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Skyler sighed, closing his eyes briefly.
“If I really believed it was an axe-wielding murderer, I would’ve happily told your ass to come out last night. But they were shadows. Shadows,” she repeated the last word for emphasis.
“People can look like shadows in the dark, Sadie.”
She tightened her fists, her nails digging crescent moons into her flesh. “I smelled River’s scent, all right? I smelled it in the woods, then when I came inside it was there, too, stronger than it should’ve been, as if he’d been here.” She’d meant to keep that part to herself, but she needed to confide in someone she trusted, even if there would be pity in his eyes like there was now.
“Sadie…”
She waved a hand in the air and brushed past him, barefoot down the creaking steps and onto the sparse grass. “Listen.”
He furrowed his brow and craned his neck. “What am I listening to?”
“It’s quiet! For the past few days, it’s been quiet out here, then at night, it comes.”
“What comes?”
“Loud sounds!” she shouted.
“You do realize you’re in the woods,” Skyler drawled. “There’s bound to be bugs, wind. Maybe even a wolf or ten.”
“Skyler!” Sadie hissed.
He rested his hands on her shoulders, his gaze meeting hers. “Look, I know you’re at the cabin because you love this area and writing out here. Maybe for other reasons, too. I get it, and I’m on your side, all right?”
“All right,” she said, tamping her emotions down.
“Can you show me what tree you saw the silhouette in?” he asked.
“Let me get my shoes first.”
She grabbed a pair of sneakers from inside, then led him through the thick brush. The leaves crunched beneath her feet, the only other sound besides their breathing. Her gaze drifted to the spot where the dead bird had been the day before but was now gone, most likely a meal for another animal.
Sadie stopped in front of the oak tree and pressed her palm against its bark. “This is where I saw the second one for sure.”
Skyler’s face softened as he looked from the carved names to the ground. He pointed at a footprint in the dirt. “This is yours.”
“Why yes, I can see how you were destined to become a police officer,” she said sarcastically.
Skylar pinched the bridge of his nose, ignoring her comment even though he fought a smile. He then motioned at the muddy area. “The ground is soft over here, so if this was a person and they jumped out of the tree like you said, there would be prints.”
“So, something supernatural as I said, right?” She bit her lip. “Besides the two people outside the cabin, two others died directly in these woods, and I saw two forms…”
Skyler rubbed the back of his neck, the way he did when he was mulling something over. “If it’s all right, I’ll swing by tonight after work to check things out since you saw them after dark.”
“I have this haunted house to go to with Charlie,” Sadie said with nonchalance. “You could stop by around ten.”
The edges of his lips curled upward. “Will she be with you when you come back?”
“Maybe,” Sadie drawled.
“You’re not going to tell her I’ll be here, are you?”
“Nope. I suppose she’ll find out, then you two can stop beating around the bush and talk already.” Sadie smiled. “You’re two grown adults here.”
“I fucked up, Sadie.” Skyler let out a heavy breath. “If I could marry her today, I would. I don’t know what I was waiting for.”
“You were being a human, unsure of the future. My sister can be a hard ass sometimes.”
