Panic thundered in my chest. And then I saw Derek, standing in the trees behind her, watching.
I raced back to the car and punched my home number into the cell phone. No answer. Though I wasn’t really surprised, what with the note I’d left and all, I thought there might be a slim chance Derek was still there. Next I dialed the Kirbys. Dina answered.
“Hello?” There was a hopeful note in her voice that tugged at my heart. No doubt she was hoping that I had good news about Leah.
“Mrs. Kirby, it’s Carson.”
“Have you heard from Leah?”
“No, but I, uh, I…” I trailed off. What was I supposed to say? That I’d had a vision of Leah drowning in the woods? That would certainly make an impression, just not one that would do any of us any good. Then it came to me. “I just wanted to know if you checked the woods. I mean, sometimes I take walks in there when I need to think and stuff.”
“No, we didn’t. That just- I don’t know. That just doesn’t sound like Leah, does it to you?”
“Well, maybe not, but if she was upset then…”
“We could check,” Dina said weakly, doubt evident in her tone.
“Derek could probably help look for her. He knows the woods really well, lots of trails and things like that.”
“Derek’s gone. He left day before yesterday. There’s no way to reach him now.”
I was struck speechless. I guess I had been holding on to some hope that I’d been mistaken and that Derek would find me when I got home and give me some logical explanation that would make it all better. Then he’d declare his undying love and I would do the same and we’d live…well, as happily ever after as we could, all things considered.
But the hollow reality was much more painful than I ever anticipated. My heart ached like a hole had been torn in it, one that was bleeding profusely. Even if I wanted to try and find him, I couldn’t. I had no way of reaching him. No one did apparently. No phone number, no address, no family to track him to. Just the Kirbys. And they said he was already gone.
Then a thought struck me: how had I seen him in the woods with Leah then? Was I seeing what had already happened this time?
“Carson? Are you there?”
Mrs. Kirby’s voice brought me back from my musings to the task at hand. “Oh, sorry. Well I can go look for her when I get back. Maybe I can find her if she’s not home by then,” I said, hoping to encourage Dina, but knowing deep down that there was a great likelihood that she would not return. “And, one more thing. Is it supposed to rain tonight?”
I knew she probably thought that was an insane question to ask in the midst of such a traumatic situation, but she didn’t say anything about it, merely answered my question. “No. It’s supposed to be clear. As cold as it is, it would probably be snow anyway.”
“So it hasn’t rained in the last couple of days either?’
“No.”
What was supposed to add clarity only served to further confuse and alarm me. If it hadn’t rained, then maybe what I’d seen hadn’t happened yet. On the other hand, what if it was only raining in a small section of the woods? What if someone was making it rain? I thought again of Derek standing behind Leah and a sickening feeling washed over me.
Pushing my emotions aside, I turned the key and revved the Camaro’s engine then pulled the shifter down into drive. I stopped by the trash can on the way out of the parking lot and pitched the rest of my sub in; my appetite was a thing of the past.
The rest of the drive home turned out to be a lesson in frustration. My erratic and highly-emotional thoughts served no purpose other than to give me a massive headache.
Finally, almost three hours later, I saw the Camp exit sign come into view. I took it and guided the car to the forks rather than to the Kirbys. I was going to the woods to look for Leah. There were miles and miles of forest she could be in, but I knew where that tree was and that would be as good a place to start as any. I was showing off one evening and had burned DC into a tree on the path to a training site Derek and I frequented.
My heart clenched painfully at the memory and I immediately made myself think of Leah and how I might be able to help her when I found her. If I found her. I hoped that I’d be able to get there in time.
I pulled off the road into a spot where Derek had parked his bike dozens of times. I hopped out of the car and struck out immediately for the trees. Luckily, as a direct result of my time spent with Derek honing my skills, I didn’t even need a flashlight to navigate the uneven terrain.
As soon as I entered the forest, big, fat raindrops started to pepper through the bare trees as I picked my way around the vegetation. Despite the cold temperature, I was stuck in the middle of a downpour. I was soaked by the time I’d made my way to the tree with the DC carved into it, but there was no sign of Leah.
I stopped to listen and that’s when I heard it. Splashing and sputtering.
Darting off in the direction I’d seen Leah run in my “vision”, I ran at the fastest speed that I could safely travel without getting myself hurt and being of no use to Leah.
When it seemed that I had traveled far enough to have already encountered her, I stopped to listen again. It was quiet but for the occasional drop of moisture that fell from the wet branches onto the forest floor; it had already stopped raining.
Looking as deeply into the shadow as I could, I scanned the ground for signs of flailing limbs, but saw none. Something moved to my right and I whipped my head around.
Derek stood in the shadow of a tree, staring at me blankly. A kaleidoscope of emotions played through me until he raised his arm and pointed into the woods to my left. I looked that direction and caught a glimpse of something pale. It had to be Leah.
I looked back to Derek. He said nothing, just kept pointing.
Denying my urge to go to him, I bolted through the trees in the direction Derek had pointed. As my feet plodded through the wet leaves, I prayed that Derek had had nothing to do with the rain. When I saw Leah up ahead, lying on the ground, all thoughts fled my mind except her.
She wasn’t alone.
Drops of rain sparkled in red hair when the girl turned toward me and smiled. “Just in time, Sis,” she shouted, confirming my suspicion. As she dropped to her knees beside Leah, her tinkling laughter drifted to my ears, curdling my blood.
“No!” I ran faster, my heart hammering against my ribs.
When I reached them, Leah was lying limp in my sister’s arms, Grey’s lips at her neck. Ghostly forms hovered just behind them, teeth gnashing, fingers grasping, their pale faces ravenous. Rage washed over me and, without another thought, I hurled myself at Grey.