Page 114 of Lost to the Woods

She gasps, stuck in her fear.

“Run!” I command.

And she obeys.

She runs into the blackness of the night, into the arms of something worse. The forest welcomes her. Or it devours her.

I watch as she disappears, her heartbeat echoing off the woods, her scent trailing behind her like perfume: blood, fear… and that traitorous slick heat between her thighs.

Doruun steps next to me, squeezing my shoulder firmly.

“I grew very fond of her,” I finally admit out loud.

“We all did.” He sighs heavily. “It’s already done.”

“We’ve prepared her for this,” Khalok adds behind us, but uncertainty edges his voice. “She’s ready.”

I close my eyes. I still smell her in the air. I still hear her pulse somewhere in the dark.

Only one thought spiraling in my mind:

Baby, please come back to me.

26. Bunny

Run.

The word screams in my head, over and over, like a drumbeat keeping time with my pulse. My bare feet slap against the damp earth, twigs snapping under me, leaves slick with dew making every panicked step that much treacherous.

The forest is alive around me.

Watching. Whispering. Laughing

Something breathes just out of sight—wet, heavy…hungry.

The sounds are loud at first, so loud they rattle my teeth. Then they fade, taunting, drifting farther away.

But I know better now. When it gets quiet, it means it’s closer.

I don’t look back.

I can’t.

The marks carved into my skin sting like a million needles piercing me at once, fresh blood trickling down my thighs, my stomach, between my breasts. The axe in my hand is heavy, the handle rough against my palm.

They gave it to me like it was some kind of mercy.

Like I stood a chance.

The whistling starts again—high, shrill, cutting through the trees.

It’s behind me.

Then to the left.

Then right.

Then somewhere far ahead, like whatever’s making the sound is everywhere at once.

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