God. That was when we were sophomores. Lillian has spent days, months, years coming up with the perfect revenge. She found us in Pennsylvania.
“Your friend mute?”
Kayla pushes harder into me.
“Scared,” I say. “You have a gun pointed at us. Why don’t you lower it and we can talk? We’ll answer any questions you have. I’ll find a way to make you believe how sorry we are.”
“Let’s take a walk,” Lillian says.
Kayla shakes her head.
Lillian’s cold blue eyes turn black. “No? You’re saying no to me?”
“Where do you want us to go?” I ask, to get her mind off Kayla’s reluctance.
She wants us on her terms. We decided to confront her and now she’s trying to take back control. Surely the gun gives her enough of that?
“I have a place,” Lillian says.
I grit my teeth. “Okay. Where is this place?”
“In the forest. An abandoned cabin that’s mine now. You two should be used to cabins in the woods. Let’s. Go.” She inches her chin to the side.
I take Kayla’s hand and pull her along. “No, Esme,” she whispers, trying to tug me back toward camp.
“We have no choice. It’ll be fine,” I tell her.
“You don’t know that!”
No, I don’t.
“Hurry up, ladies! We haven’t got all night.”
Why haven’t we got all night?
What exactly does Lillian plan to do before sunrise?
52
We slowly walk deeper into the forest with Lillian right behind us. I can’t see the gun, but I feel its presence like a dark cloud following us, ready to shoot daggers of lightning.
Beside me, Kayla’s body shakes violently, her breath coming in short pants. Her fear is feeding mine.
We can’t give up.
I try to make eye contact with her so I can calm her down before she has a panic attack.
What do we do? We could fight Lillian now and speed this whole thing up. Maybe we’ll get away. Or do we go along with her and hope a better opportunity to run comes up? Once we reach her destination, she will have full control. That’s not a position I want to be in.
I should try to get the gun, to knock it away from her and grab it. We’d be in charge then.
Seems like a semi-decent plan. Unless she’s further back than she sounds, and I can’t reach the gun.
In that case, Kayla and I are both dead.
Squinting, I see the outline of something big and square in the distance. A building.
I swallow. “Are we going in there?” I ask.
“Keep walking,” Lillian barks.
That’s a yes.
“Esme,” Kayla whispers, her voice trembling.
“It’s okay.”
The pine trees around us blow in the soft breeze, like they’re alive and leading the way. The only audience to whatever Lillian has planned.
Whatever she thinks is going to go down, I have to keep a clear head and fight back. Kayla and I are not going to die tonight. If that’s what she even wants. Lillian is understandably angry, but murderous?
There’s a big leap between wanting to kill someone and actually doing it.
Hunting people isn’t like hunting deer.
We approach the building. It’s a cabin, about the size of the staff cabin at camp.
“What is this place?” I ask.
“An old ranger’s cabin. They built another one closer to town along with the new camping site. No one comes here anymore.”
No one comes here anymore.
I take a breath. We’re all alone out here. But we’re not alone, not really. Kayla and I have each other and we’re strong.
“What are you going to do?” I ask.
“Get inside, Esme.”
I can hardly refuse, can I? I turn to her and I’m met with the barrel of a gun. Swallowing my nerves, I look past it to meet her eyes. “Lillian, please. You can’t take this back. Whatever you do, you’ll have to live with it. That’s not going to be easy, it eats away at you. Trust me.”
“Trust you?” Her hollow eyes round. “After that night, you expect me to trust you?”
“No, I don’t, but I’m telling the truth. Living with guilt is hell. I know it’s what I deserve.”
“You deserve much worse than to live with a little guilt. I have burns over forty percent of my torso. It was agony. I’m scarred for life. What do you think living with that is like?”
I want to curl up inside myself.
“Lillian, I’m so—”
“Don’t say sorry! Do not say sorry. Just get inside!”
Kayla whimpers and grabs hold of my arm. “Esme, we can’t.”
Lillian tilts her head.
“It’s okay, Kayla, follow me.” I take her hand. She grips mine so hard it almost crumbles.
I turn back around, and Kayla and I walk side by side, both stiff with fear, toward the door.
Kayla reaches out. I watch her hand shake around the doorknob.
“Inside,” Lillian barks.
I don’t look at Kayla as we step inside the cabin because I don’t want to see her fear. I told her that everything would be okay. I’m not sure it will be.
The room looks warm and inviting. There’s a stone fireplace, and a lamp sitting on a table, glowing orange. There’s a fluffy white rug on the floor and a small leather sofa with a red blanket draped over the back.
In one corner is a little kitchen with a kettle and a microwave. Two doors are at the back of the cabin. I assume one is a bathroom. The other I don’t want to know. It was probably an office before, but who knows what Lillian is using it for.
The cabin looks quaint and comfortable. Not exactly what you’d expect for a villain’s lair.
“Sit down,” Lillian instructs, pointing with the gun toward the love seat. Kayla and I don’t hesitate. We have to be careful.
There will be no silly and disorganized escape plan.
I sink into the soft, worn leather and look up at Lillian. She stands close to the fireplace and faces us. That’s when I see what’s on the wall behind her. A photo collage. Loads of photos of me and Kayla. Ones from when she was chasing us through the woods, ones of us at camp, and even ones of us sleeping.