Destruction: The Clandestine Saga Book 6

The sky above the forest seemed to have swallowed up the stars, and the remnants of the moon did little to light the way as Delilah Lewis drew in her breath and cautiously waded down to the shore of the river. She was careful not to slip on the rocks her father had just warned her about two seconds earlier. If she had her cell phone with her, she could use it as a flashlight, but her dad had insisted, “No electronics on the camping trip.” She knew he relished days like this, and even though it was fairly warm outside for February, Delilah didn’t want to let him know how absolutely miserable she was already, just one day into the long weekend.

She squatted down at the water’s edge and rinsed the dinner plates. Her dad was always very careful about keeping things tidy at camp, especially since there’d been rumors of bears or something else large meandering around in the woods recently. One more reason why she hoped this was the last time the two of them ever had to go camping together. At fifteen and a half, there were a lot more fun things she could think of to do on a long weekend then drive out into the mountains with her dad, even if it was a tradition and this was the thirty-second time she’d found herself at Angeles State Park in sunny Southern California.

Thoughts of what her friends were likely doing back home had Delilah pausing, taking a seat on a larger rock and examining the night sky. It was usually beautiful out here, but tonight something seemed off, like the stars had neglected to take their places. It was probably prettier from the beach where her friends were staying. Or from Robby Lee’s house where an epic party was happening without her.

“Delilah!” her dad called. “You get lost? Hurry up! It’s late. We need to get to bed soon if we’re going fishing at dawn!”

She looked up the slope to see her dad, Kent, had taken a few steps closer before yelling. The moonlight seemed to reflect off the top of his balding head.

“I’ll be right back, Dad!” she called, glad they didn’t seem to have any other campers too close by. She’d hate to wake anyone else with their shouting. This was her dad’s favorite location, even though it was pretty close to a new road the park service had recently put in, and he wasn’t a fan of hearing vehicles in the middle of the night—not that that happened much. Occasionally a ranger would drive by on patrol, but that was about it.

Delilah sighed and brushed her long red hair over her shoulder, carrying the dinner plates back up the hillside. A rustling sound from the tree line had her frozen in her tracks. It actually sounded like footsteps crunching on top of the fallen leaves. When she stopped and turned to face the outliers of the forest about twenty yards in front of her, the noise stopped, too, as if whatever was there was intelligent enough to know she was looking. Whatever it was making that sound, it seemed large. Delilah swallowed hard as little beads of perspiration sprang up along her forehead.

“Lilah-Bug!” her dad shouted.

“C—coming.” Her response probably wasn’t loud enough for him to hear, but Delilah turned and headed back up the incline as fast as her legs would carry her.

When she reached the campfire, she was glad to see her dad standing there in the orange glow. She took a deep breath, certain he would find a way to protect her from whatever animal that might’ve been in the woods.