“Oh, come on, Alec!” Jared laughed behind him, “You woke ‘em up! You were gonna be a surprise!” He shoved Alex’s shoulder, but Alex would not move, no matter how much it pushed his injured foot into the ground, further twisting it in the wrong direction.
“No stopping now, Alec!” Jared said, “Not when we’re so close!” He faced Alex, placing his hands on Alex’s shoulders, with a mock smile. “Don’t worry, buddy! It’ll be all over really, really soon.”
Alex saw his opportunity to strike. He could hit Jared and force him away, giving Alex a chance to escape. Maybe he could even hit Jared so hard that he’d fall into the pit and solve the problem for Alex and his friends forever. He tried to make a fist, forgetting at that moment that his wrist pointed the wrong way. Instead of striking a blow against Jared, he just whimpered in pain.
Jared gave him a quick smile, maybe realizing what Alex had been thinking. He put his forehead against Alex’s, as if he cared; as if he was trying to forge a connection. He grinned as he pressed even harder into Alex, forcing him backward onto his bad ankle. “Really, really soon,” he whispered.
He grabbed Alex by the shirt, and spun him around quickly. Alex’s ankle throbbed as he tried to balance himself. Not that he had to; Jared held him off the ground. He could have gone limp to make things harder on Jared, but instead, he tensed out of fear for his life—which he knew, as Jared had assured him, would end really, really soon.
Jared backed him to the pit, grinning the whole way. Again, life moved in slow motion. It was only a few feet to the pit, but it felt like he was staring into Jared’s hate-filled eyes for far too long. Still, he wished it would last longer—when it ended, so would he.
Something moved in the darkness. Were there more mudmen in there than before? He couldn’t tell. It sounded like there were more, or maybe they were just more excited, knowing they were getting a full meal at any moment.
“Got any last words, Alec-suh?” Jared said as he held Alex over the pit of clambering mudmen. Instead of waiting for an answer, he just laughed a horrible, horrible laugh.
Alex wanted to answer, but his mouth was locked shut in terror. He wanted to say something. A dozen pleas ran through his mind as he clenched his eyes closed—as if it would be possible to convince Jared to let him go; to let him live.
Please, let me go!
Stop it!
I won’t tell anyone!
Stop it!
I’ll do whatever you want!
Stop it!
Please! Please! Please!
“Stop it!”
Alex’s eyes flew open, surprised at the words. He wasn’t sure if he had said it, or if it was someone else. The voice sounded unfamiliar. Was it Jared? Was it Steve?! Was it ... one of the mudmen? Could they talk?
Jared looked over Alex’s shoulder, with a wide grin. “Now what the fuck do you want?”
He pulled Alex away from the pit and dropped him beside it. Clearly, he wanted to enjoy feeding him to the creatures without distraction. Alex lay in the same spot he had been in before, pain thrumming in his arm and ankle, trying to see who Jared was talking to. He wasn’t sure if it was the darkness or the pain that made it so difficult.
Jared moved to the other side of the hole, leaving him alone for a moment. Evidently, he considered it impossible that Alex could run away. He could take care of whoever had interrupted, then scoop up Alex, already defeated, and toss him to the mudmen.
“Stop it,” said the voice again.
It sounded much smaller to Alex the second time, but still unfamiliar. As Jared, holding up his knife, took a step toward whoever it was, Alex finally made out a small figure standing on the cleared path between some trees. He almost didn’t recognize him; at least he understood why he didn’t recognize the voice.
Ryan stood alone against Jared.
Alex tried desperately to get to his feet, to save the younger boy, but he collapsed with a grunt as he tried to push himself up on his injured arm.
“Don’t worry,” Jared called over his shoulder to Alex, “I’ll finish with you right after I take care of this little retard.” His glare never left Ryan.
Alex dragged himself around the hole. Maybe he could grab Jared’s leg, giving Ryan a chance to run away. Why did he come? Did he follow us the whole time? Where’s Nicole? Where’s anyone else?
By the time Alex reached the other side of the pit—the mudmen clawing at the soil, trying to either climb out of their prison or pull Alex in to begin their feeding frenzy—Jared stood right in front of Ryan. Obviously, he didn’t think the small, quiet boy was much of a threat, since he just stood, looking at him, taunting him.
Jared raised the knife as if he was going to drill it straight through the top of Ryan’s head, killing him in one shot. Then a dark, blurry shape launched at Jared. He staggered backward, fighting with the thing that was trying to get on top of him; something black, and strong, and growling viciously. Something defending Ryan and Alex.
“Shadow!” Alex yelled.
Jared slashed at the dog, as he stumbled and struggled back toward Alex. “What the fuck?!” Jared yelled, just a few feet from him. Alex saw light reflecting off blood on Jared’s hands and arms and hoped it was Jared’s, not Shadow’s. She continued growling, but there was a whimper to the sound as well. She was still fighting for him and Ryan, through her own pain.
But she couldn’t fight forever.
Jared finally threw the dog off, shaking his arm as if in wild pain, splatters of blood flying. Hot drops hit Alex’s face as his psychotic bully stood near him. Jared took a step toward
