Chapter 69 The Twigs
Elsie
I looked at the girls properly for the first time since we escaped. Eight frightened faces stared back at me, waiting for me to decide what happened next. I didn’t even know when I became the leader of this small pack, but at that moment, I realized they genuinely didn’t have anyone else to trust.
I cleared my throat a little. “Alright,” I murmured, my voice shaky, “since we’re here and we need to stick together until we get out… I want to know your names at least.”
The brown-haired girl, stepped forward first. She was stronger than she looked—
“Vivian,” she said. “My name is Vivian.”
I nodded. “Okay. Vivian.”
“Hanna.” Another girl with short blond hair says, hugging her arms around her body as if that was the only thing keeping her from disappearing. She whispered her name so quietly I had to ask her to repeat it.
“Hannah,” she said again, a bit louder this time.
The third one, Mariana, is the girl I killed a man for. She looked terrified, not because of the danger we were in, but because she was scared of me. I hadn’t cleaned up. Dried blood was still on my face, and clothes.
The remaining girls murmured their names too, but my brain was too exhausted to hold any more information. Their voices blurred into one another, and I just let them. I cared about keeping them alive, not memorizing a list of names.
“We need to move,” I said. “We can’t stay in one place too long. They’ll be searching the forest.”
Vivian nodded. Hannah stepped closer, as if being near me made her feel safer.
We need to get to a safer place where they can go back home to their parents and make a report later. I know the Lancasters are a very powerful family, and control both the police force and the judiciary in some way, but if I form a collective voice with these girls and it goes public, these arms will be forced to do their job.
The dream I had of Caleb strangling me still feels alive. I rubbed my throat as I cleared it. They are going to kill me if they find me…
Could this be why they killed my sister? Did Clarita find out something about them and the only way to keep her shut was to kill her?
I need a phone booth.
I need to call Mrs. Lancaster.
I had memorized her number the day I saved it in my phone. Funny how my brain locked onto that one detail like it knew I would need it someday.
Going to her was dangerous. Everything about it could explode in my face. But she was the only person connected to the family who wasn’t controlled, bought, or manipulated by them. And if there was anyone capable of helping these girls, and maybe helping me it was her.
Mariana was standing slightly apart from the rest, her expression unreadable, her jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscles move.
“We just need to keep walking,” I told them instead. “Stay close. Stay alert.”
That was when Mariana finally spoke.
“Stay close to you?” she snapped. “I’m not doing that.”
I frowned. “What’s your problem now?”
“My problem?” She stepped forward, anger rising like heat. “My problem is you, Miss know-it-all. You’re a monster.”
The other girls stiffened.
I blinked at her. “What are you talking about?”
“I am a murderer. A bloody killer and I’m not going anywhere with you before you kill me too. I don’t care if the rest of the girls decide to come with you, but I’m not doing that.”
Something inside me flipped.
“Need I remind you,” I said sharply, “that I did that to save you? That monster was raping you.”
“I didn’t ask you to!” she yelled. “I didn’t ask you to do anything. And I swear, I will report you to the authorities the first chance I get.”
The words hit harder than they should have.
She turned away from us, marching deeper into the trees. I noticed the blood stain on her dress. Was she a virgin? She should be in the hospital being looked after, but how am I going to help her if she won’t let me?
“Mariana!” I called. “Where exactly are you going?”
She didn’t look back. “Anywhere is safer than being around you!”
I watched her walk away, her figure shrinking between the trees.
“Fine,” I said bitterly. “Go. Good luck finding a way out. Hopefully, a wild animal doesn’t get you before the men do. And when the men get you first, I hope they won’t all take turns reaping you apart.”
I heard her stop for a moment when I made that last statement, then the sound of her legs on the dry grasses continued.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Let’s go,” I said to the remaining girls. “We need to find a road or something. Once we’re somewhere safe, you’ll all be able to call your families.”
They nodded, still shaken, but they followed me.
We moved slowly, weaving between trees, avoiding open spaces where anyone could spot us. The ground was uneven, full of roots waiting to trip someone. The air was cold, brushing against our skin like warnings.
Do you think we’ll find a road soon?” Hannah asked quietly.
“We will,” I said. “It may take time, but we will.”
“And after that?” Vivian asked.
“You’ll go home. All of you.”
I didn’t say anything about myself. I honestly didn’t know what “home” meant anymore.
We kept walking until the trees thinned a little. The wind shifted, carrying a faint noise, like a distant engine. A road. Maybe.
Vivian noticed too. “I hear something.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Let’s keep moving.”
As we walked, I kept checking over my shoulder in case Mariana changed her mind. She didn’t. All I could see behind us were tall trees and shadows stretching long across the forest floor.
We walked carefully, listening, trying to figure out if the sound was a good sign or a bad one.
But then—
from somewhere behind us…
A twig snapped.
Not the kind of snap from a squirrel or a bird. This one was slow and heavy
I didn’t turn around immediately. My heart slammed against my ribs as I forced myself to breathe.
Then I finally whispered—“…We’re not alone.”