Shadow’s Sinner

Chapter Six

M y frown deepens as Lacey’s words sink in.

Samantha’s gone.

“How do you know?”

I ask, stepping closer to the group, my fingers intertwined with each other.

“She was just using the bathroom, she wouldn’t have just ran off,”

Ashley snaps, not bothering to look at me.

“It shouldn’t be taking her this long,”

Emma mutters under her breath.

“I’m pretty sure I heard her scream,”

Alicia says.

I stand back as they share a look, and while I know it’s right to feel worried that Samantha might be missing, I have no desire in me to care.

As the thought appears in my head, I immediately cringe.

I shouldn’t be having those types of thoughts.

It’s wrong.

It’s one step closer to being a sinner.

“We should go out there and look for her,”

Lacey offers.

“It’s dark, I’m not sure we should go out there,”

I find myself saying.

Alicia swings around, narrowing her eyes at me.

It’s the same look Dad gives me right before I announce a stupid opinion I have.

He tells me that no man in our church is going to want me if I speak my mind.

He tells me I’m a waste of space and that Mom should have killed me before I was born.

It’s only when I’m sobbing and begging for him to stop that he lets me go.

Only to have Mom come in to tell me she wished it was Lilianna that she had first, just so she didn’t have me.

She goes on telling me that I never deserved to breathe.

She tells me how she wanted to drown me as a child, that she wishes she let me die.

“Who do you even think you are?”

Lacey bites back.

I shake my head, shrinking back from her.

I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.

“We can’t just leave her out there,”

Emma says, pulling Samantha's attention back.

I let out the breath I’d been holding when Lacey turned around and stepped towards them.

“You’re right, we should go and try to find her.”

Alicia sighs.

“Come on,”

Emma says, stepping over the small bush.

I shake my head as I watch one after the other go deeper into the woods, not caring that they don’t have a plan and oblivious to the fact that we have no idea where we’re at.

So while my fear of the dark is rearing its ugly head, I follow them anyway.

Samantha might have been mean, but she doesn’t deserve to be lost and scared.

“Samantha,”

one of the girls calls out.

The moon shines down, barely giving us any light as the temperature starts to drop.

The woods grow murky the further in we head in.

I know we should head back but I can’t bring myself to tell them.

The girls all hate me, and I don’t understand why.

It’s not surprising given I’m different from the normal crowd, but I can’t be that much off.

It’s like people forget those who are different still have feelings.

But no one cares.

Not the students at the prep school.

Not my family.

And not that hazel-eyed figure that scared me in the hallway.

“Samantha!”

They cry out again.

My fingernails dig into my palm as the trees begin to block out the little light we have, making it impossible to see two feet in front of me.

“Did anyone bring a flashlight?”

I finally dare to ask.

Lacey, who stands in front of me, stops and glances at each of us, confirming that no one except me has thought about it until now.

“We should head back,”

Emma’s voice squeals as a branch to our left breaks.

My head snaps to the side, heart pounding in my chest.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand as I sense someone watching us.

I can’t explain it.

I can feel their eyes burning into my skull.

I’ve had this nerve-wracking pressure on me before.

I can’t explain or process fully what it means before a figure steps into my line of sight.

One by one the girls swing their head around, staring at what I already see.

“Oh, fuck no!”

I’m not sure which girl curses before two of them take off.

I glance to my left just as the other two run off, following.

I swallow the lump in my throat, meeting the stranger’s eyes.

Or where I assume their eyes to be because I can’t see into their hood but can feel the intensity of their stare.

They tilt their head at me, fiddling with something in their pocket.

I glance down and squint my eyes before I see the glint of something shining in the moonlight.

My eyes widen as it slowly sinks in what this shadow man has in his hand.

This can’t be real; this can’t be happening.

But it is and I don’t comprehend what’s fully going to happen until they take a step closer, black jeweled knife firmly placed in their hand.

I shake my head as if they understand and will magically not come after me.

It takes me longer to move than I’d ever admit.

My knees buckle as I back up, fear licking up my spine.

Air gets trapped in my lungs as it dawns on me that I’m about to die.

“Ah!”

I squeak, falling backwards into a bush.

My back hits something squishy yet hard and before I can stop myself, I’m glancing down.

Bile rises in my throat as my hands feel the warm metallic scent seeping into my skin.

My vision blurs as I take in Samantha’s body lying underneath me, her throat slashed, eyes blown wide as if she didn’t realize she was going to die when she had.

I struggle to my feet unsteadily, the deep chuckle from the shadow man echoing through the trees, settling in my ears.

A shiver runs down my spine, and my knee twitches before it dawns on me that I need to run.

I twist around, picking up the hem of my dress, and take off.

The trees blend together making it difficult for me to see clearly in front of me.

Panic curls in my gut and my heart pounds against my chest.

My breath comes in ragged and the blood rushes to my head.

A branch snags on the arm of my blue dress, I hiss under my breath.

Tears pool in my eyes.

Between the fear ripping my heart apart and the pain in my arm, I want to stop.

But the little voice in the back of my head tells me to keep going.

Tree branches and shrubs snag along the bottom of my dress, threatening to rip it to shreds.

Leaves crunch beneath my feet, and anxiety clutches to me as I hear the hooded figure behind me.

I’m unsure how long I can keep running until I finally spot a clearing in the wooded area.

My lip tips up in a smile, only to fall the moment my foot catches on a tree root.

My heart drops to my stomach as I tumble over a branch.

I do my best to wrap my arms around myself, bracing as gravity gets the best of me.

Twigs and sharp rocks rip into me as I roll downhill.

My eyes slam closed just as my body plummets into the murky water at the bottom.

I don’t get the chance to close my mouth before water begins pouring in.

My blood turns to ice as darkness wraps around me like a cold blanket.

My head snaps up out of the water, coughing and spitting in an effort to get it out.

My entire body burning with pain, I blink furiously to force both eyes open and try to gather my surroundings, searching for the hooded figure that was chasing me.

Only it’s cut off as something—rather someone—grabs the back of my hair plunging my head back under the water.