Page 81 of Kiss Slay Replay

“What? Move,” Evan says, shoving me aside so he can grab a chair and help Wyatt. “If you’re not going to help, get out of the way.”

“I…” Help how? I’m frozen. I’m useless. The deer screeches, rears back on its hind legs. Its eyes seep this pale, yellowy-green pus. Wyatt loses his footing and falls.

Evan drops the chair as the deer comes down on Wyatt. Hooves to head.

The caterer is attracted to the chaos. He’s coming. He’s close.

I can’t do this again. I don’t want to run, to abandon my friends. I also don’t want to stick around and survive long enough to watch them all die anyway, then meet my own bitter end. If I hold my ground now, what then? I don’t know how to fight, how to save them. By sacrificing myself?

Is it cowardice to leave? Or cowardice to stay?

There’s a hand on the back of my neck.

It’s Ravi.

Tanya’s behind him, and Vicky.

“Get to your car,” he says. “Take them. I’ll stay here.”

“No. You’ll die.”

The caterer groans, and froth pours from his mouth, his nostrils. The deer treads backward, head lolling, yellow eyes vacant.

It’s too late for Wyatt. His face is a giant bruise, covered in gobs of fizzy saliva. His limbs spasm.

“Evan,” Ravi says, his voice low. Calm and steady. “Evan, we need to leave.”

“Wyatt,” Ev says. “Wy, get up. Please.”

“Willa. Go,” Ravi says.

“You go.” I get my car key out of my bag and toss it to Tanya.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Vicky says, attempting to tear the key out of Tanya’s hands. “Come on!”

Tanya stares at me, her beautiful face startlingly blank. She’s in shock. She points to the woods. “The…the…out there…there…I…Is it—”

“Fuck this,” Vicky says. She’s got the key, and she takes off. She runs as fast as she can in her heels, which isn’t very fast.

Maybe it’s the flash of movement, or the way her bright blond hair catches the rays of the setting sun, or maybe it’s because of the path she chooses to take, cutting across the lawn toward the cocktail area instead of making for the parking lot or reception hall. The deer pursues her.

It catches up quickly, charging her with its head down.

The antlers hit her in the back, penetrate the skin. They get stuck inside. She goes limp, falls forward, takes the deer with her.

Tanya turns to the side and gets sick. The sound of it, the smell of her vomit makes me gag. Suddenly, I’m dizzy, and my eyes refuse to focus. I’m still shifting between the grim understanding that this is happening and complete denial. It’s like it’s already a memory, the scene around me muddled, smeared in Vaseline.

“No!” Evan tries to pull Wyatt back, away from the caterer, who’s now crawling toward us on all fours, gnawing at the air.

Ravi moves to help.

BEEP BEEP.

The van. It speeds down the path. Luke veers to avoid the deer and Vicky, still tangled together, writhing around in the grass, staining it red. Vicky can’t get away; the antlers are in too deep. Her blood-chilling screams are temporarily drowned out by the growl of the van’s engine, the squeal of its tires. Luke slams on the brakes.

“Hurry the fuck up!” Cassie shouts out the window, as the side door whirs open. “In!”

The van is already stuffed with other guests.