Page 100 of Jig's Last Dance

The forest floor is covered in pine cones, stray sticks, and other detritus I can’t make out. With each footfall and snapped twig, my heart pounds harder.

What if John’s here? Shit. For all we know, he’s watching us now. Not hard to do when we’re tromping along like a herd of buffalo.

Sweat slicks my back, and all I can imagine is busting in on something that might get us killed. I’m regretting not sharing John and Roman’s conversation, but what the fuck could I do?

“Monkey’s butthole,” Rain mutters and I glance back to see her right herself.

She wipes her hands on her jeans, and I continue forward grimly. At least I’m not the onlymonkey’s buttholeout here. Sigh.

The walk feels like a fucking marathon, and I huff my relief when Jig pauses up ahead and we all gather around. Except there’s no cabin in sight, and instead, he’s shining the light in a hole.

I full-on shudder when I glance inside because this isn’t a little hole. It’s a fucking body-sized crater.

“Fuck me,” I breathe, my pulse jumping when Rain spins and buries her face in Cyn’s chest.

I can’t see his expression, but I’m sure it’s grim as we step around the damn man-made trap and keep moving.

“I’m fine,” she murmurs, and Cyn huffs.

I’m full-on regretting agreeing to this now that we’re here, but how the fuck could I have imagined this? People don’t act this way. They don’t live like this. Or so I thought. Apparently, I need to pull my head out of my damn ass.

Miserably, I follow Jig’s path, shivering in the cool air. I can hear my breath seesawing from my mouth, and with a mental eye roll, I try to regulate my breathing. Passing out from lack of oxygen isn’t going to help the situation.

Up ahead, Jig stops again, and I look to the ground for another hole, only to raise my head when he flashes his beam into the trees. My stomach lurches as I follow the shaft of light, blinking to clear my vision.

Hanging from a fucking tree is something I can’t make out, but I step back anyway into Rain’s outstretched hands. She grabs my shoulders and leans into me as we tilt our heads. Jig flashes the beam higher.

“Fuck me,” I moan.

It’s a man. A bloated, beaten-to-death man.

His vacant eyes stare right through me, and I cover my mouth and the scream pressing at my lungs. What the actual fuck?

Rain whimpers, her trembling form flush against my back.

The body sways gently by the rope wrapped around his neck, and I can’t seem to look away from his tongue protruding from his mouth. It’s grotesque, but like a train wreck, I’m caught in the horrific mess.

Cyn steps around us and stops next to Jig. Dropping my gaze to avoid looking at his dead as fuck expression, I bite my knuckles. The pain grounds me, and I breathe deeply because I can’t afford to lose my shit. Not now. Not here, although the possibility is lurking just below my skin—I’m full up on the horror fest now.

Surrounded by scenery that could be used in a horror fucking film, I wrap my arms around my waist and blurt, “We’re going to die.”

I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but Cyn and Jig turn to me. I can’t see them behind the beam of light, but I blink and say, “He’s a monster.”

Behind me, Rain touches my back and says fiercely, “Even monsters have a weakness.”

“What’s his?” I ask, but she just pushes me gently forward.

We pass the man in the tree, and I drop into numbness. I think I’m at the point of accepting I can’t win against true evil. I’m going to die.

It’s not how I envisioned it, but I guess it’s one hell of a way to go. Fuck dying of old age; I’m going out with a motherfucking bang.

Finally, Jig clicks off the light and stops near a ring of trees with blackness beyond. My fingers itch to grab my gun, but I don’t want to play my hand just yet. At this point, I’m hoping the worst is over and we go home. Home. Ha! It’s a sad fucking day when Uncle Sal is preferable to this.

While I’m on the verge of shitting my pants, Bastion steps around us, and the guys huddle together.

Rain’s arm brushes my shoulder, and she says, “Whatever happens, you have to trust us.”

“Like you trust me?” I snort.

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