She was panting as she skidded to a halt at the edge of the canyon. It was about twenty feet long and forty feet down. It was the same one Ethan threw himself off when he was fifteen. She swallowed her fear and forced herself to look down. Isabelle scanned the bottom and the jagged rock walls, but there was no sign of either Kyle or Cassidy.
"Maybe they went home," Willow suggested.
Isabelle wished that was true, but the awful feeling in her stomach spread to her chest. Glancing around the woods, she ignored the birdcalls and the animals moving within its shadowed depths. She forced herself to concentrate on her brother and sister, hoping to get some glimmer of where they could be.
Then, a sinking possibility crashed around her. She broke into a sprint as she rushed down another path. She rushed around tree branches and twigs and ignored the thorns tearing at her clothing and skin. She forced herself to move faster, blurring as she rushed down the path. Please no, she pleaded silently. Please no.
She burst off the path and rushed through the clearing to the edge of the bear trap. Holding her breath, she peered into it. Cassidy was huddled against the wall, looking up at her with tears streaming down her dirt and blood-streaked cheeks. She held Kyle in her arms, his head cradled in her lap. Blood and dirt caked his wheat blond hair, and his clothes were a deadly shade of red.
Isabelle's heart jumped into her throat as tears sprang into her eyes. Willow let out a startled cry as she skidded to a halt beside her. "He fell," Cassidy whispered pitifully.
That heartbreaking whisper snapped Isabelle out of her paralysis. "Get help!" she yelled at Willow.
Willow nodded quickly and took off into the woods. "Isabelle," Cassidy whispered.
"Hold on, Cass; I'm coming."
She glanced worriedly at the stakes as she sat at the edge of the pit. Now that she wasn't hanging over the pit, she could get a better look at the jagged, deadly stakes. They were old, and some of them were rotted and broken off from time and weather, but even the blunted wood was lethal looking. She scooted closer to the edge as she tried to figure out the best way to get down. Finally deciding there was no best way, she lowered herself over and slid down the side.
One of the stakes pierced through her shoe and tore into the bottom of her foot. The sudden agony almost caused her to pitch backward onto all the stakes, but she managed to catch herself in time. Flinging herself forward, her fingers dug frantically into the dirt and tree roots of the wall as she steadied herself. Breathing heavily, and with gritted teeth, she remained pressed against the wall as she pulled her foot free of the stake.
She took a deep breath before turning herself around. Cassidy watched as she began to edge her way carefully around the stakes, trying to keep her weight off her injured foot. It seemed like hours passed before she made it to Kyle and Cassidy, but it was only a matter of seconds before she knelt at their side.
Kyle was still, his breathing labored as he worked to push and pull air in and out of his lungs. The gurgled sound sent a bolt of fear through her so intense she almost choked on it. He was so pale even his lips were white, and all of his veins were noticeable through his nearly translucent skin.
It took everything Isabelle had to push through her distress and nearly choking sorrow. With trembling hands, she gingerly pulled his shirt up. The gaping wound in his stomach oozed bubbles of blood. Cassidy cried harder as Isabelle shoved his shirt the rest of the way up to find another large, jagged tear in the middle of his chest.
He was bleeding out so fast he hadn't begun to close the wounds on his own. "Oh no," she whispered.
Cassidy was shaking from the force of her tears. "Please help him, Isabelle," she pleaded.
Isabelle ripped her tank top off and pressed it firmly against Kyle's chest. His eyelids flickered, but he made no other movement, no sound. "Hold this," she commanded Cassidy.
Cassidy pressed a trembling hand against the shirt; it quickly saturated with blood. Isabelle fought back tears as she bit into her wrist and forced Kyle's mouth open. She needed to replace the blood he was rapidly losing, needed to attempt to keep his strength up.
She lifted her head to scan the edge of the pit. It was a good ten feet up; there was no way she could get them out on her own. She turned her attention back to her brother. Her blood wasn't making a dent in the amount he’d lost, but she hoped it would be enough to keep him alive until help arrived.
Stefan threw the board into the back of the truck and turned to accept the next one from David. "This should be the last load," Mike said.
"Good." Jack wiped his arm across his sweaty forehead. "I can't wait to get this house finished."
"Wish I could have gone back to school sooner," Ian mumbled.
"Just think about how nice it will be when you come back," Ethan replied.
Ian grinned as he tossed a board into the back of the other truck. Stefan grabbed another board from David and threw it in. He was beginning to wish he hadn't agreed to come with them. The clawing sensation in his chest was growing more intense, and more uncomfortable with every passing minute.
He couldn't keep his mind on
