Rose dragged Lily’s body into the centre of the room, guarding her prize like a cat with a mouse.
The whole time, Jude stood and watched in utter horror. Everyone was there because of him. He had decided to come back to the farmhouse, imagining himself as a hero, but instead he had got Lily killed.
What have I done?
Knowing they needed to get the hell out of there, he leapt forward and grabbed Ricky around the waist. He was in shock too, watching in silence while Rose chewed on his best friend like a slab of steak. “Ricky, we have to go.”
Ricky fought Jude away. “No, I have to help her.” He started to move. “I need to—”
“Stop!” Ashley shouted. She was standing in the other room and threw up an arm. “Ricky, don’t step inside the triangle. That’s what Lily did and she… Just… get back.”
Ricky stopped and froze. He peered down at his feet and took a step backwards. His trainer had been only two inches from the triangle’s brownish outline. Rose stopped her feasting and smiled at him with a mouth dripping blood. “You have something of mine, boy.”
Jude grabbed Ricky around the waist again. This time there was no fighting. Both hurried into the other room to join Ashley.
“We need to get the fuck out of here,” said Ashley. “Right now.”
“D’ya think?” said Jude. He took one last look at the carnage in the other room. Then the three of them sprinted out of the farmhouse and raced across the clearing.
Ricky was sobbing.
Ashley swore repeatedly, a sure sign that she was okay.
They reached the bushes and stopped to catch their breath, looking at each other and panting. Jude couldn’t bear the silence, so he spoke. “You were right, Ashley. Rose can’t leave the triangle. It’s some sort of trap to hold her in place.”
Ashley nodded. “The farmhouse is a fucking prison.”
Ricky shook his head, staring blindly at the trees ahead of them. “She tore Lily apart. She… she was eating her like an animal.”
“Lily couldn’t see Rose,” said Ashley. “That’s why she wandered inside the triangle. It makes no sense; why couldn’t she see her?”
There was a bloodcurdling scream from the house.
“Don’t worry,” said Jude, hands shaking at his sides. “She can’t leave the triangle. We’re safe.”
Providing a punchline to a horrifyingly grim joke, Rose appeared in the farmhouse’s doorway. She descended the crooked stone steps and peered in their direction. Lily’s blood covered her naked body. Her blonde hair had turned jet black, as had a wiry patch between her legs.
His theory about Rose being trapped in the triangle was clearly incorrect.
The three of them screamed in terror and fought one another to get through the gap in the bushes. Jude let them go first. He dared to look back one last time at the monster he had let out of its cage.
What the hell is she?
A demon?
A witch?
Rose lifted a ruined hand into the air and, with a smile, she waved at Jude.
Jude hurried into the gap, another scream escaping his lips.
Chapter Thirteen
They climbed Devil’s Ditch without stopping to plant sticks in the ground. The three of them were so terrified they scrambled up the muddy slope on their bellies, clawing and digging with everything they had. Halfway up, Ashley tore off part of a thumbnail and growled in agony, but her fear kept her climbing until she reached the top.
Jude completed the ascent a full minute slower than she did, but she waited for him. No way was she going to leave him behind. She patted him on the back as he climbed to his feet. “You good?”
Jude clutched his wounded hand against his chest. It was bleeding badly and was probably what had delayed him. “Yeah… I’m fine. Let’s not stop.”
“Wait!” Ricky had slid a few feet down the slope and was frantically trying to claw his way back up. “Don’t go without me. Please!”
Ashley looked at Jude and shrugged. “Fuck him.”
She turned to leave, but Jude crouched at the edge of the slope.
Ashley rolled her eyes and waited. Only Jude could stop to help the same arsehole who had been tormenting him for the last three years. In fact, this whole nightmare had started with Ricky punching Jude in the stomach on the overpass.
Jude’s a better person than I am. I don’t forgive so easily.
Jude reached out a hand and helped Ricky up onto the flat ground. The bully was a trembling mess, and he clung to Jude like a life jacket. “Shit! I thought you were going to leave me.”
“We should have,” said Ashley, sneering.
Ricky actually nodded in agreement. “Maybe.”
The three of them took off into the woods, Ricky taking the lead now it was once again a flat race. They each knew where they were going, so they dodged the trees and bushes in unison and exited the woods at the same time. Jude lost his footing in the shallow ditch and tripped. Doing something Ashley could barely believe, Ricky stopped to help him back to his feet.
They were finally on the footpath, the woods behind them.
No one was around, despite the perfect dog-walking weather. The sun was unobstructed now that they were out from beneath the tree canopy. The sky was cloudy but mostly blue. It felt like there should have been people jogging and taking strolls, but the footpath was deserted. Part of Ashley irrationally feared that the world had disappeared in her absence and that they
