by Rick R. Reed
And the pain! It radiated up her leg in scorching waves that caused her to bite her lower lip, bite until she tasted blood, just to hold back her screams and tears. But she had managed to make some progress in spite of her agony. Erin had slid along the hillside, using her arms to lift herself as she traveled downward, proceeding carefully. She had realized that the slightest bump or jarring of her ankle against a log or even a clump of dirt would make everything go white with agony.
Erin didn’t want Roy to have to hunt for her when he returned. If she could make it a bit farther, she would be close to the highway below, almost out of the woods. If she stayed there, Roy would find her easily.
Suddenly, a sound stopped her in her tracks. At least, she thought she heard something. It has hard to tell since she was panting with the exertion of trying to move. Still, she was almost certain a twig had broken only moments ago. She swallowed and tried to take a couple deep breaths to rein in the panting. Sweat rolled from every pore of her body.
There…again…a twig snapping and the rustling of leaves. Someone was in the woods with her.
“Roy?” Erin called out, her voice weak from pain and the effort of her struggle.
Wind rushed through the treetops.
“Roy!” Erin said a little louder. “I’m over here.”
Leaves crunched as someone made their way through the almost pitch darkness of the woods. Erin gasped. She pictured the woman with no face from Marlene’s story.
“Roy, if that’s you, please answer me. I’m scared.” Erin could feel the pain in her ankle begin to ebb as terror rose.
Snapping twigs and rustling leaves were her only answer. The sounds grew louder and in faster succession as whoever was making them moved closer.
Erin was about to call out Roy’s name again when she froze. There, illuminated by a moonbeam that had managed to filter its silvery light through the branches of an oak tree, stood a man. A man who was much bigger than Roy.
A man who looked a lot more menacing.
She could see that he held some sort of club or bat in one of his hands. He was panting, just like she was.
Oh, why did I have to call out? Why did I have to give away where I was?
The man peered through the darkness, almost as if he were looking right at her.
What’s going on? Erin flattened her body until her face practically pressed into the dirt. She slid along the ground, hoping she could make it to some light and other people before it was too late.
Every sense told her that he had spotted her. Erin didn’t need to look back to know he was on her trail. His gaze bored into the back of her head, making the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her scalp tingle. He was coming faster and faster through the woods, his breath growing louder as he got closer, closer.
What was she trying to do? She had a broken ankle! He was on his feet, running after her. With a baseball bat in his hand!
This is where I die.
Suddenly, all the pain fell away, all the fear drained out of her, and she felt nothing. Numbly, she curled into a small ball on the floor of the woods, whimpering, thinking this was the best protection she could give herself.
She heard the heavy tread of the man coming nearer and nearer. Erin curled tighter into herself with each footstep. She prayed there wouldn’t be much pain and that everything would be over quickly.
Then, a sound rang out into the night…a sound that didn’t fit the scene. It was the cry of a young girl. “Stop!” the girl was shouting. “Stop if you know what’s good for you!”
It was the last thing Erin heard before she passed out.
CHAPTER 17
A Letter
Dear David:
——
I know, I know. The card enclosed with this letter is a little too “sunshine and flowers,” but we all wanted you to know we were pulling for you. And at City Hospital, a little sunshine and flowers could do anybody’s spirits good, even a tough guy like you.
I’m putting this note in with the card to let you know how everything turned out. And to make sure you realize that we all forgive you for deceiving us. None of us really believes you wanted to hurt us in any way.
I’ve noticed you and I think alike. I might well have done the same thing you did—take the very plain evidence staring you in the face and reason it away until it wasn’t scary anymore. That’s something Erin, with her nervousness and fear, never would have done.
Note: Take a lesson from Erin. We have instincts and fears for a reason. They’re not always something to overcome.
Anyway, we’re all pulling for you. Your dad—talkative guy!—told us your face is pretty bruised and your nose is broken. I suspect that’s okay with you…it’ll just serve to make you look like as mean as we all know you are. Your dad also said you had a mild concussion, but the doctors say it’s nothing to worry about. All in all, I think you have to be grateful with the relatively small amount of damage you escaped with. Easy for me to say—”Miss Perfect” without a scratch on her!
I mentioned Erin a little while back. She was probably the one of us that really almost lost it. I mean, this poor girl was out in the woods alone with that nutcase!
She and Roy decided to get help instead of going along with my brilliant idea to storm the house and get you out of there safely. Well, you know what the woods on that side of the hill are like—thick, dark, muddy and filled with lots of big, ungainly things. Things like tree roots, one of which Erin found! She managed to hook her leg under it, then fall in just the right way to snap her ankle in two like a twig.
Imagine what it was like for her, there in the darkness, hardly able to move and that psycho coming after her. She would never have made it, if it weren’t for the fact that Roy and I headed into the trees to look for her. Roy was going in one direction, and I took the other as we fanned out to see what we could find. I happened to be the one who spotted someone running through the woods with a baseball bat. I figured Erin was probably nearby, scared out of her mind.
And I was right. That slime ball was just about to bash her head in with the bat—the same one you got well acquainted with—when I just took a deep breath and yelled for him to stop. I wasn’t sure it would work, and it might not have, but the police were right there when I called out—three officers on the hill behind me and three more down at the bottom, waiting to cuff that jerk the minute he ran out of the woods.
Needless to say, Erin, along with Peter, had to be treated for shock. She also has a nice new cast and a pair of crutches that she’s managing to hobble around on amazingly well.
When all of this horrible stuff was going on, I wondered briefly if it would hurt the group’s friendship. But now I’ve come to realize that it’s done the best thing possible: brought us all closer. I guess adversity does that.
I hope you feel the same, David. We’re all looking forward to getting together again after you’re out of the hospital. And for the nurses’ and doctors’ sake, we hope that’ll be soon!
——
Your Friend,
Marlene
——
P.S. - Oh, yeah, the most important thing of all. The Paul Tuttle mystery is still open. Turns out, the psycho we ran into was named Edward Hemling. Last known address: the asylum in Massillon, Ohio.
Maybe Paul Tuttle didn’t kill his family after all.
Think about it.
Rick R. Reed
Rick R. Reed’s horror/suspense fiction has been referred to as “a harrowing ride through cutting-edge psychological horror” (Douglas Clegg, author of The Attraction) and “brutally honest” (Fangoria). Rick lives in Seattle and is at work on a new novel.
You can read more about Rick and his various titles at:
http://www.rickrreed.com/
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