Page 5 of In Love With the Leshy

Nikolai watches too, with his hands on the back of his neck.

“Help me!” Igor pleads.

Nikolai nods his head and reaches behind his back, pulling a gun from the waistband of his pants. My heart pounds so hard I feel it in my eardrums as he cocks the trigger.

“Nik, you’ll kill him,” Max pleads.

Nikolai ignores his friend and speaks in a quiet voice. I’m not sure if he’s praying or reciting a poem. Igor nods and scrunches his eyes tight just before his friend fires the gun. The deafening blast sounds through the forest. My ears ring. I don’t know if I’ll ever hear again. A second shot. A third. Right into Igor’s center mass. I hold my ears tight and flinch with each pull of the trigger. Igor’s body stills. He’s quiet and hangs limp.

No birds chirp. No crickets sing. An eerie silence settles over the area for a heartbeat or two until it’s replaced by a commotion of flapping wings and animals scurrying to safety.

“Nik, you killed Igor. How could you?”

“Shut up! I put him out of his misery,” Nikolai bends down and lifts his pant leg. When he stands to his full height, he holds a machete. What the hell? Was he boy scout of the year? He’s prepared for everything. “He was going to die regardless. No need to drag it out and make him suffer.”

“Wh-what are you going to do with that?” Max asks as his friend stands toe to toe with him, fear dominant in his shaking voice.

“Slit your throat, stupid. What do you think?”

“What? Why?” Max’s already high-pitched voice rises a few octaves, like a five-year-old who didn’t get his way.

“Shut up. I’m going to cut through the roots so you can get out of there.”

Max breathes, relieved. “You scared me.”

“Move, Erin!” My father’s voice commands out of nowhere.

I freeze a moment, afraid Nikolai and Max heard it too. Neither of them react. I don’t know how this is happening, but I feel a presence leading me to safety, and that gives me comfort. I look around my surrounding area, sizing up my next move. I see a clearing about ten feet away. Funny, I didn’t see it before now.

“Where’d she go?” Nikolai asks his friend.

“She’s right th…” Max’s doesn’t finish. I don’t know if he can’t find me or if something else caught his attention. I’m not sure which I’m hoping for.

“When I get my hands on you,” Nikolai calls. I can only guess he’s talking to me. “You’re going to pay. For Igor. For stealing my inheritance. For making this harder than it has to be.”

“And for this stupid tree!” Max adds, kicking the tree that a moment ago had him entangled.

A flurry of leaves falls onto Max as if someone shook the leaves off the branches above him. I check to see if that’s what happened, but they are as full and green as they were a minute ago. Maybe fuller. The leaves continue falling like snow in a blizzard, piling up fast. Max flails his arms to clear the leaves from his face, but that only seems to attract them. They attach themselves to Max. To his arms. His legs. His face and neck. His mouth. It looks like a few leaves have been sewn over his lips, leaving him unable to talk. They smother and choke him, bringing him to his knees.

“Nikolai!” The scream is muffled.

“Go. Now!” The wind whispers in my ear. “Run!”

I’m certain I’ve lost my mind, but that’s okay. This is my subconscious telling me I’m not ready to die. I definitely am not a fan of pain, so I listen and push forward through the thin path that suddenly cleared. I ignore the burning pain that bites my ankle every time my right foot hits the ground.

“Nikolai!” Max sputters. “Come back!”

Damn. Nikolai must have heard me shuffling through the leaves. I wasted too much time being cautious and staying in one spot to avoid catching their attention. I can’t deny, though, that I enjoyed watching them endure the consequences of their despicable actions. Taking pleasure in their misery might be my downfall.

I stumble out into the clearing, the pain causing weakness in my ankle. I fall to my knees and turn onto my back. I crab-walk while glancing behind me to make sure no one pushed me. I blink my eyes hard, thinking I’m seeing things. The trees are closer together, and between them, long grass sprouted. It’s as if they’re forming a wall between Nikolai and me.

I know better than to stay here and gawk at the ever-changing woodland area. I need to keep moving. Getting to my feet, I turn to forge forward. I scream out in pain as my hair feels like it's being ripped out of my head.

“Suka! I was going to let you live if you gave me what I wanted. Now, I’ll make sure you die a slow, painful death.” Nikolai sneers.

Funny. He’s mad at me when he’s the one that caused all of this. He stalked me. He ran me off the road. He shot at me through my car window. Did he expect me to sit still like a good girl and wait for him to finish me off?

I meet the ground face first with a hard shove from him that I didn’t expect. I take a deep breath with my hands at my shoulders, ready to push myself up.

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