by Vivien Reis
What? She spoke as if she hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen Abi grow up with her own eyes. Abi shoved the thoughts away, staring at the blood on her mom's clothing.
The fear disappeared, replaced by rage. "What did you do?"
Her mom cowered back behind the tree. "I couldn't help myself, Abi. Please."
Abi's fists clenched into balls, her nails digging into her palms.
"Huh? What did you do?" Her chest ached, like a hole had been bored straight through her.
She took a step toward the tree and then another. Her mom had actually done it. She had tried to kill the only person who really loved her. She wasn't going to get away with it.
Abi's fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone, never taking her eyes off her mom. She quickly glanced down to dial and was half-expecting her mother to have disappeared.
But she was still standing there, wide-eyed and half hidden behind the tree.
"Abi?" It was Gran. Why had she called Gran?
"I found her. I found her in the woods."
"You found...what do you mean? Your mother?"
"Yes! She's right in front of me." Abi was whispering, afraid to spook her mother.
"Where are you?" Gran commanded. "Don't get too close to her."
"I don't know—somewhere off the main trail behind our house."
"Is she hurt? Is she speaking?"
"I don't know!."
"Call the cops. Now! And Abi, please be careful."
The situation was serious, Abi knew, but hearing Gran so frantic sent a chill down her spine.
She hung up and dialed 9-1-1. Her mom swayed in her hiding spot and Abi feared she would run. But her head popped out from the other side of the tree to watch her.
As soon as the line picked up, there was static, clicking, and then it evened out. A male's voice answered.
"My mom, I found my mom."
"Okay, ma'am. Is everything all right?"
"No! I—" She realized the man didn't know who she was talking about. "I'm Abigail Cole, I found my mom. The one wanted for the attempted murder of my dad. She's out in the woods."
"Okay. Is your mom injured?"
"Is she injured? I don't know, I don't care!"
Her mom cringed at these words and pushed on her ears hard. A scream erupted from her mouth, so loud and startling that Abi dropped the phone and fell backward. Her mom shrieked again, the sound tearing through the trees until it turned into a sob.
And then she took off in a sprint. Not toward Abi, but away from her.
She can't get away.
Abi chased her, realizing too late that she had left her phone on the ground. She ducked between trees, the sting of the underbrush slapping her legs.
"Mom!" she shouted, sickened to have uttered that word. This monster wasn't her mother.
Her mom was slow, but Abi wasn't close enough to grab her yet. She pursued, jumping over fallen limbs until she reached her hand out to grab her nightshirt. The monster ducked behind a large tree. Abi hurled herself around the corner, grabbing at the air.
But she was gone.
Abi whirled around, her eyes skimming every tree, but there was nothing. She strained her ears. There were no footfalls. The forest around her was complete silence.
She paced the area in disbelief, still searching. Her mother had been right there. Where the hell had she gone?
Abi wandered, slowly widening her search area until she couldn't remember from which direction she had come. The sun had nearly set, and the temperature was dropping fast. Her teeth chattered. She needed to go home. But where was home? Had she gone south or north? Was she nearing the highway or was she deeper into the woods?
Two trees scraped against one another as a slight breeze blew through, bark falling to the ground. A faint knocking sound from somewhere in the distance. She told herself it was normal forest sounds but she was lost and who knew where her mom had gone? She needed to pull herself together.
"Abbbiii." A distant yell reached her. It was male. Was it Ben?
"I'm over here!" she shouted as loud as she could.
There was another yell, just to her left. She sprinted toward it, tripping several times in the dark but managing to keep upright. Flashlights illuminated the trees up ahead in sweeping arcs. Her family had come looking for her.
"Abigail Cole?" The man’s voice was much deeper than Ben's, and older. It wasn't the sheriff's either.
The flashlight was blinding her and when he lowered it, she was flooded with relief. It was a police officer.
"We triangulated a cell phone call from this area. You said you had found your mother?"
