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I get knocked to the side again, and this time my knee scrapes on a rock, and I stumble over, my butt knocking to the ground.
“Ow. Hey!” I snap, but no one hears me, everyone running for their lives.
“Lakyn!” Archer roars my name, punching a guy in the face who’s racing straight toward me, moments from toppling on top of me. The guy flies to the side, his back smashing into the trunk of a tree.
It’s pure, absolute chaos.
Archer reaches me in moments, his hands gripping my waist as he lifts me into his arms. “We’ve got to get out of here,” he growls.
I shake my head, gripping onto his shoulders. “We can’t leave without the rest of them,” I whine, my voice bouncing as he rushes away from the water. It feels like the world is ending, by the people screaming, other people running and slipping on the rocks. Blood and tears are shed, and all I can do is gape at the horror going on around me.
He sets me down once we get out of the crowd, and I can see our cars up ahead. He digs into his pocket, pulling out his keys. “Get into the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I frown at him, panic filling my chest. “Where are you going?” I whine. He’s quick to grab onto me, hauling me against him.
“Finding everyone else. I’ll be there soon,” he murmurs, before bending down and pressing his lips against the crown of my head.
My eyes flutter closed, and once they open, he’s gone, and I’m left feeling as if the world is spinning wildly around me.
“Murderer!” a girl shouts as she races past with her friend. Her friend keeps her head to the ground as they follow the crowd running to their cars. I lift my hand, flipping them off as I scowl at them.
I spin around, hopping into his car, when I see a flicker of something in the distance racing between the trees.
I shove the keys into the ignition as my eyes narrow. “Posie?” Her dark hair, white crop top, black boots.
Where is she going?
Slipping out of the car, I shut the door, walking toward the woods. The branches crunch under my boots, and though there is still screaming, it’s finally thinning out, people in their cars driving away.
The police have to be here soon. With all that noise, someone had to have called them after finding the dead person.
And the girl that was stabbed.
A shiver works through me, and my fingers go around the bark of the trees, letting them graze against my smooth skin as I head farther into the woods. The air is thick with tension and fear, the fog still brushing against my skin as I walk into the denseness of the forest. It only becomes thicker the deeper I walk, though also growing silent.
The silence gives me peace.
“Posie?” I ask softly, wondering if she’d really run this far into the woods, or if she’s with any of the others.
I glance over my shoulder, seeing Archer’s car in the distance. I should really head back.
Crack.
My head snaps forward, and I glance toward the sound, only to see nothing but sprawling trees and endless darkness.
Crack.
I narrow my eyes, my knees locking, my breath seizing as I look around.
Crack, crack.
“Who’s there?” I shout, wondering if it’s someone from school.
Then worried it’s someone who wants to harm me.
Funny me, I’m more scared of someone from school than the masked man.
The moment another crack reaches my ears, this one close enough to touch, my fight-or-flight instincts kick in, and I sprint away.
