Endurance - Jack Kilborn [106]
The second time Cam stabbed her with the scalpel, Kelly turned and ran. The terrain was rough and rocky, and the woods were thick. She could hear Cam only a few steps behind her, following the path she made through the underbrush, making a sound that was part giggling, part crying.
The woods are too thick. The ground is too uneven. I can’t get away from him.
She misstepped, tripping over a tree root, and Cam swooped on top of her, poking her a third time, in the thigh. Then he let her up, let her keep running.
Kelly realized he wasn’t trying to kill her. Not right away. He was just going to keep jabbing her with that scalpel.
“The autopsy report stated he was stabbed more than a hundred and thirty times. None of them were fatal. My best friend died of blood loss.”
This scared Kelly even more, made her even more frantic. She tried to watch her footing so she didn’t trip again, but she didn’t move fast enough and Cam came up behind her, poking her in the back.
It hurt. Every stab hurt worse than a bee sting.
I’m not going to get away. He’s going to keep doing this until my whole body is bleeding.
Kelly didn’t know where to focus her attention, on her footing, or on Cam. She stumbled again.
He jabbed her a fifth time.
Kelly didn’t see how she could get away. He was stronger. He had a weapon. It was too hard to run in the forest. Cam would just keep stabbing her and stabbing her until—
“Be aware of everything around you, and not just what’s in front of you.”
It was Grandma’s voice. The thought was so strong that Kelly felt like Grandma was right next to her, reminding her of what she’d said earlier.
“Use your peripheral vision when you’re running over the rocks, so you don’t have to keep your head down. Keep your eyes ahead of you, but not your entire focus.”
Kelly forced herself to take everything in, not just the ground in front of her. She remembered the trick Grandma taught her, how to see using the whole eye.
Incredibly, the running became easier. She found her footing without having to slow down, and each step was solid and sure. Listening behind her, Kelly could tell she was pulling ahead of Cam, gaining distance.
Kelly lengthened her strides, letting her feet find their own way. The incline became steeper, but she didn’t slow down. Along with hearing Cam clomp through the forest, Kelly heard something else in the distance. Something familiar.
A waterfall.
She opened her ears, sensing its location, and headed toward it. Within two dozen steps the woods broke into a clearing, and Kelly stopped abruptly, staring over the edge of a steep cliff. Her eyes dropped, seeing the waterfall in the distance, the double rainbow floating in the mist it created. Then her eyes dropped further, staring at the rocks below, a drop of forty or fifty feet.
Kelly felt like she did while standing on a diving board. Her knees got weak. Her mouth became dry. She hated heights.
But Grandma came to the rescue again.
“What do you think you should trust more, your eyes, or the solid ground?”
The ground. I trust the ground.
Kelly saw a rock ledge, maybe three feet below her. Narrow, but enough to stand on. It looked solid enough to hold her.
She turned when she heard Cam come up behind her.
“You can run pretty fast, Kelly,” he said, out of breath.
Kelly took a small step back, feeling her heels teeter over the edge of the cliff.
“But now you don’t have anywhere else to go.”
You’re wrong. I do have a place to go.
“I think, this time, I can finally make the screaming stop.”
Cam moved forward, slow and easy, swishing the scalpel in the air. Kelly waited until he was within striking distance.
I trust the ground, Grandma.
She looked down, then stepped backwards off the cliff.
The cuffs were thick leather, brown and stiff with dried blood. Maria fought while Eleanor buckled them on, kicking and punching, enduring jolt after jolt from the cattle prod from Harry as he giggled and drooled. She finally fell to her knees, weak and shaking, unable to resist anymore.
Eleanor opened the latch on the banister,