I scrambled uphill barefoot, heels strapped to the clutch. I kept spinning and brandishing my new taser, trying to catch glowering eyes just before I'd be split open from the waist down.

The halo of the bonfire inched into view, and the group at the flat rock saw me surfacing from the brambles full throttle.

"What the hell was that?" A girl sputtered, standing up to meet me.

"We need to leave right now," I said shakily, watching them notice my weapon. "There's a dangerous animal, and there's a body."

Absolute silence welcomed my announcement. I felt like they were waiting for me to deliver a tap dance or start wheezing. At least half of the group wasn't budging. As you would expect, they were high or drunk, like most people in the area. A dude sitting against the rock rolled his eyes.

"Shit, you guys need to get a better number."

"What?"

"No, this didn't sound like all the other ones," the girl argued as she was gathering her jacket and bag. "Came from... I don't know where from."

"Some prank out in the woods, as always, Judy. Calm down."

"Calm down?" I said, planting my stare into each of them.

"Yeah, we know Santiago is behind this sick idea," the guy continued, and more chimed in for support.

I was going to lose it. They were here and about to tear into a crowd of intoxicated kids. Luc and Devin could not work it through until this place was cleared, let alone expose themselves.

"Shut up!" I yelled, cutting through the confused chatter. "This is not some freaking prank. I saw the body! There's a dead kid in the woods and if you don't—"

Another shriek pierced through.

Judy read my face and stepped off the roots. Horror washed over me as I recognized that sound that belonged to no man or animal. Everyone looked in the direction it came from.

"We need to run," I whispered. There was no questioning what was going to happen. I leaned in and grabbed the closest wrist. "Get up. All of you, get up. Now!"

Gradually, part of the group started wondering, doubting, and pawing for their stuff on the ground. One of them was scratching his head.

"It sounded like a cougar."

"Sounds more like a bear. It'll scare off."

A second shriek echoed, much closer and louder. It startled them, even the ones who refused to buy it.

I paced back and forth, then spun around. I hooked Judy by the shoulders and locked eyes with her. "Please, there's a wild animal on the loose and people need to leave. I called animal control, they're on the way. Tell them."

"Did you see it?"

I shook my head. "I ran when I saw the blood and it was dark... But it's big and somewhere close."

Wide-eyed, she squeezed my hand and rushed off. Just as I followed her disappearance through the treeline, a human scream resonated high and low like it surrounded us, slamming me in the ribcage.

The entire meadow awakened. Shouts and distressed calls were amplifying all around.

They abandoned the rock and were on their feet. Guy who thought this was a prank strained his arms.

"Alright, time to split. Hey, you. Where are you going?"

I was dipping into tall grass again, thinking Luc must be near these parts or tailing the screams. "Going to warn others? My friend's still here."

I knew Sam and Jen were safe with the crowd, but I couldn't leave Emma wherever she was. He stomped over a few stalks to get to me.

"She's supposed to be going like everyone else. Come on, new girl. You're not staying," he said.

"I'm not going with you guys."

"You said there is a dead body!" he shouted, forcing me to take a step away. "We just lost Georgia, are you serious? Abe, Will, help me."

I didn't get to say another word. People flanked my sides and hands pushed me forward to the bonfire. A complaint formed in my throat, but my body reacted faster and instinctively clung to any branch, then flung elbows in the air.

"Don't touch me!"

The boys stopped, still holding me. The one in the orange windbreaker glared. "Are you going to do something stupid if we let you go?"

I didn't answer, and I should have lied and bolted into the trees at the first chance if I'd been clear-minded. The second kid went for my taser and—okay. These people were still lucid and quick. It was two, then three against one, dragging me into the teeming field and out under the ink-black sky.

Some kids were stashing bottles in their backpacks before taking off. Others were rolling up sleeping bags or filming the whole thing.

The sweltering fire threw off heat to the wind. It dwindled the further they took me.

"Help!" someone hailed from across the clearing. "Help! He needs a hospital!"

Unable to see with all the kids tightly packed together, I felt the guys slow down, and then the crowd parted, letting through a boy on the football team. He was carrying a younger one whose throat was wrapped in a soaked cloth. And people lost it.

Terror swelled over the masses. A sea of bodies rushed, squeezed and shoved. Someone landed on me like a bullet, sending darts of pain from end to end.

