|THE FACELESS KILLER| Hiatus

| S I X |

Gleam Canyon Woods

18hrs: 11mns

***

The day bled into nightfall; pastel oranges, red, purple, and blue painted the vast sky as the fiery ball of fire sank into the horizon – a tiny fraction peeked behind the crowded trees casting a faint glow.

Snail seconds later, glittering stars illuminated the woods alongside their life long companion. Night critters buzzed to life; crickets, owls, and other creepy-crawly sounds created an on and off tune that they all followed to par.

Cabins were sparsely built, the nearest had to be at least thirty minutes away by car. Gleam Canyon prided itself on the privacy it offered to by-passers who needed to unwind and enjoy fresh clean air.

Dinner was fast approaching and no one could go wrong with convenient, easy to prepare canned food—one problem though, there had no firewood nor gas.

Drawing straws, Emily and Christopher got the shortest of them all. Heading out into the woods heavily armed with warm attire and an ax they set out to their journey.

"How much wood do we even need?" Christopher questioned his gaze set on dry twigs and branches.

Rubbing her gloved hands together then blowing warm air to them—she looked around the area approximately fifteen minutes away from the cabin then spoke, "enough to cook and warm us up 'till morning."

Leaves crumpled, and twigs snapped with each motivated step she took. Chris followed closely behind; ax in both hands.

A shadow crept behind them, its presence detained the sounds and noises within its purlieu. Both teens were engrossed in their own thoughts to notice how dissonantly quiet it had become. A squirrel scampered from one tree to the next, breaking them from their trance. It halted for a millisecond as it surveyed its perimeter before climbing on the next tree.

Its eyes doubled in size sensing danger lurking in the shadows—the acorn it'd spotted had to wait as it dashed to take cover. If only Em and Chris had followed suit to the tacit advice.

The shadow crept behind Christopher blending with the darkness; with the swift movement of his limbs, he seized the ax from Chris' hold. The sudden action got him on high alert as he swiveled at a panicked rate.

Emily had long blended with the sky-high trees unaware that Christopher was no longer trailing behind her.

The hairs' at the back of Christopher's neck stood erect, his nerves skyrocketed as he locked eyes with the shadow. His eyes held an ominous glint as they stared at Chris's timorous ones. Saying a silent prayer in his head—Chris eluded the threat in front of him; in his haste, he mistakenly took a left turn drawing more distance between himself and Emily.

Looking back where he came from—the dark figure took long unhurried strides mocking the pace that he was moving at.

Tired, Chris reduced his speed, he cursed the day he let himself go then gained more pounds than he thought was humanly possible. Heart beating erratically, he couldn't think clearly; sweat dripping from his forehead only managed to rile him up. If only I had joined the gym with my buds when they jostled the idea multiple times, he thought disdainfully.

Snap. A branch breaking a few feet away from him accelerated his adrenaline; pity, fatigue, and self-judgment placed aside he continued running, his feet thumped on the shrubs with determination. With each driven movement of his fleshy legs lactic acid formed at his joints, sharp undeniable pains shot up all over his body—faltering on the next step he tripped on air. His right leg landed on a pointed tree branch tearing through his flesh, his pained grunts filled the silence as he tried to purge the wood from his limb.