Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
But that means they’re missing too.
Based on the way the blankets have been dragged off the bed, shoes scattered, and furniture sitting crooked, I’d say there was a struggle. I notice Ronan’s glasses sitting on the wood floor, smashed to pieces, as if someone crushed them under their heavy boot. Panic seizes my chest. I yank open his side table drawer to find his three extra pairs sitting neatly and untouched.
He wouldn’t willingly leave his glasses behind.
Oh God.
“Wild sent me—” Chet starts and then says, “Where the fuck is Sadie?”
“My siblings are gone too,” I hiss out. “Something bad has happened. Something really bad.”
“Maybe they went to get fresh air,” Chet suggests, fighting another cough. “Like we should be doing.”
I shake my head in vehemence. “No. Carter was stabbed. Mom was attacked. Someone hurt them.”
My first thought is the rapists who attacked Kristen. They must’ve come back. But there were only two of them supposedly. I also doubt they’d take the time to dismantle tents.
They wouldn’t do that because they don’t exist.
Holy fucking shit.
It was them.
The trespassers.
They were playing us all along.
I bolt out the door, shoving past Chet, and race toward the gate that stands wide open. Beyond the gate, there’s nothing to see except more smoky woods. The visibility is worse away from the light of the fire. I’m cursing myself for having not grabbed a flashlight.
“Wild’s truck is gone,” Chet exclaims, doubled over as he sucks in air. “He parked it right there.”
It’s then that I see the form of a body. I can’t breathe as I make my way over to it. Dark, messy hair shields the woman’s face from me.
No.
Please, God, no.
Crouching, I recognize the woman. Thankfully, it’s not Raegan. It’s Carter’s mom, Wendy. She’s littered with bloody wounds that also look to have come from a knife, though I don’t see one anywhere.
Who the hell would do this?
“Someone stabbed her to death?” Chet cries out in horror. “What kind of redneck freaks are you people? Where the hell is my goddamn sister?”
Ignoring him, I sprint over to another form. This time, it’s a bald older man. Another one from the trespasser’s group named Gary. Beside him are his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren, including their six-month-old.
All slaughtered like pigs.
Bloody and viciously stabbed.
I’m going to be sick.
I lose count of the deaths when I stumble upon a couple more bodies. Hellie and her young son, Nicky.
All dead. All stabbed and dragged out here to rot.
The outlook for finding my siblings and father isn’t looking good.
That’s eleven corpses.
Where are Logan and the rest of the trespassers?
And my people.
Where the hell are my people?
Where’re Ronan and Raegan and Destiny? What about Dad and Kota and Declan? Chet’s sister, Sadie?
A grunting sound from up the road draws my attention. I prowl toward the sound, fear winding around my throat like a vise. A figure lies in the road, groaning and squirming. As I approach, I recognize it.
“Dad!”
He’s barely distinguishable on his face. Someone beat the fuck out of him. His eyes are swollen shut and his lips are twice their normal size. Blood is splattered all over him. I recognize his hair and beard, though.
They hurt my mom and dad.
Furious tears burn at my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I drop to the ground beside Dad to assess his injuries. His arms are bound behind him as are his feet. It’s as though someone dragged him out of bed because he’s wearing just a black pair of boxers. His entire body is bloody. It’s then I notice the rope around his neck.
What the fuck?
His hissed breaths are coming out softer and less frequent. I move his beard out of the way and start tugging at the rope that’s suffocating him. This time, the tears do fall, wetting my sooty cheeks. My fingers feel too clumsy as I work to untie the rope. As I’m pulling the long end through one of the loops to loosen it, I notice it’s been cut.
Had they tied my father to the back of Wild’s truck and dragged him?
Until someone had pity on him and cut the rope?
My heart stutters to a stop.
Raegan.
She never leaves without her knife.
“It’s okay, Dad. I’ve got you. Mom’s alive. So is the baby.”
He rasps out a groan and then starts coughing like crazy. I’m stunned stupid. I don’t know what to do or where to go. My family is gone and the other half is near dead.
A sharp pain lances through my chest as my new reality sinks in.
My family was taken.
They took them.
They fucking took them.
But I will find my people.
I’ll raze the entire goddamn state of Alaska to the ground just to get them back if I have to.
And I will get them back.
Even if I die trying.
To be continued…