Page 113 of Sugar Coated Secrets

A breeze causes the leaves to move. A twig snaps, and Dulce jolts. “I’m right here,” I assure her.

She wraps her hands around herself, and I want to go to her, but this needs to play out. My phone goes off in my pocket from an incoming text.

Trent: It’s all set in place. I see her.

I pocket my phone before she turns around.

The sky is bathed in twilight. Her eyes stare at the ground when the screams start.

She jolts, and I come up behind, pulling her to my chest. “What was that?” She muffles against my chest.

Silence, and then a man screams louder like he’s in pain.

“HELP! HELP! OH GOD!”

Dulce grips my shirt. “Ford?” she cries out.

I stare at her, not moving an inch. Our gazes lock, and I can see the confusion swirling in her eyes.

“Ford, what is going on?”

“Do you trust me?” I ask softly.

Her eyes go wide. She looks scared shitless.

“Do you?” I ask a little louder.

She nods. “Yeah, but…”

Another piercing scream. She grips tighter.

“It’s okay,” I soothe, rubbing her back.

“How. Who’s out there screaming?”

“Who do you think?” I tell her, removing her hand from my shirt and walking deeper in the woods, following the markers I left behind.

“Where are you going?” she asks frantically.

“To find out who’s screaming?” I say calmly. “Don’t you want to know who it is?”

“But…”

I raise a brow. “I’m here. Nothing is going to happen. You can call Officer Mays.” I smile. “I’m sure he would come.”

She glances at her phone and then looks up. “There’s no signal.”

“Out here, no.”

“Ford, you’re scaring me,” she says in a shaky voice.

Another pathetic scream.

“I think someone is terrified.” I nudge my chin for her to follow. “Let’s go investigate.”

She follows me for ten minutes until it’s dark, and we have no choice but to turn on the flashlights. This wouldn’t have worked during the day.

The scream gets louder until we reach the source all dressed in white, hanging from a tree by his pathetic limbs.

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