The Executioners Three

Chapter Eighteen: Laina -- hey, Laina!

And Laina screamed. Her hands shot to her ears, she crumpled into a ball, and it was like the night with the crows all over again. But worse because now the darkness was unnatural; now there was a candle burning and nothing scientific that could explain it all away.

Freddie didn't even think. She just lunged, grabbing for Laina. "Help me," she ordered Divya. "We need to get her up and out of here."

Freddie's fingers connected with Laina's ribs, and as fast as Laina's screams had begun, they broke off. She unfurled in an instant, no time for Freddie to react.

Then Laina attacked. A blur of trained speed. Freddie's whole world flipped upside down. Her back slammed to the frozen earth, punching the breath from her lungs. Black wavered across her vision.

Laina straddled her next, her thighs squeezing against Freddie's ribs. Choking off Freddie's lungs.

Freddie had just enough time to see Laina's fists swung in before she screwed her eyes shut, and...

And nothing. The impact never came.

"What...the...hell," Laina panted, "is going on?"

"You're awake," Divya cried, and Freddie finally opened her eyes.

Laina's fists had fallen. She gaped down at Freddie. Then her gaze shot to Divya, who was rushing in close. And for the first time since arriving, Freddie caught sight of a mark on Laina's cheek—smudged now, but unmistakable all the same.

A pentagram.

A.k.a. Satan's symbol.

As Divya helped Laina climb off Freddie, Laina mumbled over and over, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Freddie. Did I hurt you? Oh my god, I'm so sorry I did this. I don't know what happened."

Freddie didn't know either, but her instincts were starting to make a few guesses. She hauled herself to her feet. Without bothering to dust off, nor even to check for the definite bruises swelling on her ass and shoulders, she sucked in a ragged breath and declared, "We need to get out of here. Now."

"I agree," Divya said, already peeling off her coat and wrapping it over Laina's shoulders. "She's freezing, and..." She didn't finish that statement—she didn't have to. The pinched-lip stare she flung Freddie was more than enough.

Divya was in full agreement with Freddie's own thoughts: these woods were fucked up. They needed to get out of here. Now.

"Go to the bikes," Freddie ordered, twisting away from the other girls. "I'll be right behind."

"Wait, what?" Divya barked at Freddie's back. "Where are you going?"

"I'll be right behind," she insisted, and without another word of explanation, Freddie darted toward Buffy, safe and sound at the edge of the clearing. Moments later, departing boots stamped through the forest.

For several seconds, Freddie simply scanned the trees. Left, right, left, right. The stench of death was getting stronger, and even if it made no sense and even if Freddie didn't believe in ghosts or haunting Executioners, her gut had already made up its mind.

Whatever was happening in City-on-the-Berm County Park went beyond normal human killers—and Ibrahim had been right: these woods were not safe anymore.

In quick movements, Freddie crossed to the second tombstone, where the candle somehow, despite the raging wind, still burned.

White wax had splattered across the stone.

After three rapid-fire snaps and cranks of the camera, Freddie knelt and started scooping up soil by the handful. It was dirtier than her shoveling stick had been, but it was also faster—and right now, speed was of the essence.