Chapter Nine

We trekked back to find the others sprawled on the floor, a small fire crackling in the hearth. Sitting down, I asked, looking around, “Where’s Tanc and Mikey?” Cordova turned to me and said, “Upstairs trying to find some flashlights.” “That would
explain what we heard,” Emma whispered in my ear, the vibrations of her voice tickling the fuzz on my ear. I nodded. Next to Cordova, Jessica harrumphed and slammed her phone down on the floor. “There’s no reception anywhere,” she grumbled, getting up and crossing over to look out the window. “And it’s starting to rain harder,” she said, gesturing. Footsteps sounded on the staircase behind us, and Mikey appeared, holding a flashlight in his shaking hand. “None of the lights upstairs are working,” he said. “No shit, Sherlock. The friggin’ power went off,” rambled Cordova as he got up. Mikey flushed as Emma spoke up in his defense. I tuned her out (sometimes Emma can get pretty worked up about something) and focused instead on the scene outside. The warmth from the fireplace and the drone of the others’ voices was starting to make me sleepy. Leaning my head against the window, I watched the rain patter on the glass, my eyelids slowly closing. *THUMP* Startled, I flung myself back as something threw itself against the window pane, the glass shuddering as if it was about to give in to the repetitive attack of it’s assailant. Landing on the hard wooden floor, the others crowded around as the thing outside hurled itself again and again. “What the?” Cordova whispered,
his face contorted into an expression of denial. Emma’s green eyes widened in horrified recognition. “Oh my God!” I turned to her. “Em, what is it?” She ran to the front door, me behind her in hot pursuit. “Emma! Wait up!” The minute I stepped outside, it was like I had dove into a pool of icy Jell-O or something. Frigid sleet pelted my face, biting into my flesh like miniature piranhas. “Emma!” I could hardly hear myself over the howl of the wind. Squinting to protect my eyes, I could dimly make out her figure as she disappeared around the corner of the cabin. “E, wait up!” Running as fast as I could, I rounded the corner and nearly smacked into Emma, who was supporting someone. “Robby, help me!” she yelled, motioning for me to grab the other side. Together, we managed to get the person through the door of the cabin. Jessica slammed the door shut behind us, and Cordova helped us get the guy into a chair. As I sat the man up, I happened to look at his face. Gasping, I drew back as I made out the disfigured features of our missing friend, Chad Bergstrom.