Page 3 of Forest Proximity
“Have you ever seen Desmond eat a hot ravioli?” I cringe at the memory.
“No.” She’s already laughing.
“Well, it’s—”
Something moves in my peripheral vision, and I freeze. I take a long breath, and the leaf I just picked flutters down to my boots. Turning my head to the side slowly, I’m suddenly very aware that I’m not alone in these woods. Someone—or something—is walking through the trees several dozen yards away. I swallow. I didn’t bring bear spray, pepper spray, or even a stick to defend myself with.
What is that thing? In the fading light the figure is impossible to make out; I only know that it’s huge. It’s standing on two feet. It’s walking like a man, but it’s too tall. There’s no way that’s a man, right? It can’t be. And it’s not a bear. My heart is drumming in my ears.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
I can’t believe my brothers are missing this.
My mouth goes dry.
It’s going to walk away.
“Stevie?” Marlow’s tinny voice echoes much too loudly through the phone.
I gasp, then curse under my breath. That thing ishuge.
With shaking fingers, I smash the red button to end the call and fumble to open my camera app. I need to get a video before it’s gone. My stupid hands are trembling. I’m barely able to start recording before the figure is out of sight. Holding my breath, I force my hands still long enough to press the shutter button to take a burst of photos. One of those is bound to be clear, even with the dim light and my twitchy hands.
And now the thing is gone—swallowed by the darkness and the trees, leaving me squinting into the woods.
“Ho”—I suck in a long breath—“ly crap.” I release a shaky exhale. I can’t believe what I just saw.
Chapter 2
Stevie
When I barge through the diner doors fifteen minutes later, I’m already shouting. “What have I been saying for years?” I hold up my phone, with the evidence on the screen at full brightness. “It’s out there, and this time I have proof.” My triumphant cackle fills the nearly empty diner.
Oh. My friends aren’t even here. Dang. And I planned that little speech and everything.
Lola grins from behind the counter, where she’s rolling silverware into napkins. Her nineties perm is extra poofy tonight. She must’ve had a hectic day. “They went to find you.”
“What? Why?”
“Marlow was worried about you.” She tosses a bundle of silverware onto her pile. “They left only a few minutes ago.”
“Where did they go?”
“They said something about the preserve.” She shrugs. “Isn’t that where you usually go?”
I tip my face to the ceiling with a groan. “Yes, dang it.” I’m already pushing back through the glass doors. “Thanks, Lo.”
She smiles. “You bet.”
This is fine. It gives me more time to fine-tune my victory speech.
Fifteen minutes later I pull into the same parking spot near the woods, only now it’s fully dark. Diana’s car is here, so my friends are around somewhere. They can’t have gone too far. Luckily, I’m still wearing my boots and a layer of bug repellent.
I’m guessing they took the main trail—that’s the one everyone uses, so they likely assumed I did, too. I move that direction through the thick trees. I could use the flashlight on my phone, but instead I let my eyes adjust to the moonlight. I’ll see better that way.
“Marlow?” I whisper-shout. “Di?”
I’ve walked this trail at night many times, but I’m having a hard time picturing my friends wandering through the forest in the dark. It’s spooky if you’re not used to it. And I just saw ...somethingin here. I don’t want to startle him. Or her. I guess it could be female. Either way, my personal belief is that if they exist, they obviously want to be left alone. And they’re probably like any other primate—dangerously strong and unpredictable if they’re caught off guard. I don’t want to do that.
