The Curse of the Old Woods by Elizabeth Andre

Author:Elizabeth Andre [Andre, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tulabella Ruby Press
Published: 2018-11-23T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Running after Mike

When Julie felt the first tug on her ankle, she wondered if perhaps she had been too hasty in running after Mike alone. She wasn’t sure why she had done it. Maya was busy with Katie, so it just seemed like the thing to do, especially since Mike was fleeing for no apparent reason. He had to be able to tell them more about this place and why Katie couldn’t leave the woods.

But her most pressing concern now was not to stumble and fall. Frustration built as she realized it was becoming harder to run. She felt more tugging on her ankles. She looked down and freaked out at what she saw. Vines that, to her eyes, resembled human arms, had taken hold of her ankles and were climbing up her calves.

“Shit! Goddamnit! This really sucks!”

She reached down and tried to push the vines down. They began creeping over her knees. She strained to keep moving forward to no avail. Exhaustion crept over her. Just as the vines crept up her thighs, she stumbled forward. She sprawled on the ground and fought the vines that looked like human arms. She tried to push the thought out of her mind that they might actually be human arms. Their embrace wasn’t tight, but it was snug. Is this how the clench of a boa constrictor feels? she wondered, How soon until this becomes unbearable? Will it hurt?

Her body was pinned to the ground. She glanced up and saw the shadow outline of a man, most likely Mike, not far from her.

“Help me!” she yelled.

The man backed away before turning around and walking away. Julie screamed until her voice cracked. Her breath started coming in gasps. It felt like someone very heavy was sitting on her, driving her into the ground. She tried screaming again, but this time the sound she made came out as an anemic peep.

This can’t be how it ends for me, she thought. The weight on her back got heavier. The dark night got darker. She struggled to breathe. Maybe I should have answered Gabi’s texts and gotten laid one last time. Or maybe I should have just grabbed Maya and kissed her, like I’ve been wanting to.

She remembered her grandmother telling her long ago to always wear nice, clean underwear because you could be in a car accident or something awful like that, at least you won’t be shamed by dirty undergarments. She chuckled to herself. No sound would come out of her mouth. I’m wearing clean underpants, at least.

“We found her,” Maya said into her walkie-talkie.

Mrs. Forcier, who had been leaning down close to Julie said to Maya, “Did she just say that she’s wearing clean underwear?”

Oh, I said that out loud, Julie thought.

Jason shrugged. “She might have. She looks pretty out of it.”

Maya told Steve through the walkie-talkie where she and that Mrs. Forcier had found Julie.

“Jules. Look at me,” Jason said, gently shaking her shoulder.

The vines let go, and she started breathing easier.

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