"What've we got here?" the man asked. "Two little girls in the woods. Not a good place for you."
A small voice in my head took over as my heartrate skyrocketed and ice filled my guts. The man seemed unarmed and while he might not recognize us, he intended to hurt us. This information registered at the same time my instructor's voice ticked off gems of advice: run, scream, talk, and stay alive.
Stay alive however you could.
I edged backwards, muscles tensed to the breaking point.
Run.
Alicia was at my side before I could take off. "Leave us alone," she said. She didn't beg or show fear. True Alicia style, she make it a threat and a question.
He jerked his hand and the clink of metal sounded. In the dying light, there was a gleam of metal and the dark shape of chains dangling at his side.
He had a weapon and the means to tie us up. I swallowed back bile. Like an idiot, I had dropped the rock when playing the game. We would never make it into the car in time.
"Not on the program. Not tonight, Alicia," he said, stepping forward.
I shook my head. We were in range of the chain, and I tried to catch her shirt to pull her, but couldn't make my fingers close.
The baby was whimpering just below my feet now. I was standing on the metal plate over the well.
"Why don't we all go somewhere...to talk," he said. From what I could tell, he kept moving his eyes up and down my body from feet to face.
Run. Scream. Talk. Stay alive.
"If you want to talk, why don't we meet you someplace," I suggested.
"I think you should come with me, Brooklyn."
My stomach clenched. He knew me. Even if I ran, he could find me.
"Going to tell us about what happened to your high school buddy and his girlfriend?" Alicia asked. She had a sly lilt to her voice.
His high school buddy? I studied the outline of the man's body, the clothes and what I could see of his face. It was Todd McIntosh. He had been at the diner earlier. My world lurched and I swayed.
Todd was the one. It was him all this time. He had somehow made his friend and that girl drown in the lake years ago. He must have kidnapped Sean and Levi. What had he done to them? What would he do to us?
"I'd rather talk about those two boys you were so close to," he said. "Your good friends, Alicia. They trusted you. How about we talk about them, instead?"
I tried to whisper Alicia's name. We had to run. We had to get away.
"What were their names again?"
"Levi. Sean," I breathed. The bastard had forgotten their names.
"Yeah, those two. Come on over here, Brooklyn, don't be afraid."
I shook my head. The chain rattled softly in his hand and I watched, waiting for the moment he would raise it up and swing. I was ready to dive away. All five senses hummed with alarm. I noticed everything: the smell of rotting leaves, taste of bile, sweat sliding down my chest. The baby crying below me choked off and I felt the plate tremble. Water began pouring out from the dirt edges and up through the cracked middle.
I tried not to look down, but when my eyes flicked down at the rattling plate, I heard Alicia growl.
She shoved me away hard as the chain slashed the air near us. It hit her arm and she screamed. Then she grabbed it, faster than seemed possible, to yank Todd off balance.
He punched her in the face.
I yelled, trying to get up and help her, but the wet ground trapped my hands and feet. I couldn't stand.
Alicia shook off the blow and hissed at him, a wild animal noise. She was shining white, pale as the moon and spitting with fury.
And for a split second, I was more afraid of her than of Todd. I rolled away and managed to stand up. I ran. Todd shouted something and when I looked back I saw Alicia curled on the ground. He was kicking her.
Don't leave her! Don't leave her there with a murderer! I couldn't make myself go back, though. I ran, sobbing. Bushes and thorns cut into my clothes and skin. Branches hit me as I crashed past them towards the dirt road. I had to stay alive.
Gasping, I kept my arms up to protect my face, barely aware of where I was. I couldn't hear anything but my own noise and the damn bugs. A root or rock tripped me and I slid face first on the ground.
I left her there with him. Was she dead? Oh, shit, what would he do to her? I had to get the police. I had to get to a phone, my cell was still in Alicia's car. Idiot! I was miles from any gas stations or people unless I could find some campers. There was a KOA by the lake, maybe I could reach it. There'd be a pay phone at least.
I stood slowly into a crouch, testing my ankles. Nothing was twisted. But I had no idea where I was in the tangled darkness. The forest pressed in on me, playing tricks on my sight. Trees, shadows, branches, kidnappers or murders – everything was the same dark mess.
I should go back. I turned and half crawled through bushes from where I came. The noise was incredible. The dead would hear me coming, much less a psychotic killer. I would go for help.
I had only gone a few yards towards what I hoped was the lake when I heard breaking branches and rustling leaves. Boots stomping? Who was behind me?
"Brooklyn," Todd shouted.
I slapped my hand over my mouth to cover my scream. Inching forward to not give away my position, I tried to keep going.
"They're coming for you, Brooklyn. He wants you; that was the deal. Don't believe me? Alicia has to pay up or else, but you....Be a good girl now and come out of hiding. I'm not gonna hurt you."
He wasn't far, but thorn bushes were slowing him down. They slowed me down, too.
"You can't believe the stuff about me killing my friend or that girl. I wouldn't hurt a fly as they say. Come on out now, don't be afraid."
