29. Lonely Dancer

“Evian, come back!” I yelled behind that crazy ass girl. Man she could really move. I had no idea where she was goin’ and I don’t think she did too much either; she just ran. When she finally stopped to catch her breath we were on a familiar trail and I growled when I looked around noticing it. “What the hell woman? Why did you just take off this way?”

“Did you not see that lunatic with the ax back there? Why the hell do you think I ran Ro?”

“That’s not what I meant…” I puffed as I slowly tried to catch my breath. “I mean why did you come this way, do you see where we are?” She looked around at the trees and the path we stood on and it all started coming back to her.

“No…”

“Yeah! You ran us back to the first fuckin’ camp girl!”

“Evian, Roland!” Zach called us as he and the others finally caught up. “I’m glad we…” he stopped and cussed a few times too when he saw where we were and sighed in frustration. “We need to stick together. No more running off like that.”

“Fuck that! I ain’t waiting around for some psycho with blood all over his shit to butcher me!” Evian yelled. “Yall can stand there screamin’ all you want but not me!”

“That’s fine Evian but what I meant is we need to try and stay as a group. It’s easier to fight as a whole than individually.” She rolled her eyes at Zach and I hid a smile. Stubborn as the day she was born that girl is crazy. I know what she means though; I would have ran too if she hadn’t gone first. “Alright listen up everyone, we need to find weapons or something to defend ourselves. Our cars should be just up the hill there. Stay together and watch your backs. Let’s move.”

We headed just up the trail and back to the camp. The moment we stepped into the campsite a familiar face turned the corner and started towards us. “Chazz? CHAZZ!” Jemma ran towards him and threw her arms over his shoulders. “Oh my God you’re back!”

“Yeah I’m back; so are you.”

“What the hell happened to you?” Knox asked stepping up behind Jemma and wrapping his arm around her waist. Evian also noticed and glanced up at me with a knowing smirk I only nodded my head; wouldn’t be me.

“I got lost.” Everyone stared at him in disbelief at his claim and he simply shrugged it off as he continued. “It was like three in the morning and I needed to take a piss. When I finished I turned around to come back but the trail was different and no before you ask I wasn’t smoking. Everything looked different and I couldn’t find my way back in these backwards ass woods. So finally morning came I saw smoke from the campfire and started over but by the time I got here everyone had split.”

There was no arguin’ that shit. Everythang had changed from when we first came out here so it’s possible it changed that night for him. I shook my head and pulled Evian into my arms as we listened. This shit was just crazy. Never again. “So what happened to all of you?” Chazz asked, scooping his bag up from the ground.

“Dude it’s like this,” I started before everyone could finger me as the cause of leavin’ his ass. “We got up that mornin’ and you were gone. We looked for you for a few hours but couldn’t find you so we rolled out to stay ahead of the storm.”

“How did you get back here?” Knox asked referring to the first camp we all found ourselves standin’ in.

“I don’t know. I just walked. I looked for you at the other place but you weren’t there so I decided to try and get to town. Apparently I was going backwards or walking in circles because this is where I ended up. This place is confusing as fuck!”

The trees rustled just over his shoulder and Abby turned with a horrified expression on her face. “He’s here!” she screamed and pointed towards the masked man stepping into the campgrounds near the cars. “RUN!” And that’s what we did. We ran, and the last thang I remember was…

“I’m almost there,” Thomas replied and dropped his phone onto the passenger seat as he drove towards his friend’s party. It was a cold and rainy night and he was using as much caution as possible. As he made the turn up towards the house, he saw an attractive young woman standing on the side of the street and stopped to offer her a ride. “Where ya headed?”

“Home,” she smiled and slipped inside the car. 

“Would you be interested in going to a party at a friend’s with me first? I’m Thomas by the way.”

“Bonnie, and sure, it sounds like fun,” she agreed with a smile. At the party, everyone thought she was very charming and really enjoyed her company. Afterwards, Thomas started to drive her home, offering his coat to keep her warm as the freezing autumn air rolled in. 

They drove for a short while before pulling into the driveway of her house. As Thomas turned to tell her he had a great time and thank her for coming with him, he was shocked to find the passenger seat empty and the girl nowhere in sight. Replaying the last moments in his mind he knew he hadn’t heard the car door open or close and yet Bonnie seemed to have simply vanished.

Not knowing what else to do, he climbed out of his car and walked up to the door and knocked. After a moment an elderly woman answered the door and he explained to her what had just happened. The look on the woman’s face became morose as right away she seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. “That’s my daughter,” the woman explained. “But she had died ten years before in an auto accident.”

“What? No, the girl I’m talking about was just here maybe two minutes ago,” Thomas responded a bit horrified.

“You will find her grave at the cemetery down the road.”

“Ok, sure, thanks,” he remarked incredulously and shook the woman’s words from his head, unable to believe a word she said. Thomas headed back to his car convinced the woman was some sort of crackpot. Still he was unable to shake the strange feeling and decided to check out the cemetery like the woman said. Driving in the direction she had instructed, Thomas made it to Eternal Rest and found the stone with Bonnie’s name on it. Folded neatly over the top was the coat he’d given her to help keep her warm.

Continue---->