“Okay, we can slow down a little, but we can’t stop.” I look around us, turning a full circle. “I can’t see or hear them yet.”

It’s now three against two, since Evan shot half of his sick and twisted team.

“Doesn’t mean they’re not seconds behind us,” Hazel whines, tugging on my arm.

“Okay! Come on, Priya.” I grab her hand and pull her forward.

Among the trees are patches of thick bushes. We could hide in those if we really need to, but stopping and letting them catch up to us is the riskiest plan. I don’t want to play hide-and-seek, I just want to get out.

We run and run until my thighs and calf muscles cry in pain. I plant my feet as we come to a circle of grass where the trees have all been cut down in the middle. It’s small, so probably not enough to raise alarm if anyone were to see this from the sky.

“What is this?” I whisper.

Hazel and Priya get a few steps closer before they come to a stop.

It looks like they’ve made a circle of seats from tree stumps and in the middle is a burned patch of ground.

What do they burn here?

Who do they burn here?

I can’t think about that.

“Come on,” I say, and run across the circle and out the other side. We’re back in trees. But we’re not running for long.

Priya lets out an ear-piercing scream that sends a shiver down my spine.

My eyes bulge, and my hand flies to my mouth. Bumps in the ground, lined up in a row, all looking like grave sites. And Kevin.

He’s been torn apart. Naked aside from boxers, he’s lying on the cold, damp ground, palms in the air, chest sliced beyond recognition.

How many stabs?

They were getting ready to bury him when we set the fire; that’s why they were slow to react. But who killed him?

My blood turns to ice. Evan. He’d been gone for longer than usual in the last few rooms he’d done.

“We need to go right now,” Hazel snaps, tugging a sobbing Priya sharply. “Wait, shh,” Hazel hushes, splaying her arms out so I stop, too.

I clamp my mouth closed and focus. In the distance, I can hear footsteps. My heart sprints faster than we were.

“Where are they?” I whisper, turning around and around. If they’re gaining on us this quickly, we’re going to have to hide, but we don’t know how to disguise ourselves.

“Piper, come out, come out wherever you are,” Evan sings.

I whip my head around to the direction I heard his voice. It’s past us. How has he gotten farther into the forest than us? Unless we changed direction without knowing.

“Piper,” he calls again.

My heart drops.