In the flash of a second, the world blurred, tangled arms and legs pressing and pressing between us. My back hit the yellow grass. I protected my head under the sprinting mob and peeped through my forearms. The boys I was with had collapsed, too.

The orange windbreaker made eye contact. I crawled to my hands and knees just out of reach, avoiding another panicked schoolmate, and pushed against the pack of people running amuck.

Fear coated the air like a toxic gas leak, spreading and suffocating. There was no way I was leaving without Emma or whoever else was being left behind. Or if there was a possibility I could lure these Wanderers away from the fleeing kids, then I had no real choice.

I stumbled, jogged, then beat it to the treeline and nobody chased after me.

Only when darkness swallowed me did I collide with another person. It came out of left field, and I almost lost my footing. I whirled on a skinny boy with big, golden brown eyes.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa!" he called with a cracking voice, palms on display. He wore a formal blouse and trousers that seemed too wide on him. "Easy. What do you expect to accomplish alone in the woods with those things, Riley? Suicide?"

I blinked. My ability to respond completely failed me.

He nodded as if I'd spoken. "I'm Ethan. Luc's down there somewhere, we better find him."

I understood right away what that meant. "You know Emma? She disappeared before they showed up and I..."

Ethan's youthful face soured. It had a certain charm—on the mischievous side. "Damn. We have no time to waste, then." He pivoted toward the valley. "Stay close to me."

"Wait! Wait... How old are you?"

Impossible for him to be a senior. I would have encountered him in one of my classes. How could I let a literal child lead me into woods brimming with monsters? The boy shifted ever so slightly and grinned.

"Old enough to take care of myself," he replied. He snatched my wrist and tugged. "Come on."

I prepared to resist again, because I didn't know him or if he truly could take care of himself. I didn't know if he should even be here at this age, let alone diving into this mess gung-ho. But Ethan put a finger to his lips, and when his back faced me, light poured from his hand to illuminate our path.

That agile-alert walk. I couldn't help but realize how strikingly similar it was to Luc's.

God, why was I able to recognize that kind of stuff?

I shook it off while we neared the place where I spotted the body, and from afar, I could pick out the same arms and the dress behind the thicket. It seemed like the Wanderer had abandoned its... meal.

"There." I pointed, shuddering. "One was feeding on her."

He said nothing. Instead, his chin tilted to the sky as if waiting for a sign. I was glad he didn't bring us closer to examine it, but the relief was short-lived as we delved deeper. A Wanderer's howl echoed throughout the woods, and then we heard a higher-pitched response.

Had I been smart, I'd have carried one of Dad's extra revolvers from the basement. Never would I have imagined I needed it and I was afraid the girls would have seen it in my prep bag.

My blood froze at the next sound and I instantly accelerated. Ethan moved ahead with longer strides, keeping the shadows at bay. A scream meant that they were still alive.

I remembered all too well how spine-chilling these creatures were with their claws and teeth, and I didn't feel ready to confront that, but it was go time. Ethan slapped thickets left and right and hopped over a crooked snag, gaining ground where I lagged. Screeches were growing louder.

And without warning, the boy just stilled.

I hurried beside him, eyes trying to make sense of the scene.

Two Wanderers were holding onto a student I'd never met, one gripping the arms and one gripping the legs, and they were growling at each other. Drool leaked from their gaping jaws. Staring at the guy, my stomach flipped. He might have been alive a second ago, but now...

They were pulling each half to their side. One became so frustrated it reared its head, released a frightening roar and gave a pull so strong it ripped the body in two. Despite closing my eyes, I knew when innards smacked the soil, and thought I might faint.

None of them were satisfied judging by the exchange that followed, but then I reopened my lids and understood why. Ethan had charged.

He'd taken them by surprise, kicking one in the sternum and catching the incoming second. They rolled to the ground but he emerged on top. A glow was firing down his sleeve and spilling across his palm. He was about to blast that Wanderer into the next life.

Except he might not have the opportunity.

My attention was riveted to the first Wanderer as it came to, snarling. I bent over, groping around for a rock.

The Wanderer under Ethan stuck its neck out. Hands started to light up, too.

"Hey!" I shouted, then flung whatever I'd collected. "Hey, shitface!"

I struck a shoulder, then the forehead. The monster coiled, baring its serrated teeth at me. I threw another one.

