Page 82 of I'll Be Waiting

Intestines. I’d seen her intestines.

I will cut you open, and I will gut you.

No. I’m hallucinating. The mushrooms—

I didn’t take the mushrooms.

Heather must have given them to me, and I didn’t notice.

But the mushrooms weren’t actual drugs.

They must have been. Goddamn it, this is not real. It cannot be real. Heather is lying here, holding in her own—

I retch and fall onto all fours, puking everything I have into the grass.

I hit my head, right? On that tree? Or when someone struck me from behind. They must have hit me in the head, too, and I forgot it because I’m unconscious. Unconscious and having a nightmare.

A twig cracks.

My head shoots up.

Patrice.

Where the fuck is Patrice?

I crawl back to Heather and put my hands to her neck, checking for a pulse.

Seriously? You think she’s still alive?

But she had been, when I arrived.

I remember her last words.I don’t understand.

Oh, God, Heather, neither do I, and I really hope I’m dreaming or hallucinating orsomething.

A whisper, and it’s only the wind, but it makes my head jerk up, my heart pounding, reminding me that whoever did this to Heather is still out there.

Whoeverdid this?

Patrice did this. You heard her screaming that she was going to find and gut Heather.

I push to my feet and wobble before I grit my teeth. I need to get it together.

No, I need to get it togetherandget the hell out of here. If this is real—you know it’s real—then I need to get out of here before Heather’s killer—you know it’s Patrice—finds me.

Again, movement catches my eye. I spin. Was that a shadow?

Run, Nic. Runnow.

I stifle the urge. Run, and I will smash into another tree. Run, and I won’t hear anyone coming after me.

I pause to orient myself. We came into the woods from that direction. The school is over there.

I take a second to listen, but everything has gone silent again. I start walking, quiet and careful until I reach the path. Then I pick up speed, my ears trained for the slightest sound.

I want to run. God, I want to run like I have never run in my life.

Walk. Breathe. Listen.

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