Page 21 of Last Summer
“Jesus, you’re being paranoid—”
Danica spins. “Lucy is dead. Sarah is dead. Who’s next? Chris? You?”
Abby steps further into her space. I should probably intervene, but I don’t have the energy for any of this. If I need to, I’ll cut them loose. Dead weight always gets you killed in the end.
“You know what, maybe it should be you; at least maybe then we’d get some peace and quiet,” Abby spits at her friend with more venom than I thought possible from the petite blond.
Ouch.
I move a little closer now, but I still don’t say anything as they continue to take jabs at each other. Something is wrong. My gut knows it before the rest of me does. Danica starts to walk again—moving deeper into the trees.
Abby follows behind her.
But just as she steps into the cover of the trees, there’s a metallic crunch.
A loud snap.
Followed by a blood-curdling scream.
I run.
By the time I reach the clearing, Danica is crouched in the dirt, blood covering her hands as she screams Abby’s name over and over. My eyes move to where her hands are, and the sight is straight out of a horror movie.. Abby’s thrashing on the ground, sobbing—one leg twisted into the steel jaws of a bear trap. It’s not rusty or old, which means it was placed here for one of us. The surgical steel gleams in the night—the teeth buried deep into Abby’s flesh as the mechanical latch hums. Blood spills from her shin in violent pulses.
“He-help,” Danica whimpers, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes and tears trailing down her face. Abby looks like she’s about to go into shock—eyes wide, pupils dilated so big you can’t even see the irises of her eyes. “Pl-pl-ple—” she chokes out.
What the fuck am I suppose to do?
I kneel before them, my hands clasping around the metal. “I’ll have to tear this off,” I say, looking at Abby who is shaking—teeth clenching together before she nods her head, giving me permission. I don’t wait before I’m tugging the device.
Causing her to scream in agony.
Flesh tears, more blood spills, and the device remains latched.
Fuck!
I try again.
Another scream. “Get it off me,” she wails. My hands are slick with her warm blood and I’m already sweating, but I go again, pulling with all my might. But all I do is peel the flesh from her limb as if it was a potato that I’m peeling.
It’s no use.
She’s stuck.
Through my thick lashes, I look up at Danica who looks at me for answers, or reassurance maybe, but I have none. Before I open my mouth to speak, the sound of a whistle goes off.
Then a glint of light.
Zing.
The movement is so quick—all I feel is the breeze as it moves past me and buries itself into Abby’s shoulder.
She screams, and I fall on my ass.
Danica freezes.
Frantically, I scan the woods around us—but there’s nothing. No movement, and only the sound of Abby’s screams fill the air. I need her to shut the fuck up, “Abby, lovely, I need you to fucking zip it,” I say just as another shard of sharp glass cuts through the air.
THUNK.
