I’m no medical man, but Bob’s not going any places for a while.
“Can I get you back to the car at least?” I ask, not wanting to leave him on a muddy track in a storm.
He grits his teeth, nodding and turning a pale gray as I help him move his legs together and lift him up.
There’s no shame in it, probably for the best when the man faints in my arms.
I get him back to the car, and laying him flat in the back seat I shift some heavy rocks behind my tires so it won’t go anyplace without me.
He looks feverish when he comes to again, and I put his phone in his hands, ordering him to see if he can’t get a signal and call for help.
“Find her,” he gasps. “Find Krystal, James. I know you can do it. “I’ll do anything if you just bring her back to me.”
I don’t need Bob’s permission or his blessing. He’s slowed me down long enough and it feels good to be free of him in a way, to be honest.
He’s not going anywhere, and something in me is lit up, feeling like Krystal really is in danger now, not just looking for a cabin in the woods in a storm.
She needs me, I can feel it.
The stone stairs are there, just like he said. Overgrown but I can make them out without even using the flashlight.
My senses are on high alert, and the flashes of lightning so frequent it’s almost like a disco strobing as I make my way up into the thick woods.
I’m huffing it, making the best time I can, but when I hear what I’m sure is a scream from the top of the hill, I double my effort, sprinting up the steps two then three at a time.
I slip, I fall forward, and even land on my ass a few times. Growling with rage each and every time as I pick myself up, the thought of Krystal the one thing to keep me going.
I hear the scream again, then a growling, whining sound.
It’s not a human scream after all, but whatever the fuck it is it doesn’t sound friendly. It’s moving away from me, up ahead in the distance and somehow I just know that whatever it is, it’s after Krystal.
Following the sound, I finally see a dark shape before it disappears into the shadows of the woods again.
It looks like a cat, a big cat.
I want to call out to Krystal, to let her know I’m coming, but I hold back. I don’t know how close or far away she even is and if this thing knows I’m behind it.
I have to stop to catch my breath. I’m not a machine and I calculate I’ve already just run two miles up a sheer hillside in a storm without stopping.
It’s further away now, but I hear the strange, eerie cry of the beast again, it’s definitely hunting something, I just know it.
The thunder and lightning, the heavy rain is as constant as ever but there’s the faintest sign of the landscape getting a little lighter.
The first signs of a choked, gray dawn starting to show in the darkness between the treetops.
With nothing but the wind and rain in my ears, I lose track of the big cat once it goes quiet again. The track I’m on is so overgrown it could be the same undergrowth anywhere else in these woods, with a steady trickle of muddy water forming tiny rivers that splash over my feet.
The thought occurs to me I might be lost myself, but the distant sound of a very human sounding scream snaps me to attention and I turn a few degrees to my right and start to sprint again.
It’s Krystal this time, I know it is.
When I hear her screaming my name I groan loudly, willing myself to hurry to her.
“Krystal,” I shout out as loud as I can, calling for her again and again until I see the cabin, the red door ajar, and a huge cougar pawing its way in.
Its head tilts, sensing me approach from behind, but its hissing and spitting tells me he’s as mad as hell and isn’t backing off anytime soon.
I get closer, only wanting to distract the animal, to scare it off. I get within twenty feet before it turns on me, crouching with its ears pinned back, silent now.
Ready to strike.
Crouching suddenly myself, I grip two rocks, one in each hand before springing back up and spreading my arms overhead as I try to double my size.
I let out a shriek of my own, throwing first and then the second rock just in front of the animal, who looks confused for a moment before I shout again.
Without a sound, it shifts to my left and disappears into the woods and I lurch towards the cabin door, leaning against it until I can squeeze through.