Page 78 of Diem

Sighing, she says, “I found this place from piecing together Dixie’s notes.”

“Her notes…from the house. Penny…” From the pink notes at the horror house, to Dr. Love and now Charming Charlie, just how many weirdos was Dixie messaging? Jesus Dixie.

“Look, Dixie was scared. I know it. In her messages to Charlie, she mentions shit this guy gave her and what to do about it.”

“G-gave her?” I whisper. I can’t even begin to imagine what that might be, but the notion hangs in my stomach like a lump of coal. Who was it? My dad?

“Yeah, weird shit. I don’t know, she didn’t go into detail. Whatever. I found this place after looking through her shit.”

Shaking my head, I glance at the darkness surrounding us and shiver. “So, what? We’re going to follow Dixie’s footsteps? To do what?”

This is worse than the area we used when we played hide and seek and believe me that’s creepy enough.

“I don’t know. See what she saw,” Penny says.

“In the woods?”

“Relax, it’s where she partied. You all used to party in shady places like this all the time.” Her eyes flash and I slowly nod but I don’t agree. This doesn’t feel anything like our innocent games while sitting around a bonfire.

“What did Dixie say? What kind of club?” I ask.

“She didn’t say a lot, and she used weird words, like she was trying to be sly, you know?”

When I stare at her blankly, she rolls her eyes. “Maeve. They’re a bunch of dudes. They compare dick sizes and show off their kills.”

I shiver at her words before looking off into the darkness. “Kills…?”

“Yeah, I’m guessing they hunt or something.”

Rubbing my brow, I murmur, “So, Dixie was dating some guy in what…a hunting club. She came out to a party…here and what??”

“Well.” She pulls out a map. “It’s through there. If we come up from the backside, no one will see us. We’ll check it out and leave.”

“You want to walk through the pitch black into god knows what? Do you hear yourself?”

“Then stay here,” she says, grabbing the keys.

Incredulously, I stare after her when she exits and disappears into the trees. Now what?

Several minutes pass while I wait for her to come to her senses but finally, I concede defeat and step from the car.

I follow the path she took but as soon as I enter the gloom, I pause. I have no idea where she went. And I’m not about to get lost out here.

Instead, I sit down in the tree line and stare at the vehicle. I’m not going to sit in it like a damn moron because it’s gotta be a beacon with nothing else around.

After a good fifteen minutes pass, though, I pull out my phone and text her, hoping she’s on her way back.

Where are you?

When I get no answer, I stare into the trees, jumping at every sound until I can take it no more and I open my phone again. I don’t know what else to do, so I message Matt.

I need your help, Penny has us on some wild goose chase in the woods

Of course, he doesn’t answer. The time ticks by slowly and I lean my head in my hands. Please let her come back soon.

Finally, I hear her walking through the brush, and I stand to greet her although the words trembling on my tongue are more along the lines of,what were you thinking?

Except, Penny doesn’t appear.

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