The Escape. Part 1

The Escape.

Jayne, Hannah.

To Cyrus Yoc.u.m-for seeing me.

One.

"Come on, loser!" Adam yelled over his shoulder.

Fletcher could hear Adam's laughter echoing back at him as he pumped his legs, intent on keeping the deep green of Adam's jacket in sight as he dodged through the forest.

There was no way Fletcher could catch Adam unless Adam stopped or dropped dead. Adam was the quarterback who brought Dan River Falls High School victory after victory, and Fletcher was the "weird kid" who sat at the back of the bleachers and drew in his notebook.

"Come on!"

A second wind broke through Fletcher's chest, and he felt the burn of adrenaline rush through his legs. He fisted his hands as the cool air dried the sweat on his forehead. A loopy smile cracked across his face. He could see Adam. He was gaining on him-not fast, but steadily. Adam was caught in the crosshairs of Fletcher's gaze.

"Who you calling 'loser'?" Fletcher called, still grinning.

Up ahead, Adam stopped, head bent, shoulders heaving as he struggled for breath. He was doubled over, staring at something on the ground. "My G.o.d, Fletch. Dude, you've got to see this."

It was just after six o'clock as Avery watched pink bleed into the sunny blue sky, casting a haze of twilight over the parking lot at the Dan River Falls Police Station. The cup of coffee that sat in front of her-more vanilla creamer than coffee-had long since gone cold.

A man strode into the room, his black uniform pressed so each crease was razor sharp. He was no-nonsense from head to toe: salt-and-pepper hair cut close to his skull, dark eyes focused, thin lips pressed together in a scowl. He walked past Avery and dropped a thick manila file folder on the giant desk.

"Dad," Avery moaned, pulling out the word. "Can we go yet?"

Chief Templeton looked at his daughter as if just noticing her-as if she hadn't been sitting there in that same spot for the last forty minutes.

"The line is going to be out the door. I'm going to starve to death while we wait."

"Not now, Avery."

"Fine. Then we're hitting the drive-through with the lights and siren on. I'm pretty sure my stomach is eating itself."

"Your stomach eating itself? Not happening, Avy."

"It happens! We talked about it in biology." It was a lie. Avery had no idea whether or not the stomach could or would eat itself. But it felt like it. She was going to launch into some other wild story to make the stern police chief crack a smile and bring him back to acting like her dad. But when he turned, Avery could see that there was no playfulness in his eyes. His lips weren't going to quirk up into a smile no matter how hard she tried. She swallowed, fear inching up the back of her neck.

"What's wrong, Dad?"

He couldn't remember the first blow, though his teeth were still rattling in his head. Had he been punched, shot, hit? His vision was a blur, and everything around him, every tree, every rock, seemed to blend together in one united ma.s.s of gray. He wasn't sure if the sky was above or below him, if the trees were standing or if he was.

Another blow.

The pain was dense at first, then exploded into a blinding burn. He blinked, dumbfounded, and tried to face his attacker. But his body was leaden. It was as if his feet were rooted in the soft blanket of pine needles on the damp forest ground. He knew he should roll his fingers into a fist and take a swing, but while his brain worked, his body didn't. Thoughts of action tossed around in his skull-run, yell, fight, punch-but everything moved in sickly slow motion except for the terror that overwhelmed him.

I'm going to die.

The thought came to him with a sickening dread.

I don't want to die.

Then came a gruesome thud followed by a sharp crack. The sound filled his ears before he registered that it was his bones breaking. Snap, crack. He knew another blow was coming and he tried to brace himself, balling up, wondering if the next hit would be the one that killed him.

Two.

"Adam Marshall and Fletcher Carroll," Chief Templeton replied.

Avery shrugged. "What about them?"

Adam Marshall was a jock at Dan River Falls High. He was a junior, a grade older than Avery, but she knew him-everyone did. Generally, Avery studiously avoided jocks and great-at-everythings, but Adam was different. Avery and Adam had been friends as kids, playing on the baseball diamond back when boys and girls and popularity didn't matter. Maybe that was why he was nice to her now. He smiled at her, calling her by name. He ushered along the mean girls when they were poised to pick apart whatever shred of confidence Avery had.

Adam was everything Fletcher Carroll wasn't. While Adam was a beacon of light with white-blond hair and a Crest-toothpaste smile, Fletcher was always hunched in his hoodie, hiding behind a ma.s.s of thick brown curls that were a half inch too long to be considered fashionably s.h.a.ggy. Avery and Fletcher were neighbors. He was nice enough, but he kept to himself. He was the kind of kid who didn't really fit in but didn't really stick out either.

