“Run!” Zack shouted.
A bullet exploded into the tree near his right shoulder. The three campers scurried into the brush, running away from the trail. It occurred to Zack the killer was herding them, pushing them in the direction he wanted them to go, but there was nothing to be done about it.
“Don’t stop!” Ron shouted as he took Beth by the hand. Zack ran side-by-side with the couple across a level field. The tall trees were sparse, and the dry ground was flat. Suddenly, Ron fell to the ground. Zack turned his head. The bulky man had tripped over a wire.
“It’s a trap!” Zack screamed. He grabbed Beth and pulled her out of the way. Ron scrambled to his feet as a large pile of lumber tumbled downhill their way. Another shot echoed through the night behind them. The killer was following closely. Zack could see his silhouette in the darkness. They were in a relatively open environment, and there were few places to hide.
He led Beth behind a tree. She almost cried out to Ron, but Zack clamped a hand against her mouth.
“Quiet,” he said. Zack peered around the side of the tree. The noise created by the rolling lumber masked their location.
“Where’s Ron?” she whispered urgently.
One of the enormous logs smashed into an old tree, causing it to snap in half. The collision was deafening. Zack spotted Ron on the ground, having barely missed being hit by the logs. After catching Ron’s eye, Zack tried to signal to him to hide. Ron managed to take the hint, and crawled into the bushes nearby.
How did he find us? Zack thought.
He remembered the gunshots that rang out before he first saw the Hunter. Someone on Will’s end of things had fired a weapon. Zack was sure that it couldn’t have been the killer. After all, they were the ones currently being pursued. So who had fired the gun?
He didn’t have time to dwell on the thought. The killer walked through the forest, his gun held high as he searched for them. Beth almost screamed when the man walked past the bushes where Ron was hiding. Suddenly, the killer stopped. He turned, as if he could sense Ron, and swung his gun in Ron’s direction.
“Ron!” Beth exclaimed.
The killer whirled around and fired. Zack pulled Beth back behind the tree.
Now we have to make a run for it.
“We have to go now,” he whispered.
“I can’t leave Ron,” she protested.
“The killer is on his way here. We’ll lead him away from Ron.”
Beth rose to her feet reluctantly. Zack silently counted to three with his fingers, and the two rushed farther into the forest. Rather than remain hiding as the killer searched for them, Ron pushed himself up and raced in the same direction.
“This way,” Zack whispered. He led Beth into the brush. Thorns and vines cut his skin, but they kept moving. The pair spilled out into another clearing. Beth was now outpacing him. Zack looked over his shoulder. The killer was nowhere in sight.
When Zack turned his gaze back to Beth, he stopped cold. Running blind, she didn’t see the danger in front of her.
“Beth!” he shouted in a desperate attempt to get her attention.
It was too late. The ground opened up underneath her feet, and she started to fall into a pit. Zack dove to the ground and slid in her direction. He managed to catch her arm at the last moment. Her body collided with the soil wall. Zack felt an enormous strain on his left arm. He stared down at Beth. Her wide eyes were visible in the moonlight.
The killer had dug an enormous hole and covered it with leaves. Wooden spikes adorned the bottom of the hole. If the fall didn’t kill her, the spears probably would have. When Zack tried to pull Beth up, his strength fled from him. He faltered, and she screamed.
“Beth!” he heard Ron shout.
A gunshot echoed over Ron’s shoulder. The stocky man stumbled, and his foot tripped over another wire. Before Ron could move, a sharpened log swung down from a tree and impaled him. He was knocked into the air, and landed hard against a wide log.
Roaring from the pain of having to support Beth’s weight, Zack slowly pulled her the surface.
“Don’t look,” Zack said. “Stay here.” He crawled over to Ron. The man was breathing shallowly. Blood was already pouring from his wounds.
“Come on,” Zack said. He tried to lift him, but Ron wouldn’t budge. “We’ve got to get you somewhere safe.”
As the words left his mouth, he knew they were impossible. Even if Ron’s injuries weren’t life threatening, moving him was unthinkable. Besides, the killer was still nearby.
Ron looked at Zack for a moment before his gaze settled on Beth.
“Get her out of here,” he said weakly. He seized Zack’s hand with surprising strength. “Keep her safe. Promise me.”
The response was mechanic.
“I will.”
“Go!”
Zack scrambled back and climbed to his feet. Beth was staring at Ron, sheer terror in her eyes. Her companion looked back at her with a pained expression.
Zack grabbed her gently by the shoulder. “We have to go.”
“I’m not leaving Ron,” she managed to mutter.
Zack pulled Beth to her feet over her protests. She cast one look back at Ron and followed him into the night.
***
As Ron sat against the log, he tried his best to ignore the pain. If there was time to get him to a hospital, he might have survived. Considering his current location, the prospect of that happening was remote. He sat there in silence for several minutes, fighting to stay conscious.
The brush rustled behind him, and the sound of footsteps echoed softly nearby. Peeking over the log, Ron caught a glimpse of the Hunter scanning the area for him. With a trembling hand, he reached down for the hunting knife at his belt.
