JEREMY HITS A BUTTON ON his phone and props the speaker by the microphone. The playlist that he meticulously put together for this night begins to sound through the darkness, and he smiles with anticipation. He steps out from the shed that houses his audio equipment and takes a second to pour some water on one of his thirsty magnolia bushes, gently passing the delicate white petals between his fingers. He breathes in the crisp night air and moves his shoulders with the music. David Bowie’s “Suffragette City” echoes across the acres of isolated swampland, and he checks his tools one last time. He lightly touches the Glock 22 tucked into the holster around his midsection and pats the cargo pocket on his right pant leg to confirm that it still holds the seventeen-inch serrated hunting knife. Tugging on the shotgun slung across his back, he takes his time walking into the abyss of trees that stretches out before him.
Growing up, his family stifled his curiosity. He wasn’t encouraged to pursue the things that interested him most. His penchant for exploring the inner workings of small animals through dissection made people uncomfortable. And after his father died, he grew even more resentful of his mother and the ways in which she held him back from reaching his true potential. That is why he felt such a long-awaited sense of relief years ago when he freed himself from her. Now his curiosities are unfettered, and he is free to play for as long as he wishes.
He wonders whether his other guests listened when he instructed them to run. Assuming they are moving and not stuck to the ground in fear, they’ll probably find one another at some point tonight. That might make things a little messy. He doesn’t love mess, but sometimes he accepts it as inevitable. Ducking under Spanish moss and slipping the night-vision goggles onto his face, he steps over twisted roots and scans the woods in front of him. When nothing appears, he unlocks his phone. The app connects to the various security cameras nestled around the property and flicks to life at his command. He taps through the various angles until he lands on one that shows Emily in the darkness.
The dizzying sounds of the night mix with the upbeat music. He can see Emily pressing her back against a cypress tree and sticking her fingers in her ears. As he watches her struggle to catch her breath and adjust her eyes to the darkness, he wonders what thoughts are running through her head. She scans the area around her, probably wondering whether he is close. Just as he begins to tire of her, she moves forward. She’s going to make him work for it. Now she is moving across the swampy ground, keeping her pace brisk and her flashlight use minimal. He has to tap through more angles just to keep up with her. His own pulse quickens at the challenge.
Suddenly, she stops. He sees her turn her attention to her left side and stop dead in her tracks. Clicking off her light, she waits and tries to hear through the cacophony of sounds. Jeremy hears what put her on edge. The snap of a branch must feel a million miles away and right on top of her at the same time. Suddenly, a stream of light encases her.
“Who are you?” a panicked, decidedly female voice squeaks out from behind the flashlight.
Emily lets out the breath, and Jeremy can see her whole body shudder.
“Emily. I’m Emily,” she stammers, placing a hand on her chest and closing her eyes to block out the harsh light.
The light lowers, and there is an audible sigh of relief from its owner.
“Oh, thank god.” Katie closes her tired eyes and squats down, steadying herself on a tree with a hand that is caked in old blood. Emily’s eyes draw to the sight like a moth to a flame.
“Who are you?” Emily clicks on her own flashlight, casting a spotlight on Jeremy’s irritating guest.
“Katie. But introductions hardly even matter right now,” she snaps. “He’s just going to kill us anyway. Super psyched to meet you though!” She rubs her forehead and starts to cry softly.
Pathetic.
Emily shakes her head. “He isn’t going to kill me.”
Katie chuckles slightly and brings herself to her feet. “Sure. Listen, you just got here. We have been with him for days. Where did he get you?”
Jeremy can’t help but smile.
“Cal is my lab partner. We’re in the same grad program.” She twitches her head from side to side, ever vigilant.
“Who is Cal? Is he out here too?” Katie looks confused and frustrated.
Jeremy laughs out loud.
Emily quirks a brow, flicking her eyes to the side. “He’s the one who’s doing all this. I thought you said you had spent days with him.”
She looks confused too. Jeremy is delighted.
Katie is visibly annoyed. “I don’t know who the hell Cal is, but this guy’s name is Jeremy.”
“Whatever you say. Listen, who else is out here? Is there anyone else?” Emily asks.
He can see the panic return to Emily’s face as she considers the possibility that there are more of him around her.
Katie softly whimpers, utterly exhausted. “My friend Matt. He should be around here somewhere. Unless Jeremy already found him.”
Emily takes an audible sharp breath in and looks around.
“All right, Katie. We have to move. Let’s try to find Matt,” she declares.
He sees the light of Katie’s flashlight dim slightly. Emily can see it too.
“You should probably turn off your flashlight.” She gestures toward the dimming beam of Katie’s light.
Katie chuckles mockingly and shakes her head.
“No way. I have been in a pitch-black basement for days. Why the hell would I want to stumble around in the dark out here too?”
Emily bites at her lip and tries to maintain her composure as she explains, “Well, the way it’s dimming, you won’t have a choice pretty soon.”
Her voice is sharp and aggravated.
Katie flips the light to shine into her own face and shrugs. “Like I said, he’s not going to let us go, and I’m not dying in the dark.”
Emily concedes and walks after her.
The song ends. Emily and Katie both look up into the sky with relief. Then, without warning, Van Morrison’s “Moondance” begins to fill the darkness, causing them both to jump a bit at the surprise. As they trudge through the thick brush, ducking under slimy Spanish moss and sinking into the ankle-deep swamp with every step, he can see Emily struggling to stay alert through the smothering sounds of the Louisiana bayou and sickeningly jovial music.