Chief Templeton drummed his fingers on his desktop, the sound like the rat-a-tat-tat of machine-gun fire. "They went hiking this morning and haven't come back yet."

Avery shrugged. "So?"

"So they were supposed to be back three hours ago. Fletcher's mother is here; she wants to file a report. Adam's parents are on their way as well."

"They've only been gone a few hours," Avery said. "They probably got drunk and pa.s.sed out in a clearing."

Chief Templeton raised his eyebrows. "Is that what you kids do out there?"

Avery rolled her eyes. "Not 'us kids,' some kids. Some of us starve to death because our fathers promise cheeseburgers that never materialize."

But Avery's dad wasn't listening. He stared over her head at the graying sky. A little niggle of fear started at the base of Avery's spine, and she shifted in her seat to follow his gaze to the thick clutch of pine trees off in the distance. If it was gray here, it had to be near pitch-black out in the woods.

"It's too early to really be worried, isn't it, Dad?"

He was thirsty. His lips were burning, and his throat was raw from screaming. His head pounded so severely that his vision would darken and then snap back to clear before fading again.

He couldn't make out where he was.

He could feel the cold earth cradling him, a soft blanket of pine needles haloing behind his head. A mult.i.tude of scents bombarded him as he struggled to gain awareness: the biting scent of pine, the mossy smell of dirt, and something else. Something metallic and cloying. He tried to turn his head, but it was immobile like his limbs. If he could see properly, he could figure out what was holding him down and pressing the breath from his chest. If he could move, even just an inch, maybe he could get away. But all he could do was take in a glimpse of the darkening sky each time his vision cleared.

Not far away, a few feet maybe, he could hear footsteps. At least he hoped they were footsteps, not some bear or whatever had walloped him into his current supine state. The crunch of dry leaves and popping twigs was getting closer. He was sure of it. A wave of primal fear coursed through him. As his adrenaline surged, he dug his fingertips into the dirt around him. If I can push myself up, he thought, at least then I won't be a sitting duck.

Though his spine felt as if it had been snapped in two, he pushed himself up with a slow groan that became a strangled, gurgling sound. Blood filled his mouth and trickled out his nose. Sweat bulleted his forehead and the thrum in his head grew more severe, like a talon in his skull, raking against the bone.

He tried to cradle his aching head, but one arm screamed in pain while the other fell at his side, useless, his elbow bending the wrong way. His stomach went to liquid at the sight of his own wounds, and he vomited, spit and blood and puke splattering the dirt next to him.

When he fell back again, the blue above had turned into the blackest night.

Three.

Avery could hear her father rustling around before the sun rose. She pushed herself out of bed and dressed quickly. She didn't need to ask what had happened-she already knew.

Her father had been the Dan River Falls chief of police since Avery was fifteen. That was the last year her family had been all together. One of her favorite memories was when they rode in the Founder's Day parade. The chief's black-and-white SUV had been wrapped with red, white, and blue crepe-paper streamers, and she and her mother had practiced waving delicately, her mother's lips upturned in a permanent smile.

Avery remembered the way her father had pulled her mother close, just before they turned onto the parade route. His fingers had tangled in her chestnut-brown hair as he kissed her. When they'd pulled away, her parents had both laughed. Her prim and pressed father had now sported bright red lips, a transfer of her mother's lipstick. Avery had groaned or gagged at her parents' unbelievably gross public display of affection, though secretly she'd liked that they were always touching, always smiling.

The next year, Avery and her father had ridden in the same car in the parade, but this time in silence. It was just the two of them driving slowly behind the marching band. Avery's mother's absence had been palpable, and Avery had gritted her teeth the whole time, trying to force a smile, knowing her father was doing the same thing.

After a few more blocks, the parade would be over, and Avery and her father would pretend they weren't watching for the clock to strike eight seventeen, the moment Caroline Templeton had been struck by a drunk driver on her way home from the Founder's Day barbeque, the moment she had been killed.

Avery's father had the coffee going and his travel mug out, so Avery started breakfast, pulling out a carton of eggs and the frying pan.

"No word on-"

Her father shook his head and filled both mugs, fixing hers with enough milk and sugar to turn it a pale brown while leaving his black. He screwed the lids on both, then took a sip and dropped two pieces of bread in the toaster as Avery cracked two eggs.

"No word. Green and Howard went in last night just before sunset but didn't see anything."

"Nothing?"

"Car was in the lot. Last one there. As far as we know, neither boy contacted anyone at home or any friends."

The toast popped up and Chief Templeton slathered each slice with b.u.t.ter, laying them on separate paper towels.

Avery flipped the eggs. "Well, if neither of them made contact, that could be a good sign, right? They're probably together."

