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“Mel went the other way,” I breathed, grimacing as twigs and leaves bit into the soles of my feet.
“Yeah, she had to.” Hearing the evident worry in her voice, I gently freed myself from her hold and focused on trying to see where I was going. There were no more lanterns. Our only light came from the masks we had yet to remove, a faint glow of pink and white.
“We need to go back,” Cooper stressed.
“You can do whatever you want,” I replied evenly.
I knew the guy was an asshole from the second he opened his mouth but knocking me down and then running away without attempting to help me get back up was the ultimate dick move. I was all for self-preservation and I still wouldn’t have done the same to him if the situation was reversed. I even would’ve helped Jessica if it was necessary.
Now I had zero regard for his well-being. All I needed to do was find Mel and get us the hell out of here. I mentally mapped the layout of Sainte’s house and the woods behind it. I wasn’t going exploring in the dark when people were trying to hunt us down. We needed to make our way back to the barn somehow and then through the corn maze without being caught by whoever was after us.
“What if we--?”
Grace abruptly turned and placed her hand over the mouthpart of my mask “Did you hear that?” she whispered.
I shook my head and listened for whatever had caught her attention.
“There’s nothing there.”
“Shut up,” she hissed at Cooper.
He ignored her warning and kept going. “But there will be if we don’t find our way out of the woods. We should have gone with the others.”
I turned my head, focusing on a patch of darkness up ahead as the sound of footsteps finally reached me. I tugged on Grace’s wrist and took a step back, turning towards where it was coming from. As it grew louder, closer, it became clear that whoever was on their way to where we were didn’t care if we heard them or not. To know almost exactly where we’d wound up was telling.
“We can’t stay on this path,” I murmured.
I turned and peered down the hill on our immediate left. It was spotted with trees and overgrown weeds, but it looked to level out after a few feet.
“You want to go into the woods?” Cooper shrilled loudly.
Grace growled in annoyance and tossed her head to look at him. “Have you looked around to see where we’re at?”
I ignored his presence and focused on my best friend. “If we keep going in the direction these paths take us, they’ll know exactly where we are at every turn.”
“We’re lambs heading towards slaughter,” Grace agreed solemnly.
An anguished scream tore through the air, sending a shiver of apprehension down my spine.
“Come on.” I grabbed Grace’s hand and we stepped off the poorly maintained path. I did my best to watch where I stepped.
Max’s hand had been severed by him triggering something. I didn’t want to do the same and cost me or Gracelyn a limb. Cooper cursed loudly and began to follow us down the uneven slope. Our descent was slow, our masks not bright enough to light more than what was barely right in front of our faces. My feet smushed into greenery and dirt. I grimaced when something tiny with legs scuffled over my toes.
We were close to what I hoped would be the bottom when Cooper’s dumbass tripped. I heard his body pitch forward and come tumbling down. Grace was torn away from me within the blink of an eye. I tried to hold onto her and remain upright, reaching for the trunk of a tree, but failing spectacularly.
“Fuck,” I hissed as one of my nails broke off entirely and another cracked, causing me to lose my grip. I slid the rest of the way down the slope, knocking the air from my lungs.
When I landed at the bottom in a mess of leaves, twigs, and scratched limbs, I laid completely still for a second trying to get my bearings back. The sound of a struggle a few feet away had me rolling onto my stomach and pushing myself into a standing position.
I couldn’t immediately make out what was happening. I could see that Grace was beneath Cooper. For a split second, I thought he may have landed that way, but then I saw the glint of a blade.
“Get off me!” Grace growled, managing to deck him with a well-placed hit.
The sound of her fist hitting his flesh, and a painful grunt spurred me into action. I ate the distance between us and throwing my weight into it, I shoved him with both hands. It was enough to dislodge him entirely.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I grabbed for Grace and helped her stand.