Twigs snapped under my feet. Todd switched on a flashlight and the beam found my face. I dashed forward, ignoring the scraping thorns and tree branches. Todd barreled after me and his light cast my shadow on trees and bushes crazily.
I stumbled suddenly onto the dirt road. The KOA wasn't far from where it met the paved road. I forced my flagging legs into a sprint. Painful stitches in my sides cut like knives with every breath.
"Damn it! Come back here!"
Fear spurred me on. Todd cursed behind me. Was he falling behind?
My feet were knocked out and I hit the ground. Air exploded from my lungs in rush, making stars flash everywhere. Todd grunted and cursed above me, grabbing for my hands. He sat on me, straddling my waist.
"Hold still," he said.
I opened my mouth to scream, but could only croak out a pitiful, "Help me!"
"Gotta move fast," he said, shoving a gag across my mouth. I scratched at his eyes, reaching for weak spots, my legs flailing uselessly under his weight.
He got the gag tied and pressed his hands on my shoulders. His breathing was labored and he rested like that for a moment. A strange groan filled my ears – my own voice. I wouldn't go easy. I wouldn't let him hurt me without a fight.
I grabbed his ear with one hand and dug my nails into his nose and cheek with the other. Twisting his head sideways, I thrust my knee into his belly to shove him off me. Todd snarled in response and collapsed on me, pressing his forearm in my neck. More stars appeared as the oxygen was cut off to my brain.
He slammed a fist in the ground next to me. "You wanna die?" I writhed and shook my head. "Good. Now we're going for a walk. On your feet." He hoisted me up, not letting me go. He must have lost the chain because he didn't tie my hands. Dragging me along, he kept his mouth shut and his head cocked as though listening. I watched the ground for anything to use as a weapon. I had a hard time breathing, though. It would be pointless to run if I couldn't injure him somehow.
The insects were quieter here, which didn't make sense. A sort of blanket lay on the forest. It was so hard to breathe, like the air was heavy. Crackling leaves from all around told us something was wrong. We paused while Todd looked around.
"Side roads," he whispered, voice hoarse.
Seeing him distracted, I pried at his thumb, yanking my wrist free. He grabbed me again and pulled my face to his. I felt canvas instead of skin and prickling like straw bits. "They are coming," he said. "Who's it gonna be?"
I pushed against him, into a straw and sticks and some sort of rotting sludge. He was a straw-man same as in the diner. I tried to scream through the gag. Two worlds collided in my vision and a wave of rats swarmed from the underbrush.
They reached us and crawled up Todd's legs, biting and chewing as they went. They flowed around me, almost going through me. Todd shouted, kicking wildly and thrashing his arms. Despite the attack, he held tight to my wrist and we fell together, pinning me underneath his heavy frame.
"Half way here is far from home,"a voice taunted.
Another man was there! I cried a garbled plea for help.
"Todd McIntosh, I know someone who has been looking forward to seeing you," the man said in a tenor voice. He was amused. "Off!" he cried and the rats screeched in protest, slinking away. One passed right in front of my face; a deformed rodent straight out of a nightmare. It stopped to sniff me. I drew upright, startled.
Todd wrapped a hand around my neck. "Too bad we can't stay, but I've got business to take care of."
The newcomer crouched suddenly. "Brooklyn?" he asked.
He screwed up his face in disbelief. In the shadows, I could make out tousled hair and a square jaw, a trim body and a knife. He reached towards my face but couldn't quite touch me. My eyes burned with tears, blurring the sight of him. Then leveling the knife at Todd, he said, "I didn't think you'd do it again."
"Like I said, we'll be on our way, but there's another back yonder who might just please you. What's left of her, anyway."
"This girl stays with me."
I gasped against the cord in my mouth. I couldn't speak his name, though. Levi was here. He was alive. He was going to save me.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you, you little shit?" Todd said.
Levi stabbed Todd's shoulder with a quick lunge. I rolled free and pulled the gag from between my teeth. "Levi!"
Todd chuckled, his scare-crow face contorting. "Only half way there, boy. You gonna try and take us both?"
Levi grimaced, glancing between Todd and me. "Run, Brooklyn," he said.
"Levi, come with me," I begged. I reached for him, but my arm wasn't long enough. Or he was too far away. I couldn't get to him. "Come on!"
"Go! Are you too dumb to run?" he yelled at me. There was a wall of distance I couldn't see between us.
Todd stood. I stepped sideways, wary of him. I couldn't leave Levi. Todd grabbed for me, but Levi was there. They wrestled to the forest floor, Levi's knife falling aside. When I tried to pick it up, my hand passed through it to the dirt.
"Go," Levi yelled. "Get out of here, you stupid bitch!" He held Todd down, but barely.
I turned and ran.
**** Hey, everyone, I hope the use of profanities doesn't upset anybody. This kind of strong language seemed necessary for the chapter, though. Let me know what you think and how you feel about meeting Levi under these circumstances! Thanks for reading!!!
Posted 11 September. In honor of those who died or suffered on 9/11 - we remember. *****