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Cooper came at us brandishing the knife, I shoved her out of the way and turned to protect my face and throat as he swung, pulling my lower lip between my teeth to smother a cry of pain as my upper arm was sliced open. I felt blood well and start leaking from the cut. I fought the reflexive urge to touch it, cognizant of how filthy my hands were.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Grace ran forward and grabbed the wrist he was using to wield the knife before he could take another jab at me.
“You weren’t supposed to figure it out,” he yelled back at her, using his body mass to try and throw her off. Like a dog with a bone, she refused to let go.
I went wide and jumped him from behind. I kicked the back of his leg with the heel of my foot and served his head another hit with my fist.
He folded onto one leg followed by the other when Grace slammed her knee into his face. There was a satisfying crunch and bellow of pain. The knife fell from his hand, and I hopped over him to snag it off the ground, nearly falling onto my face when he grabbed my ankle.
He dug his nails into my skin, wrenching a cry of pain from my throat. Unable to get him off, I twisted at the waist and drove the knife down into the crux of his shoulder. With an agonized bellow he jerked away from me. I stumbled forward and was caught by Grace. Her arm around my waist kept me upright. I had just enough time to take a full breath before Cooper was on his feet.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I don’t have a choice,” he seethed, holding the handle of the knife still protruding from his shoulder. He made no attempt to pull it out.
It was difficult to see his expression clearly, but the sound of erratic breathing alluded to rage and pain. He’d clearly lost his mind within the last ten minutes. I didn’t want to fight this asshole barefoot in the middle of the woods while some masked lunatic crept up on us.
I looked around trying to figure out how we could get around him without having to go back up the embankment. Movement coming from my left had me whirling in that direction. I swallowed at the sight of yet another masked figure.
This was some real-life horror-fest bullshit, and I was fucking over it. They didn’t move, remaining a few feet away. It was hard to make them out entirely, but their build was large, and they looked to be much taller than us.
I didn’t know how long they’d been watching or why they were, but I wasn’t going to stand here and find out.
When Cooper noticed them, his rage became a tangible fear. The masked figure came down the embankment with measured steps. I moved backward, bumping into Grace.
He paid us no attention, his focus solely on Cooper. As he approached him, Cooper began to blubber an apology, much like Elizabeth had. I couldn’t claim to fully understand why either of them had done this, but my gut was telling me they may have known what would happen tonight.
“I did everything he said,” Cooper pled.
The man circled him like an animal would prey it was preparing to attack. His movements weren’t fast or hurried, but purposely slow. He stopped after his third rotation and reached for the knife still wedged in Cooper’s shoulder. He didn’t simply pull it out, he twisted the handle and pushed the blade deeper before jerking the knife free in an upward arc.
Cooper’s anguished scream echoed across through the woods. He grabbed at his wound and wailed. When the coppery stench of blood reached where Grace and I stood I decided now was the best time for us to make a run for it. With a small push to get her moving, we gave Cooper and the man a wide berth, heading back in the opposite direction.
The continuous pleas for mercy were the only reason we slowed to look behind us. We didn’t need perfect vision to understand what happened next. The masked figure grabbed Cooper by the hair and forced his head back, slicing into his throat.
His obscured gaze lifted to where we stood rooted in place just a few feet away. Apparently deciding we weren’t worth the effort to pursue, he crouched down and resumed cutting into Cooper’s flesh.
CHAPTER FIVE
Once we’d put a decent bit of space between us and what had just happened, we crept back up another embankment. At the top, we both took a moment to catch our breath. I planted my hands on my knees and surveyed the overgrown pathway, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
“What the hell was that?”
