Rebekah dashes across the road, calling, “Let’s go before Andy realizes we’re gone!”
“Where’s the fire, Rebekah?” Tia says, running after her.
We cross the road and race into the forest.
They’re running so Andy won’t realize we’re gone. I’m running from Lillian.
Dry grass and sticks crunch beneath our feet.
“How much further?” Rebekah asks.
“We’ve only been in the forest for five minutes,” Tia replies.
It took us about twenty minutes to reach the road from camp. It’s darker now because we’re not using the flashlight, and we’re slower. The last thing we need is someone noticing us.
“I hate this part. What if we make too much noise gettin’ back into the cabins?” Rebekah says.
“Don’t,” Olly replies.
I nudge his side. “Unhelpful. Just say you were going to the bathroom and heard a noise outside.”
Olly grins. “Ooh, I like it, Esme. You’re good at being sneaky.”
“Is that a compliment?”
I can just about make out Kayla looking over her shoulder at me.
“It is,” he replies.
To the left of us something flashes, lighting up the forest like freaking fireworks. I blink and a dot of white dances in front of my eyes.
“What the hell was that?” Jake says, whipping the flashlight from his pocket and turning it on. He shines it in the direction of the flash.
I gasp, my free hand flying to my throat. “Was that a camera?”
Another flash.
“Shit, it is!” Olly hisses.
“Who’s there?” Jake calls.
I push against Olly, my hands shaking. “We need to go now!”
“Shh, Esme.”
“Someone is taking our picture!”
Another blinding flash.
“Go!” Jake snaps, turning around and running in the direction of camp. He’s holding Kayla’s hand and practically dragging her. We all take off after him.
We sprint single file, and I wince every time another flash of light hits the forest and casts long shadows between the trees.
My stomach churns.
I push my legs to go faster and faster to keep up with the others.
The forest lights up again. My pulse is thudding loudly in my ears.
Someone is taking photos of us.
Another light makes me gasp again and turns my blood to ice. What if the next flash reveals the person behind it? If they’re standing between the trees we’d only see them when the flash went off.
I want to know who it is, but I’m also scared to know.
“Almost there!” Jake snaps in something between a shout and a whisper.
If I fall over now, I’m going to kick myself.
I dart between two trees behind Rebekah. Olly’s footsteps are thundering right behind me. My thighs scream in protest of the pace I’m keeping.
I ignore the pain and press on, gulping air and trying to remember if you should breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth when you’re running or the other way around.
“Go, go!” Olly says, putting one hand on my lower back.
I push harder, gritting my teeth. My legs feel like they’re going to snap off. We burst from between the shrubs and run along the forest, toward the cabins.
The flashes stop abruptly.
Jake slows and turns. I almost run into Tia as everyone else slows down too.
“What?” I ask, bending over to catch my breath.
Olly and Jake exchange a look, one that turns their faces red with anger and makes me flinch.
“Oh no. You cannot go back,” I tell them. Are they crazy?
Their male pride has been hurt. We were chased out of the woods by someone with a camera. But it’s not like we can afford to be caught. Andy wouldn’t be too happy that we went to town in the middle of the night.
He’s big on responsibilities, and he has one to keep us safe, too.
Olly’s jaw clenches in the dim light of the wood lamppost. “We can’t let whoever that was get away with it.”
“Why would they want photos of us anyway?” Rebekah asks. “What were they trying to do?”
“I intend to find out,” Jake replies.
Kayla puts her palms on Jake’s chest. “Wait up a second. We don’t know who it is or what they’re capable of. They might be dangerous.”
“Me and Olly can take him.”
I throw my hands up, annoyed with all the testosterone flying around. “And if he has a gun? You stronger than a bullet, Jake? Let’s go inside and pretend this never happened.”
She could have just been trying to scare us.
It was a success.
“It’s probably just someone trying to freak us out,” I say.
“Esme is right,” says Tia, backing me up. She points toward the forest. “We don’t know what that person is capable of. It’s most likely that he was there to freak us out, but I don’t want to take that chance. Do you?”
Jake growls a no that sounds like it wounds his ego, while Olly grits his teeth.
Tia shakes her head. “What if they send the pictures to Andy?”
“Even if they do, all they got is us running through the forest and we told everyone we were going for a walk.”
“That’s true,” Kayla says.
“Let’s just go to bed, I’m over it,” Jake mutters.
I take Olly’s hand and he grips mine tight. I’m just happy to help calm him down. “Hey,” I say, leaning against him. “It was just some crazy guy in the woods. We don’t need to get mixed up in whatever he was doing.”
Olly’s green-and-blue eyes slide very slowly to mine as if he needs a second before dealing with me. My mom did the same thing when I was nine and I accidentally smashed her very expensive eye shadow palette.
“If he comes back…”
I nod. “Then you can kick his ass.”
Rebekah peers over her shoulder and into the forest. “Can we please get to bed before someone hears us out here?”
We split up and head to our cabins. The boys’ cabin is closest, but Olly and Jake stand on the porch, watching us get inside safely before they go inside. That is so cute!
Rebekah and Tia tiptoe into their cabin and close the door.
I can hear my ragged breathing as we walk up to our door. Kayla and I walk up the two steps at the same time, carefully placing our feet in case the wood creaks. I look back at Olly and Jake as Kayla slowly turns the door handle.
With a quick wave to the boys, I turn and slide through the small opening. Kayla didn’t open the door wide; I’m guessing so the light from outside wouldn’t creep in.
The room is filled with heavy breathing and soft snoring. I glance at each of the bunk beds in the large room. The girls are all very still. It’s sometime after one in the morning.
Kayla and I pad into our room. We undress in silence; I clumsily pull my pajamas on and climb up to my bunk quickly and quietly. Neither of us speak. We usually say good night, but tonight we’re too scared.
Lying on my back, I replay the events of the forest in my head. I can’t remember exactly how many flashes—photos—there were, but it was a lot.
Somebody wants evidence that we snuck out.
Evidence that Kayla and I snuck out.
Like we did ten years ago.