Page 151 of The Wrong Play

Through my half-conscious state, I realized that the car had stopped. The faint hum of an engine was gone, and somewhere in the distance, I heard…wind? Rustling leaves? Definitely not civilization.

The trunk had been popped open.

Which meant either they were letting me out, or they had finally decided to finish the murder they’d been subtly working up to.

I blinked, trying to clear the probable brain damage I just acquired, before pressing my palms against the trunk’s interior and shoving it all the way open. Cold air rushed in, hitting me right in the face.

I squinted, blinking blearily against the sudden darkness that stretched in every direction. Woods. I was in the middle of the fucking woods.

A sigh left my lips, part exhaustion, part deep-seated annoyance at the constant and utter disregard for my comfort.

I groaned, sitting up and swinging my legs out of the trunk, taking a second to assess the bullshit.

Tall trees towered around me, their jagged limbs clawing at the sky, completely void of streetlights, roads, or anything remotely resembling an exit. Nothing but a dirt path behind the car and the ominous feeling that I was very much alone.

Well, aside from whoever the hell drove me here.

Speaking of…

I turned toward the driver’s seat, ready to ask what fresh hell they had in store for me now. Except—the car was empty.

I squinted. Then checked again. Still empty.

My ride had fucked off into the night without a single explanation.

Because, of course.

I rubbed my temples, trying to ward off the incoming headache that was already forming.

All right.

Waking up in a gas-induced coma inside a trunk in the middle of nowhere? Not ideal.

The fact that I was now completely alone with zero clue what I was supposed to be doing?

Definitely worse.

“Cool,” I muttered to myself, standing up and stretching out my very kidnapped limbs. “I’ll also be noting this in my feedback.”

I pulled my cookies from my pocket and started to eat them as I took a slow, assessing look around, my shoes crunching against the dirt as I turned in a slow circle.

No lights.

No signs.

No cryptic Sphinx assholes waiting with a neatly typed-outhere’s what’s about to ruin your lifeinstruction sheet.

Just…the forest.

And the fact that the only thing I had going for me was my sheer stubborn refusal to die like a freaking squirrel.

A rustle behind me sent a sharp shock through my spine.

I whirled around, fists clenched.

I told myself it was just the wind. Just an animal. A raccoon, maybe. A deer, if I was lucky. Something non-murdery.

Except…it didn’t feel like something.

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