Out of Place (6 page)

Donovan
opened his mouth, but didn’t reply right away.

“My point exactly
,” Rick said.

“I bet there’re some.”
Donovan shrugged. “Just not in my group.”

Something in the woods caught
Zack’s eye. He reached into his pocket and took out his high-powered LED flashlight. When he shined it into the woods, he saw a brief reflection, that then flittered away.

“What is it?” Rick asked.

Zack narrowed his eyes and followed the beam. “I saw something.”

“Bear?”

“Not unless a bear has something reflective on him.”

“Eyes?”

“No, it wasn’t eye shine. This looked like glass or metal.”

Rick looked around. “There
’re probably other campers around here somewhere. This place isn’t that far from the trail.”

Zack
scanned the perimeter with the light. “I’m sure there are. But why would they be stalking us from the woods?”

Donovan
shook his head adamantly. “No way guys. This is way off the beaten path. We’re two miles off the alternate route and at least three miles off the AT, and at least a mile from any marked cabins or campsites.”

“True
,” Zack offered, “
But
but
there’s a trail here. We found this place
,
.
I’m sure there’s something around here we didn’t see.”

“There
’re cabins,” Rick said. “All along the AT there are cabins that aren’t on the maps. My Uncle Liam has hiked this trail in its entirety three times, and he said you find all sorts of weirdoes and bizarre things off the map. That’s why he wanted me to take a gun.”

Javier looked around nervously. “Maybe we should have one.”

Zack nodded. “I imagine there are weirdoes out here.” He looked up and saw the stars were starting to pop. It was really a beautiful night. The moon was not up yet—it was somewhere over the horizon—but last night it had been about two-thirds full.

Rick looked up. “When’s that meteor shower supposed to
start?”

“It starts tomorrow
, but peaks the night after. We should be up at Coalville by then, so the view should be amazing.”

“We can camp there on the open pasture,
” Donovan added, “totally unobstructed view. I planned that, you’re welcome.”

Zack
looked into the woods again and swore he saw something. He snapped his light on and saw something move. “What the…?”

“What
is it?” Rick asked.

“There’s something in those woods.”

Rick shrugged it off. “Probably an animal. We’re invading their territory and they’re probably pissed.”

He was probably right.

Chapter 9

Emily woke up in the middle of the night when the door opened. Harry came into the cabin, clearly bothered. “What’s wrong?”

“There’re campers, right down the trail at the lake.”

“So what?”

“
No one should be around here. This isn’t good. This is way too remote for anyone to’ve just happened onto this place. They could be a threat.”

Emily sat up on the edge of the bed.
“Why would they be a threat? I’m sure they’re not.”

“We can’t take any chances.” He took out a rifle and started digging out rounds of ammunition
from a large green box.

“What’re you doing?”

“I have to eliminate the threat.”

Emily sprang up to her feet in alarm.
“What? You can’t just kill random people. They probably don’t have anything to do with us.”

Harry didn’t reply,
he didn’t look up, he just continued loading the magazine with bullets.

“Harry, I’m sure it’s fine. There’s no need to panic.” She walked over to him.
Beads of sweat were trickling down his brow, but it wasn’t hot. “Hey, listen—calm down.” He looked at her, and in the glint of the oil lamp light his eyes looked crazy. She swallowed hard. Never before had she seen him like this. Something was all wrong about his reaction. The last day or so he’d been acting different. But she just chalked it up to the isolation, after all, she was feeling a bit antsy herself. “Harry, it’s been four days, I think we should call my dad.”

He didn’t answer her.

“Harry, I want to talk to my father.”

He still didn’t answer.

“Harry!”

He looked up
.

“If you don’t let me talk to my dad
, I’m leaving. I’m going to just go back to the road and start walking until I see a car.”

“No!”
He stood and took hold of her arm, pulling her across the room.

“O
uch, Harry, you’re hurting me.” She nearly punched his arm away when he stopped.

