Page 3 of Cursed
Birds chattered in the shady trees, and sunlight dappled the green leaves. Tiny brown acorns littered the ground.
I paced forward, scanning the area for any sign of the caves Professor Smith had mentioned. To my left lay the creek. On my right, the land rose upward at a gentle angle, and something gleamed through the dense tree trunks.
Hmm. That could be the outer walls of a cave. I’ll go a little farther and have a peek.
I didn’t want to get lost, though. The rancher who owned this land had graciously let Barkley University use it for research and hands-on learning. He owned thousands of wild, pristine acres in this area.
As I picked my way through the underbrush and swiped branches out of my face, the ground steepened. When I looked backward, the opening I’d taken from the cliff was visible, but barely.
I turned to my goal. Ten feet ahead through the trees, several scraggly, thorny bushes grew against a stone wall.
“Looks like a cave.”
Moving closer, I investigated the rock.Yep, more limestone.I traced my fingertips across the hard, cool surface, trailing the rough stone and walking around a gentle curve.
A dark opening appeared, five feet high and three feet wide. It yawned before me, a black hole without any sunlight reaching into its depths.
A feeling of trepidation washed over me. My heart thudded, and a light sheen of sweat broke out over my back. But another sensation competed with the fear. Excitement. The thrill of the unknown.
I wonder how big it is on the inside.I reached into my pocket for my phone’s flashlight, then groaned. “Damn. I left it below.”
The thought of entering the dank, lightless cave should’ve made me nervous. Foxes or coyotes probably used it as shelter, yet the thought of wild animals didn’t deter me from my curiosity.
Maybe if I get a bit closer, I’ll see inside better once my eyes adjust.A mental image of loose arrowheads spurred me forward beyond the edges of the opening.
“Hello?” My voice sounded high and weak.Stupid.I didn’t know why I felt the need to announce myself—it wasn’t like anything was going to answer.
I giggled, hoping my nervous laughter would override the energy somersaulting through my blood.
What the hell am I thinking, entering a dark cave all by myself?An image of rabid bats flying through the pitch-black air and landing on my neck for a bite flitted through my mind.
I cleared my throat, and the silence swallowed the noise down its invisible maw. Another image of vampire bats hanging overhead clenched my stomach and I stepped backward, my adrenaline pumping furiously.Forget it. I don’t care if there’s ahundredarrowheads in here—this is a dumb idea.Foxes and skunks were one thing, but bats?
Oh hell naw.
“Hello,” a dark, husky voice whispered from somewhere in the dark.
The hairs on my arm popped, and a chill entered my veins. My lungs froze. Of all the things I’d imagined living in a cave, amanhad never crossed my mind.
Phoebe, you idiot.Realizing I was quite alone in and hidden from view of my fellow students, I turned to flee, not bothering to respond. Safety waited in the sunshine with Tara and the rest of my class.
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere.” He gripped my hips and stalled my forward momentum. “Don’t you know it’s rude to invite yourself into someone’s home?” He bunched the back of my shirt right before yanking me against him.
Leather and smoke swirled into my nostrils. My throat clenched, and I froze, fear and shock ripping through my body.
I have to get away. Now.Out of options, I screamed, the sound bouncing around the black interior, as I thrashed against him, thrusting my elbows behind me, hoping the sharp contact would surprise him enough to release me.
His stomach might as well have been a slab of concrete.
The light at the mouth of the cave enticed and teased, begging me to run to its warmth of protection, but the grip around my waist was a cold, hard shackle.
A hand clamped itself over my mouth, cutting off my scream.
Hot breath swirled against my neck as his lips brushed the shell of my ear. “Stop struggling.”
Twisting, I tried to get a good look at him since he was also positioned toward the cave’s lit opening.If I’m going to die, I want to at least see the face of my killer.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” His head turned, and I could only glimpse straight hair falling over the side of his face. “Unless you have a wish for death.”
