Page 58 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Comeback here!" Lance yelled. There was an unmistakable glee and anger coatinghis words that made her tired legs move faster.
Hercamera beat at her chest as she frantically picked up her speed. Why was thishappening?! Why did she come out here?! They were going to catch her and hurther. Her mind faltered with painful static as it conjured up horrible scenes ofassault.
Ascream split the air.
"Whatthe fuck?" Lance's advancing footfalls stopped, and Sana only prayed hewas turning back to investigate.
Refusingto stop running, she ignored the sneaking tendril of worry in her mind forTodd. She could help him best by going to get help. She couldn’t fight off twoguys by herself in an attempt to help him.
Anotherscream tore through the quiet forest air. Turning to look over her shoulder,hoping to catch a glimpse of Todd, Sana's foot caught on something hard. Forthe briefest second as she felt herself hurtle forward, Sana heard theunmistakable sound of an animal growl just before her body slammed into theground.
Thegrowling sounds grew louder around her, matched only by the screams. Was thatTodd or was that Connor? Sana didn't know. Blinking, she tried to focus hereyes. Her head hurt, and she felt sick. Pushing against the soft earth to liftherself up, Sana let out a painful sound as her vision swam and her stomachturned at the movement. Falling back down with a thump, Sana breathed in andout, desperately trying to gather her strength to push herself up onto her feetagain. She couldn't lay here. She had to run.
Acrack sounded overhead, stilling her heart in her chest. But it was theblood-curdling scream that followed that made her body feel like lead and hereyes go wide. The scream stopped, cut off from its completion. Frozen in place,Sana fought back a wave of nausea and blinked back the blurring darkness at theedges of her vision as she strained to listen.
Anotherhowl sounded—closer this time.
Wasit the wolf? Did it come back with its pack to hunt them in the forest? Hadthat been Todd's scream, or was it one of the brothers? She prayed it wasn'tpoor Todd. Oh God, would the wolves come for her next?
Hottears spilled over the rim of her eyes, but she ignored them as she forcedherself up onto her knees. Sana bit back a groan as her camera fell away fromthe sore spot near her ribs where she had fell on top of it. The camera wassurely broke, if not her ribs, she thought as she swallowed the urge to vomit.She couldn't bring any attention to herself. She had to get out of here.Clawing at the ground, soft cold dirt slid up and underneath her nails, cakingitself into the half-moon crevices. Stumbling and unsteady, she crawled forwardbefore pushing herself upright into a fumbling run and away from the growinggrowls in the distance. It no longer sounded like a wolf. The images of thegangly brown wolf from earlier and the skinny black wolf from last year werepushed out of her mind as she listened to these louder, more feral sounds. Thelow-toned reverberations sounded deep and from the chest. They sounded hungryand bestial.
Trippingthrough the low-hanging branches, Sana winced as one swiped very near her eyewith a searing slash. Reeling to the side, Sana covered the side of her burningface with one hand just as her sneakers slipped on a damp clump of leaves.Again she wasn't quick enough to break her fall, and she hit the ground hard.The force of landing on her side took the breath from her lungs. Laying there,it felt as if the two lobes of her brain were focused on two different things.One side forcing her to listen to the sounds of the twilight forest around herwhile the other tried unsuccessfully to fumble through her muddled thoughts.
Itwas the thud to the ground around her that brought her thoughts back into focusand just above the hazy black fog that threatened to swamp her consciousness.The heavy reverberations of the movement made her want to think of a fallingtree hitting the earth instead of focusing on the second thud followed closelybehind.It felt like footsteps, her mind whispered in terror.
Tooafraid to move, Sana laid perfectly still on her side and listened to the deeprattling sound of breath behind her. Oh, God! The hairs on the back of her neckstood up, and her insides clenched as every primal instinct within her bodytold her there was something large and predatory behind her. Sliding her handfrom her wounded face, she placed it over her mouth. Sana pulled her knees upuntil she laid in a fetal position. Tears seeped into the seam of her fingersand slid down towards the ground as the thing growled deeply. Closing her eyes,Sana prayed. Please God, don't let me die. Don't let me die. Don't let it hurtme.
Sherepeated the prayer like a mantra as she waited within the darkness of herclosed eyes. She thought of Todd and wondered where he ran to. Had that loudcrack been a gunshot? Were those screams she had heard belong to those awfulguys or poor Todd? She prayed it had not been Todd. She prayed it soon wouldn’tbe her.