“I’m sorry, you’
re right.” He placed the rifle down on the table and circled the room. “I’m just on edge. Your father asked me to protect you. I jumped into soldier mode and it’s hard to climb out. And we haven’t heard anything from anyone. I’m starting to freak out. I’m just afraid something horrible has happened.”

Emily
rubbed and flexed her arm. “It’s fine. Just promise me you’re not going to do anything. Wait until morning and maybe they’ll be gone.”

He nodded and sat in the chair. Emily moved back to the bed. She wasn’t going back to sleep. The trust she had in Harry had been
eroding over the past couple days and now it was all but gone. Sliding into the bed, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.

Harry’s phone rang and he quick
ly answered. “Hello?” He nodded and listened.

Emily got
up to the edge of the bed, excited; this might be good news that this mess was over. Maybe everything had blown over and she could get back home. She watched Harry; his eyes darted back and forth.

“I understand.” He hung up the phone.

“What? What is it?”

He slid the phone back into his pocket. “
That was your father. It’s just what we suspected. Someone is blackmailing him to steal money. They still think they’ve got you, and they contacted him about hacking some bank in Europe. He said he’s got a plan in motion, so we just need to stick it out for a while longer. He said not to contact him under any circumstances, that if he tried to go to the police they’d kill your entire family.”

“So we’re not going home?”

“I’m sorry, Emily, but you may have to get used to this. We may not be going back for a while.” He lay back on the cot and closed his eyes.

A new resolve started to build in her. Maybe she was taking a big chance, maybe Harry was telling the truth. But something was very fishy here.
Why wouldn’t her father ask to talk to her? She didn’t quite know what it was, but in her heart she knew it: something here was wrong.

After what seemed like
hours of staring at the narrow logs that lined the ceiling, waiting, Harry started snoring. She eased out of bed and padded softly across the floor to the kitchen area. She slid open the drawer where she’d see him put his backup phone, but it wasn’t there. There was no way she wasn’t calling someone now. She had to. Even if it was to just hear a voice and hang up.

Maybe she was too cynical, or maybe it was just her intuition, but she had to talk to someone else.
Then she thought about what Harry said: that if they contacted anyone these people would kill her family. But she was having a hard time believing they would know if she contacted her mother’s cell. At the very least, she wanted to see a news report or something about her friends. After all, she didn’t know if perhaps one of them made it, or if all of them made it. Maybe Ren was alive. Emily just needed some outside contact. She was a social person and wasn’t used to this isolation and it was driving her crazy. She just needed to see another human.

Harry would freak out if he knew what she was thinking
,
but maybe one of those campers had a phone. She slowly turned the knob on the front door and stealthily sliced outside and down the front steps.

It wasn’t
that far of a walk to the lake, they’d done it yesterday to pump the well. But the darkness was absolute under the thick canopy of trees. She stopped and looked back at the cabin, hoping Harry didn’t hear her leave. Other than the near rustling of some small animals around the trail, silence ruled the night.

She
walked softly down the trail, gradually increasing her speed as she got far enough away to where the sound of her steps wouldn’t carry back. Down the trail, the trees opened up a bit and the moonlight started to light her path well enough to see the prominent features of the ground.

After a
while, she saw the shimmering campfire through the trees. The trail didn’t lead directly to it, so she cut straight through a small swath of woods, trying not to scrape her bare legs on the thick waist-high shrubs she was scaling through.

Emerging on the other side into the camp, nothing stirred but the
soft crackling of a dying fire. She debated on whether or not to wake up the campers. It was a risky move because she didn’t know who these people were. Judging by the things around the fire, empty lite-beer cans, a half-empty bottle of whiskey, an empty jar of peanut butter, and an empty box of Swedish Fish half burned in the fire, she doubted they were mercenaries of some kind. She had a hard time picturing a bunch of killers-for-hire sitting around eating chewy red candies and peanut butter.

