by Amy Star
“I think you’re reading too much into this.” A young man’s voice came from the other room. “Sure, it’s a weird coincidence that you both saved the same chick, but that doesn’t mean she’s the one from the prophecy. It just means she had awful taste in men, and she’s clumsy.”
“I didn’t get this far, believing in coincidence,” a deeper voice responded. “There’s something special about her. I can feel it.”
Oh God. Jillian frowned. I’ve stumbled onto some backwoods cult.
She lifted the sheet to find that she was only wearing her bra and panties, both of which were still a little damp from her swim in the river. The bottom of one of her feet stung from all the cuts and gouges sustained the night before. She squinted at the scratches adorning her hands and wrists, which had been the only exposed skin besides her face. She didn’t even want to look in a mirror at that point.
Where are my clothes?
She glanced around the room, but the designer jeans, shirt, and hoodie she’d been wearing were nowhere in sight. As the panic welled up in her chest, she took a deep breath.
Let’s solve one problem at a time. I can push the screen out of that window and be out of here before they even realize I’m awake.
Biting her lip as she looked down at the old floorboards, placing the ball of her foot down. She grimaced as the wood creaked under her weight.
CHAPTER TWO
“You’re both out of your minds,” the younger voice continued. “I say we dump her at the nearest road and let her ass hitch-hike back to civilization.”
“Out of the question.” The man with the deep voice was the one calling the shots. “The last thing we need is for her to give the cops a description of three squatters living out in the middle of Hemlock Park.”
Are these guys escaped convicts or something?
“He’s right.” A third voice piped in. “There’s going to be police involvement because her boyfriend tried to kill her. If we dump her at the nearest road, there’s no guarantee that he won’t be the first one to find her.”
How do they know about Ted? There was no one else around; unless they were watching from the bushes, which is a whole other level of creepy. Whatever, I’m not waiting around here for these guys to argue over what to do with me. For all I know, they’ll decide that the most logical solution is to put a bullet in my head and bury me in the woods somewhere.
Tiptoeing toward the window, she wrapped the sheet around herself like a bath towel.
Finally, some luck!
The view from the window revealed that she was on the ground floor. She pressed against the metal frame, expecting it to pop out easily, but it was wedged securely into the track. Pushing a little harder, she rocked her weight against it until the frame snapped free, clattering to the ground outside. She froze as the arguing in the next room ceased.
“Sounds like our house guest is awake.” Heavy footsteps accompanied the deepest voice as he advanced toward the door.
Jillian hopped up onto the windowsill, swung her legs out, and slid off. As soon as her feet touched the cold earth, she dashed for the tree line. A bearded face appeared in the screenless window behind her, the same man that had picked her up when she fell the previous night.
She had been almost positive that his face had been part of a concussed dream, those dark eyes peering out from beneath intense angular brows, one of which bore a sharp scar at the arch. His shoulder-length, brown, wavy hair fell carelessly around his face as he leaned out with an almost-amused smile concealed beneath his facial hair.
Focusing on the rocky path in front of her, she clutched the sheet to her chest and kept running. The dried-out foliage was thicker out here. Tiny branches clawed at her face and bare shoulders, pulling the bandage off her head as she pushed her way through the brush.
I need to make it back to the river. Sooner or later I’ll run into a group of hikers or a park ranger or something.
After several minutes, the absence of footsteps behind her eased her mind enough to slow down. Leaning over and bracing one hand on her knee, she panted, struggling to catch her breath as she scanned the surrounding landscape. There was no sign or sound of the river anywhere. The bushes snagged the sheet as she pulled away. She spotted a deer trail that promised gentler terrain and let out a sigh of relief.
They didn’t follow me. She looked back, reassuring herself. Maybe they were just afraid of someone stumbling onto their little squatter pad.
For no reason that she could decern, the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. A falling sensation swept through her body, causing her to stumble, bracing herself against a tree. She strained to open her eyes as her vision was obscured by what her mind registered as a swirl of pink and purple clouds.
Blinking, she clung to the tree-trunk and shook her head, reaffirming that she was awake.
“What’s happening?” She hadn’t meant to speak out loud. As the colors swirled, she found that she could look around even though her physical body didn’t seem to be present. The clouds she had seen were now below her. Lifting her gaze, she drifted into the cosmos. The stars moved, clinging like droplets of water to an invisible face in the darkness.
They slipped me something. Oh, God! She whimpered, hugging the tree a little tighter. These guys are hippies, so that means mushrooms or acid, right? I just need to stand right here and ride it out, like the time Elaina went to Costa Rica and did ayahuasca. It’s just a bad trip, and it’ll be over soon.
The cosmic face opened its eyes like two exploding stars, and the light poured into Jillian, filling up her body until she thought she might burst. Everything vanished, and she suddenly found herself staring at the screen of her tablet.
“Hey, babe.” A slightly older version of Ted sat across the kitchen table, sipping his coffee. “I’m going to be working late tonight. Don’t wait up, okay?”
