One By One: A gripping psychological thriller with a twist you won't see coming! by Freida McFadden

Author:Freida McFadden [McFadden, Freida]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hollywood Upstairs Press
Published: 2020-07-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

CLAIRE

“Michelle!” I call out. “MICHELLE!”

No answer. We’ve been looking for Michelle for the last thirty minutes. My voice is hoarse from calling out her name coupled with the lack of water. Aside from that set of footprints and the blood on the ground, there are no other signs of Michelle. It’s like she just vanished into thin air.

Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I’m starting to drag. I still feel hungover from last night’s poor sleep, and I’m dizzy from lack of water. The blisters on my feet are aching. I want to stop searching for Michelle and try to find water. Or better yet, keep looking for the inn.

“Michelle!” I call again.

I try to imagine the situation if things were reversed. Would Michelle be tromping around the woods looking for me? I highly doubt it. Would Noah even have insisted that they look for me the way Jack did? I don’t even want to think about it.

I turn around and realize the others aren’t near me. Up till now, one of the three of them has always been within eyeshot. But now I realize I’m entirely alone in the woods.

But I know where I am. The clearing is behind me.

Or is it in front of me?

My legs wobble beneath me. I’m not lost, am I? I mean, I know that we are lost, but at least before I was part of a group. I don’t want to be separated from the group. Especially with no food or water.

I rest my hand against the nearest tree to steady myself. That’s when I notice the claw marks etched into the bark. The same as I saw yesterday. Five deep gashes.

Then I look at the tree next to that one. That tree also has deep gashes in the wood.

And at the base of the tree is more blood.

As I stare down at the blood, I feel this prickling sensation in the back of my neck. Like something is watching me.

Hunting me.

I whirl around. There’s a bush about twenty feet in the distance. The bush shifts on its own accord and I see a dark shadow within. And then a low growl.

Oh my God.

“Noah!” I scream. “NOAH!”

I’m not sure why I called for Noah rather than Jack. I would have thought my instinct would be to call for Jack. After all, Jack doesn’t hate me. And he’s the one with the Boy Scout experience. But when I opened my mouth, my husband’s name was the one that came out.

I have to hand it to him—five seconds later, Noah tears through the branches next to me and he’s by my side. It turns out I was never lost after all. Noah’s eyes are wide. “What happened? What did you find?”

“There’s more blood on that tree over there.” I reach out a trembling hand to point. “Also, I… I saw something down there. Something moving.”

Noah squints off into the distance. “Where?”

“That bush… all the way over there.”

“What did you see?”

I chew on my lip.

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