Whenshe had opened her eyes again, she was staring up at the familiar random patternof her bedroom ceiling. Blinking tiredly, she let the memories of the nightcome back to her: Todd's smile, the old abandoned farm, the sense of wrongnessfrom those two boys, screams, gunshots, the hot puff of breath at her neck, andsomething long, black and curved shining in the low light of the dying sun—aclaw?
Herheart was pounding as the temporarily forgotten fear crept back inside herchest and settled around her heart like a chain of thorns. How did she gethere? The first thing she could remember was standing at the bottom of herporch, leaning heavily on a familiar solid chest when her front door opened.Turning away from the wonderful warmth holding her, she saw images of hermother, father, and grandfather rushing down the stairs and hands grabbing forher. Sana could only partially listen as her mother demanded answers from thecalm, steady voice as he sorrowfully told her they had been out taking picturesand had gotten scared by a bear and lost in the woods. He told them he had to goback and try to find their other friend, who was still lost in the woods, buthe would be back in the morning to answer the rest of their questions.
Shewas ushered into the bathroom and simultaneously berated, given the thirddegree, and fussed over by her mom and grandmother. But she could hardly answertheir questions as her grandmother dabbed at the small cuts with alcohol, andher mother decreed, she would never be allowed to leave the house again. Herthoughts were on him. How did Zach find her? That had been his strong armsholding her up and his deep voice talking to her parents outside. But when? Andmore importantly, how?
Lyingin bed, she stared up through the dark to the ceiling above and tried to think.She remembered the creature being over her as she laid on the ground. Zach hadsaid it was a bear. Did he scare it off? Had he been out looking for her eversince she didn't show up to their meeting time? Why did he lie and say he wasout with her and Todd? She had so many questions and so few answers it onlymade her head hurt. Turning into her pillow, she inhaled the faint smell of himthat still lingered on her pillow from the night before. The pain from seeinghim with that girl still pulsed painfully in her heart, along with the constantthump of guilt at leaving Todd. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would wake up and findout the truth and find poor Todd.
Thesound of the doorbell ringing that next morning took her from her sleep.Although, it was the sound of voices in the foyer that got her up from the bed.Ignoring the fact she was still in her unicorn pajama pants and tank top, Sanaopened her door and squinted at the bright light from the front door.
"Itwould really help if I could talk to her, ma'am," Sheriff Samons saidtersely.
"Andas I just said, she is asleep," Fatima Bhatt replied, her voice as cold asice as she stared at the Sheriff through her open door. “She was lost in thewoods last night and needs rest."
"Yes,but…ah, there she is. Sana Bhatt?" he called out to her, leaning past hermother to see her. However, he gave her no time to confirm his question."I need you to answer a few questions about last night."
"Nowwait a minute," her father, who had been standing behind her mother,stepped forward towards the Sheriff. "You have no right to come heredemanding anything from anyone. We told you she was with this young man andanother one named Todd or something. What else do you need?"
Comingcloser now, Sana stopped next to her parents, her eyes widening at the smallgroup of people standing on the porch. Standing next to his uncle andsandwiched between a deputy stood Zach. His eyes found hers immediately.Betrayal and confusion collided within her heart as she noted the relief in hiseyes as he looked her over.
"Lastnight, two young men camping in the woods went missing under suspicious circumstances,”Sheriff Samons explained impatiently. “We found blood and evidence of a violentcrime. We need her to answer some questions."
Appalled,her mother looked to her and to the Sheriff, anger mutating her features."My daughter had no involvement in anything like that. There was nomention of other men," she looked at her and Zach accusingly wordlesslydemanding that they confirm.
"No,ma'am," Zach answered promptly, ignoring Samons accusing scowl. “We justgot spooked by a bear and got lost in the woods. I didn’t see any others outthere.”
Sanacould see something pass through Zach's eyes, but she couldn’t decipher it. Shecouldn’t understand why he was saying he was with her and Todd. Was he tryingto protect her from her parents, including himself in her outing with Todd soshe wouldn't get in trouble? Looking at her mother and father's face, Sanaswallowed a knot of fear and shook her head as she looked to the Sheriff'sangry, waiting eyes. "I don't know of any other guys. Todd and I—and Zach,"she added, seeing Zach stiffen at her near error, "Were just takingpictures and heard the sound of…something big…" she said, her voicetrailing off.
Zachlooked away from her and to his uncle Adam who looked to the deputy standing onthe other side of Zach holding something in his hand. Gesturing for it, Zachtook the handed item and turned back to her with it. Caked in mud, Zach handedher camera to her.