“What was that?” She stops moving and cranes her neck to sift through the chaos.
Jeremy is moving now. He slithers slowly and quietly toward them. He remains far enough away to stay out of sight, but close enough to observe the scene with his own senses. Katie freezes and spins her light in every direction, much to Emily’s obvious chagrin.
“Matt?” she calls out too loudly.
Emily grabs Katie and throws her hand over her mouth, hushing her aggressively.
“What if Cal hears you?!” she whispers harshly in her ear, loud enough for Jeremy to hear.
He’s smiling now. It’s like watching a show. He didn’t anticipate it would play out so seamlessly. Katie and Emily have embodied their roles like actors on a stage.
Katie peels her hand away, shooting Emily an angry look and dropping her light to her side. “What if it’s Matt?” she snarls.
Emily puts a finger up to silence her again and cranes her head to listen. The familiar click of metal on metal. Jeremy pumps his shotgun loudly, becoming a part of the performance.
“Get down!” Emily screeches, dropping to the ground while pulling Katie into a crumpled heap next to her.
Emily instinctively covers her head, and Katie squeals as she flops into the mud like a rag doll. Just as they hit the swampy land beneath them, Jeremy’s shot hits the tree behind them, creating an explosion of bark and smoke.
Emily knows that blast. She once told Cal that her father taught her about weaponry of all kinds while she was growing up. While she never found herself interested in owning guns, the knowledge still remains.
“Fight or flight, girls. Fight or flight,” Jeremy whispers to himself.
His eyes never leave the scene before him. He feels their fear from where he stands. It’s like a tide washing in, filling the air with the scent of panic and desperation.
“Go, Katie! Go!” Emily shoves Katie forward, keeping low to the ground and choosing flight.
Katie sobs and stumbles forward, covering her own head with her hands and creating a commotion.
“Katie, you have to be quiet and fucking move!” she angrily spits out.
I knew she would hate Katie.
Jeremy paired them together for a reason, and he’s pleased with the animosity blooming between them.
Katie shakes her head, sobbing and paralyzed on her hands and knees.
“I can’t! I can’t do it!” she wails.
Emily moves next to her in an instant, throwing her arm around her neck and cupping her own hand over Katie’s mouth. Without a word, she begins dragging her along at a brisk pace. Jeremy moves swiftly alongside them, relishing the power that comes from seeing someone who can’t see you. Pushing hard through the sea of trees, they finally stop to rest, Emily nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
“We can’t stay here long.” Emily pants, placing her hands on her hips and squinting into the darkness around them. “We are sitting ducks if we don’t keep moving.”
Katie shakes her head.
“Where the fuck are we going to go?” She throws her hands up before slapping them back down into the mud. “It’s us against a psycho with a gun. We’re going to run around like idiots until he shoots us from a fucking tree or something. We should stay here and hide until morning.”
“That’s your plan? You really think he will just leave when the sun comes up?” Emily squeezes her eyes shut and bends forward.
“He said we just had to evade him. That’s all we have to do.”
Emily isn’t the type to leave someone behind, even if they irritate her to no end. She’s a hero in her own mind, Jeremy knows.
“You honestly trust this guy’s word? You think someone with the patience to hide you away for days and befriend me for months will just give up because we hid from him for a few hours?”
Katie shrugs, and Emily brushes a spider off her shoulder with a sigh.
“So, you don’t want to find your friend out here? You want to leave Matt to die alone?”
Jeremy is fascinated. Her survival instinct is so strong, yet she’s willing to ignore it to help this delusional stranger.
“He’s probably already dead.”
“Well, we are not going to die out—” Emily stops.
Branches snap. And they both hear a shuffle of feet. Katie looks up at Emily with wide, terrified eyes. Gripping the tree trunk behind her, Emily holds her breath, desperately trying to see her surroundings.
Not me this time, friends.
Jeremy smirks to himself, waiting for the next arrival.
“Katie!” a hushed male voice sounds out from the darkness.
Katie gets to her feet and reaches for her flashlight.
“Oh my god, Matt?!” she whispers back in what sounds like pure disbelief.
The flashlight clicks on, and a stream of light casts out across the trees. A disheveled man in dirty clothes stands twenty feet away. A smile spreads across his face, and Katie bursts into relieved laughter. Emily lets out her breath and steps out from her hiding spot. They begin walking toward one another, letting their guards down. Jeremy shakes his head at their insipidity and raises his Glock, aiming it toward their gathering spot.
“I can’t believe we found you!” Katie runs forward to jump into a hug with Matt, who grimaces in pain.
“Yeah, I was sure I wouldn’t be able to walk on this knee, but I guess adrenaline took over.”
Emily looks down at Matt’s right knee, crusted in old blood and fresh mud. Her eyes betray her terror, suddenly compounded by a loud pop that seems to come out of nowhere. A bullet from Jeremy’s handgun rips into Matt’s temple, spraying drops of blood onto Katie’s face. He drops to the ground like a bird that’s been shot mid-flight, and Katie screams. But before Katie can process the grisly scene, Emily grabs her arm and starts running.
“Best of luck, ladies and … well, actually, just ladies now.” Jeremy grins, tucking the handgun back into its holster.