Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Strange vibes,” Lauren says, nibbling on a cookie and dusting the crumbs off her thighs. “Not just from the journey, but like here.” She motions around her. “This place. The lodge.”
I have to agree. I feel with us coming back early we interrupted something. I know the lodge is just a bunch of buildings, but some days, particularly at night, I feel it has a personality of its own—and it’s not a nice personality. Moody, perhaps. And tonight, I feel like it wants us gone, like we’re not supposed to be here.
“Okay, I’m actually going to have an early one tonight,” Lauren says, getting to her feet.
“Yeah me too,” Rav says, stifling a yawn. He and Lauren lock eyes and a knowing look passes between them before they wave goodbye to us and head up the stairs together.
“Oh, they are so doing it,” Munawar says.
I elbow him, almost causing his hot chocolate to spill on his shirt that says All Mushrooms are Edible—Some Only Once.
“Nah, they are,” says Patrick. “Good thing I don’t share a wall with either of them.”
And at that the rest of us decide to turn in.
I say goodbye to the guys, unlock my door, and step inside my room. I head straight to the sink, washing all the camping off my face and hands until I feel clean and refreshed, even if my mind is still in the murk.
Suddenly an impossibly loud, clanging alarm sounds, and the room starts flashing red, like I’m in a submarine and a missile is coming. I yelp and cover my ears with my hands, unable to block out the noise as a shuddering sound starts to shake the building.
“Warning,” a robotic voice announces over loudspeakers I didn’t even know existed. “Dangerous animal reported in area. Please seek shelter immediately. Warning. Dangerous animal reported in area. Please seek shelter immediately.”
“Oh my god,” I cry out, running to my door and opening it to see everyone filing out of their rooms, some excited, some in a panic.
“Do you think it’s the bears?” Munawar says, grabbing my arm, and I can’t tell if he’s excited or not.
“What bears?” Natasha asks, holding Justin’s hand.
Further down the hall I spot Lauren and Rav stumbling out of her room, their clothes askew, their hair messy. If I wasn’t starting to panic myself, I’d think it comical that the lodge is cock-blocking her.
“We’re locked in!” someone yells from downstairs.
We all clamor down the steps to the common room where Toshio is struggling to open the door. It only moves an inch before it hits metal siding.
“No way, they have automatic shutters,” Justin says. “This is like living in the middle of a bank robbery!”
The door to reception opens and Michelle steps out, red-faced and looking flustered as hell, her palms raised.
“Don’t panic everyone!” she shouts. “Remain calm. This happens sometimes, it’s probably just a cougar.”
“Yeah but cougars avoid people if they can help it,” Noor points out. “They’re not velociraptors trying to find their way in.”
“I did not need that visual!” Munawar shrieks.
Chaos. It’s utter chaos.
“And why are the windows not covered?” Lauren says, peering out of one.
That gives me an idea. I decide to run up the stairs and back to my room.
I hurry over to the window to get a visual. I can see people running beneath the trees, and though I can’t make out who they are, some of them are carrying rifles.
Jesus. I guess this really is a big deal.
I keep watching, waiting for someone else, something else, but it seems like they’ve all run off some place I can’t see. I’m about to head downstairs and join the rest when movement catches my eye.
It’s crawling all crouched, like an animal, and pale, but then it straightens up once it’s under the cedar tree across from me, looking decidedly human as it climbs up. The cedar branches begin to shake, and every now and then I can see glimpses of hands, of feet, of a face, until finally it moves out onto a branch at eye level with me.
A scream dies in my throat.
It’s Clayton.
It’s hard to tell at first because his face is covered in shadow, but the shadows are slick and when I realize it’s covered in blood, my mouth waters with nausea.
He’s staring right at me, naked. He’s been cut open down his chest, staples holding him back together. His fingers curl around the branch and he’s trying to speak, to tell me something.
I’m about to open the window when suddenly he twists to look behind him and a bunch of people run under the tree. A gun goes off, shaking the window, and Clayton is hit, falling out of the tree and to the ground in a lifeless heap.
I scream.
I scream and I scream and then someone down below looks up at me, his face in shadow.