Taken - Before her very Eyes (29 page)

Now that the storm was overhead,
the forest was as dark as night. A steady rain began to fall, pattering on the
canopy above, releasing an array of multicoloured leaves, which fluttered down
all around them. Lori reached out and grasped Max’s free hand then hurried him
back to the pathway, past Randy and a pale looking Cindy. All Lori could think
about was what Miss Hopkin would say when she found out they were playing in
the woods.

“I knew…bad idea.” Max fought
Lori’s help. He struggled, pulling free of her grip. “Never should’ve
listened.”

“Come on, Max! Hurry!” Lori
looked out through the clearing at the empty schoolyard. The last few stragglers
were running for the door, heading for cover. Just then, a scent drifted on the
wind. It was horrible, like that of rotting garbage, but worse—much worse. She
turned back to Max, who was sitting on a decaying tree stump, trying to catch
his breath. Maybe the smell had come from the stump?

“Tell Miss Hopkin that it
happened behind the…” Her words trailed off seeing the dark shapes on the
pathway behind. What were they waiting for? Didn’t they realize how much
trouble they were going to be in? “Cindy, Rrr…”

Two faint red dots appeared from
the darkness where Cindy and Randy had been. The sight triggered the memory
from earlier when she thought the lightning had played a trick on her eyes.
She’d dismissed it as nothing, but now,
Nothing
, was standing over a
dark lump on the pathway.

“What? What’s the matter?” Max
asked, struggling to get to his feet.

Lori ignored the question. She
took a step toward the glowing red eyes in the darkness, wondering what was
back there. It wasn’t until another flash of lighting pulsed across the sky,
filtering through the small gaps in the branches, that Lori saw exactly what
stood guard over the fallen body.

She gasped seeing its
blood-soaked muzzle inches from Cindy’s mangled neck, while Randy meanwhile
stood to the side, watching and waiting.

It all happened so quickly that
Lori couldn’t get a warning out. The beast sprang from Cindy’s lifeless body
and in one quick motion sank its teeth into Randy’s neck, ripping out his
throat. Then it silently started back into the woods—even before Randy’s body
began crumpling to the soft leaf-covered pathway.

“No!” Lori screamed, unable to
stop herself. She froze in terror as the beast stopped. Its massive head jerked
around in her direction, eyes glaring, burning like embers in a fire.

Lori felt a tremor erupt
throughout her body. They had been safe. It was going away, leaving her and Max
to survive, but because she couldn’t control her emotions, it was watching—No,
coming for them!

Lori turned and grasped Max’s
blood-covered hand then sprinted, pulling him down the path to the schoolyard.
She didn’t dare look back, afraid that the beast would be nipping at their
heels. Instead, she forced Max to run faster, but he stumbled and tripped on
everything, finding it hard to keep up.

When they made the edge of the
woods, Max tripped on a tree root, falling flat on his face in the soft mud.
Lori stopped. She pleaded for him to get back to his feet and continue running,
but he looked tired and defeated. His nose was still gushing blood, bright red
against his ash-white face. She glanced back into the darkness of the trees and
saw the red eyes closing in fast. Max turned to see what they had been running
from and when his eyes fell on the charging monster, he scrambled to get to his
feet.

“Go!” he yelled.

Lori obeyed. She turned her back
on the approaching killer and ran as fast as she could toward the school—and
help. Her only chance to live was to out run it. She was one of the fastest
kids at school, but could she outrun a killing machine?

Twenty feet from the tree line,
she heard the first shriek from behind. Her body shook. She couldn’t help it.
She pictured Max back there and could only imagine what that thing was doing to
him. He’d always been so timid and reserved, and now he was sacrificing himself
so she could get away. She felt ashamed at leaving a friend behind. Felt torn
about whether to flee or to fight. Lori remembered how easily that thing had
finished both Cindy and Randy and realized that there was no way to win a fight
against it. Her only chance was to run for help.

Another shriek came, this one
more like an animal cry than a human. Legs trembling, unable to continue, she
stopped and glanced back. Just past the trees, in the long grass, Max lay
clinging to the rear leg of the beast. It continued on, struggling three legged
to resume the chase, clearly angered at Max’s actions.

