When Darkness Comes

Chapter 2

Lisa Johnson was riding down her favorite backcountry path on her favorite horse - a dark Tennessee walker named Angel – when the storm started. It began all at once, starting with a muted boom and a bright flash of light, lighting up the late afternoon sky. A second, louder boom stopped Angel in her tracks. Lisa could feel her tense up and go rigid. She was just about to slip off when a third boom, even louder than the others, so loud the ground shook and the trees swayed, spooked Angel – with wild eyes and a frantic neigh she reared, knocking Lisa off, and took off toward the ranch house. Cursing the skittish horse and the weather, she got up. The woods she loved so much seemed somehow darker now – every tree held a hungry cougar, every bush hid a touchy grizzly bear. The wind picked up, bringing with it the regular night time temperature – twenty degrees cooler than in daytime. She dusted herself off and gingerly took a step forward, glancing in all directions. If only she had a flashlight! She glanced at the sky – strangely enough there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. Weather was a weird thing, especially, it seemed, in Montana. She picked up her pace – if it was going to rain, she had no intention of being in it, at least not in winter. Spring rain was amazing – even better in summer. Smiling, she thought of the feel of rain on her skin, the way it felt to be soaked to the bone while thunder boomed and lightning lit up the sky. Montana is a beautiful place, at least Western Montana, where the mountains are. Bozeman was just as beautiful – this was her heartland, for sure.  This is where I will live forever, she thought to herself as it grew even darker by the second. Three more years till it was time to go to college – at Montana State University, Bozeman, hopefully anyway. She sighed. She was only fifteen, after all – it would be awhile yet. Something rustled in the bushes, stopping her in her tracks. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes scanned the surrounding woods for a good tree to climb into, just in case she had time. She stood there, frozen, until a sound came from the bush, a sound foreign to her – yet somehow familiar…”Zena…Zena…?” it came in a soft whisper, followed by an even louder rustle. A shimmer and a muffled sound came from the bush…Lisa didn’t wait to get eaten or….kidnapped, by some creep rapist – she ran, as fast as she possibly could, limbs scratching her face and tearing at her hair and cloths as she dashed off the path to try and go around – after all, she still had to get home, and home was on the other side of the strange…person…thing. Footsteps and heavy breathing came from behind her – that something was following her – thinking quickly, she turned again and ran to the right, hoping her pursuer wouldn’t notice – no such luck. Her pursuer turner with her, and she panicked – it wouldn’t be long before she couldn’t run anymore. “W-what do you …want…huff...from…gasp…me!?!?” She didn’t realize it, but she was crying. A voice, deep, definitely male, and somehow…sweet, gasped at her. “I…gasp…want to…gasp…talk to you!” Lisa heard him, but there was no way she would stop and chat. It was insane to think that somebody who was chasing you like their life depended on their catching you just wanted to talk, and she was not insane or stupid. Either way, she wasn’t a track star – and obviously he was. Before she got much further, his hands had slipped around her waist and locked together, and before she knew it she was on the ground, a rock poking her in her side. “Let go of me! Let GO! HELP! HEEEELLLPPP!!! MOM! DAD! HELP! HHHEEELP---!” His hand over her mouth silenced her screams, but she was sure she was somewhere close enough to be heard by her parents. They were probably already looking for her after Angel returned without her.  In the meantime, she was on her own, so she had to get away. With this in mind, she tried to get one of her arms out from under her. If she could only get one arm out from under her, the possibilities were endless…