The Sisterhood: A serial killer mystery and suspense crime thriller (Ravenwood Series Book 3) by JK Ellem

Author:JK Ellem [Ellem, JK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

28

WATCHED

For good reason, the journey back down was a lot quicker than the journey up.

Annabel again took the lead, making sure that everyone stayed on the trail and didn’t go wandering off. Words were not uttered, the only sound coming from solid footfalls on the earth and heavy breathing. It wasn't a time of celebration or congratulations. Just quiet, somber reflection, each person alone with their own thoughts as to what they had partaken in.

The natural compulsion was for Annabel to set a faster pace going downhill, wanting to put as much distance between them and the Dark Rift as quickly as was humanly possible. However, she knew the margin for error in negotiating the treacherous, uneven ground was greater on the descent.

On several occasions she had to deliberately slow the pace to avoid a sudden tree root, the sharp apex of a partially submerged rock, or the multitude of deep furrows the rain had carved out of the earth. Obstacles that had served as welcome footholds or additional traction up the slope now only served to sneakily twist an ankle or jar a kneecap.

The sky was still a cloudless expanse above their heads; the moon shone diligently, guiding their way, and yet Annabel had noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly on the return leg. While hypothermia was an unlikely possibility, she still wanted to get them all back down in one piece and safely back into Paige’s SUV without delay.

Then the ground suddenly flattened out, and she stopped abruptly. She stood perfectly still and felt the others bunch up behind her.

"What's wrong?" Paige whispered, looking around.

"We’re not lost, are we?" Maggie asked, the last of the group.

Annabel said nothing. She just held her hand up, silencing everyone. Slowly, she swept her flashlight to the right. The beam cut through the darkness. Rocks, boulders, and an endless maze of tree trunks.

"What is it?" Becca asked this time. "What's wrong?"

Annabel said nothing for a moment as she continued to sweep the woods to the right with her flashlight. The others joined in, and their beams converged.

Then, without turning, she spoke: "I thought I heard something."

Maggie pushed her way forward and stood next to Annabel. "What do you mean ‘heard something’?" she asked, an anxious tremor in her voice.

"What did you hear?" Paige said slowly, her eyes scanning the moving circle of light as she moved her flashlight around.

"I don't know," Annabel confessed. "I just heard…something." She twisted her lips. It was a habit she’d had as a child when she was unsure of something.

Paige squinted into the darkness. "Heard something or someone?"

Maggie’s eyes went wide. "Who?"

"I can't be sure, but it came from over there. I thought I heard something, too, on the way up."

"Then why didn't you say something!" Maggie hissed.

"Because I wasn't certain. It could have been an animal."

The beams of their flashlights continued probing the woods.

"Maybe it's some kids," Maggie said nervously. "After all, you did say they come up here at night."

"They’d make more noise," Paige put in.

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