Prologue

PROLOGUE

HALLOWEEN, TWELVE YEARS AGO

Stanton Forest, Black Rock Falls, Montana

“A river of red ran down the mountainside and poured into the water, turning Black Rock Falls red. Each Halloween he returns. At midnight you can still hear his laughter and see his ghost holding up a severed head dripping with blood.” Wyatt Twotrees looked from one to the other. “Stay close to the fire or you’ll be next.” He dropped the ax he was holding into the sandy soil and everyone fell silent.

The river glistened black and resembled a tar pit with a heat shimmer. From the surface, mist rose up in white spirals like skeletons crawling from their graves. The army of ghouls marched through the forest, coming closer with each step. Only the ring of light from the bonfire held the creatures at bay. Suddenly afraid, twenty-one-year-old Abby Jaye leaned closer to her boyfriend, Cole Peters, the quarterback from the college football team. As a five-star recruit, his place in the NFL draft was guaranteed and they’d already planned for her to follow him wherever he went. She drew his attention away from another horrific tale of the Whispering Caves Axman and kept her voice to a whisper. “I need to pee and I’m not going out there alone. I can’t just go behind a tree, everyone will see me. Can we walk along the trail and find some bushes?”

“We’re only staying until one, just in case we see a ghost, but if you gotta go, you gotta go.” Cole chuckled. “Although those guys would frighten a ghost away.” He indicated to his friends, all wearing hideous Halloween masks. “I’m not sure why they wore them here. They’re all crazy.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come on then. There’s a clump of bushes along the trail near the caves.”

Abby pulled out her phone, and using the flashlight, they wandered hand in hand some ways from the fire, followed by hoots and hollers from their friends. She squeezed Cole’s hand. “They figure we’re heading to the caves to make out.”

“Maybe we should.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Or are you too scared to be alone with me on Halloween?” He held up both hands. “See, no ax.”

Giggling more with nerves than fun, Abby twirled her fingers. “Turn around and walk some ways away. I’m not peeing in front of you. It’s embarrassing.”

“I can never understand that about girls.” He turned his back and started walking away in the darkness. “Us guys don’t care. We just line up side by side.”

Abby found a suitable place and turned off her phone’s flashlight. As she pulled up her jeans, a thump and a low groan came from the direction Cole had walked. She fumbled for her phone and the light lit up the area. Ahead, the path where he had gone was empty. How far had he walked? Had he tripped over a tree root or something? He’d mentioned his phone battery was low and they’d been using hers all the way here. She looked behind her. The glow of the fire seemed a mile away. “Cole, where are you? Stop messing around. It’s creepy out here.”

As her flashlight moved over the dark opening of the cave, it reflected in the sharpened blade of an ax. Had Wyatt Twotrees slipped up ahead of them to play out his Whispering Caves Axman story? The hairs on the back of Abby’s neck rose as a shape emerged from the forest. All the boys were wearing their team jackets and, apart from Cole, a Halloween mask. It was difficult to tell them apart in the dark. “Is that you, Wyatt? I can’t find Cole. I figure he went inside the cave. Did he walk past you?”

“Let’s take a look.” He pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shone it inside the cave. “After you.” He bent and picked up an ax leaning against a tree. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

Trembling, Abby nodded. She’d known Wyatt since grade school and had no reason not to trust him. Taking hesitant steps, she moved into the cave. The darkness surrounded her and critters scattered in all directions as they rounded the first bend. Terror gripped her at the sight of a figure crumpled on the sand. Blood soaked the back of the familiar jacket. She took a deep breath to scream and run away, then the cold metal of the ax smashed into her shoulder. Crying out in pain, she turned and dropped her phone, but the flashlight lit up the hideous mask.

As the ax rose high into the air, she grappled with her attacker. “Why are you doing this? Did you kill Cole?”

The masked attacker chuckled and shoved her away. “I wish I could kill him a thousand times but now it’s your turn.”

The caves went deep into the mountain, she could run and hide. Abby shook her head. “No!” She ran at him, clawing at his neck, and as he pushed her away, her fingers closed around his fraternity pin. When he shoved her hard, it came away in her hand. She fell hard on the dry sandy soil and, winded, rolled over, trying to get her feet under her, but he used his boot to knock her back to the ground. She didn’t have time to scream as a swish followed by the cold sharp steel of the ax struck the back of her neck and darkness surrounded her.