The chief salted and peppered the eggs over Avery's shoulder. She nudged him out of the way and slipped a fried egg onto each slab of toast. He handed her a bright-orange Windbreaker; she handed him one of the egg sandwiches.

"You know you're basically just keeping the kids out of the way, right?" The chief's tone was calm, but his eyes were wary.

Avery stiffened. She had been on more missing-person searches-unofficially, as she was underage-than most of the officers on her father's staff. But being sixteen kept her on "kid patrol," basically babysitting while the adult volunteers tromped through the forest, potentially ruining scads of evidence while pretending they were a bunch of television CSIs, no doubt.

"Yeah," she said through a mouthful of fried egg. "I know."

He chucked her shoulder. "Don't be like that. When you're of age, you can show off your detective skills. Until then, we do things by the book."

Avery looked away, thinking about her mother, about how she would zing the chief in the ribs and remind him not to be so serious. "By the book," she would mock in a terrible baritone. "I'm the big, bad chief."

Avery let out a tight sigh. "I know, Dad. By the book."

Is this what it feels like to die?

He wheezed, imagining his breath leaving his body around jags of broken bones and swollen flesh. He didn't really know what was broken and what was swollen, but judging by the pain, he guessed everything. He tried to swallow and winced when saliva laced with blood slid down his throat. His head hadn't stopped pounding and his stomach lurched.

He turned his head to the side, ignoring the twigs that dug into his cheek. Eyes closed, he vomited. He kept them closed-not at the pain, but in an effort to avoid seeing his innards, which he was sure he was spitting up. Then everything went black.

Avery was leaning over, tightening her hiking boots, when she heard the voice that set her teeth on edge. It was Kaylee Cooper, a girl who sported a wardrobe full of pink, fuzzy sweaters and cheerleading skirts that barely covered her b.u.t.t. She was G.o.ddess-like and blond, with hair that nipped at her waist, and eyes that looked sweetly innocent until they narrowed and her gaze sliced you into ribbons. She was popular for being either a tease or a s.l.u.t, Avery couldn't remember which, and she never moved without a swarm of girls...o...b..ting her. They all looked the same, interchangeable, one popping into the Kaylee system as another fell away.

"Is this where we meet for the hike?" Kaylee asked Avery's arched back.

Avery straightened. "It's not a hike. It's a missing-person search. And yes." She handed Kaylee a clipboard. "Sign in here, please."

She watched as Kaylee produced a pink-and-white pen and signed her name with a flourish and hearts. A flourish and hearts, Avery thought, while two kids are out in the woods, possibly injured, possibly dead.

She shook her head at the annoyance that overwhelmed her and slipped on her bright-orange search-and-rescue jacket. It didn't take long for a group to form behind her, mainly kids from school, including Kaylee and her admirers. When Officer Vincent Blount came over to explain the details of the search, Avery hugged her arms across her chest, her feet tapping.

She was anxious to get into the woods. Though her conversations with Adam had dwindled as the years pa.s.sed until they were virtual strangers in high school, he had asked her for geometry help. She'd been surprised and thrilled when they'd met in the library and he'd hung on her every word. They'd talked in hushed tones for hours-not about geometry but about everything, until the sun set and the librarian whisked them out. Outside on the sidewalk, he'd leaned in and she could smell the soap he used and his cologne and shampoo. Avery had thought Adam was going to kiss her then and there-but Kaylee had pulled up in her stupid new car and the moment had been ruined.

Now the teen search group filed into lines and started down the trail Adam and Fletcher would have walked. Avery took slow, deliberate steps, calling out the boys' names, the voices of the other volunteers nearby swallowed up by the foliage. Avery wasn't sure how long they walked, but they were deep enough into the forest that the overgrowth blocked out most of the sunlight and the temperature had dropped more than a couple of degrees.

She zipped her jacket and stepped away from the group-a cardinal sin, she knew-and headed toward a small bit of earth that looked to have been recently tromped through. She glanced over her shoulder at her group; they were taking a break. Most were drinking from water bottles or sitting in the dirt. No one seemed to miss her. She looked around and saw a path marked by more broken twigs, winding deeper into the forest, deeper into the shadows.

It was impossibly quiet where she was, as if the thick, leafy canopy snuffed out the outside world completely. The result was an eerie stillness that gave Avery goose b.u.mps and sent a quiver through her stomach. A twig snapped behind her and she spun. Her body stiffened like an animal ready to pounce. Then came the rustle of pine needles.

It was back. It-he-whatever or whoever had done this to him was back, probably to finish him off. A tremor of terror rolled through him, each miniscule quiver making his bones crack all over again.