AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know!”
He’d looked over her shoulder then, and his gaze had landed on the grotesque corpse lying in the creek. “Holy shit! Is that what I think it is? A body?” He’d turned the color of death himself, his eyes rounding. “A fuckin’ body? Is that what it is?”
“That’s what it is.” She’d been shaking as he backed away. Wet and shivering, Bianca had tried to grab hold of his arm. “And there’s something out there—I don’t know what, but it’s really huge. And hairy! And it chased me all the way here! It’s . . . it’s a monster!”
Still backpedaling, his eyes searched the darkness as other voices began to ring closer. “You’re fuckin’ nuts, Bianca!” he’d declared, but he’d looked ready to bolt.
“I’m not kidding! It was chasing me and it was like . . . Big Foot. Smelled rotten! Oh, God.” By that time, she’d nearly been hyperventilating. “We have to get help!”
He’d shot one more horrified glance at the creek, backing up, nearly tripping over his own feet. “Too late.”
“I know, but we have to call someone. You . . . you have a phone, right?” she’d begged desperately. “Right, Rod? You’ve got your cell on you. Call nine-one-one!”
“What?” He’d shaken his head, his brown hair flying around his face. “No way! I mean—a body? Big Foot? Are you serious? No. No way! I’m not callin’ no cops!”
“Just call the emergency line. For an ambulance.”
“She’s way past needing EMTs.”
She’d caught a glimpse of his phone in his hand. “Just do it, Rod!”
“Forget it!” His eyes had been wild, and she’d realized he might be on something. “We’re in enough trouble as it is. Holy shit! We—I—gotta get outta here!”
“Oh, for the love of God!” She’d jumped up then and taken a swipe at his outstretched hand, ripping the phone from his fingers. Before he could sputter another word, she’d punched 911 into his phone.
“Hey! Stop!” He’d snatched at his phone, but she’d feinted and ducked under some low branches, scaring some bird. Within seconds the dispatcher had answered.
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”
With Rod going ape-shit in the background, Bianca had given her name and location, reporting the body as rapidly as possible. “Send someone quick,” she’d cried. “An ambulance!”
“I told you, it’s too late for that!” Rod had screamed at her. “An ambulance? What good is that gonna do? That girl, whoever she is . . . she’s . . . dead! Already rotting. No fuckin’ EMT in the world is gonna revive her. Come on! We have to leave. Now! End the call. You . . . you can tell your mom when you get home.”
“And call Detective Pescoli. . . . I’m her daughter!” Bianca had yelled into the phone, trying to ignore Rod as he scrambled for his phone.
“You’re fuckin’ crazy!” he’d spat, getting his hands on the cell and ripping it away from her. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Now the cops have my number! We’re all gonna be in trouble. You’re an idiot, Pescoli. A fuckin’ hysterical idiot!”
“A girl is dead!”
But he had already been gone, running along the trail into the general area of the parking area. She’d heard him start yelling at the top of his lungs, warning the others. “Cops! The cops are coming!”
“What?” a girl had shouted from a ridge above. “No!”
“Wait!” another voice had cried over the sudden thunder of running footsteps as kids ran pell-mell crashing through the forest. No one trying to be stealthy any longer. Nope. They were all running to save their own skins.
“Hey! What’s going on?” Maddie’s voice had suddenly added to the din.
“Are you sure, dude?” another boy had demanded, his voice carrying down the canyon. “Oh, shit!”
“Help me get Maddie out of here!” another one had hollered. “She’s drunk.”
Someone else had started crying. “Ow! Watch out!” Heavy breathing, snapping branches, dust rising.
In the distance, sirens had begun to wail.
There had been screaming, cursing, and general pandemonium as everyone tried to make it to their cars or flee on foot into the dark woods. The sirens had wailed more loudly. Flashlights and lights from cell phones had dotted the dark hills.
But few had escaped.