The Hunter approached the log and lowered his gun. Gathering his courage, Ron jumped over the log and attacked with the knife. The killer kicked the wounded man in the side. Ron cried out in pain, and the Hunter grabbed Ron’s wrist with his free hand and twisted it back. Ron screamed and dropped the knife. The killer’s necklace spilled outside his jacket, revealing a deformed skull. Ron heard voices in his head just before the Hunter clubbed him with the rifle, and Ron fell to the ground.
***
The Hunter watched the twitching man for several moments before picking up the blade. As he finished his work, he listened for sounds of the man’s companions.
Although the Hunter heard echoes, none came from any human source. He touched the thing around his neck with a gloved hand. Even in the darkness, it was a beautiful thing to behold. He called it a necklace, for that was the best word he had to describe it. The term didn’t truly do the item justice.
Larger than his palm, the object was shaped in a circle. There was a layer of dark metal surrounded by a rocky exterior. Several grooves were carved into the rock, as if they were slots of some kind. In the heart of the circle was a monstrous skull. The Hunter kept the object tied around his neck at all times.
Sometimes, he thought others could sense the necklace’s power, though never explicitly. The Hunter saw the necklace for what it really was: a window to a realm he couldn’t fully comprehend. There were voices on the other side that spoke to him. They told him what to do and filled his head with hidden knowledge. Some of the voices were more powerful than others. There was a presence on the other side that never spoke to the Hunter. He could always feel the entity there, listening. The Hunter called the presence inside the necklace the Destroyer, for he had no other name for it.
Some people would consider him crazy. Maybe he was. The Hunter considered the possibility that there were no voices. Perhaps the necklace was just an ordinary piece of metal. He wondered if everything was coming from his own mind. He tried not to dwell on the subject. In the end, it didn’t matter if the whispers came from
some other realm or if they were his own. He couldn’t ignore the dark impulses. He didn’t want to. He was so much more than what he was when he found the necklace. With each life he took, his ability to understand the voices grew.
The Hunter didn’t need to check the device in his jacket to know that the man’s companions remained nearby. He stared down at the dead man lying at his feet. He was just getting started.
Chapter Ten
12:36 am
“If we double back to the cliff, we can grab our keys and make for the lodge.”
Cole could tell from the looks on the others’ faces that they were unsure how to respond to Zack’s suggestion. He turned his eyes to Bart. The stranger stood between Dave and Will, the latter of whom continued to hold onto the gun. Cole still didn’t trust the poacher, even if the man wasn’t the one hunting them. There was something disconcerting about the man’s movements, something shifty about him. From Will’s expression, his friend shared the feeling.
Cole waited while Will pondered Zack’s words. He wasn’t sure why he looked to Will for leadership. Maybe it was that he was holding the gun, or maybe it was because Will was far more experienced than either of them. Whatever the case, Will had assumed control over the small group in their time of crisis. At the moment, Cole wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He studied Will’s eyes in the moonlight. There was a gleam there he’d never noticed before that was unsettling.
Even though they both shared many of the same classes in college, Cole was far closer to Zack than Will. It had always been that way, as far back as he could remember. Cole was studious and reserved, and Will was the polar opposite of that. They were able to bond over their shared course-load and some common interests, but there was no real depth to their relationship. Most of the time this superficial friendship worked fine. Zack bridged the personality difference between the two.
There were a few occasions when their friendship had been put to the test. They’d almost come to blows once over a girl Cole felt Will was trying to take advantage of. In the end Will had grinned that half-smile of his and said something to the effect that there would be other girls before walking away. Cole tried not to begrudge Will’s success with women, but he did resent the way he treated them. There was a selfishness to Will most people couldn’t see because of his outgoing nature. It was the same willingness to put himself first that Will displayed when he shouted to leave Dave behind. For now, Cole decided to keep his reservations to himself. He knew better than to judge someone going through a traumatic experience.
As he turned his attention back to the two-way radio, Cole thought of Zack, lost somewhere in the forest. Hearing his friend’s voice again was surreal. Only moments ago he was convinced Zack was dead.
The wind shifted in the opposite direction, and Cole thought he heard footsteps in the distance. He looked up at the trees along the river. Cole stopped dead in his tracks. A shadow moved along the trees, watching them.
As soon as it had appeared, the shape was gone.
“That’s an awfully large gamble to take,” Will finally said. A rustling sound echoed in the dark. “I think—”
Will stopped. Cole knew he heard it too.
“Will?” Zack asked over the two-way radio. He said his friend’s name again.
“Hang on,” Will said. “I thought I heard something.” He released the call button and motioned to the others to follow him. “Come on,” he whispered. “It’s not safe here.”
Cole heard a clicking noise, and Bart stopped behind them. The poacher looked down. He was standing on a metal object buried in the ground. A flickering red light flashed.
“Don’t move,” Will said.
Cole pointed the light from his cell phone at the man’s foot.
“What’s that?” Dave asked.
“It looks like some kind of mine,” Cole said.