“Oh… Okay.” Jillian looked down at her tablet and scrolled through her feed. Post after post, it was filled with notifications and tiny red hexagons, indicating that she was not nearly as popular as she had been last time she looked. Clicking on a post featuring a picture of her and Ted at her father’s annual charity gala, she scrolled through dozens of hate comments from environmentalist groups, internet celebrities, and random people she’d never heard of.
“Are you messing around on social media again?” Ted cleared his throat as he set down his coffee mug. “I thought we talked about that. Doctor Lim says it’s bad for your anxiety.”
“I was just checking my messages.” Her body went rigid as she backed out of the application and set down the tablet.
“You know how upssssssset it makes me when you lie.” Something about his voice made her shudder. Ted stood up to walk around the table, and Jillian swallowed hard. Ted’s legs melted into a long scaly serpentine body. “There’sssss nothing worsssssse than a liar.”
“What the…” Jillian scrambled to her feet, knocking over her chair as she backed against the kitchen island.
Ted’s face stretched outward, his skull cracking and distorting as his mouth widened, revealing two slick fangs, dripping with yellow liquid.
A loud rushing wind pummeled her senses, pulling her backward and thrusting her consciousness into her body. The vision ended, leaving her heart pounding against the inside of her ribcage. The hissing sound of the wind lingered, and her eyes drifted to something gray moving in the grass by her feet.
“Oh my God.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she watched the tan rattle emerge from the creature’s coils.
“Don’t… move…” A man appeared between two trees, a few yards from her. “It’s more afraid of you than you are of it.”
“I seriously doubt it.” She scowled at the guy, recognizing his voice as the one that wanted to drop her off at the nearest road. “Aren’t you going to shoot it or something?”
“Do I look like I carry a gun?” He held out his arms, and Jillian looked him up and down. He was about six inches taller than
her with floppy, black hair, almond-shaped eyes, and sparse five o’clock shadow. His thermal undershirt was stained, and his tan cargo pants were frayed at the bottom. He wasn’t exactly what she’d pictured. She expected dreadlocks and maybe a tie-dye shirt. This guy seemed civilized enough, but he was more rugged than the men she was used to.
“I don’t know; you live in the fucking woods, and you’re chasing me, so probably!” Her eyes teared up. “Look, I’ve had a horrible night, and I just want to go home.”
“Last night will seem like a picnic if you don’t stay still.” He lifted his hand, palm facing down. “Listen to me and stop talking.”
“Forget it. I need to get out of here.” As she took a step back, the rattling intensified, and she paused. “I think if I get behind the tree, I’ll be able to back away.”
“Don’t…” The man’s eyes widened as she dashed for the safety of the tree. The snake’s body sprung forward with wide-open jaws as it clamped onto her calf.
Jillian screamed as the two syringe-like fangs sank into her flesh. Falling forward, she was barely able to keep a hold on the sheet. Lifting her head, she looked back just in time to see the snake’s tail as it slithered into the underbrush.
“Godammit.” The man rushed over, kneeling at her side. “Let me see.”
Sitting up, she flinched as he came close, but the gentleness in his tone made her relax.
“I don’t think he got me. My head hurts worse than my leg.” The dried blood crusted in the back of her hair made her want to scratch it.
The man moved the sheet aside, examining the two puncture marks before letting out a long heavy sigh. “Listen to me.” When he locked eyes with her, the worry on his face made her break into a cold sweat. “When I tell you that you need to stay calm, I’m not just saying it because panic annoys me. I mean, you need to take slow, steady breaths and keep your heart rate down. That was a Timber Rattler. Right now, it might just feel like a little bee sting, but as the venom spreads through your bloodstream, it’s going to get much worse.”
“I get the feeling you don’t have much experience calming people down.” Jillian frowned.
“I know you don’t know me, and believe me, I don’t like this any more than you, but you’re going to have to let me carry you back to the cabin.” He reached toward her, and she shrank back.
“Wait a second.” She looked down at the blood trickling from the fang marks. “Should we tie something around my leg?”
“It won’t stop the venom from spreading.” His expression was soft, but Jillian could sense in his tone that he was getting frustrated. “It’ll just cause an even bigger problem when the swelling starts.”
“Should we be trying to suck the poison out or something?” She fanned the bite that was starting to burn.
“Sure, if you want an infection to go along with your snake bite.” He wrinkled his nose. “Would you seriously let a complete stranger put their mouth on an open wound?”
“Don’t be an asshole.” She crossed her arms. “I read it in a book once.” She blushed at the lie; she saw it in a movie.
“Right.” He pressed his lips together. “So, if I pick you up, are you going to freak out? Because that would defeat the whole purpose of trying to keep your heart-rate down.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“I mean, about a third of rattlesnake bites are dry bites.” He shrugged. “There’s a one in three chance that she didn’t shoot you full of venom. You’re a big girl. If you want to chance it and try to hike your way out of here, I’ll tell the guys I couldn’t find you.”
“You’d do that?” She looked up at him.
“I’m not a fan of being pushed into doing things I don’t want to do. If I forced you to come with me, I’d be a massive hypocrite.”
“You seem like a nice person.” She sighed. “I’m Jillian, by the way.”
