Julie
Within minutes of reaching my campsite, I’ve packed my things and am running deeper into the forest. So I found the stone tower. Cool. I did it. Good for me. Now I can cross that item off my bucket list and…what? Move on to something else? Yes, that’s it. I’ll move on to something else.
First I have to escape from the crazy lady who’s going to try to murder me.
I’m not dumb.
I knew they were plying me with drinks. It was weird and awkward, and now I think one of them is dead. I heard yelling, but I don’t have any intention of going back to see what they’re doing. Maybe it was a warning shot. Maybe it wasn’t.
All I know is that coming into the forest was a terrible choice that I’m starting to really regret.
“So much for a fun adventure,” I mumble, scurrying into the underbrush. I run, hoping I’m going somewhere far away from Bitchface. Who knows? I could be running right back into trouble, but I don’t have a weapon and I don’t have a plan. I’m not a lucky person. I don’t think I could take whoever is left in a fight. Something tells me it’s Nicole that’s left. She shot Bernie, I think. I’m almost certain of it.
How do I get myself into these situations?
I run, thinking I’m fleeing from one situation, only to get sucked into something else. My breakup with Andrew was nasty. Painful. Losing Samantha hurt more than losing him, though. There’s something terrible about having a friend ripped away, especially a best friend. I thought I could trust her. I thought we’d be buddies forever.
I was wrong.
My heart hurts now, and it’s not just from running or the fact that it’s out of shape. It’s that this week was supposed to be my chance to heal and move forward from everything I’ve been through this year, but it’s turning out to just be another nightmare.
“I know you’re out there,” I hear her voice calling for me, but I can’t tell which direction it’s coming from. It is Nicole. Definitely Nicole.
“Hey, I just want to talk to you!” She calls again.
I pause, not moving, trying to figure out where she is. My heart beats so loudly I’m sure she can hear me.
What does she want with me?
Why is she in the woods?
Fuck.
This is my last time taking a spontaneous vacation. Yep. Never going to try this bullshit again. Nope. Future me is going to be all about planning and following the appropriate order of society. I don’t need to be a free thinker or a free spirit or anything but boring.
Not after this.
I keep running.
My feet sound loud, even to me, and suddenly, I hear a laugh.
It’s almost a cackle.
Instantly, I stop moving and come to a perfect standstill. She’s close. I can feel her. Why Nicole is after me, I have no idea. She could be a serial killer. Maybe she’s just crazy. Maybe I really did drink too much and I’m just hallucinating. None of these thoughts are reassuring to me, though, as I stand perfectly still in the forest.
Which way do I go?
I have my shit, but I’m in the middle of the fucking forest. I left my tent behind because fuck trying to put that bitch back together, so even if I do manage to lose Nicole, I’m going to have to find shelter and then somehow figure out which direction I move in to get back to society.
I can’t believe how much I’ve messed up this “adventure.”
All because I just had to fucking say hi.
“Well, hi,” a sickly sweet voice sounds, and this time, it’s right behind me.
She found me.
I stopped running and she found me.
Perfect.
“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners? It’s rude to ignore a greeting.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize murderers were capable of feeling scorned by something as minute as not receiving a ‘hey, nice to see ya.’”
“Murderer?”
I take a chance and turn. If she’s going to kill me, she’s going to kill me. At this point, it doesn’t matter what I do. I already ran. I already proved I’m not interested in dying tonight. What more does she want from me? All I want right now is to feel whole. Complete. I don’t want to feel this aching loneliness that’s been eating me up and I certainly don’t want to feel like I’m about to fucking die in the woods.
There are so many things I wish I could have done.
Is this what people mean when they said their life flashed before their very eyes?
When I finish turning around, I see that it is, in fact, Nicole. She looks menacing in the darkness. Scary. I shouldn’t be intimidated by her. After all, she’s just a person.
And then I remember.
She’s just a person.
I can escape from her.
If I’m very clever, and I’m very brave, I can escape from her.
What’s to stop me?
She doesn’t have a visible weapon and even though she’s a little bit bigger than me, there’s only one of her.
“Yeah,” I say, pretending I’m not shaking in my boots. “I heard the scuffle.”
“Scuffle? What are you talking about?”
“You and your friend.”
“You heard a scuffle? Are you sure there wasn’t just a bear?”
She’s not holding a gun, but I know she has a weapon of some sort. I can see the outline of something in her pocket. I don’t know what it is, but I know that I happen to be basically completely unarmed. I don’t know if I can fight her.
“Was there?”
