Jo’s mouth gaped. She stared in disbelief into the empty air the man had occupied.
“Let’s go!” Galen pushed her.
She stumbled forward.
He grabbed her hand. “Come on, Jo!”
He jerked her into a run and then let go of her hand. Jo ran behind him, mechanically, as if someone else was operating her body. He kept looking back at her, but didn’t slow down.
Her thoughts were spinning: the mystery of the trail, Galen’s constant rushing, the way that man had looked at him. Maybe Galen’s one of them. He sent everyone to the river with nowhere else to go! He protected me—but—oh, God, what do I do?
She had to stop him. She had to find out the truth about him before he could reach her friends, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. Her side ached, her leg muscles burned. But she kept running, adrenaline carrying her. She was too winded to yell out his name, but she tried. “Galen, stop!” It came out breathy, with little volume. There was no way he heard it. It took a tremendous amount of energy to lift her hand and wipe the sweat running down into her eye. Her anxious gaze bored through the dark blue air, straining to keep Galen’s back in sight.
A movement in the corner of her eye stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes honed in on the object. A man with dark hair, wearing a white T-shirt, staggered out from under a pine tree.
“Lary!”
“Jo…” He reached out with one hand, clutching his chest with the other. His knees gave way and he crumpled to the ground.
Jo dashed toward him, her eyes fixed on his limp form.
Out of nowhere, an object collided with her and sent her flying. She landed on her side, her head thudded against the prickly ground. Dazed, she got to her knees. She tried to stand up, her eyes darting everywhere. Like a wrecking ball, something slammed against her, knocking her back down. She whimpered from the jarring collision, rolled onto her back—and gasped. A darkly clothed body—a man—levitated horizontally in the air above her. His dark, matted hair hung down, covering the sides of his face. She blinked hard to make the apparition go away, but it wouldn’t. She tried to scream, but choked.
He floated downward, formed and solid, not an apparition. His features were obscured, but when he turned his head, the moonlight glinted on a long, white tooth protruding from one side of his mouth. A slimy strand of mucous hung from his gums, like a thread from a spider’s web. He dropped closer and closer. Jo’s heart raced. A thin cry crawled out of her throat. She scraped at the earth with her hands and punched it with her boots, clambering to get out from under him. He was almost on top of her.
“Hey, ugly!”
The man dropped to the ground at Jo’s feet. Standing hunched over, he spun around towards the deep voice.
“Yeah, you!” Galen yelled again.
The man snarled and crouched low. His top lip curled upwards, revealing pointed fangs on each side of his mouth. Galen glowered at the beast.
Jo scrambled to her feet, grabbing an aspen branch off the ground. She moved to help Galen, but another man dropped in front of her, as if he’d fallen from the dark sky. She screamed and jumped back.
He was thin, with straggly, yellow hair. His eyes were black and pinched in fury. He took a step. She swung her weapon. He flinched and leapt backwards, as if the limb was toxic, growling at her and glaring at the branch in her hands. The reaction was not lost on Jo. She poked the branch at him. He hissed and moved back. The moonlight glinted on the pointy nails at the ends of his fingers. A demonic growl came up from his throat.
Jo’s skin crawled with fear. She wanted to run, but was more afraid to turn her back on this creature than she was to face him. She swung the branch back and forth, forcing the man backwards. He ducked and flinched from each swing. His face crinkled in rage. In a blink, he leapt to the side of her and knocked the branch from her hands. He grabbed her arm and smacked her across the face. Her head whipped sideways. She yelped. Both of his hands gripped her arms tightly, his fingernails digging into her skin.
Her cheek throbbed. The odor of dirty flesh and rancid breath saturated the air between them as his face moved closer to hers. His blanched hair framed a young man’s face, but his skin was cracked like old leather and his eyes were cold and as empty as death.
Jo struggled to get free from his grip, but his fingers circled her arms like icy rings of steel. He raised his upper lip, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth and two canines gouging through his gums before her eyes. His breath was foul and sickening: the odor of blood and decay.
She kicked him and tried to twist away from him, but he held her fast. He pushed his head against her jaw, bending her head to the side so that the crook of her neck was exposed. The coarse fibers of his hair mashed against her skin like dried-out straw. She fought the force of his head, but it was like pushing against a wall. Jo cringed and cried out. Hot tears spilled from her eyes, burning her assaulted flesh.
