe. Breathe.” I turn my head away, trying to focus. “Think, Fi.” I mutter quietly. “What now?”