“Well, no,” she rolls her eyes. “But we both know Bernie needed to be…calmed.”
“Why’s that?”
Nicole shrugs.
“She can be a little intense. Apparently, she tried to slip something into your drink. I didn’t know about that.”
Her fake sympathy isn’t going to work on me. “Aren’t you worried her friends will come looking for her? Don’t you think people will suspect you?”
Nicole laughs now, and the sound terrifies me.
“Oh, honey,” she shakes her head. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?”
If I can keep her talking, then maybe I can get her to launch into a lengthy monologue that will give me a chance to run away. If she keeps chattering, she’s going to let her guard down eventually. She has to. There’s no way to keep talking and talking and not let your guard down.
No one can screech incessantly forever.
Not even her.
“What do you mean? You were camping. Girl’s week. Something like that. Maybe you guys were having boyfriend troubles. I don’t know.” I shrug, acting like I don’t really care. This seems to bother Nicole because she tenses. The gun wavers slightly, but she keeps her grip on it.
“We’re important,” she says. “I am important.”
“Okay.”
“We work for a special organization,” she says smugly. She sneers at me, but doesn’t say anything else. Is she waiting for me to ask her what company she works for? Is this really the time for that?
Teaching kids has taught me a lot of things and one of the things I learned early on is that the loudest kids, the ones who need you to be most impressed with them, are often the most neglected. They have these empty voids in their lives at home, so they need other people to think they’re great. Nicole is acting like one of those children. She looks like she’s spiraling out of control, like she’ll do anything to just feel like someone likes her and appreciates her.
Maybe that’s the secret to getting out of here, but I don’t think so.
Someone like Nicole is used to getting her way. She’s made it this far because people are intimidated by her, but I’m not. I’m not going to let some clown be the reason I don’t make it home. She’s insecure, and she’s upset, and she’s used to people worshipping her when she tells them to.
“Cool.”
It’s all I say.
Just one word.
It seems to infuriate her, though.
Good, she’s losing control. This means she’s going to be closer to making a mistake, closer to letting me go. She won’t see it that way, but I do. I’ll make a harrowing escape. I have to. I’m clever, I remind myself. I can outsmart her if I just stay calm. If I just stay cool. I can do this. I can beat her.
“Cool?” She growls, spitting the word out. “That’s all you have to say?”
“I mean, I guess I don’t know that much about special organizations. You like your job?”
Her jaw drops.
“Of course.”
“That’s nice. So many people don’t, you know.”
“My job is very important.”
“Yeah, mine too. I guess we all feel that way, though. No matter what we’re doing, we can change the world around us one day at a time. That’s so important, isn’t it? You know.” I nod.
This just makes Nicole more agitated.
Good.
Fuck her.
I didn’t ask to have her bother me during my camping trip.
I didn’t ask for any of this.
Maybe she’ll get bored with me and just walk away. Then we’ll never have to see each other again and we can forget this little encounter ever happened.
“I work for a corporation called Lucky,” she says, and pauses again.
Yeah, I don’t know all the companies in the world and I certainly haven’t heard of this one. I raise an eyebrow, but say nothing. My supplies are starting to get heavy and I wonder if I should just set them down. I didn’t exactly pack my backpack evenly when I took off from my campsite.
“We’re scientists,” she says again. “And we’re going to change the entire world.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Is she going to capture me and shove me in a lab? Is that what this is all about?
“Because my partner has gone off her rocker and I need someone new.”
“I’m not a scientist, if you’re offering me a job.” It’s on the tip of my tongue to spit out that I’m a teacher, but that would be stupid. The more information I reveal about myself, the more she can use against me. I’m not interested in having my life’s profession used against me.
“Scientist? Who said anything about that? You’re going to be my bait.”
At that, my mouth goes dry.
My little plan to keep her talking was stupid.
I’m not interested in being bait for her, nor am I interested in finding out what, exactly she needs bait for. Nicole is evil, through-and-through, and I’m out of here. Any second now, I’ll have a chance to take off, and when I do, I’m leaving. No holding back. No turning back. Just going. I can do it.
“Bait for what?” She says. “I’m sure you’re wondering.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m sure you’re wondering,” she repeats. “Well, there are rumors that there are dragons in these woods,” she says. “And you’re going to help me catch one.”
“There’s no such thing as dragons,” I whisper.
Then I hear a growl and I turn to see a dragon dropping from the sky and landing behind Nicole. It roars, and she seems unfazed. Turning, she says, “Welcome to the party, shifter. I wondered when you’d turn up.”