“Finn.” He held out his hands and lifted his eyebrows as if asking permission.
Jillian put her hands around his neck as he scooped her up into his arms and jogged back in the direction of the cabin. Despite how fast he moved, his steps were surprisingly smooth. Still, she sucked in a sharp breath as her leg bounced when he leaped over a gully.
“Hang in there, Goldie.” He held her close. “We’re almost there.”
At no point did Jillian feel like he might drop her. He hadn’t even really worked up a sweat by the time they reached the cabin.
“What happened?” The bearded man ran outside, leaving the front door open behind him.
“Timber Rattler.” Finn panted. “It was a big one.”
“At least you got lucky with that.” The bearded man towered over Finn by at least a foot.
“How is that lucky?” Jillian winced, looking down at her swollen calf.
“Baby rattlers have a more concentrated venom and no control over how much they inject. It looks like he nailed you pretty good.” The bearded man moved to the side, comparing her ankles to see how bad the swelling was.
“We have maybe twenty minutes to get her antivenin.” Finn’s eyes darted around as if he were searching for a solution to their dilemma.
A lump formed in Jillian’s throat. The fact that he was visibly worried made it hard for her to keep calm.
“We have to head out to the ranger station.”
“That station is a two-hour run even if we shift.” A blond man in his early twenties leaned on the door jam.
Shift? She wiped the sweat from her face as she tried to figure out what he might mean by that.
“The transmitter on the radio is still busted; we can’t broadcast.” The tall blond crossed his arms.
“Fuck!” Finn pushed past the blond guy and laid Jillian down on the sofa. “What do we do?”
“Vincent.” The blond put his hand on the bearded man’s shoulder. “You’ve gotta have some kind of herbal remedy for this. Make a poultice or something like when I got bit.”
“Yeah.” Vincent ran a hand through his hair. “A poultice might draw some of the venom out. Finn, get to the greenhouse; I need comfrey, aloe vera, turmeric, two limes, and a potato.”
“A fucking potato, Vince?” Finn gaped. “You can’t be serious.”
“Conner,” Vincent continued. “From the pantry, I need clean bandages, aspirin tablets, salt, and baking soda.”
Conner snapped to action and rushed into the kitchen, grabbing a wrought iron ring attached to the floorboards. Lifting the trap door, he climbed down a ladder to the hidden lower level.
“Vince.” Finn put his hands on his hips with a pleading look. “She’s not like us, man. Your grandmother’s homeopathic placeboes can’t do shit for a rattlesnake bite. We need to get her to the hospital.”
“Finn, come out to the greenhouse with me.” Vincent nodded toward the front door that was still open.
Finn rolled his eyes but did as he asked, leaving Jillian alone with her thoughts. Her lips and hands tingled as the numbness around her lips spread to her cheeks.
I don’t think this is adrenaline.
The area around the fang-marks was turning purple. Jillian groaned, clenching her teeth as the pain spread. Conner’s head came up from the trap door, and he placed the retrieved items on the edge before pulling himself up.
“I got the grinding stone, too.” He smiled, closing the trap door. “Do you want some water?”
“I am a little thirsty.” She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. “This is really starting to hurt; do you have anything for the pain?”
“You want a shot of moonshine?” He shrugged.
“That might make me throw up right now.” She squirmed, shifting her weight.
“Try not to move around too much.” He squatted down, placing a stone bowl on the floor and popping the lid off the aspirin bottle. Shaking a few tablets out, he smashed them up with the grinding stone before combining the salt and baking soda. “I’ll go get that water.”
“Wait.” She reached out, placing her hand on his arm.
“What is it?” His blue eyes sparked something in her. Sure, Ted’s eyes were blue; her own eyes were blue, for crying out loud. But his were warm in a way she couldn’t explain.
“You said before that he made this for you when you got bitten.” She glanced down at her leg. “Did it work?”
“Yeah.” He smiled, lifting his pant leg to show her the two white dots on his ankle.
“Finn doesn’t think it’ll work.” She studied his expression.
“Finn is a pessimist by nature.” He sat down, cross-legged next to her, and took her hand. “He’s a lovable guy, but his bedside manner kind of sucks.”
“Yeah, he doesn’t have much of a filter, does he?” Her lip curled back as she gently touched the tip of one finger to the most swollen part of her leg. “He also said that I’m not like you guys. What did he mean by that?”
“God, that guy.” Conner huffed. “No filter… yeah, that’s pretty much Finn in a nutshell. He probably just meant that you’re not a dirty, sweaty mountain-man. I mean, we do have amazing immune systems from all the… pollen and what have you.” He nodded, clearing his throat.
“You must think I’m really stupid if I’m supposed to believe a potato is as good as going to the hospital.” Jillian narrowed her eyes at him.
“Potatoes are very porous.” Vincent ducked as he came through the doorway. “I never said they’re as good as going to the hospital, but…”
“Even if we ran toward the ranger station at full sprint, we’d never make it in time,” Finn interrupted. “We either treat you here and now with what we have, or you’ve got no chance at all.”
“Dammit, Finn!” Conner smacked him in the back of the head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”