Page 11 of Fall

“If we catch you…?” Val prompts when I don’t finish the question. He’s nice enough not to argue with me on theif, but I shut down the thought that I don’t have a chance as quickly as I can. Before I can talk myself out of this.

I have to get away from them to stay alive.

“Will you just kill me?”

My words are met with silence, prompting me to clench my fingers into my palms at my sides. I want to turn to look at them, to see their expressions and discern what I can from them. But I force myself to stay here, just like this, and focus on taking deep and even breaths.

“No.” It’s Kieran who answers. “And maybe when we do catch you, you’ll see we really don’twantto kill you at all. But you still have a choice here, darling girl. Come back to the table. We’ll make you some coffee and cut you a slice of pie. You don’t have to open that door.”

Fuck, it’s awful how good of an option that suddenly sounds like. But I shake my head slowly, still staring at the door. “I can’t,” I say with a huff. “Because Idon’ttrust you. And this sortof feels like my only chance of survival. So…” Before I can stop myself, I push off of the door and glance back at them. “Five minutes.” I can’t really stop them if they choose to cheat that number, but I have to believe they’ll stick to it. Even in three minutes, I hope I can be far enough away that they won’t find me.

Forcing my legs to move, I yank open the door and stride out onto the small porch. A motion light flicks on, illuminating the shapes of towering trees that look particularly menacing in the darkness. Realizing I have no idea what time it is, I also decide it doesn’t exactly matter right now.

Five minutes, I remind myself like a mantra and pull the door closed behind me. I don’t run, though. That would be a recipe for disaster in the dark. I expected woods and it seems we’re in a forest, though the temperature already has my bare legs prickling with cold.

My mind races as I stride through the trees, barely able to see anything once the light goes off somewhere behind me. My steps are loud, and my hands brush tree branches and trunks as I go. Between the darkness and trying to stay upright, I can’t tell anything about the area and the back of my neck prickles.

After what has to be five minutes, I stop to listen to the surrounding woods. I don’t hear crashing steps or my name being yelled or yodeled. All I hear are the far off rustles of wildlife and the natural, whispering noises of the woods.

The clouds shift, revealing the half-full moon that’s bright enough to filter through the thick trees in some places. The light provided isn’t much, but my eyes adjust enough so I can pick my way through the trees to follow the patches of it. Nearly stumbling makes me realize I’ve found a small hill, and I carefully work my way down it toward the sound of running water. I won’t call it rushing, exactly. I doubt I’m near some impressive river or even an overly large creek.

Sure enough, the brook I find is small. The water looks like it might come up to my ankles in some places, but no more than that. Still, it gives me something to follow?—

A twig snaps somewhere nearby and I look up as my heart races, anticipating the worst. My eyes scan the darkness and the patches of moonlight patterning the ground through the branches for any sign of something bigger than a mouse.

But there’s nothing. Despite standing there listening for a solid thirty seconds that I count out in my head, I don’t hear or see anything at all.

I can’t keep standing here,I tell myself, and force myself into movement again. I veer off of whatever imaginary path I’d been following, instead choosing to follow the small brook. Surely it has to lead to something. Eventually. Hopefully. That’s what I cling to at least, as my quick, nervous steps take me further into the trees.

When Idoend up on an actual trail—even though it’s small and probably rarely used—I can’t help the ripple of surprise and relief that flows through me. I can’t be too far from civilization if there are trails cut through the woods, right? It also makes it easier for my steps to speed up, until I’m almost jogging while using the moonlight to look out for roots, stones, or anything else that might trip me.

Though the second a spiteful cloud covers up the moon again is the moment Ireallyneeded it to see by. The toe of my shoe hits something hard and curved, and I yelp with unhappy surprise as I flail, trying to keep myself upright.

Naturally, I don’t succeed. I was going too fast and paying too little attention, and my knees hit the ground hard enough to drag a pained cry from my chest. At the same time, my palms scrape against the dirt; my left hand naturally nails a few sharp stones that make me suck in a shocked and very unhappy breath.

For a few moments, I don’t move. My knees hurt, and my hand stings like a bitch where I hit the rocks. Still, this can’t stop my escape. Everything in me is screaming for me to get up, and as I throw my head back so my hair is out of my face, the moon does me the favor of peeking out from the clouds once more.

Just to illuminate a small, reflective object tucked into a nearby tree. Curiosity gets the better of me as I stumble to my feet, and I make my way toward the Y-shaped tree that bends and twists upward toward the sky. The whole time I’m walking, I go through what it could be in my head, though none of the answers are realistic or appealing.

I reach out and feel around the object, finding it anchored in place instead of just sitting in the V of the tree trunk. Plan B requires me to stand on my tiptoes and pull myself up until I’m barely on my toes, but it works well enough when the moon is finally clear of any clouds and shining down onto my patch of forest.

“Fuck!” It’s the first thing that comes to mind when I realize what it is.“Fuck,” is also the second thing I yelp as I drop down and back away from the tree.

And the trail camera.

My heart pounds wildly in my chest as I stare at the spot like the camera might grow legs and start chasing me. I tell myself it might not belong to Val and Kieran. That they might not have access to it, and maybe these cameras are monitored by park rangers or…

Well, I’ll take anyone over Val and Kieran.

My fears are confirmed, however, when I hear footsteps echoing through the trees from somewhere far enough that I can’t tell where, but close enough to be audible. Without stopping to think, I take off at a jog, knowing it’s stupid of me since it means I have a lot more opportunities to trip. Especially since I’ve gone off of the trail and I’m running through the treesat random. There can’t be cameras everywhere in this forest, so staying off the trails could help me stay away from them.

Still, I can’t help but wonder how many of them I’ve unknowingly passed, and how many Val and Kieran could’ve seen me on, if they are the ones with access to the cameras. There’s still a chance they aren’t, since I’m not even sure the cabin belongs to them. But I’m definitely not willing to take the chance.

It takes about a minute for me to fall again. This time isn’t quite as bad, though it makes my hand ache as I struggle to my feet. Panting, I realize I need a better plan than just running through the woods, which is what I originally wanted to avoid doing.

“Stop panicking,” I murmur, standing straight and closing my eyes. “You’re okay, Noa. You just need to stop panicking andthink.” I force myself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then I force myself to do it again. I can no longer hear any noise in the trees around me, which relieves at least some of the tension holding my body too tightly.

This time, I take off at the same quick walk I used before. The trees are thicker now, I finally notice, and the moonlight that manages to cut through the branches and leaves is sparse. It makes my escape harder, and I have to feel out any obstacles in my path when I set my feet down, instead of relying on my vision.

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