Lori couldn’t believe it. Max was
still fighting for her. He was doing everything he could to save her, but she
was stopped, watching and wasting precious time.

“Run, Lori!” Max screamed as the
beast turned its attention to the parasite on its body. Max snatched a loose
rock from the ground and slammed it into the approaching muzzle. It connected,
splitting the beast’s lips wide open. The animal paused a moment, taken by
surprise, and Lori prayed that it would change its mind and retreat from the
attack. But after lapping at the gushing blood, it snarled, then in a fevered
frenzy repaid the effort. Max’s grip loosened then his hands fell, twitching
onto the damp leaves.

The beast stepped away from Max’s
body and stood tall on all four legs. It was at that moment Lori saw exactly
what she’d been running from—a wolf! But not an ordinary wolf. This wolf was
huge. Its muscular body rippled under the tattered, matted fur as it slowly
stepped toward her. There was something seriously wrong with this thing. Lori
felt the tremble rack her body again. The colour of its eyes told her
everything—it was pure evil!

The sky let loose as if at the
command of the beast and the rain plummeted to the earth, stripping leaves from
the trees. The roar of the downpour filled her ears, blocking the sound of the
beast’s footfalls as it advanced toward her.

Lori spun, sprinting full out
toward the school. Her legs burned. Her lungs ached. She knew that if she
didn’t get to the school—and fast—she would die right here in the playground.

The pouring rain pasted her
clothing to her skin, making it hard to get full strides. She couldn’t tell how
much lead she had and didn’t dare glance back to check, fearing she might slow
slightly. The glass door of the school was twenty feet away, illuminated in the
darkness of the storm. She prayed for someone to be there to open it, allowing
her to dive inside, but it remained deserted.

A flicker of red reflected off
the glass door sending a shiver up Lori’s spine. It was right behind, chasing
her down like an animal.

Five feet away—the rain fell like
a waterfall, cascading down her face and into her mouth as she gasped for
breath. The red eyes reflected high in the glass door—it was launching itself
at her for the finish! There was no way it was going to let her escape.

Lori’s fingers wrapped around the
cold steel of the door handle. She watched the red eyes grow larger and larger
as the wolf sailed toward her back. Every movement slowed to a crawl. She
pulled the door, which seemed to weigh a ton. Slowly it began moving on the
hinges as the rancid breath of the beast filled the air.

The door was half-open, but the
reflection in the glass was enough to make her stomach turn. The beast’s jaws
were wide open. A mixture of saliva, puss and blood strung from the mangled
lips, down to the darkness. Lori was on the threshold, trying to squeeze
through the half-opened door, when its teeth pierced her flesh and the blood
began to flow. Her left hand snapped protectively to the side of her neck and
Lori released an ear-piercing scream…

Lori bolted upright in bed,
screaming at the top of her lungs, her hand clasping the scar tissue at the
side of her neck.

“Wolf!” she screamed. “Help!”
Then as she became fully awake and realized she was safe in her own room,
hundreds of miles and four years away from the horror in the school ground, she
broke down sobbing.

After a few minutes the tears
stopped flowing and she was able to catch her breath. As her finger slid over
the raised scar tissue, she whispered, “So lucky. So damn, lucky!”

She had after all gotten away.
The wolf had taken a chunk out of her neck, but as it bit down, she’d slipped on
the wet entrance mat and lost her footing, sending the wolf crashing over her
head, into the brick wall. Then while it was dazed, Lori had jerked open the
door and squeezed inside.

“So lucky to even be alive,” she
said, but then her heart twisted with guilt. Cindy, Randy and Max weren’t so
lucky. How could that have happened? Killed by a wolf in this day and age?

Lori glanced at the clock on the
nightstand. 7:30. “Shit, I’m gonna be late for school.” She swung her feet onto
the floor, hurried and gathered clothes then dashed to the adjoining bathroom.

Standing in front of the bathroom
mirror, Lori held the pendants from both necklaces together between her
trembling fingers. The gold plating had worn off years ago, leaving the words
looking old and tarnished. But, it didn’t matter because every time she rubbed
the two words between her fingers, Lori felt somewhat closer to Cindy. It was,
after all, the last thing Cindy had given her.

