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Zoe
They could still see the headlights behind them, but those headlights were no longer helping them to see what was in front of them. Jason took his phone out and turned on the flashlight, but the light of one phone alone—no matter how fancy the phone—was pathetically weak because of the rain.
“We need to bring the car up here,” Derek said matter-of-factly.
Jason turned to look down the hill. “I don’t think it will make it up here.”
“It will.” Derek started that way. “I’ll go get it.”
“Do you have a driver’s license?”
Derek laughed shrilly and started singing “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.”
Jason appeared to be frozen with indecision.
Zoe stepped closer to him. She wanted to take his hand, and though she thought she could probably get away with it under the circumstances, she didn’t quite dare. “He’ll be fine. How much damage can he do driving up a narrow road?” She could’ve added, And how much is that junk car worth, anyway? but she didn’t.
He gave her side-eye. “He could rip the bottom off my car. The guy’s nuts.” He exhaled shakily. “And then I’ll have you two girls stranded out here in creepville.”
Part of her was annoyed at his blatant sexism. Part of her was thrilled that he felt protective of her. Her and Emma, sure, but still, it was worth something.
The car started, and the headlights started moving toward them—quickly. She felt Jason stiffen beside her.
“Holy cow,” Emma muttered.
The old car flew up the hill, and the headlights bounced around like ping-pong balls. “Stop!” Jason screamed, throwing his hands up into the air. It was doubtful Derek could’ve heard the shout, but he might see the arms.
He didn’t slow down. If anything, he sped up.
“Stop!” Jason shouted again. Then he let his arms fall and muttered, “I’m going to kill him.”
“Wait till after we find Levi,” Emma said through chattering teeth.
Zoe looked at her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Emma said quickly.
The car stopped in front of them, and Derek stuck his head out of the window. “Get out of the road. I’ll keep going, and you guys follow.” He rolled up the window and started driving before they had even moved. He had turned the radio on. It was playing Christmas music. What radio station was already playing Christmas music? Or did Derek know of some station that specialized in annoying her?
They struggled to keep up.
“Maybe we should get back in the car?” Zoe said. It felt like she wore buckets of water for shoes, which made even a slight uphill climb a lot more work.
“No, it would weigh the car down, make the bumps worse,” Jason said.
Zoe bristled. Had he just called her heavy? She slapped the thought out of her mind.
They walked and walked. “How long is this stupid road?” Zoe asked.
“I have no idea,” Jason said. “But I don’t think we’ve gone very far, even if it feels like it.”
Awesome.
After what felt like another thousand steps, and at least a dozen horrible scraping sounds coming from Jason’s car—one time she could have sworn she saw sparks—Zoe started to seriously think about giving up. They still had to get back out of these woods. With their one old car with limited gas and their one flashlight.
She opened her mouth to announce this idea, but something stopped her. She didn’t want Jason to think she was a wuss. She didn’t want Emma, a thirteen-year-old, to be tougher than her. She realized that she even cared what Derek thought, which was ridiculous. Why did she care what he thought? So she didn’t announce her idea, and this made her angry with herself. The anger made her more tired. Each step made her more resentful. What had she gotten herself into? Yet another awful experience in the name of following Jason around.
“Look!” Emma cried.
Zoe had been watching her feet so studiously that when she looked up, her neck expressed gratitude. Sure enough, lit by their headlights: a very old house. A shiver traveled down her spine. She realized the car had stopped.
Jason stepped closer to Derek’s window. “Get a little closer, would you?”
Derek nodded, an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. He wasn’t singing now. He crept closer to the house, and the others followed on foot. Zoe realized she was holding her breath and forced herself to breathe.
“Levi?” Emma called.
Zoe jumped.
“Levi!” Emma said even louder, not giving him enough time to respond between calls. Emma held a hand up. “Did you hear that? Turn off the car!” she screamed at Derek, who immediately obeyed.
The three of them stood stock-still. All Zoe could hear was water falling on wet leaves. She’d never realized how deafening that sound was.
“There!” Emma called. “Levi! We hear you! Hang on!”
“Emma,” Jason said levelly. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Well, you’re deaf,” Emma said, and took off running toward the terrifying house in front of them.