It launched, claws wide open. My fingers brushed the strap of my clutch and loosened a heel at the same moment. I was able to lean sideways and stab a shoulder blade.

It flipped and swiped, missing my throat by a hair. I staggered back as it straightened to its natural height, staring me down with a—a playful gleam. No, it wasn't a trick of the imagination.

A series of clicks filled the air. It stiffened, then sank into a squat.

I gulped, still holding the shoe high.

Ethan's Wanderer was lying in the ditch, unmoving, but he was being circled by another that must have appeared from the shrubs.

Mine broke into a crawl, startling me until I tripped and fell backward. I skidded but it was quick. An oily hand clasped my ankle. Sobs were building up in my chest, and when it tugged and dragged me across the cold dirt, I could only scream and fling the heel.

I stabbed again and again.

The Wanderer cooed.

I aimed, this time. For the face. Displeasure crossed its expression, and it reached for my flailing arm until it was pinned to the grass. The other hand slid up, as though caressing my cheek, then formed a fist over my scalp. I gasped at the sudden jerk, tears flowing down my temples.

Ethan was yelling, but he was far.

I looked down from the rare stars, saw the Wanderer's bald head inch closer, mouth stretched wider than humanly possible, and felt it lower to my neck. I felt the brush of its whole face against my skin like it was inhaling. No part of me was strong enough to fight it.

It was going to shred my throat with its teeth and I would be a witness.

I waited for the shredding and slicing to begin, waited to feel warmth empty out of me, but no.

The invasive sniffs were gone. After that, I noticed my arm was freed. I dared to peek.

It was still on top of me, but it sat upright and abnormally stiff. Eerie eyes were fixed on the canopy, mouth unhinged. Then the head snapped a full 180, causing me to shrink, and that wild frenzied creature thudded on the side, revealing an obscure figure standing over us.

I should thank him, but all I achieved was a choked sob as I gathered my knees.

Leaves stirred. I stared once more at Ethan, only...

This was too tall to be him. And he was slim underneath the clothes, but not scrawny, not to any degree.

"You should have been at the cars."

Luc extended a hand. Ethan was dusting himself off by the peeling base of a birch. The abrasiveness in his tone was unsettling, but I took it.

"She's looking for Emma," Ethan explained as I was hauled up. "I found her already running toward the problem."

I was close enough to discern the irritation spiking on his face. He shot the younger boy a narrowed glance. "Wait until we get home, then you and I will talk."

"You're welcome," Ethan muttered.

Rather than sparking an argument, he focused on me, gaze still narrow and sharp. "Emma wasn't with you?"

I shook my head, and he cursed lowly.

"Listen. It's bad enough you made it out here, but you can still sit this one out in my car. And take the shrimp with you while I see if Emma's..."

I wrenched my hand away. My nerves were on overdrive. If I was going to get handled a second time tonight, I would physically hurt him. Even with the scary tough-guy act. "I'm not leaving until she is safe."

"It could be two minutes or two hours. We could be looking for a body and you're in my ear about how you want front-row seats?" He stepped back, casting a stern look at Ethan and then me. "Emma doesn't need any of you slowing me down."

"I get it for Riley, but you and Devin could use a third pair of hands," the kid insisted. By my guess, he was under sixteen, even though he was taller than me. "Together, we can..."

Luc whipped and towered over him.

"You still have a goddamn curfew, and you thought it was good enough to watch over Riley. She was one inch from death. I need your advice like I need ants up my ass."

He waited for an answer, but Ethan had none to offer. Instead, he stole a glance at me and lowered his head. Luc cussed and walked off.

"Wanderers crawling all over the place and I have to split hairs with you two." He sighed, ran a hand down his wincing face. "Sunshine, for the last time. What I need is you both in the car."

I hated this. I hated everything he threw at us, but he'd be faster on his own and he knew to search for Emma now... What else could I do? And Ethan was too young to stick around, even if he was eager to.

"Uh, guys?"

Luc ground to a halt, heeding the call.

Small flashes of light shot through the woods. Pairs of eyes glimmered through branches and underbrush. I counted a handful ahead and more appeared. Lights danced behind Ethan, shaking foliage in their path. Some were growling, but there were whines of pain which I didn't grasp right away, then it hit me.

Their dead at our feet. 

✩