9. Evangeline

9

EVANGELINE

M y cry can't be stifled. Not even my hand can hold it back as I exclaim in horror. I knew I'd been taken far from the camp, but not this far.

I recognize nothing around me. It's nothing but an endless abyss of the mountain range, with all of its unforgiving trenches, bottomless chasms, and vertical slopes that spell instant death.

All are lit in full by the sun, its light graciously allowing me to see the efforts of my forced exile.

The wind almost knocks me off my feet, but tumbling down the hills to my end suddenly doesn't sound so bad.

But my resolve tells me not to give in so easily. I turn around and slide down the hill, returning to the spot where I woke.

"Think," I tell myself. "I need to make sense of this."

But thinking proves harder than anticipated. My mind is wracked with confusion about how the villagers brought me out here.

"How did I not hear a thing?"

My nausea worsens, unabated by my attempts to calm down. I lunge forward onto my knees, unable to stop myself from throwing up.

It stings my throat. It seems as though agony is quickly becoming a mainstay in my life.

Amidst the painful experience, I smack my tongue and lips, recognizing a peculiar aftertaste of herbs.

"I didn't eat any herbs recently," I whisper, running a finger along my lips.

I realize then and there that I was drugged during my sleep. It's no wonder why I didn't wake up during my kidnapping.

"Bastards," I hiss.

Piece by piece, I figure out their plan. They don't want me coming back, that's why they brought me so far. They drugged me so I couldn't trace the same path back home.

Home.

The word sickens me further than the feeling in my stomach.

The Nature around me is cruel but not by choice. The people in the settlement… they're a different breed entirely. They willingly chose to put me out here, to take extra measures to ensure I never return.

"Why?" That's all I can say before I burst out crying once more.

Their cruelty is almost enough to push me to the breaking point. I grapple with feelings of giving up and moving forth.

"I'm probably going to die out here," I whisper. "But I won't die doing nothing about it."

The only chance I have is to calculate my next move. Only then do I stand to stay one step ahead of death.

"One step at a time, that's all I need."

I get to my feet, fueled by the sole purpose of surviving. No one else will do it for me now. I'm all I've got, that and the clothes on my back.

I pull my layers tighter as another gust of wind threatens to blow me away. The cold pierces through my fabrics, its full power numbed by the sun.

I look up to it as I figure out my next move.

"I've got to find some type of shelter. That sun is the only thing keeping the cold from claiming me. Once it goes down, I'm dead."

There's no way for me to check how many hours of sunlight I have left. There's no time to waste.

I take the first step forward into an uncertain future, plagued by the fast pursuit of death.

A small stroke of fortune comes my way with the weather easing. The winds fully pass and the snowfall lightens, allowing me a clearer view of the path ahead. A path to nowhere.

The boots I wear aren't made for this level of snow as the bitter cold substance stops just below my knees. Back in the settlement, the grounds were evened out with hard labor, making walking as easy as breathing.

But the current conditions make traversing the terrain painfully slower, each step a full exertion of effort.

After what feels close to an hour, I stop and bend over, hands resting on my knees as I gasp for air.

"It just doesn't end."

Everywhere around me still looks the same, I wonder if I'm already going insane.

Throwing a hand to my head, I wipe away a pool of cold sweat. My breathless lungs beg for air and a chance to recuperate.

Smacking a dry mouth, I'm desperate for a drink of water. The lack of it will speed up dehydration, but I try not to think about that.

I ought to rest at least. If I keep pushing hard, I'll collapse from exhaustion.

I sit at the top of a steep slope, leaning back against a pile of snow. I close my eyes but quickly open them again, seeing an image of the settlement in my mind.

Regret and anger make great companions for one another, each taking their place in my heart.

Then, a flurry of a black silhouette in the corner of my eye.

I look up and around me in a hurry, confused to find nothing out of the ordinary.

"What was that?"

Scratching my head, I shrug it off as a trick of the mind and decide to keep moving.

As I peer down the slope and see its danger, a highly strung tension wraps its nauseating grip around my stomach.

Far too perilous for a descent on foot, I recline on my butt and slide down, flexing every muscle as I pick up speed. It goes far smoother than I expected but the tension feels like it's weighing me down at this point.

"How much farther?" I ask myself, looking ahead to spot a narrow entryway to a valley in the distance.

Masses of rock and ice rise up on either side of the valley, so I figure there must be a cave somewhere in that territory.

But my heart almost stops.

I spin around when I hear a faint flurry of footsteps, quickly turning around to see that same black shape throwing itself behind a rock. Had I blinked, I'd have missed it.

The unwelcome and perverse sensation of insects crawling up my spine urges me to keep moving.

The sun beams down on me from behind, casting a large shadow of mine over the snow. Every so often, I glance over my shoulder, watching the nearby hills for any movement.

I know I could just be going crazy, but I can't shake the horrid feeling of being watched.

Better slow down and quieten my steps. If someone, or something, is following me, maybe I can hear them.

Going against my survival instinct to run, I keep a sharp ear for any noise not caused by me.

I hate this. The loneliness, the tension, the feeling of being stalked, not knowing where to go. It's a living nightmare.

Part of me expected to be attacked by the time I reached the entry to the valley. When I look over my shoulder one more time, I see nothing.

Given the situation, I strangely feel glad to be alone. With a sigh of relief, I step forth into the narrow valley.

The peaks up above have taken most of the snowfall, the ground beneath me is dry rock. At least walking here won't be difficult.

I do my best to keep walking straight, not daring to turn down any darkened paths.

But what I just saw stops me in place. The shadows, something, no… Someone just pulled their foot in.

There's another human here with me.

There's nowhere for me to hide, no path to take but forward. I don't want to go back the way I came.

"Who's there?" I call out, my feigned bravery wavering beneath a quiver in my tone. "I saw you moving. Show yourself!"

Maybe I'm being courageous, but maybe I'm also being stupid, walking right into a trap.

What if it's a monster disguising itself as a human?

My prediction is right as the figure steps out of the shadows. Instinctively, I step back and recoil in horror.

"Kraven?"

Kraven, the man I thought I'd never see again. He is human, but he is a monster beneath his skin.

This can't be happening… Why couldn't I have died when they left me?

"Evangeline, is that you?" Kraven asks, his voice hoarse.

He steps closer into the sunlight, revealing his sunken eyes and hollow cheeks. His shaggy beard stretches down to his chest, hiding most of his frail torso. His arms and legs are skin and bone, baffling me as to how he can even walk.

"I never thought I'd see another human out here! Were you exiled too?"

His beaming smile shows his rotting teeth and gums, making me want to vomit again. It quickly fades as I step back.

"What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see someone else out here with you?"

"How are you alive?" I mutter.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you, not unless you want me to." He laughs, an evil grin replacing his feigned innocent smile. "Forgive me, it's been years since I've seen an actual human."

"For good reason, you should be nowhere near anyone else!" I hiss. "No one's forgotten what you did to those poor girls back in the settlement!"

Seeing him as depraved as he is suits his abhorrent crimes. My mind replays the memory vividly, of me carrying his traumatized and violated victims away while Kraven was dragged before the council.

And now here I am in the middle of nowhere, alone with the sick, perverted man.

"Stop!" I yell as he walks closer.

"Evangeline," he whispers. "Come on, you and I should work together. You won't make it out here alone."

My heart pounds and threatens to burst from my chest.

There's nowhere to run.

No one to help me.