I tried to swallow, but my throat felt like coarse sandpaper. The light was quickly fading, and at first, I saw nothing that indicated anyone else was there. I scanned the field until something off in the distance caught my eye. I squinted, trying to figure out what I was looking at. A few moments into straining to see the object, I noticed the shade of blue I was looking at and panic seeped into every pore. I broke away from the tree line at a dead run. There Drew was lying in the middle of Porter’s Field wearing the blue hoodie he’d put on that morning. He wasn’t moving, not even a little. He was like a lump of coal, still as death and that added a whole new layer to the fear that was already plowing through me. My first reaction as I ran was to scream his name. The thought flew through my head and was just about to push through my lips when Echo mentally slapped me.
Don’t you dare! Are you crazy? If that psychopath doesn’t already know you are here, they will if you start screaming his name.
It was hard, but I ruthlessly pushed down the terror that was threatening to rob me of any common sense I possessed. The dry, brittle remnants of where the hay had sprouted from the ground crunched under my feet as I sprinted to the middle of the field. I hit my knees as I reached Drew and landed in something wet. It hadn’t rained in at least three weeks, so I assumed it might be from whatever irrigation system Old Man Porter used, but when I reached my hand toward Drew, I noticed my palm and fingers were coated in red. One glance at Drew’s pale motionless face and the worst scenario possible hit me like a freight train.
“No! No, I can’t be too late.” I slowly touched Drew’s neck, and a sigh of relief escaped my lungs when my fingers made contact with warm skin and a weak pulse. He was alive, but there was no telling how long he’d stay that way. It didn’t take much to realize he was in serious trouble—I was kneeling in a puddle of his blood, and there was no telling how much more the earth had already soaked up.
I know you are worried about Drew, Eden, but you have to stay alert unless you want to end up the same way.
I swallowed the indecisive lump in my throat and stretched my senses as far as they’d go. I scanned the area but saw nothing, not a single soul. I strained my ears, but all that I picked up was the wind rustling what was left of the grass sticking out of the ground. Turning my attention back to Drew, I let my eyes roam over him, trying to access his condition. I could see the hole in his hoodie right below his sternum and another just above where his belly button would be. The blood staining started in those areas and had ballooned out from there. My panic returned with a vengeance as I realized he’d been shot—not once, but twice. The tears started anew, I tried to fight them, but no amount of will power could have held them back.
Drew stirred and opened his eyes as much as his weakened state would allow. I had to lean in very close when he began to try and speak; his voice was barely a squeak.
“Eden—no, you shouldn’t have come. You need to leave now; she’s going to kill you.”
“I’m not leaving you here to die, Drew.” He tried a smile and chuckle but immediately winced with the pain they brought.
“Do you love me, Eden, because if you do, you will leave now, while you still have a chance.”
I scoffed at the thought of such ridiculous reasoning and said, “Well, I guess I just don’t love you then, Drew!” I reached for my phone and battery to fit them together. Drew needed medical attention, or HE would die. It didn’t matter that dad would find us after I powered my phone back up. All that mattered to me was Drew surviving. The phone vibrated and sang a little tune as the screen flashed to life. The sting that lanced across my fingers took me by surprise as my phone shattered to bits mid-dial to 911. From the tree line, I heard the faint husky voice of a woman carried to me on the early evening breeze.
“Tsk tsk tsk.” The voice chided without saying an actual word, and it sent chills to my core. From the tree line, she emerged, and I wondered how close I must have been standing to her when I’d come through those same trees. As she approached, my wounded hand trembled as I cradled it in my lap. The bullet had just grazed my palm, but it was enough to make it bleed. The silhouette, distinctly feminine, sauntered toward Drew and me in no real hurry to reach us. She stopped a good ten feet from where I huddled over Drew, and a sinister smile of triumph graced her thin lips.
“Oh, now, this is just the most precious thing, the sweet helpless girlfriend defying all odds to rescue her strapping young man. You know I underestimated you, Eden.” She stepped closer, and the last rays of daylight filtering from the road illuminated the features of her face.
Her eyes glowed a metallic liquid silver that reflected my own, and at that precise moment, I knew that this woman, with her platinum blonde hair and prominent nose, was somehow related to me. I could see the similarities that I, Danny and her all shared. She didn’t look old enough to be Danny’s mother—may be an aunt, sister, or cousin. My gaze dropped to her hand and the gun she held in it.
“Please, I’m here, you have what you
