The whisper rode in on the breeze. Moira opened her eyes to moonlight filtering through one of the broken windows of the shack. The vestiges of sleep seemed to have her in tow and she felt fuzzy-headed.
“Moi-ra.”
The sing-song murmur drifted from outside.
She rolled over and noted that Adam’s sleeping bag was empty. Goosebumps broke out along Moira’s arms as she slid from hers. She pushed open the front door and peered outside.
“Moira.”
The whisper, farther this time, seemed to echo from around back. She stepped outside and let the door shut quietly behind her. A sliver of moonlight shone through the trees, slicing through the darkness.
She made her way around the shack. A chilly wind rustled through the forest. “Adam?” Moira stood uncertainly.
Suddenly, Jack’s presence hit her hard from behind.
“Got you.”
* * *
Pine needles pressed against her cheek. She drew a breath. Her ribs ached. Moira opened her eyes.
“About time.”
The sound of Jack’s voice caused her insides to tremble. Leaning against a tree, he stared down on her as if inspecting an insect. One he was about ready to step on.
“Start walking,” he said.
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Walk!” he yelled. Striding over, he hauled Moira up by her injured wrist.
She cried out in pain and staggered back a step. “Where are we going?” Keep him talking, she thought frantically.
Jack gave her a shove. “Just walk.”
Moira noted the direction they were headed. Her escape to Adam would be the opposite way—she was sure of it. But how could she outrun Jack? She couldn’t. She had to outwit him. “Once you kill me, Jack, what then?”
“Justice.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “But what happens to you?”
His expression faltered slightly before his face was masklike again. “It doesn’t matter. I want you dead, Moira. I want you to know what it feels like to be dead.”
The coldness in his voice made her heart lurch. She continued to walk, silently counting her steps. The forest around them was illuminated by slices of moonlight. Moira made a mental note of any landmark she could see; a fallen tree, a gnarled branch, a rock, anything so she wouldn’t become lost in the woods.
The farther they walked into the woods, the hazier Moira’s thinking became. She lost count of her steps. Her landmarks were forgotten.
A lake yawned in front of them.
“It was very bad of you to try and escape me,” Jack said quietly from behind.
Moira’s thoughts struggled to surface. Jack pushed her and she heard a splash. She was standing in icy cold water. It tickled her ankles. Feeling as if she were trapped in a dream, Moira waded out further. The water crept up to her knees and quickly soaked through her jeans.
“A little farther.” Jack’s presence urged her from behind.
She took several steps forward. Water lapped at her waist. Moira shivered from the cold and a stab of fear raced through her body. “I can’t swim, Jack.”
“I know.”
Helpless, she waded to her neck, teetering on her tip toes as the waves rippled around her. She looked up and saw stars overhead.
“Farther.”
Moira felt her head go under. She was being pulled, but not physically. Mentally. Layers of darkness enveloped her senses. She felt weighted and couldn’t move her arms or legs. Moments passed before unbearable pressure registered from somewhere in her chest and throat. Jack’s presence lingered in her peripheral. Holding her. Waiting.
Her plan, the one she had been formulating for the past few days, seeped into her consciousness. If she could just take Jack to that point between life and death…
She tried to gulp air and found she couldn’t. Fear pushed through her haze and Moira struggled, fighting the pull of death. She was losing consciousness…drifting. Bright flashing lights filled her field of vision. There was a pull from somewhere beyond. She fought it and everything went black.
Moira came to on shore, gasping for air. So close. She rolled over and heaved until her stomach was empty. The taste from the lake water made her retch again.
“Pitiful.”
She looked up to see Jack standing over her. But he didn’t look the way she remembered. Something had changed. His form had shifted into something dark and terrible. An invisible force yanked her to her feet. She shook with the effort to stand. Jack’s face, distorted beyond recognition, was inches from hers. Her shaking became more violent as she realized what Jack had become. Pure evil.
“You didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you?” he whispered. “So many different ways to die, Moira.”
Jack’s presence loomed dark. His face morphed into a thousand faces, full of malice and hatred. Everything he’d been planning to do to her, in life and in death, crashed into her head all at once.
Moira’s scream, raw and desperate, rang through the forest. She fell to the ground. When she looked up, Jack was nowhere to be seen.
“Run.” Jack’s whisper was like an icy breeze.
Moira scrambled to her feet and ran, her already spent lungs burned with the effort to take in more air. Jack’s presence loomed behind her, and she was herded deeper into the woods. Faster and faster she ran, sobbing with the imposed effort. The forest was a blur, but the moon and stars lay overhead like a gentle reminder.
Her inner map situated itself. Moira threw herself against Jack’s pull and changed direction.