She didn’t want to wake them, but morning was just a few minutes away
, so she thought maybe it was a good idea to wait for a while and see if someone woke up on their own. An overwhelming desire just to see another person would not go away. She didn’t see the harm in talking to someone cautiously, without giving away any details. She could just ask to use a phone and she could call her father. After all, the people looking for her wouldn’t know the number she was calling from.

Stepping over a log
, she sat and looked at the fire. It wasn’t that cold out, but she had a bit of a chill in her bones. If Harry woke up and realized she was gone, he might freak out again. For that reason, she didn’t want to spend much time here. But even though no one was awake, and she hadn’t seen anyone, it felt comforting to know there were other people nearby.

After sitting for a while
, her butt was going numb. Dawn was breaking, so she got up and walked around a bit. She stepped near to one of the small one-man tents and listened quietly. Unsure what to do, she stood there for several minutes, contemplating her next move. But she was at a loss. Maybe this was a stupid idea. Either way she had to get back to the cabin before the sun came up, which was going to happen in just a few moments.

Turning around, she came face-to-face with Harry
. Rage flickered through his eyes, and her lack of trust turned straight to fear.

He reached out and snatched her arm, yanking her out of the campsite and around the trail that led to the opposite side of the
narrow. He stopped, pulled her close. “What’s wrong with you?”

She shook her head. “I was just checking them out
, making sure they weren’t going to be a problem.”

“You’re being stupid
; a stupid—stupid kid.”

“I just didn’t want you to worry.” She hoped he didn’t see through her lies, but he appeared to be coming unglued. The sun was coming up
. She could see the tents at the campsite clearer than just a minute ago.

He looked back at the camp. “It’s too late, our security has been compromised.”

“Harry, it’s fine, these people aren’t a threat, I’m telling you.”

He
gripped her arm so tight it hurt. “You don’t know anything.” Looking up at the sky he said, “This is your fault.”

Emily didn’t want to upset him
, so she just kept her mouth shut and hoped he pulled it back together. She didn’t know what this was, but perhaps he was stuck in soldier mode, PTSD or something perhaps. She didn’t know why, but she was scared.

Chapter 10

Zack
crawled out of his tent after some noises woke him up. He stuck his head out and looked to the left. He saw a couple, a guy and a girl, walking away quickly down the trail across the narrow part of the lake. They stopped for a bit and argued. Zack didn’t know exactly what it was, but something about them wasn’t right. Then when the man dragged the girl up the trail, rather forcefully, he had no doubt something was wrong. Then the guy hit her, a hard backhand slap to the face. That really pissed Zack off.

He stood up and brushed off his hands.
The whole thing made him feel uneasy. If it’s one thing he couldn’t stand it was a guy who beat on a girl. “Hey!” he yelled.

The man stopped, stared at him across the small lake.
Zack looked at the girl and saw the fear in her eyes. The most alarming thing was that it appeared her white T-shirt had blood on it. It was hard to tell in this predawn light, but it sure looked like blood.

“Hey!”
Zack yelled again. The man pointed at him and made a fist.

With a yank of her arm, the man took off up the small rise.
Zack felt his anger swarm at the man’s gesture, he wanted to give chase, and he was about to until Rick emerged from his tent.

“What’s going on?”
Rick asked as he stood and stretched.

Zack
pointed. “Some guy was beating on his girl, right in front of me.”

Rick
stretched. “Did he hit her?”

“Yeah, he slapped her
right in the face.”

“Open hand?”

“Backhand, but still, something was just weird. They just didn’t look like they were supposed to be here. She wasn’t dressed for the wilderness, she was dressed for the beach. They just looked out of place.”

“Hmm… How do you want to play it?”

Zack shrugged.

Donovan said from inside his tent
, “I say we mind our own business.”

Rick replied to the speaking tent
, “Big surprise.” He looked at Zack. “How do
you
want to play it?”

Zack
blew an audible breath. “I don’t know. Maybe Dono is right. It’s none of our business.”

