Page 22 of Trapped: Until The Darkest Of Night

“Hey, Louisa.” Without meaning to, my gaze slides down her face. At least outside my dilated pupils don’t blind me that much, but my vision is still poor. It would be fatal to engage in a fight, but Lou weighs no more than a hundred ten pounds, so it won’t be a real fight. “Bad news,” I say, putting on what I hope is a worried expression.

“What?” Irritated, she clings to the lanterns and shifts from one foot to the other.

“There’s a mama black bear with her cubs by the dumpsters.”

Despite the belladonna, I see her freeze. “That’s exactly the direction I’m going.”

I hear the panic in her words and inwardly congratulate myself. “You’d better wait until they leave. Mother bears always get crazy aggressive if they think someone’s threatening their cubs.” I think for a moment, searching for details to make the lie credible. “Some idiot forgot to lock one of the dumpsters. Same thing happens every year. It may be hours before they finish eating.”

Lou looks fearfully in the direction of the forest. “I have to get back,” she says vehemently.

No, you don’t! I purse my lips in anger and shake my head. “You can’t get past there.”

“But my brothers…” Her voice cracks. Her eyes dart to the visitor center and back to me. “They’ll be looking for me. We should tell the rangers. I’ve gotta…”

“Louisa.” I raise my hand reassuringly. Of course she thinks of her brothers! Luckily, I’ve already thought of something for this situation. “The rangers are already there, making sure everyone’s safe,” I say quickly, before she rushes headlong into the visitor center. “They’re not going to let anyone get anywhere near the bears.”

“Really?” she asks hopefully.

I just nod. Her brothers might actually pose a problem. If I were one of them, I certainly wouldn’t let Lou walk around at dusk. Somehow, it serves Ethan right when she disappears because he didn’t take better care of her. He doesn’t deserve her at all!

“And they’ll be on both sides of the dumpsters?” Lou asks, interrupting my reverie. Her voice still sounds shrill. I need to reassure her before she decides to go and see for herself.

“Um, of course,” I say as calmly and deliberately as I can. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

My tone of voice has its effect. She exhales in relief and I turn briefly to the gravel path. Would be damn conspicuous if someone was walking along there now! I have to lure her away from here as soon as possible, but it’s still too early for the all-important question. I convince myself to banter a bit: “There’s always some idiot trying to take pictures. This one tourist in Canada even tried to get his daughter to ride on a grizzly’s back.”

Her eyes widen and become as round as those of a china doll. “No way!”

“I swear to God!” I affirm. “Luckily nothing happened.”

She laughs and I join in because that’s the expected reaction, not because I feel like it. I almost wince at how artificial it sounds, but Lou keeps smiling.

Time for the next attack. “I was headed back to the visitor center.” Like a gentleman, I reach for the lanterns and manage to grab them out of her hands. “Forgot tomatoes. But if you want to get back to your brothers, I can drive you around the long way to your campsite.” No telltale movements. Deep breaths into

the abdomen.

“There’s another road?” she asks, genuinely surprised. “The ranger didn’t mention that.”

I grip the lanterns so tightly, the metal handle cuts into my skin. Anything she repeats back that might distract me from my plan automatically makes me angry. I have to pay attention. “There are three actually,” I claim, trying to confuse her even more. “But the third will be blocked off too because it’s too close to the dumpsters. People don’t take the other route much because it goes a few miles through the forest and it’s got a million potholes.” I don’t know why I have to stare at her bare shoulder and the strap of her white bra during the last sentence.

As if in response to this, Lou uneasily pulls up her blouse.

I could bang my head against a concrete post! Now all that remains is the sneakiest of tricks.

“You shouldn’t walk that whole way by yourself,” I say quieter than usual. “Really.” I meet her eyes, feigning concern. She looks back—I’m not looking away. Only liars look the other way. Or cowards.

And as if the sky wants to support me, the cloud cover rips open and reveals the orange-red sun. There is a radiance in the air, a radiance like a thousand glittering grains of gold.

Lou smiles. Maybe because of my words, but maybe also because of the red-gold evening light. Her insecurity has vanished.

“What about your tomatoes? Don’t you want to grab them first?” she asks, eyes sparkling.

I’ll have her soon. I know it. She’s still smiling, and for a moment, all I can think about is soon that smile will be mine, too.

I quickly wave my hand. “I’m right over there, a little way down the road.”

We look at each other again. Lou’s eyes sparkle in high spirits and the question she asked the world a while ago echoes inside me: Don’t you also dream that something will finally happen? She probably thinks I was trying to hit on her. Maybe she thinks I’m her adventure. A bit bold, but basically harmless. She’s so naive, so absolutely trusting. I almost feel sorry for her and yet everything within me is tingling.

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