Page 39 of Property of Woods

I immediately don’t like Gabbie.She’s superficial.

“Are you ready to go?Foolish promised to take me for a ride today.”

“Yeah sure.It’s not like I have any big plans.”

“Did we just pass the turnoff for the clubhouse?”

“Oh yeah.I need to run one more errand.I have to meet my weed guy.It won’t take long, I swear.I would have told you, but I was afraid you’d say no.I hate meeting him alone.He tries to get favors from me for selling to me and he’s seriously gross.But if you’re with me, he won’t try anything.”

“Oh.Yeah, sure.No problem.”My stomach tenses and I get a terrible suspicion that she’s lying to me.I don’t know why, but my mind keeps reminding me of Madz telling me not to trust her.

She pulls down a dirt road that looks like it leads to the middle of nowhere and I worry that any moment now I’m going to hear banjos picking in the woods or seeing Skinwalkers or something.There’s no one out here.

She parks her car at a gate.“We’ve gotta walk the rest of the way.He has a hunting cabin he sells from.”

“Your weed guy lives in the woods?”

“This isn’t California, babes.This is the Ozarks.”She exits the car and when I don’t get out right away, she motions me to get on with it.

Reluctantly, I undo my seatbelt.We climb over the gate, and I feel like a criminal and like we shouldn’t be here.The grass on the other side of the gate is up to my knees.

“Are you sure this is where he lives?”I look around the woods that surround us.

“Don’t puss out on me.Where’s your sense of adventure?Come on.I don’t want to be out here forever.”She jogs ahead, and I follow even though the blades of grass are scratching at my legs and I’m pretty sure I just saw a spider bigger than my hand.

We walk for what feels like forever and finally we come up on a small cabin that looks more like a shack.There’s no way some weed dealer lives here.What kind of game is she playing?

We get to the cabin and there’s an ATV parked off to the side.Maybe Gabbie isn’t lying, and this is simply where he does his business, but it’s creepy and weird.

I hate everything about this situation.I never should have gotten out of the car.

The porch creaks as we set foot on it, and I swear if a gust of wind blew through right now, it’d take the rickety building with it.

I scratch at my legs, hoping there aren’t any ticks crawling on me.

Gabbie knocks on the door, and it falls open.“Come on.”She shoves me through the narrow doorway and as soon as I cross the threshold, everything goes black.My face is covered with a black bag, and I’m scared that the men Big Daddy warned would come for me have found me.

Someone binds my hands behind me and kicks me to the floor.

“Not such hot shit now, are you?You stupid cunt.Did you think you could show up here and take my place?Woods is mine, you hear me!”Faye screams at me.

Gabbie set me up so that Faye could kill me.

I draw my knees up and kick as someone tries to grab at my ankles.

“Hold her still,” Faye orders.

“I’m trying,” Gabbie whines.

One of them punches me in the stomach, followed by the head.

“I can’t breathe,” I scream.

“You’re going to smother her,” Gabbie complains.

“She’s fine.”

The two of them bicker back and forth.Gabbie is yelling at Faye, saying she told her they were just going to scare me.Only an idiot would believe that.

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