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Caleb’s eyebrow quirked up. “You saw a girl in the woods? Are you sure that wasn’t a ghost or some shit?”
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Are you telling me you’re scared of walking into the woods when it’s not even fully dark yet?”
“That’s how serial movies start,” said Caleb, cracking a grin. His creepily wriggling fingers slowly inched toward me. “What if a masked killer’s waiting out there with an ax?”
He suddenly grabbed my neck, making me shriek out.
“Stop it!” I shouted, slapping at his hands.
Chuckling, he drew in closer and took a bite of my cheek. “It’s still so much fun to play with you,” he whispered.
His emerald eyes glowed with a dark emotion. My heart pounded in my chest and for a moment, I forgot all about the child in the woods.
“Caleb,” I breathed, unable to control my racing heart.
He grinned and moved away, breaking me out of my daze.
“I’m serious, Caleb,” I said, removing my seatbelt. “The kid could’ve been in an accident. That night, our car crashed into the woods too. What if something similar happened to her and her parents?” Opening the door to my side, I climbed out.
Caleb was beside me in an instant.
“Over there,” I said, pointing in the direction we came from.
I led the way until we reached the spot where I’d noticed the child. Daylight was steadily fading, so it took a few seconds for me to locate what I was looking for.
“Over there,” I said, catching sight of the girl on the ground. Her bright red dress was easily visible through the gaps in tree trunks and bushes. “Do you see her?”
“Yeah,” Caleb replied in a grim tone.
We could both hear her soft sobs.
Caleb walked past me, heading off the road to enter the thick boundary of trees. “Hey!” he called loudly. “Are you okay in there?”
Hurrying after him, I got closer to the child.
A girl of about six or seven years of age sat on the ground, staring up at us with bright blue eyes. Her pale cheeks were tear-stained and smudged with dirt. Dried leaves and twigs stayed stuck to her long, dark hair.
A car lay smashed against a tree close by.
There were no adults in sight.
“Hey, sweetie,” I said in a gentle voice. “Are you okay?”
The child stopped sobbing as she stared at us intently as if she was silently judging us. A closer look showed me a bloody wound on the side of her head.
“You’re hurt, honey,” I said in a concerned voice. With slow movements, I moved toward her. “Can you tell us what happened?”
The child stayed still and quiet.
“I’m going to take a look at the car,” said Caleb, walking past us. “Her parents might be inside.”
“My parents are dead,” the girl spoke out in a soft whisper. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “Everything hurts,” she wailed.
“Oh, sweetie.” Kneeling beside her, I wrapped my arms around her in a gentle hug. “I’m so sorry. We’re going to help you, okay? You’re not alone anymore.”
The child clung to me and bawled harder.
My heart broke for her. Just how long had she been sitting in the woods all by herself?