The beast yowled in her ear. His head jerked back. He was ripped away, his fingernails scraping the flesh from her arms. Jo fell backwards, hitting the ground hard. With the wind knocked out of her, she sat up quickly and gulped air into her empty lungs.
The creature was snarling at Galen. The bottom half of its face was a black hole filled with jagged teeth. Galen stuck out his hands and motioned for the man to come forward. “Come on!” He shouted.
The stranger let out a shriek that pierced Jo’s ears. In an instant, he sprang into the night sky and vanished.
Galen turned and looked at Jo. She panted hard while her heart pounded her chest wall. She had covered her ears from the horrible screech and sat trembling in the pale glow of the half-moon. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.
He walked towards her.
Jo tensed. She scooted backwards, boots pushing against the ground. She flipped over, desperate to get to her feet.
“Jo, wait!”
“Get away from me!” She made it to her feet, but his hands grabbed her shoulders. She twisted out from under them and darted to her left.
“Jo, stop!” He grabbed her around her waist, forcing her to the ground.
She rolled away. He climbed on top of her, straddling her. She screamed and slapped at his face. He blocked her hands and gripped her wrists, pinning them to the dirt beside her head. He flattened his body on top of her. She couldn’t move under his weight or free her wrists from the strength of his hands. God, help me!
“Jo, it’s Ok.” He breathed hard. “Calm down. I’m not here to hurt you.”
His weight compressed her lungs; she could hardly draw a breath. Her heart knocked against his chest. Her fatigued muscles burned and quivered and sweat poured into her hair.
“It’s Ok. Please, Jo.”
She fought him for another minute of useless struggle, then surrendered, letting her body go limp, completely exhausted. Whatever was going to happen, her fate was in his hands.
He relaxed and dropped his head down beside hers, his face buried in the wavy tresses of her hair. His moist cheek was hot against hers. His quick, heavy breathing was in her ear. He unclenched her wrists.
Jo blinked hard to squeeze sweat and remnants of tears from her eyes. The cobalt blue sky wavered above and summer’s stars winked at her. The sound of the river came from behind them, carried through the trees on the fluid night air.
Galen lifted his head and raised his chest off hers. He looked down at her. The glow of the moon shone on his hair, like light on black ice. His bangs brushed the ends of his lashes. Though the moon was above them, his eyes glimmered with light. She glanced at his full lips.
“Are you all right?” He whispered.
Jo nodded.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Jo. Ok?”
“Ok.”
His eyes were not wild or deranged. His expression was one of worry, not demented killer. Her eyes stayed on his face as he slid his body to the ground beside her and propped himself up on his forearm. Jo took a deep breath and filled her lungs. She drew her tired arms in, clasping her
hands below her chin. She winced as he gently touched her face with the back of two fingers, just below the bruise on it. His lips compressed together. Jo resisted the desire to touch his face. His skin was iridescent in the moonlight.
“I’m on your side, Jo,” he told her. His voice was soft and cool. “More than you know.”
The tender tone of his words plucked a string in Jo’s heart. There was a twinge inside her—a déjà vu feeling that something like this—his head above hers— had happened before. “Do I know you?” She whispered, searching the silver waters in his eyes.
He hesitated, but shook his head. “No…you don’t know me.” He kept glancing at the bruise on her face. “I’m sorry.”
Jo licked her lips. “I’m sorry too. I thought you were…” She tweaked her mouth.
“One of the bad guys?”
“Yeah.”
He pushed himself onto his knees. He took her arms and pulled her up until she was on her knees facing him. “I don’t blame you.” He let go of her and they both sat back on their heels. He pressed his hands down on top of his legs. He looked at the ground between them and took a deep breath. “I guess, you could say, I’ve been a little resentful, lately.”
“Of what?”
He raised his head. His eyes moved swiftly over her. At once, she was self-conscious of her tangled hair and dirty clothes. His moon-colored gaze rose and met hers. “I don’t have time to explain right now, Jo.” He spoke her name softly.
He held out his hands and she timidly placed hers inside them. He got to his feet, pulling her up with him.
“Galen, who were those…those guys?”
“Bad news. I think they’re out of here—for a while. Let’s find the others.”
Jo’s eyes popped open wide. She clenched Galen’s arm. “Oh, m’gosh! Lary!”
Chapter 22