Emma I slid my camera strap over my head as I followed Cash up the winding hiking trail toward the party.
The crackling hiss of a bonfire and the tawny glow that suffused the trees led the way. I glanced around at the melting shadows that dripped from the dying hemlocks and sturdy pines. Under the safe blanket of daylight, the mountains here were beautiful. But here in the dark, all I saw was a thousand ways to die.
I needed to get my head checked. Again. I wasn’t the girl who went traipsing through the forest at night without a care in the world. I was the girl who barely escaped falling signs, loose power lines, and bottles of pesticide that just happen to fall into pots of stew. It made my head hurt and my pulse pound just thinking of all the near misses.
A soft rumble of thunder rolled across the sky on the other side of the mountain, blotting out the echoes of music and laughter from the party. I jumped and looked up at the dark smudge of clouds wandering over the moon.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I jogged to catch up. “If it rains, there could be mudslides, or flooding, or—” Cash wrapped his arm around my shoulder and laughed. “Will you stop worrying? Nothing’s going to happen. Besides, I checked the weather before I left the house. It’s all headed west of here. We’re good.”
I nodded, still not feeling safe, and dug through my pocket for my tube of peppermint ChapStick.
Cash led me into the clearing before I had a chance to finish sliding it across my lips, waved at somebody, and nudged me to do the same. I lifted my hand, not really sure who I was supposed to be greeting, but mostly surprised that they’d gotten the bonfire lit in the first place. Everything was still slick and shiny from the rain.
I tucked the ChapStick back into my pocket, brushed off the wet leaves sticking to my jeans, and glanced at Cash. He looked ethereal bathed in the glow of the bonfire. The few piercings he had reflected the flames, his skin bronzed like a fine caramel glaze. Royal-blue paint shimmered from his left cheek when it lifted with a smile. He laughed at something someone shouted at him and grabbed a beer bottle out of the dirty blue-and-white cooler.
“I guess that means I’m driving us home.” I scanned the crowd for something to photograph that I could actually put in the yearbook. So far my material was pretty limited.
Cash popped the top. “Guess so.”
“I thought you didn’t wear those for anybody else.” I pointed to his T-shirt that said, F.B.I. (female body inspector).
He flashed me a lopsided grin. “Trust me. This shirt is absolutely for me.”
I laughed, wondering if there could possibly be someone else like Cash out there. I doubted it. Cash was sarcasm and seduction wrapped up with a gooey artistic center. He didn’t need a T-shirt to get any girl he wanted. All he had to do was look at them. The bad part was that he knew it.
“All right, you’ve got me here.” I poked Cash in the chest. “Don’t even think about ditching me.”
“I told you I wouldn’t. Now come on.” Cash grabbed me by the elbow and steered me into a crowd.
He took a swig of his beer and motioned to a couple making out near the tree line.
“There. Get a shot of that.”
I snapped a photo. “Why?”
“Because when he finds out that she has an overprotective big brother who’s an offensive lineman for Cal, it’s going to be pretty friggin’ hilarious,” he said.
“Oh yeah?” I raised a brow as I checked the flash on my camera. “How do you know?”
Cash frowned and rubbed his jaw. “Don’t ask.”
I spent the next half hour snapping shots of people, begging them to at least pretend to be sober.
Around shot twenty-two, I looked up and realized Cash was missing. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
This always happened. He’d come stumbling back eventually, smelling like strawberry lip gloss and beer, and apologize for ditching me. I sighed and went back to taking pictures. If I had to be there, I was going to load my camera up with enough images to get Mr. Hall off my back. Seventy-three shots later, I had practically nothing that would be suitable for school publication. At least Cash would have his blackmail.
I searched for Cash and came up empty. I finally grabbed Ronnie Simmons by the arm before he could whiz by toward the cooler.
“Hey! Emily, right?” he slurred.
I sighed. “It’s Emma. Have you seen Cash?” I took one last look around the clearing. “I’m ready to leave and we rode together.”
Ronnie chuckled and put his hand on my back. “Out here.”
I let him guide me into the trees, refusing to let fear get the best of me. Other than the fact that he never remembered my name, Ronnie was a decent guy. I was more afraid of what Cash was doing out here in the woods. He could be so stupid when he was drunk.
Once the sounds of the party were just an echo behind us, Ronnie stopped and nodded behind us to a heavily twisted batch of trees that surrounded what looked like an old, well-used fire pit. “Good luck getting his attention.”
I could barely make out the swaying shadow in the distance, so I pulled my camera up to my eye and zoomed in on where he was pointing. For the millionth time that night, I heard the words, “Get a shot of that!”
Cash and Tinley Rhineheart were a tangle of limbs and lips. He pressed her against the tree, only breaking away long enough to whisper something in her ear. She giggled and they were kissing again.
Without understanding why the stupid thing was even there, I swallowed the lump in my throat and snapped the picture. Part of me wondered if I’d ever get to a point in my life where I’d allow a guy to lead me off like that and kiss me until I couldn’t breathe. The other part of me said it was ridiculous to want to give those breaths away when something out there was so intent on stealing them. I forced the thoughts out of my head. Who needed to live when you had a best friend who did enough of it for the both of you?
I turned around and headed the direction Ronnie had gone, feeling so out of place in the world around me that I couldn’t catch my breath. I swiped the back of my hand across my cheek, finding warm wetness there, and scowled at the tears on the back of my wrist. Stupid. Why was I crying? I didn’t want that life. I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“Ronnie?” I felt suffocated by the darkness around me. “Ronnie!”
He was gone. He’d left me in the dark alone. In the woods. Fear made my throat close up, but I swallowed through it. This didn’t have to be a big deal. I just needed to get back on the trail we were on. I pulled my cell phone out to use the screen as a flashlight. Wait…were we even on a trail? Why hadn’t I paid attention? God, this was going to suck.
I spun around, trying to ignore the panic in my chest. It was okay. I could find my way back. I could just follow the sounds of the party. We hadn’t gone that far out. I heard the sound of water rushing through the dark. The bonfire had been set up next to a stream. I headed in the direction of voices and water, trying to fit the two sounds together to pinpoint one location. I was going to kill Cash for this.
If he was just going to ditch me every time we came to one of these things why drag me along? It not like I wanted to-Something cold swept over the back of my neck. I whirled around and stared into the thick, consuming dark. Whatever it was slithered over my skin again, and a twig snapped somewhere off in the dark distance.
“Is somebody out there? Cash?”
No one answered. A set of fingers brushed over the back of my shoulder and fear exploded in my chest. I spun around, eyes wide.
“Cash!” I held my camera so tight my knuckles turned white. “Ronnie! This isn’t funny, you guys.”
Someone tugged on my ponytail and I yelped. Cold exploded across my skin, under my skin, and everywhere inside. I tripped and caught myself on a tree trunk, scraping my palms. My pulse pounded so hard I could feel it in my neck. I couldn’t seem to form a thought, let alone an escape.