Page 23 of Above All Else

On a shaky exhale, I bolted, bursting through the front door, the forest air slapping me in the face. I ran down the stone pathway, hitting the driveway without looking back.

I’m not dying tonight.

Chapter 7

Carter

Ilet out a menacing yell and shoved my way through the cabin, pushing the masked members out of my way.

Moans, cries, and laughter drowned in my crimson-coated senses, and my hands clenched tight at my sides.

The heavy thump of my heartbeat echoed in my head. My fingers tore at the top two buttons of my button-down shirt. Heat covered my skin like a blanket, sweat dripping down the back of my neck.

As I ran through the cabin, members turned their heads, excitementcrackling in the air.

I broke out of the cabin into the night, a breeze coasting through the darkness, and paused.

Dammit, June.

Where are you?

My eyes raced between the encroaching shadows of the trees and the cars littering the driveway. The cabin’s exterior lights bathed the space in a harsh glow, but their reach barely scratched the depths of the surrounding forest.

A sudden flash of white drew my gaze down the drive.

June’s hair tumbled over her shoulders, her negligee swirling around her pale thighs as she sprinted away.

“There you are, dollface.”

Familiarity struck my chest.

That was the second time I’d called her by that pet name tonight.

She was thirteen the night it had happened—her face flushed with the bravery of a confession she was barely old enough to make. I couldn’t help but notice how her features held a fragile beauty, like the porcelain dolls all over Amber’s room.

The nickname stuck as a secret between us, tucked away in a dark corner of my mind. Not that it mattered much then. I was seven years older, and she was far too young for my college-ready mind to take seriously or care about.

“Ready or not, here I come.”

June glanced over her shoulder as I jumped off the porch, stalking towards her, then dashed into the tree line off the driveway.

Darkness swallowed us whole as I approached her exit. “You’re only making things worse for yourself.”

A jolt of electricity wound through me as the first bit of fallen pine needles crunched under my boots.

She crashed through the forest like an elephant trapped in a cage, banging her way through, her bare feet not slowing her down. Twigs snapped, her grunts marking her location like a beacon on a screen, her sharp inhales like a songbird singing into the night.

Two thick car beams cut through the trees, highlighting her as she weaved in and out of the bush and pine. She darted toward the road, and a smile carved my face.

“Hey. Over here.Please, stop.“ She shouted as she waved her arms, rushing into the middle of the road. She lit up like a Christmas tree, the beams exposing every cut in her nightgown and a small broken stick embedded in her hair like a Pocahontas feather.

I slowed my pace and moved to the side, my lungs sucking in the thin air.

What was the elevation here again?

The car’s engine revved as it sped up, gunning toward her.

“Stop.” She waved her hands in the air.

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