There was another police officer wandering around with a flashlight, but he was too far away for Abi to see him.
"Yes." She was panting, shaking. "I don't know where she went though. I chased her to somewhere over there," she pointed behind her, "but I lost her."
The officer radioed the other officer, and Abi could hear it crackle faintly in the distance. "We'll get some more officers out here to search the area. If you like, you can wait in the car until they arrive. You look a little cold."
Her entire body was trembling. She nodded and walked toward him. "Wait." She stopped. "My phone. I dropped it when I started chasing my mom."
"Here." He rifled in his pocket then pulled out his cell phone. "Give it a ring and we'll see if we can find it."
She punched in her number and waited for her ringtone.
A few seconds went by before she caught it, faint, but carrying strangely through the quiet woods. She moved toward the sound, the officer's boots crunching loudly in the leaves. Abi had to stop three times to redial the number before she was close, the ringtone fully audible.
She stopped one last time to focus on the blinding screen light and call her phone number.
Crunnncchh.
The officer jumped and hopped to the side, his flashlight illuminating a shattered phone.
Her mouth fell open and she stared at the cop. He returned her gaze, obviously uncomfortable.
"I—uh…I'm sorry. It was an accident." He tried to scoop up the wreckage, but it fell apart in his hands.
Heat built in her bones until she thought she would explode. "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm sorry. We'll see what we can do to fix—"
"There is no fixing it! You shattered it!" She held back the profanities she wanted to let loose on this idiot. Abi huffed, blinking back angry tears.
"We'll fix it. I promise." Abi could tell he was genuinely sorry, but she didn't care.
"Just get me out of here." She tossed his phone up at him, not caring if he caught it. He fumbled and dropped his flashlight before pointing the way toward the car.
Abi stomped her feet as she went, not caring if she was acting like a little kid. "You know, my day has just been so fricken amazing up until now. Rainbows and daisies."
The cop didn't respond, but she went on. "Why does every shit in the world have to hit my fan in one week, huh? Why is it that everything falls apart at the same time? Like bubble gum and toothpicks had been holding my life together, and now that one piece comes off, the whole thing comes raining down!"
Her feet hurt from stomping the ground so hard but it felt good to take it out on something. They reached the car, which turned out to be an SUV. That infuriated her even more, that this idiot had called his vehicle a car. It was parked on a dirt road Abi hadn't known went this far into the woods at all. She made to get in the front seat when he stopped her.
"Only officers up front, I'm afraid." He opened the back door, and she hesitated, not liking that she wouldn't be able to open it from the inside.
"Whatever." She climbed in and the officer walked around the front of the SUV, sliding into the driver’s seat.
He turned on the car and buckled himself in.
"Aren't you going to keep looking for my mom while I wait?" It had come out harsher than she had intended and she was embarrassed by her behavior. It wasn't his fault her week
had been so terrible.
"No." The earlier kindness vanished from his tone.
"What do you mean? She's out—"
"I know. Shut up."
Abi sat up straight. "What?"
"I said, shut up. I'm trying to think."
"What's wrong with you? Your boss will hear about this, you know? Sheriff Belmore." She was proud she recalled the name, but it had no effect on the man.
He leaned over to his shoulder and radioed the other man. "I've got her. Her cell phone is destroyed. Get back here."
She waited for some kind of explanation, for him to hint at what that really meant. Because it couldn’t mean what she thought it meant…
"You did it on purpose?" Abi made to get out of the vehicle but of course, the handle didn't do anything. She took a deep breath. This was just a misunderstanding. There was no need for her to panic. "Let me out."
"No." He was eerily calm, staring down at his phone. The interior car lights lit his face and Abi realized he couldn't possibly be a cop. He was scruffy and dirty, his hair haphazardly stuffed under the cap. His uniform looked like a costume you would buy at a Halloween store.