Lori wondered why the memory had
resurfaced now. It had been years since the last time she’d woken up like that.
Why now? Why the hell, now? She could still see Max holding onto the wolf’s
leg—giving his life for hers.

Tears filled her eyes. She
clenched them shut, praying that the image would disappear. With shaking hands,
she reached for her prescription bottle of tranquillizers, popped the cap and
swallowed two. Quickly she showered, dressed, then descended the stairs to the
kitchen for breakfast.

“Hi, Mom.” Lori avoided her
mother’s gaze. “How are you this morning?”

Her mother finished pouring the
glass of orange juice then set it on the table. “Never mind me, I heard you
scream. Was it the same nightmare?”

Lori nodded her head, dropping
into the chair. “It was the same one I had back in Wampus Springs, before we
moved here.”

“But it’s been—”

“Years. Yes, I know how long it’s
been.”

“I could give Sara Parker a call.
Maybe she can get you in to see Dr. Bruce this afternoon. He might be able to
help sort out these nightmares.”

“This one’s not a nightmare,
Mom—it’s a memory! It’s exactly what happened! It’s like I was right back
there.” Lori saw the hurt look on her mother’s face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t
take it out on you… But, Mom, it felt so real. Like I was really there again,
back at the school.” Lori took a sip of juice. “I swear I could reach out and
touch the others. I could even taste the rancid breath on that thing as it
lunged for my neck.” Tears blurred her vision. “Those eyes, those red eyes…they
seemed to bore straight inside me.”

Her mother stepped behind,
placing her hands on Lori’s shoulders then whispered that everything would be
all right and that they’d get through this together.

Pulling away, Lori looked up,
meeting her mother’s gaze. “Mom… I still miss Dad.” Lori swallowed the lump
that was stuck in her throat. “Why wouldn’t he come with us?”

“I wish I knew.” The tears were
welling in her mother’s eyes but she blinked them away quickly. “I really wish
I knew.”

After eating enough breakfast to
satisfy her mother, Lori grabbed her purse and school bag then headed out the
front door. Reaching the end of the crushed stone driveway, she glanced back.
The old Victorian home was picture perfect, barely visible behind the shroud of
mature oak trees. Lori could just make out the large hanging swing on the front
porch. The one place she could really relax and think.

Four years ago they moved here,
to Ridgeway, Ontario, a small town nestled in the countryside, on the edge of
Lake Erie. With its sandy beaches and crystal-clear bay, it was an easy choice.
But the true selling point was the fact that it was far enough away to settle a
hysteric young girl who felt her attacker was lurking in every shadow, waiting
to pounce when no one was around.

Lori swung her school bag over
her shoulder then headed off down Hillcrest Street. She walked with her head
down, watching the sidewalk while her mind replayed that horrible memory. The
guilt of seeing Max sacrifice his life for her was gnawing at her stomach.

“Lori… Lori!” Jessica shouted
from in front of the school, casting a scowl at anybody else who dared look her
way. “Over here.”

Lori crossed the street, walking
straight to Jessica. She didn’t feel much like talking right now, but Jessica
wasn’t the type to let her alone to sulk. “Hi, Jessica. Were you waiting for
me?”

“Of course I was, I’m always
waiting for you,” Jessica said, raising Lori’s chin with one finger. “I’ve been
watching you since you turned the corner down the street. You must’ve had a bad
night, cause you look like shit.”

“Yeah, I had trouble sleeping.”
Lori lowered her voice. “I had a nightmare.”

“So, you’ve had that same
nightmare for the last three weeks. What was it this time, wandering through
the woods or the farmer’s fields?”

“No, not that one!” Lori stepped
away from the crowd, lowering her voice. “The other one I used to have.”

“The one where you were
attacked?” Jessica whispered.

Lori nodded. “It’s been years,
but it was exactly the same. Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s even faded with
time.”

“Wow,” Jessica raised a manicured
eyebrow, “I have trouble remembering last week, let alone years ago. But why
would you have it now, unless—”

“It has something to do with my
regular nightmares.”

The bell rang.

Jessica grabbed Lori’s arm and
escorted her inside. “You know you’re gonna have to get a hold of this thing
before it destroys you. One day they’re gonna find you dead in your bed, with a
scream stuck on your face.”