“Wow,” Rick said. “You’ve really changed. She must not’ve been that hot.” Rick laughed.

Zack pursed his lips. “Actually, she was very hot, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Rick turned up one side of his mouth. “C’mon, it matters. Human nature, m
y man, I know you learned that in psych. It’s hardwired into a human’s DNA to seek out the attractive ones of the species. Why do you think all the missing and murdered girls we see on the news are always the hottest ones? It’s always the young pretty blondes who get the most attention. Right? I mean, judging by the news, you’d think ugly people never get killed or go missing.”

Zack
knew he was right. But he’d like to think that even if the girl was ugly he’d still feel the same things, that it was all wrong. He hoped that he wouldn’t care any less. Rick always had a way of making him double-think himself, and this was no exception. Then he shook his head. “No, this had nothing to do with how she looked. It had to do with the whole scene. It just felt very wrong. It looked like she wanted to get away from him. I’m telling you, they were just out of place.”

Rick gave him a playful shove. “I’m just screwing with you
, man. I know you’re not a dick. And I know you’re really good at reading a situation. So if you say something’s weird, I trust you.”

Zack
sighed. “You bastard. You always get me.”

“Maybe we pack up
and we head up that trail and check in on them. They can’t be camping far from here. We could walk up the trail and see where it leads and then come back for our stuff.”

“Yeah,”
Zack replied. “That’s probably a good idea.”

***

Emily stumbled into the cabin after Harry shoved her through the door. She turned quickly and looked back at him. He walked around her, breathing heavily.

He stuck his finger into her face
. “What have you done?”

Emily shook her head
and stepped backwards. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve compromised our position.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“They saw you.”

“So what? They’re not—”

“Shut up!” He started walking around in small circles. “This is all wrong. We’re going to have to go somewhere else. We need to get fa
rther off the grid.”

Emily had gone from concerned about Harry, to worried, to terrified, in no time at all.
He hit her, and no one hits her. “Harry, I want to call my father. Can I please have your phone?” She thought maybe if she asked nicely he’d calm down. He was clearly losing it. She’d never seen him like this before. He was always happy-go-lucky Harry, always quick with a joke and willing to help.

She moved over to the kitchen area.
Now with some light to aid her search, she started looking through the drawers in the kitchen for his backup phone.

“What’re you doing?”

“Looking.”

“For what?”

“Your other phone, Harry. I have to call my father.”

“I told you we can’t, I was very specific.”

Then she went across the room to a set of built-in drawers near the chair Harry slept in. He ran over and yanked her away. But it was too late, she saw something in there that sent a chill like nothing she’d felt before in her core. She didn’t want believe it, but a horrible concept started to form in her head. “Why is that in there?”

His face contorted. “I took it off the man to take a picture of his face. I didn’t think anything of it.”

He was clearly lying and she knew it. “Harry, what happened to my friends?” Emily tried not to show what she was thinking, but it was too late. “Who killed them, Harry?”

He looked at her
, tilting his head to the side. His lips started to tighten so hard they quivered. “It was the only way.”

Emily felt like someone punched straight through her stomach, reached up into her chest cavity
, and gripped her heart with a pair of pliers. How could she have been so gullible? Her face must’ve been giving away her every thought because he advanced on her with menace. “Harry, what’s really going on here?” She tried to get back into the moment.

H
arry reached into the drawer and pulled out her cell phone. He tossed it at his feet, pulled out his pistol and shot the phone. His entire demeanor changed. “Is this what you wanted?” Then he reached into the drawer and took out the white mask she’d seen. “Remember this?”

Tears started to form in her eyes.
“Harry, what’ve you done?”

“I did what had to be done, what was best for everyone. You were going to leave and I’d lose you forever. I couldn’t let that happen. That’s not how it was meant to be. He took mine
, so I take his.”

There was a noise outside. Harry turned quickly and looked out the
window. He held the pistol up high. “Dammit.” He pointed to her. “Keep your mouth shut or I’ll kill them all right now.”

