Claire’s knees felt wobbly. She put her hands on her thighs and breathed deep. It was all too much, the constant fear, the stream of horrific images spilling into her brain that each seemed more plausible than the last. She wished she were home. She’d pull the covers over her head and never leave.
I wish I’d never come here, she thought.I wish this were all a dream. I wish I’d wake up. I wish—
She felt a hand on her back.
“Claire, you okay?” Reyva asked.
Mariana was there too, her hands on Claire’s shoulders. “Deep breaths. Do you want to sit? You should probably sit.”
“I’m fine,” Claire said, sucking in air.
Not here, she ordered herself.Not now.She could not lose it. Not in front of them. She had to stay calm.Stay normal. Please!
“You don’t look fine,” Mariana said. “You look like you’re going to faint.”
She’d fainted before, and she knew what that felt like—a blackness that ate your vision from the bottom up. This wasn’t like that. Not yet. She was still in control. “Just need a minute.” She counted as she breathed, in and out, tapping out the seconds with her fingers until slowly, finally, she felt herself begin to calm.
They waited and didn’t say anything, and Claire appreciated that more than anything they could have said or done. It was, in truth, the best thing. It gave her the space to keep breathing and keep counting until her heart was no longer galloping wildly. In a moment, she felt better.
I’m okay, she thought.They don’t know.She’d held it together, barely. Straightening, she said in as light a voice as she could manage, “Glad you’re not dead.”
“Ditto,” Mariana said. She was eyeing Claire as if she were expecting her to keel over, and Claire felt her face heat up bright red. She wished the others hadn’t seen her like that, so close to the brink. Should she explain, or try to laugh it off? What were they going to say? But instead of saying anything about it, Mariana just apologized. “Sorry for scaring you guys. I thought I heard a noise behind the shed.”
“So you went to check it out?” Reyva asked. “By yourself?”
“I’d like to sound badass and say yes, but in reality, I went inthe opposite direction and hid. I figured if it was danger, I could yell and warn you two when you emerged.”
“What was it?” Claire asked.
“Just a squirrel. Don’t think it was even rabid, and wow, that would be a thoroughly embarrassing way to die—survive fire, murder, dehydration, starvation, but get killed by a squirrel.”
“Better to be safe,” Reyva said. “Also, we haven’t survived yet.” She met Claire’s eyes, as if to say,I said it this time, not you.Claire managed a shaky half smile back. She took a deep breath of fresh air, grateful that the wobbly feeling had receded and doubly grateful that they weren’t making a big deal out of it, like her parents would have.
They would if they knew how far it could go.
Claire shook the thought from her head.
“We didn’t die by fire,” Mariana pointed out. “So that’s one win for us.” She then winced as she glanced at the Lake House. “Sorry—that was insensitive. I didn’t mean... I should really learn to think before I speak. Did you find anything we can use? Food? Bottled water?”
“Sadly, no,” Reyva said. “In fact, I recommend never opening that again. It’s beyond creepy.” They described what they’d found: the bear-size cage, as well as the opening in the wall that led into a cave.
“We think it held wild animals, for sale or for illegal fights or something,” Claire said.
“Or it’s where they put campers who break rules,” Reyva said. “Any cage large enough for a bear is large enough for a human.”
Mariana shuddered. “I’m going to assume that’s a joke and you have a dark sense of humor. My parents might have shoved me out the door, but I’m positive they wouldn’t have approved a camp with cages.” Claire agreed with that—the way her parents had gushed, she’d expected the Lake House to be a paradise of idyllic rainbows and Life-Affirming Experiences. So far, not a single arc in the sky.
“It is, and I do,” Reyva said. “But thereissomething off about this place.” All three of them looked at the ruins of the Lake House. “Aside from the obvious.”
Claire agreed with that too. “No more splitting up,” she said firmly. Best if they stuck together, no matter what. No straying from each other’s line of sight, not until they were certain they were safe. They were each other’s best chance of survival. “And I vote we get away from here as quickly as possible.”
“Seconded,” Mariana said.
“Thirded,” Reyva said. “Let’s move.”
Six
You could survive three weeks without food, but only three days without water. Or at least that’s what survival TV shows said. Obviously, the math changed if you were hiking through the woods, expending energy without replacing it.
