The group of teenagers stood nearby and they turned their heads sharply as they saw a set of headlights approaching. The car pulled up behind Tara’s and Warren quickly stepped out.

“You didn’t have to come,” Tara said as he walked toward her.

He waved his hand in the air as if pushing away her comment.

“It’s late now anyway. I say we call it a night after this.”

Tara nodded.

He then turned toward the teenagers, sending a wave of terrified expressions over them. “So what’s the deal with them?” he asked, before Tara explained that they had already called their parents and they were on their way to come get them.

Just then, a car pulled up and the passenger’s door swung open as a frantic mother stepped out. One of the boys in the group walked quickly toward her, as his mother made a scene. She scolded him on the time.

“You scared me half to death!” she yelled as he slinked into the back seat and quickly closed the door.

One by one each parent came, reprimanded their child, and took them away. Eventually all that remained were her and Warren. They agreed to meet first thing in the morning, and Tara was soon walking to her car. But just as she reached for the door handle, a sudden breeze flowed through the air, brushing against the dried sweat on her arms, and for the first time in the heat, she had goose bumps.

Chapter Twenty

He lay on his stomach, concealed by the trees surrounding him, and held his crossbow carefully in his hands directed toward the campsite in front of him. He’d been lying there for hours and his body trembled with anticipation.

He watched them—the two girls—as they sat outside their tent, around the campfire. Their laughter filled the forest with sound and he smiled to himself. He could smell the blood already, hear the screams, and the thought of it flooded his body with life. It was a high like no other—a necessity to him now—and he itched for the next kill.

His four-wheeler sat back in the woods. This time, he wanted to take a different approach. He wanted to make it interesting.

He knew they were coming—the two girls. He saw them on the trail earlier that day, when his four-wheeler crept up behind them and they turned around at the sound. They were exactly where he wanted them—south of his last kill and just outside of where the trail was closed. Their surprised expressions gave him a small taste of the drug he needed and he knew they were the ones. He stopped and spoke with them a moment and their faces relaxed from the interaction. They asked if he knew a good spot to set up camp, which he did, and led them to where they were now. He told them to be careful—they were young after all—and said his goodbyes. Little did they know they would meet him again.