95. Stronger than the Night

I run through the dark woods.

And I see her smile.

A branch swats me in the face. A limb tears my coat and cuts my arm. My foot pounds against something hard on the forest floor. The wound in my side from the tree branch still throbs, wet with blood. I know my hands are stained with it—some my own and some not.

I hear her laugh.

I’m sprinting uphill, sucking in air, sweating. It doesn’t feel like December. It doesn’t feel like New Year’s Eve.

Then again, nothing feels right. Nothing has felt right since coming to this godforsaken place.

The Devil is strong here, her voice tells me. Don’t doubt this.

I feel her hand in mine, gripping, shaking.

She said this would happen, but I still find myself in disbelief, hoping I’ll wake up, hoping the cold is just from the night air in my tiny cabin bedroom.

I want to look at my watch, but I don’t dare.

Every moment is precious. Every second counts.

Endless trees seem to hover in the dead of night, guarding what is just beyond. Wind whips their skeletal limbs, whips my face.

Three months ago, I didn’t know her.

Three months ago, I didn’t know anyone like her even existed.

Three months ago, I didn’t have the faintest idea what the word love meant.

But as I run, I know this: I’m willing to give my life for this girl.

I’m sixteen with what I hope will be a long life ahead of me, but I’m willing to give it up, to give anything to let her live, to let her make it through this night.

“Please, God,” I call out.

But God is a stranger to this place. And to my heart.

I recall her words.

“I believe.”

But I don’t. I never wanted to—not then, and not now.

A light cuts through the woods.

I’m close.

The gun is still lodged in my hand.

I know I’ll use it again. I don’t care.

All I care about is getting to her.

The wind howls in anger.

There are forces at work stronger than the darkness. Stronger than the wind. Stronger than the night.

I know this now: There is evil in the world.

And in this place.

The glow gets brighter, illuminating the towering trees around me.

I don’t slow down.

I’m almost at the top.

I’m ready to kill.

I’m ready to die.

I’m ready to rescue her.

My searing legs finally reach the top of the hill where the fire rages, where the winds whip, where the night sky explodes above me.

And then I see Jocelyn.