The passenger door opened and the other man got in. He took his hat off and looked at Abi, flashing her a sick grin. It was the redheaded man from her house. Only now she could see his hair wasn't in braids. They were dreadlocks.
Her throat squeezed and the air grew heavy. "Who are you?" She didn't like how weak her voice sounded.
They drove, not paying attention to her.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. She hadn't even bothered to look at credentials; she had blindly followed this man into his car. She had made this so easy for them.
“Let me out!” Still they ignored her.
What was she supposed to do? What could she do? There was a wire barricade between her and the dreadlocked man but that didn't stop him from sticking his fingers through to taunt her. He laughed maniacally.
A scream rose in her throat but she it would be wasted. No one would hear her.
She still had her backpack.
It was dark outside, and she sank as far into the seat as she could until the man turned away from her. She opened her bag, searching for anything that might be useful. There were papers and a random pair of sweatpants in the bottom. Underneath that was her bike lock.
She gripped one side of the u-shaped form and—
The driver slung around a corner and Abi slid across the seat. Her head cracked against the door and flashing lights exploded in her vision. She groaned, sluggish fingers probing her scalp.
Cold metal registered in her other hand. She was still holding the lock. Scooting across the seat, she raised the lock over her head and slammed it down against the driver-side window as hard as she could. The force of it jarred her wrist, and she winced. The glass cracked, but it didn't give.
One of the men yelled something. They were both screaming, the driver swerving. Streetlights shined ahead. She knew where she was.
Abi raised the lock again and slammed it down, imagining it going through the window. It did. The glass caved in one giant piece, falling out of the doorframe. Cold air rushed into the vehicle, drowning out the men's shouting.
She reached through the window and grasped the door handle. They were going too fast for her to jump without getting hurt but she couldn’t stay. The ground blurred below her.
The wind made it hard to push the door open. She inched forward, ready to jump, when her body slammed into the wire separator.
Tires screeched. They were stopping.
Abi didn't think. As the car lurched to a halt, she darted from the vehicle, her bag bouncing against her back.
Scrambling noises behind her, doors slamming. She ran into the woods, heading south. It was dark, too dark. As she went deeper and deeper into the woods, her pace slowed. She tripped and fell and tripped again. Her body grew heavier each time she picked it up again, but she kept running, arms outstretched in front of her.
Cracking limbs were just behind her. Did they have their flashlights? Could they see her?
More yelling but she couldn't understand them, didn't want to. Her backpack caught on a tree and she struggled against it, pulling herself out of the straps.
"Get back here!" one of them yelled after her. Her heart pounded, melting into her chest. He sounded like he was right behind her. She felt breath on the back of her neck and whirled around.
There was no one. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She paused, listening.
The men had gone quiet.
She couldn't hear them anymore and somehow that was worse. Abi crouched behind a tree, peering around it, eyes straining to see anything.
She covered her mouth, afraid to make any noise, nostrils flaring for oxygen.
Time ticked by and she waited and waited, a sob on the verge of escaping her mouth at any moment.
An hour went by. Or maybe two, or maybe just five minutes. She spent a lifetime in the trees, waiting, silently crying.
Had they given up? Abi rose slightly, wondering if she should continue south to Hollow’s Creek and follow it until she was closer to town.
A twig snapped to her left, strong hands grasping for her. She tripped backward, a solid grip yanking her by the ankle, dragging her roughly through the forest floor. She kicked out, making contact as the man let loose a curse. She free for just a moment before he grabbed her again, her face turned at the same moment a burning, sharp pain crushed into her left cheekbone.
Abi fell and tasted dirt in her mouth.
He leaned over her, his knee digging into her back, his breath hot on her neck.
She could hear the smile on his lips.
“Got you.”
# FOURTEEN
"Benjamin!" Gran yelled from inside the house, loud enough to reach him inside the car.
They’d been close to finishing with the house and he’d moved to the car to wait for Grain. He flung the door open as she barreled down the porch.
