Page 126 of Beautiful Prey

Emery sat up, laughing.

“It’s not funny!” I went to get to my feet when he pulled me back.

“Baby, you think I would leave them set up with us out here? I assumed you’d want to go into the woods, I wasn’t about to take the risk when there was a possibility you might find one and…”

I stared at him. “You unset the traps…in case I ran,” I said.

“All the traps except the one at the gate,” he emphasized. “The rest, yes. You think I wouldn’t totally snap if I found youall mangled from a trap I set? Fuck no, I wasn’t about to let that happen.”

I sighed with relief. I rested my head on his shoulder as his hand rubbed at my back.

“Maybe…maybe we leave them unset, huh?” I said carefully.

His hand traced down my spine. “I can. Don’t need them anymore anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

He searched my face and gave me a smirk. He rose and zipped himself back up then pulled me up with him. “Come with me and I’ll show you,” he said.

Hesitant, I tugged my dress back on. Emery kicked sand into the fire, putting it out. He slipped his mask on, then took my hand.

I followed him to the house, careful not to step in any water or damp earth. When I saw one side come into view, I slowed, a chill running down my spine.

We broke out of the woods and this time I couldn’t help but halt, staring at the side of the house. Emery still held my hand as he gazed at the wall too.

Someone had painted large red letters on the side of the house. I would have wondered if it had been one of those kids, but I knew it didn’t matter. My jaw was set tight as I stared at the words.

THE DEVIL WAS HERE.

I glanced at Emery and saw him gazing at me. He squeezed my hand.

“This way,” he said, tugging me toward the backyard. I followed him again, trying to wash the words from my mind.

When I realized he was taking me to the boathouse, my heart fluttered. He opened the side door and we stepped inside.

He took a flashlight beside the door and clicked it on. I saw my dad’s old boat uncovered but still tied up as it softly bobbedin the dark water. It was just big enough to fit inside. I remember the many times he had taken me out in the summer, down the river and up to the bay and even into Lake Huron. We had spent the night in the room underneath the boat and I remember how much the dark, murky water had creeped me out, waiting for some monster to pull us down into the deep.

I stood there, speechless now as the memories resurfaced. So this is what Emery had been working on all day.

“I worked on what I could,” Emery explained. “Everything seems to work fine. I was able to fix minor issues. Figuring out how to replace the oil was a bitch at first when all I could find was a manual. I’m not a boat expert but I was a mechanic for some time before…everything went down.”

I walked over to one side, noticing he had cleaned up the outside of the boat. From the little door within, I could see the inside was tidy too.

“You…you want to leave,” I said.

“Not me…us.”

He lowered the light and took a step toward me. “We sail away…just you and me. We fuck off somewhere no one will care to look.”

“The dream,” I whispered.

He closed the distance between us and grasped my hands in his, bending his forehead down to mine.

“You and me and that beautiful place…I can see it, Eve. No more darkness, no more pain, no more fear. Our little paradise.”

I was speechless, shocked. Leave it all behind? Leave my home, leave my friends, leave the future I had started. Leave it all.

Go with him and disappear from the world. And make a new life.

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