That was when the chaos broke out. An arrow sailed from above, hitting Bart in the back. When he fell forward, the ground exploded below him. Soil flew into the air, and smoke filled the night sky.
***
Closest to the blast, Dave was knocked against the forest floor, covered by leaves and dirt. As his vision blurred, he saw Cole struggling to rise from the ground next to Will, who appeared to be unconscious.
There was a large crater in the ground where Bart was standing only a few seconds ago. A scream rang out, and Dave spotted the poacher not far away. Because of the delay in the explosion, Bart had managed to avoid being blown to bits, but only just. He was crawling along the ground, futilely grabbing at the arrow embedded in his back.
Dave’s ears were ringing.
“I can’t find my glasses,” he thought he heard Cole shout. Dave saw him feeling along the earth for the pair of lenses, which had been lost amidst the chaos unleashed by the landmine.
Dave pushed himself up and stumbled forward. His legs felt like jelly. The others were shouting something, only he couldn’t hear them. Blood was dripping from his ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Will begin to wake up.
Dave was already running when the arrow nailed him in the shoulder. He slid in the mud and landed on his knees just shy of the brush. His scream joined in the chorus of wails and moans coming from the others. Dave regained his footing and slipped into the forest. He would go to the cabins, like he wanted from the beginning. Maybe if he were on his own, the killer would have a harder time finding him.
***
Will blinked and saw a dark figure partially concealed by the trees standing on the hill above them. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he could see a bow in the man’s hands.
From his vantage point on the hill, the killer raised his bow.
Will crawled toward the shotgun on the ground. He reached for the weapon and missed, his hand falling short. Snarling, he reached out a second time. He was rewarded by the sensation of cold metal under his fingers. Will aimed the gun blindly in the direction of the trees and fired. The gun echoed loudly across the park.
The bullet missed the killer by a wide margin. Will saw him slide a hand into his jacket pocket and remove something that looked like a detonator.
That can’t be good, he thought.
He saw Cole crawling along blindly in the valley. Without his glasses, he was legally blind. Will grabbed Cole and helped him to his feet.
“What’s happening?” Cole asked. “Where’s Dave?”
“He’s gone,” Will said. “We need to get out of here now.”
Dave had vanished into the other side of the forest. From the look of things, he was headed toward the mountains.
Will didn’t even want to think about how the killer found them again. They needed to get away.
“What about Bart?” Cole asked.
The wounded man was still crawling slowly away from the crater, moaning softly. Evidently Cole’s ears continued to ring from the explosions, because he couldn’t hear the poacher.
“He’s dead,” Will lied. If Cole thought there was a chance they could save Bart, he wouldn’t leave without the poacher.
At that moment, dozens of red lights lit up the valley like Christmas. Will’s mouth dropped open in horror. “Run!” he shouted, clutching the shotgun.
An explosion rocked the landscape, quickly followed by another. The two men scrambled through the forest, rocked by rattling blasts. Ripped from their roots, trees tumbled down and smashed against the earth. Debris rained down on them, and Will had difficulty remaining upright. He could only imagine how difficult things were for Cole.
He knew that somewhere out there, Zack was waiting for them. Will wished their roles were reversed, and Zack was the one under attack. Will had too much to live for. There were so many things he hadn’t done yet.
“Come on!” he shouted to Cole, who lagged behind. “Just a little farther!”
They sped up and their trail led uphill in the direction of the river. The explosions ceased by the time they cleared the hill. Will cast a glance over his shoulder. The valley lay in ruins. Smoke covered the air.
He was glad he still held the shotgun. It made him feel safer. He was in control. As the pair slowed down, he led Cole away from the sound of the water. Unlike the sparsely populated trees of the valley, this portion of the forest was thick and musty. Cole stumbled in the darkness and hit the ground.
“What is it?” Will asked, keeping his eyes on alert.
“I can barely see,” Cole said before sucking in a lungful of air. “I lost my glasses back there.”
“We’re not going back for them,” Will said aggressively.
Cole looked at him like he hadn’t intended to suggest such a thing. “What are we going to do now?”
“Survive,” Will replied.
They were safe, for the moment. The killer’s trap likely caused too much chaos for the man to follow them. Nevertheless, Will remained uneasy. That was twice the killer found them after they left Whispering Reach. Even if the man were an expert hunter, he tracked them down in only a few hours. Surely that should have been impossible. Something was wrong, only Will couldn’t figure out what.
“We should try contacting Zack again,” Cole said. “We need to band together. On our own, we’re weak.”
Why didn’t I think of that? Will wondered angrily. He looked back at Cole. The law student probably couldn’t even see him clearly. Will hoped his friend’s blindness wasn’t going to cause him problems.
He tried the radio. “Zack? Can you hear me?” There was no response.
“What about Dave? Didn’t he have the walkie-talkie we took from Bart’s tent?”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s no answer from anyone.” Will tried Zack again. “Why isn’t he answering? We’re the ones who almost got killed back there.”
A Sound In The Dark Page 10