"It's Abi. She found your mother." Your mother.Mother. Gran moved faster than Ben had ever seen her move, jumping into the driver's side of the car. "She must be between here and Hollow’s Creek back in the woods. Stay here in case the cops come to the house first."
"You can't go by yourself, Gran. It's dark." And I don’t want to lose you too.
"Abi is out there alone with your mother." She seemed to realize her tone was harsh, and her expression softened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You can come with me, but I won't wait to find out what happens."
She turned the car on but Ben hesitated. He wasn't ready to see his mom. He wasn't ready to face what she had done, if she really did do it after all. But Abi was alone with their mom.
Ben got back in the car and closed the door. Gran's tires screeched and Ben's head bumped against the headrest. He grunted and grabbed the oh-shit handle.
"Call the sheriff." Gran pushed her phone in front of Ben before making a sharp turn. "Please."
She had an iPhone, and Ben struggled to find the right number. He pressed the call button and put it on speakerphone. Gran grabbed it from Ben and waited for an answer.
"Sheriff Belmore."
"It's Meredith Cole."
"Hi Mrs.—"
"Abi should have called 9-1-1 by now. She found her mother. Are you headed there?"
"Um...uh, no ma'am. She found her mother?"
"She should have called by now! Check with your operators."
The sheriff grunted an unintelligible response and there was silence for a minute.
"No, there haven’t been any emergency calls in the last hour other than Mrs. Taylor's cat scratching Mrs. Bennington's grandson on the face. Are you positive she found her?"
"Yes! She's in the woods. I told her to call you."
"Do you know where she is? There might be a patrol close enough to check on her."
"She's in the woods between their home on Mayberry and Hollow’s Creek, but I’m not sure where.."
"She's
in the woods?"
"Yes! Can you trace her phone?" Gran shouted, even though her was on speaker and close to her lips.
"It'll take some time but—"
"Do it! I'm headed over there now with Ben."
There was yelling in the background on the sheriff's end and rustling like he was running. "I'm getting in my car. Are you going to the overpass access?"
"Yes."
"I'll meet you there, but wait for me. Do not go into those woods.. We don't know what state Mrs. Cole will be in."
Gran took another turn and shoved the phone back to Ben. "Call her phone."
He didn't need clarification. Ben punched in Abi's number and put it back on speaker. It rang exactly eight times before going to voicemail. Ben looked to Gran, trying not to panic at the rising tide in his brain. Stress. The doctor had said stress could bring on his headaches. But knowing that didn't stop the pain from latching on to the backs of his eyes again.
"Keep trying." They were just pulling off the highway and onto the overpass access area. It was pitch black but Gran was a flashlight hoarder. She grabbed two from her center console in the time it took Ben to unbuckle.
They got out of the car, but the sudden movement sent pinpricks of light dancing across Ben's vision, and he braced himself against the car.
"Stay here." Gran's voice was firm. "Give me my phone. You have yours, right?"
"Yes," he whispered. He needed to help. He needed to find Abi. "I'm going with you."
"No." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Stay here and tell the sheriff which way I went. Keep a look out for your sister and call me the second you see anything. We'll cover more ground separated."
“But the sheriff said—“
She didn't wait to hear him out, her flashlight bobbing as she hurried down the narrow path.
Darkness smothered Ben while he fumbled with the power button on the flashlight. It clicked on and then silence laid over him. The car ticked quietly next to him as the engine cooled. He swept the area with his flashlight, conscious of the aching boom in his head with every eye movement. He tried to ignore it.
“What if she really found Mom?” the voice asked.
"I don't know." The sheriff would question her, right? They would figure out what had really happened. He wondered what condition his mom was in. How had Abi found her at all? What were the chances that at the exact moment Abi ran off, their mom would be in the exact same place in the woods? The pit of his stomach dropped. What if his mom had been following Abi? What if she had hurt her?