I drove home to stash the packages I’d gotten but was too restless to stay there. Archer’s request for filming spots gave me an excuse to drive to an access road in a remote part of the park with the junky ATV that lived in the shed. I remembered to pack a bag with snacks and water and GPS and solar panels to charge my phone, plus an emergency kit and blanket and first aid supplies. I’d learned my lesson. Nature really didn’t give a shit about what I planned. I strapped the shotgun on top of the gear and hesitated as I looked at the wide path leading into the forest. The cast slowed me down, but I’d tossed the knee brace aside. Was I really dumb enough to saunter back into the woods, knowing the wild man stalked the trails?
I’d heard nothing from Dragomir after he short-circuited my brain talking to Archer. My heart stayed in my throat as a completely illogical fear seized me. What if it happened again? I definitely couldn’t fight the wild man off with my lingering weakness, even after the miraculous healing from Dragomir’s intercession, and if I couldn’t get to the shotgun… There was too much light for the vampire to venture out and save me, but I sure as fuck wasn’t traipsing down the trail in the middle of the night just in case I needed a vampiric bodyguard.
I shook my head and climbed on the ATV. I wasn’t camping out there. It would take me fifteen minutes to get to a wide stream Jamie and I had loved to splash in, I could check it out to make sure nothing had changed and wild animals hadn’t completely taken over. Then I’d go straight home. Easy.
My heart still pounded as I started down the trail and got deeper and deeper into the trees. It would be fine. It would all be fine. I’d over-prepared. I had to face the park again with Archer and his team at some point, so better to get the nervous reactions out of the way alone. Perfectly logical and reasonable.
I found the little clearing on the bank of the stream, exactly as I remembered it, and exhaled. The water went from about six feet wide across large stones, then narrowed down after pooling in a pleasant spot under the shade of some sugar maples and a lone white ash tree. The trickle and whisper of water babbling over the rocks felt like balm to the soul.
I sat slowly on an old stump and fished out a protein bar to snack on as I looked around. That was what I missed: enjoying the woods and all their natural bounty without feeling like I needed to be counting birds or searching for cryptids. I hadn’t been camping just to camp in… ten years, probably. The forest went from a refuge to a thief after it swallowed Jamie, and never turned back.
Tears burned my sinuses again and I rubbed my temples. Soon. Soon Dragomir would figure out what happened to Jamie, or someone would uncover new evidence while searching for the wild man, and then everything would go back to the way it was. Jamie and I could camp and roast marshmallows and go fishing and just wander around the woods like we used to, counting birds and bugs together for the Park Service. Perfect.
My vision blurred anyway. A small part of me had grasped onto Archer’s jokes about Nepal and searching for yetis. Part of me saw a different future. Wanted a different future, where I didn’t stay in Chilhowee. Where I saw the world and made bigger contributions than just amusing the neighbors with my kooky behavior. Could I give up on Jamie, or – like Archer said – just take a break from searching and come back to it later? What if ‘later’ never came?
I rested my head on my knees and closed my eyes. What if I never found out what happened to Jamie? How long could I wait? When was it too late to live my own life?
Guilt followed quickly. Tears burned my cheeks and I wiped at them furiously with my sleeve. Nonsense. I couldn’t abandon Jamie. I wouldn’t.
Something rustled nearby.
I tensed, not lifting my head. Probably just a squirrel.
The sound came again, followed by the distinct sound of something large breathing. Oh shit.