Emily wanted to cry and scream
, but fear of what he might do kept her quiet. This man had killed her friends and abducted her. He wasn’t saving her or protecting her, he was stealing her, and now God only knows what he was going to do with her. The thoughts in her head spun like a tornado, kicking up every memory she had of him. This was something that she never could have predicted. He didn’t seem like the man she affectionately called Uncle Harry anymore.

***

Zack approached the cabin cautiously. Rick stepped up next to him and said, “Think this is where they went?”

Zack
nodded. “It’s the only thing anywhere near here, and they weren’t dressed for a long hike.”

“Should
we knock?”

Donovan said from behind them, “No, we should just go.”

“Yeah,” Javier added. “We came up here, there’s nothing to see. I say we just go back to the camp.”

Zack
looked at the classic Ford Mustang in the driveway. Maybe they were right. It was probably none of his business. Just because they looked out of place and something felt strange didn’t mean something was. He was a little surprised to see New Jersey license plates on the car, a funny coincidence, perhaps.

“C’mon,” Donovan said.

Zack sighed. He was probably jumping to conclusions. It would’ve been different had he gotten here and heard a scream or something, but all was quiet. Perhaps it wasn’t even a couple but a father and his daughter. That would not excuse the slapping, but it would certainly change the dynamics of the situation. Maybe he was seeing things out of context.

But as he was about to walk away
, he remembered the blood and stopped.

“What is it?” Rick asked.

“She had blood on her shirt.” Without thinking on it for another second, Zack headed up the steps of the cabin and knocked on the door.

Rick stepped up and settled in next to him with a nod.

They waited, but at first no one answered. It wasn’t a large cabin, so Zack knocked again and waited. He wasn’t going away and he could hear someone in there moving softly.

Finally
, the door opened a bit, just enough to reveal the face of a very cute hazel-eyed blonde. Half her body was hidden behind the door. She looked at him for several awkward seconds before she said, “Can I help you?”

Zack
looked into her soulful eyes, trying to read them. He wanted to be smart about this. There was no doubt in his mind something was wrong here, but he didn’t want to set anything off. He thought for a second then said, “We were wondering if you had a phone we could use. Or some electricity we could charge with?”

Her eyes never left his, locked on
, as she shook her head. “No.”

“
Stupid us, we got off the main trail and can’t find our way back. But there’s a ranger station not far from here. I have the number, but all of our phones are dead. Do you know if anyone around here does have access to some juice?”

“No.”
Her eyes continued to burn him with intensity.

Zack
looked at Rick, then back to the girl. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes
flickered away finally. A slight waiver in them, a touch of moisture was evident. Zack shared another look with Rick, he saw it, too, and neither one had any idea how to play this.

“Are you hurt?”
Zack asked, nodding to the blood on her shirt.

Then the girl couldn’t hide the severity of the situation. Her eyes flooded with tears as she broke her gaze with
Zack and then couldn’t meet his eyes at all. She showed him with her eyes what he already suspected. Someone was behind the door.

“You should go now
,.” the girl said. “Please, you
have
to go now.”

Zack
nodded slightly. A few different ideas were at war in his head. He could see her steel herself and then meet his eyes again. “Please go now.” She closed the door. Rick shrugged and the others started to walk away. Zack didn’t want to leave. But after a minute he turned and followed his friends.

“You were right about one thing
,” Rick said.

“What’s that?”

“She’s really cute.”

“I just hope she’s not in danger.”

Rick gave him a look of worry
, but didn’t say anything.

As they headed down the trail
, Zack felt bad. But maybe they’d done all they could. They headed back to the camp to pack up, and the whole time Zack just kept thinking about the girl. She just looked so scared, and something wonderful was just beneath the surface of those eyes. He could picture a wonderful playfulness and intelligence. As they say, the eyes are the window to the soul, he fully believed that. And he saw a wonderful soul in there. That beautiful face would haunt his every second until he saw it again.