Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119746 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
I climb, following Jensen up the ladder to the loft as fast as I can. Behind us, the hungry ones surge forward, reaching with desperate hands, teeth snapping at the air mere inches from my boots as I pull myself beyond their reach.
Jensen is already at the small window, smashing out the glass with the butt of his rifle, his bloody axe in his other hand.
“It’s a drop,” he warns, peering into the darkness beyond. “Snow’s deep, should cushion the fall. Ready?”
“Then what?” I ask.
He can only shrug. His guess is as good as mine.
Below us, I can hear the ladder creak under weight, the sound of claws moving with frantic speed up the rungs.
“Go!” I urge Jensen. “I’m right behind you!”
Jensen doesn’t hesitate, squeezing his large frame through the narrow opening and disappearing into the night. I follow immediately, barely clearing the window before pale hands grasp at the empty air where I’d been moments before.
The fall seems to last forever, the cold night air rushing past me, then impact—softer than expected as the deep snow cushions my landing. I sink up to my chest in the drift, the cold a physical shock after the cabin’s relative warmth.
“Here!” Jensen’s hand finds mine in the darkness, pulling me free of the snowbank. “We need to move, now!”
Behind us, more shapes drop from the loft window—the hungry ones in pursuit, their movements graceful and deadly as they hit the snow and immediately begin to give chase.
We run, half-stumbling through the deep snow, the moonlight our only guide. The forest looms ahead, dark and threatening, yet our only hope for shelter from the relentless pursuit.
“This way!” Jensen gasps, pulling me toward a gap in the trees.
I follow blindly, trusting his knowledge of the terrain, the burn in my lungs and the ache in my legs secondary to the primal need to escape. Behind us, the hungry ones gain ground with every step, their enhanced strength and speed making the snow seem no obstacle.
The trees close around us, branches clawing at our faces, roots hidden beneath the snow threatening to trip us with every step. I can hear them behind us now, their breathing—a collective, hungry panting that seems to surround us from all sides.
“Almost there,” Jensen begins, then the ground disappears beneath our feet.
We’re falling.
Tumbling down a steep slope hidden by snow and darkness. I clutch desperately at Jensen’s coat, trying to maintain contact as we roll and slide down an embankment, snow and ice and stone all blurring together in painful impact after impact.
We land hard at the bottom, the breath knocked from my lungs in a painful whoosh. For a moment, I can only lie there, stunned, every part of my body registering new pains.
“Aubrey!” Jensen’s voice brings me back to awareness. “Are you alright?”
“Still alive,” I manage to gasp, sitting up slowly to assess the damage. Nothing feels broken, though my body is one massive bruise, and I can feel blood trickling from a cut somewhere on my forehead.
Jensen looks little better, a gash across his cheek already crusting with blood in the freezing air. He’s lost his hat in the fall, his dark hair matted with snow and ice.
Above us, at the top of the ravine, blue eyes appear—dozens of them, glowing in the darkness like unholy stars. The hungry ones stand at the edge, watching our descent with predatory patience.
“Why aren’t they following?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Jensen’s eyes scan the ravine, understanding dawning in his expression. “They’re herding us again,” he says grimly. “Driving us exactly where they want us to go.” He sighs. “They knew our actions.”
I follow his gaze to the far end of a ravine where the moonlight reveals a dark opening in the rock face—a cave entrance, partially obscured by fallen snow and winter shadow.
“The caves,” I breathe, realization settling cold and heavy in my stomach. “We’ve been driven here all along.”
One figure separates from the others at the ravine’s edge—Adam, his transformed face unmistakable even at this distance. He makes no move to pursue, simply watching with those coldly intelligent eyes as we struggle to our feet.
“I think he’s waiting for us to go in,” Jensen says, his voice tight with understanding and dread. “They all are.”
I stare at the cave entrance, darkness yawning beyond like the mouth of some great beast. This is where Lainey disappeared. Where she either died or became something else entirely. Where answers wait, if I have the courage to seek them.
“We don’t have a choice,” I say. This was what I wanted. What Jensen threatened to tie me up over. But now that I’m here and staring death in the face, I’m not sure I want this after all.
I think I want to live.
“We can try to climb out somewhere else,” Jensen suggests, but without conviction. “Try to make a run for it.”