Oliver looked around in terror,
believing the bear had attacked someone nearby and that they once again would be
in danger.
“What the hell was that?”
he asked.
“The scream came from that
way,” said Mia, pointing to the right.
They slowly walked to the
trees alongside the path. They saw the ground sloped down to the valley. Mia
tried to take one more step forward to have a clear look, but Oliver pulled her
back before she could slip.
The three of them stood by
the trees and looked around to find the source of the scream.
A few seconds later, what
they saw made their hair raise in horror.
Mia’s hands flew to her
mouth as a scream tried to make its way out. She was looking at a man thrusting
a machete in a teenage boy’s gut and dragging it horizontally to the right and
then to the left with all of his force.
“So, the psychopath story
is real?” said Mia.
The boy’s severed body lay
on the ground beside the bank. Next to him lay a girl’s body. Blood was
streaming from her stomach.
“Yes. The psychopath is
real,” said Oliver. “I hope we return safe and alive.”
The killer bent, having
finished with the boy, bent down to the girl, and started to take off her clothes.
There was an X symbol cut into her stomach and a hole near the belly button. It
seemed like the killer first had thrust the knife into her stomach and then carved
the X symbol.
The killer checked the
girl’s pulse and then held a hand under her nose as if to check for breath.
“Dead bitch!” he said.
He looked around.
The trio was frozen in
silence in the trees, hidden from sight. They were lying on the ground, taking
a position of concealment just like a sniper as they watched in trauma from the
top of the valley.
Oliver grabbed his hair, perhaps
feeling some type of pressure in his brain. Trying to stay silent, he walked
away, slowly. He stumbled as if he would lose consciousness.
He leant against a tree
across the path, bending forward to be sick at its roots.
Petrified, Jany remained lying
on the ground, gaping at the killer, who was perhaps preparing himself to have intercourse
with the corpse.
Mia stood up, keeping
behind a tree to stay hidden. She looked at Oliver and Jany with tears flowing down
her cheeks. She tried to speak but couldn’t let the words out of her mouth.
She took a deep breath.
Then she cleared her throat.
“Jany!” she said in a croaky
voice.
Jany remained the same,
unresponsive.
Mia cleared her throat
once more.
“Jany,” she said, her
voice clear but soft, as she was afraid the killer would hear her, despite him
being down in the valley. She bent and gently shook Jany, holding her by the
shoulders.
Jany opened her mouth as
if about to scream, but Mia swiftly clasped her mouth.
“Don’t! He’ll hear us!”
she said.
Jany stared at her for a
moment and then nodded. Mia took her hand from her mouth.
“Get up!”
Jany stood up and
followed Mia toward Oliver.
“We will die. He will
find us,” said Jany. She was speaking too loudly, panicked. “I hope my friends
are safe.”
“Be brave, Jany,” said
Mia, swallowing the fear. “Think positive. Just stay together, and we will find
a way out of the forest.”
All the while, Oliver
stood watching them. For a moment his terror had paralyzed him. He had no
answer, no solution, only the storm of horrifying thoughts of their death in
his mind.
Oliver took a deep breath
and removed a water bottle from his backpack. He drank a few sips. He cleared
his throat. Then he said, shifting his look between Mia and Jany, “Mia is
right. We can get out of here.” He paused. “We must hurry and try to find a way
back to our original path before dusk.”
A
silence fell for a bit as the trio exchanged a look, nerves clear on their
faces. They looked around them at the different paths.
“Where did we come from?”
asked Mia.
“I’m not sure. I was so
scared,” said Oliver.
“And everything looks the
same to me,” added Jany quickly, looking at the paths on either side, both
covered with branches and leaves littered from the storm.
Mia unzipped her backpack
and slowly, quietly pulled out her axe, still glancing around for signs of
movement. “Alright! Let’s go this way,” she said, adjusting her backpack back
on her shoulders.
They set off up the
chosen path, but Mia grasping the axe strongly.
Just a few steps on, Jany
slipped on some wet leaves. She fell and let out a scream that rang through the
air.
Oliver scanned the area
in a panic.
Mia swiftly helped Jany back
up.
Jany hissed in pain as
she stood, clearing the dirt from her scratched elbow while Mia brushed off the
dirt from her clothes.
“I hope he hasn’t heard your
scream!” said Oliver.
Jany and Mia looked
toward the valley, following his eyes.
They waited for a few
more seconds in stillness.
The psychopath didn’t
appear.
“Keep moving!” said
Oliver in a very soft voice, only audible to Jany and Mia.
They resumed their walk.
After a few minutes . . .
Mia began to feel that someone was following them. She looked through the
corner of her eye, but she could only see trees.
The hair on the back of
her neck prickled as her senses still signaled someone’s presence.
She stopped.
All the while, Oliver and
Jany kept walking hurriedly without glancing back.
Mia turned around slowly. Still no one, only the emptiness of the forest. When she was sure she couldn’t see anyone, she turned back and strode on to catch up with Oliver and Jany.
Jaydeep Shah is an avid traveler and the author of gripping
horror, thriller, and romance stories. As a bachelor’s degree holder in
Creative Writing, he aims to entertain as many as people he can with his
stories. He is best known for Tribulation, the first book in the
“Cops Planet” series.
When Shah is not writing, he reads books, tries new restaurants,
and goes on adventures.
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This sounds like it will be a great book.
ReplyDeleteI like the description and the excerpt. This sounds chilling and thrilling.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the excerpt. This is going to be a book I will like
ReplyDelete