They walked together into the woods, holding hands. Dawn’s fingers and palm felt slimy in hers, greasy, and Laurie wanted to pull away, but she dared not. She wasn’t sure exactly where they were going or what they were going to do, but she was smart enough to know that if she kept quiet, kept her mouth shut and her eyes and ears open, she just might learn something.

Around them, the trees and bushes grew thicker. The path on which they’d started walking had narrowed and dwindled until it was now less a clearly defined trail than a section of forest that was not quite as overgrown as the rest. They’d stopped talking several minutes before, and the only sounds were the crunching of their shoes on the mulchy ground and the far-off calls of increasingly bizarre-sounding birds.

Laurie didn’t like the woods. She kept thinking she saw movement in the bushes to the sides, shadows amid the ferns, figures that ducked behind tree trunks whenever she turned in their direction. It was unsettling being here, and she was sorry she’d come.

To her left, there was a face formed from the tangle of branches. She did not know if it was really there or if it was a trick of the leaf-filtered sunlight, but the small random shadows on the bare intertwined twigs highlighted a cruel, pointed-nosed face.

She glanced over at Dawn.

Who smiled.

They continued deeper into the woods, and her apprehension increased.

“We’re almost there,” Dawn said.

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Laurie stopped. “I don’t want to see,” she said. “I want to go back. The fun’s over.”

Dawn’s smile took on a strange secretive quality. “The fun hasn’t even started yet.”

“I’m out of here.” Laurie turned, started back the way they’d come, but she immediately slipped on one of the slimy leaves, fell, and before she could get up, Dawn was crouching above her, squatting down. Laurie saw a pink-slitted vagina beneath the dirty tattered slip. Screaming, she rolled away, jumped to her feet.

Dawn tapped the pull tab on her finger. “I’m your husband,” she said.

What the hell was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to get out of here? Laurie glanced quickly around, saw only thick brush and unfamiliar forest. Above, the sun was blocked by layers of tree leaves and branches.

“It’s time to do your wifely duty.” The girl lifted the hem of her tattered garment, revealing the split-V of her crotch. “Get on your knees,” she said. “And lick it. Lick it clean.”

Laurie took off.