Oh, fuck,Gerry. My lifetime hero Gerry.
Natalie’s grip goes slack. I slide out from under her and run over to Gerry like he’s my dad and I’m a little kid again.
He holds out Beck’s car keys.
I snatch them, uttering a barely audible, “Thankyousomuch!”
And as soon as I’m facing the door, it’s like every muscle in my body’s on two hundred percent. I sprint out into the parking lot like nothing else matters in the world. I slam into Beck’s car, the metal on the door so hot it burns. But I don’t care. I yank the door handle open and jump inside. It smells like artificial new car smell. I gag at the scent and scan the controls for what I need to get this thing started.
But of course, I’m too short for whatever setting Gerry’s put the seat on.
I’m forced to watch as Natalie runs out of the shop, too, her eyes wild.
“Emma!” she shouts.
My foot’s finally close enough to reach the pedal. I slam on the brakes and put the car in drive. Thank god, Gerry parked it facing out.
“Emma.”
Natalie moves toward me, trying to get me to stop.
I smash my foot into the accelerator.
Natalie jumps out of the way seconds before the car would’ve clipped her.
It’s such a short walk to the motel. An even shorter drive if Natalie brought her vehicle. Beck, Paisley, and I won’t have much time, but we have this precious head start.We’re going to fucking survive.
I grab the walkie-talkie and click to Beck’s and my channel. “Hey, I’m on my way. Be in the parking lot now. Natalie’s found me.”
For a moment, I’m met with no voices. Only shuffling.
Then Beck speaks.
“Emma, I need you to get back here,” Beck says, her voice utterly shaking. Beck has faced down countless scary stories, finding her sister’s fingernails, and fighting off a killer with a knife. Nothing made her sound like this.
“It’s not Natalie,” Beck says.
The road starts to lose its sharpness.
I’ve been in a situation like this before, somewhere in my dreams. I’m searching for something. I’m running from someone. Danger’s around the corner, but I’m stuck. I know I need my muscles to work, my brain to work, but they won’t.
“It’s not Natalie,” Beck repeats. “Fuck, Emma, she did it. Paisley’s the—”
The feed cuts off, leaving me in complete, hopeless silence.
The Woods, Pt III
Paisley Horne knew she was running out of time.
It had all seemed so simple when she went over the plan at home. Under the light of a new moon, prepare a token using a personal item and some of the plants in the area. She’d gotten a token from a random lady in a mechanic shop. Sure, she hadn’t left the doll in the mining town, but she’d left it in their campsite. All they had to do was finish the ritual. Light a fire, throw in some plants, say a few things from a spell book. It was so easy. It was so goddamn easy.
Twenty-four hours from the start of the ritual to the end. The moon had to be in the same cycle. They didn’t have any time to spare, yet Paisley was the one setting the rocks in a circle to start a fire. Paisley was the one with the lighter in her pocket, the only one who wasn’t afraid of the fire. She’d set her phone up to film, and what a pathetic sight it was seeing.
It was always her doing all the work. She should’ve known that from the moment she tugged Harlow and Opal out of their loser shells freshman year. They were the perfect insecure little ducklings, betteractresses than sometimes even Paisley thought she was herself. It was obvious to her when she saw them, people who faked enthusiasm because it suited them. It was one of the only things she gave Emma credit for. She clearly didn’t care about what Paisley dragged the group around to do, but she couldn’t fake the enthusiasm.
Paisley hated not having Emma here. It left her to interpret her friends’ lies.
Although, to be fair, they weren’t trying very hard to hide their dislike. Right when it mattered most.
