“Jay, wait!” Samantha called.
She hesitated a moment, looked around, then followed.
Not far up the trail, Jason found a small path winding towards where he thought the scream had come from. He unclipped the leather sheath of his hunting knife attached to his belt and pulled it out. He did not open the blade but held it ready.
He galloped through the woods with animal-like precision. Many years of chasing prey through his family’s hunting grounds guided his actions.
Ahead he saw what looked to be a person crumpled on the ground. Maybe they fell and broke their ankle, Jason thought in a flash.
The person was still, though, unmoving, as far as Jason could tell.
As he approached the fallen hiker, he called out, “Hey! Hey, are you ok?”
No response came from the pile of clothes on the forest floor. Then Jason saw why. His gallop slowed to a jog; then, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Blood.
So much blood covered the front of the jacket, it was difficult to see that it should be light blue.
“Ah, Jesus.”
Jason’s face contorted into an expression of horror and confusion.
“What the fuck.”
Jason had witnessed many animals dead and dying, some by his hand. Often, when he had shot a whitetail deer back in Pennsylvania, it would take off running through the bush. Jason would track it by broken saplings and blood splatters until he came upon the animal, dead or dying.
Jason was no stranger to the terrified eyes of a dying animal; he had watched the life drain from them many times, leaving dull, matte black globes.
This hiker’s eyes were no different; eyes that once held life were now dull and unseeing. He heard Samantha’s footsteps on the ground behind him and quickly turned to try to stop her from seeing the mess.
Jason leaped towards Samantha, grabbed her tight, and spun her around. His eyes once again fell on the hiker’s lifeless face. Her bloodshot eyes stared dully up at him.
Jason shivered.
Samantha broke free of Jason’s weakened grasp and spun to face the source of his concern. There, in the dirt and leaves, was the second dead body Samantha had ever seen.
“God,” she whispered. “What happened?”
Instantly, Jason’s parasympathetic system took control of his actions. Jason instinctually opened his hunting knife and scanned the surrounding trees for the vicious predator that could have done this. Blood rushed to his core; his limbs twitched in anticipation. He reached a hand back to keep tabs on Sam as he pivoted, pointing his now opened knife forward in his other hand, locked in a defensive pose. As he slowly turned and shuffled in a circle with his back to Sam and the hiker, he thought maybe he would see a wolf or bear staring at them coldly from a distance. Jason cocked his head back and looked up at the canopy. Perhaps he would spot a cougar hiding up high in the branches, ready to pounce when the moment was right. Jason wondered if cougars even lived in this park.
Satisfied that he and Sam were in no immediate danger, Jason knelt beside the body, reached for the blue jacket, and pulled it open. He couldn’t help but register the warm, sticky sensation on his fingertips as he did.
“I dunno,” Jason said. “I don’t think an animal did this, Sam.”
Samantha already had her phone out, checking for service. One bar. She dialed 911, tapped send, and hit the speaker function.
“Damnit!” she said anxiously. She paced around nervously, phone extended to the sky, wishing for the call to go through.
Success.
“911, what’s your emergency?” asked the voice on the other end.
“Uhh, umm, we’re in Mount Rainier National Park and, hiking, and there’s someone here, dead, we heard a scream…”
Samantha fumbled with her words as they came in quick, abrupt spurts.
“Where exactly are you?” the voice asked.
“Uhm, Reflection Lake. Well. Between Reflection Lake and Paradise; on the trail. I don’t know. It’s hard to say.”
“Ok, stay on the phone with me here; I’m sending police now.”
Samantha did her best to calm down by taking a few slow, deep breaths. Jason continued to scan the forest, on guard against any danger.
“Ok.”
Samantha stood with her legs pressed tightly together, arms half crossed with her phone in one hand. Her stomach turned as she stared down at the dead woman; the tranquil beauty of the forest sanctuary now defiled by the scene in front of them.
CHAPTER 8
It took some time for the police to find the couple in the forest. Jason and Sam had made their way off the main trail where they found the hiker and had become disoriented from the events.
The officers finally did reach them and quickly led the couple back to the main trail and out to the police cruisers for questioning.
Before long, more police arrived in marked trucks and vans. The trucks hauled four-wheelers that police quickly unloaded and drove into the woods. The police unloaded tents and equipment from the vans, setting up a command station in the gravel parking lot. More officers and deputies entered the forest, weighed down with packs and gear.
A deputy offered Samantha and Jason each a paper cup filled with hot coffee, which the couple eagerly accepted. Then they were separated by the police to be questioned individually—to corroborate their stories. The couple each sipped their drinks as they answered questions and provided their statements.
The events were fresh in their minds; the images vivid and alive. When Jason had finished his statement, he was left standing by the cruiser, staring into the woods. As time went on, he started to worry about Sam and began second-guessing himself. Had he left crucial bits of the story out?
He hadn’t.
Samantha’s statement took longer than Jason’s because her tongue felt fat and lethargic in her throat, causing the words to leave her lips awkwardly. She hesitated in her speech as if she feared that uttering the words would make all this more real. When she had finished,
