Girls' Trip - A Party for One - Part VI

Her hurried steps forced the other two girls to pick up their pace. Sarah continued to check her phone and with each moment that passed with no further replies from Terry, the faster she walked. It was now completely dark and the music boomed behind them, but grew fainter with each step into the darkness, and the sound of the crickets became louder.

She rubbed her arms after shoving her phone in back pocket. It wasn’t cold, but the hair on her arms began to stand up. She finally saw their cabin at the far end of the beach as they approached the finally stretch of their walk. A faint glow of light peered into the night and pointed them in the right direction. She chewed her lip, nervously.

What should have brought her comfort did not. Sarah huffed and puffed and panted. Her legs moved swiftly. Dot and Melinda were calling her name from behind her trying to keep up. The sand seemed to tug at her feet, slowing her down. It felt as if tiny hands pulled at the sparkly sandals she wore, slowing her speed and sand filled the empty space between her feet and the sole of the shoe.

Her pace completely altered once more. Sarah walked but more slowly than before. Melinda and Dot caught up to her. Sarah lunged forward and teetered on her toes, arms flailing, trying to keep her balance when Dot literally bumped into her back due to her abrupt stop.

“Shhh!” she held a finger to her lips, unfazed by the near fall.  The other two looked at each other, confused.

“What are we listening for?” Melinda whispered. No response spilled forth, just Sarah tilting her head.

“You are freaking us out, Sarah! What are we listening for?”

“The crickets. They stopped. Isn’t that odd?” Her head pointed toward the back of the cabin, which faced the lake, yet her eyes glazed as if staring at nothing.

All three jumped. A blood-curdling scream broke into the night from the direction of their cabin. They clung to each other tightly and took a few steps back before deciding what to do next.

“Was that Terry?” Dot’s teethed chattered loudly. In the tight huddle they found themselves in their hearts thundered loudly on the verge of exploding from their chests.

“It’s us three against whoever is in there right? Let’s go!” Melinda said with faltered confidence, slightly edging ahead of the trio.

“NO!” Sarah grabbed her. “We should call the police! What if he has a gun? We can’t fight against a gun.”

They clutched at each other once more, as another scream pierced through the night air. This time the sound of breaking glassed followed.

“Screw this!” Melinda began to charge toward the cabin and Dot and Sarah followed with fear on their faces. 

The wind seemed to pick up the closer they came to the cabin. It sunk into their skin deep, into their bones. She stretched out her arm and wrapped her fingers around the handle of the door. As she pulled it towards herself, another shatter of glass exploded inside the cabin.

Melinda yanked the door open the rest of the way and flew into the cabin. The front screen door on the opposite side of the cabin, clattered shut and a shadow crossed in front of the light outside it.

Their eyes searched as they called her name.

Sarah tugged on Dot’s arm and nodded towards the floor. A dark red liquid spilled out everywhere in the kitchen, and Terry had yet to reply to their calls. Besides the pool on the floor, the same red mess, dripped down the counter top and over the side. It didn’t look like blood until their wide eyes followed the entire trail.

A broken glass sat on the counter, which struck Sarah as odd. It most likely broke on the floor, so why pick up the pieces after a struggle? The red liquid was lighter in color in the kitchen, but the three sets of eyes followed the line of red liquid into the next room toward the back door. Footprints were the culprit in creating the trail.  A darker red color that actually resembled blood led towards the front door that had just shut moments ago.

“Terry!” a hoarse shaky whisper escaped Sarah’s lips. Clutching to each other, while trying to side step “the blood”, they moved forward looking for their fourth friend.

They all three halted as the wooden steps outside the front door, creaked. All three women shared a chorus of shudders. The shadow returned and they took a step back for the second time that night.

“This was a mistake…we are all going to die!” Sarah whispered loudly.

The door flew open and a shared sigh released into the tiny log cabin, as all three women saw Terry with a small bag in her hand.

“Are you okay? Is that blood!?”

Terry furrowed her brow in confusion and follow the three pair of eyes down the front of her shirt.

“Oh no!” she began laughing.  “I was trying to make a bloody mary. It ended in disaster and I cut my foot, so..yeah, I guess there is some blood. I just went to the car to get my first aid kit.”

“Oh thank God!” Dot whispered under her breath. “Can we go back now?”

“You guys came back to check on me?” Terry paused and then an understanding suddenly registered on her face. “I forgot to call you. God, I’m so sorry!”

She sat on the bed to examine her foot near the beside lamp. As she picked out a tiny shard of glass with a tweezer from the kit, Sarah sat next to her on the bed. The other two were at the door she just walked through, looking out nervously.  They whispered back and forth about the car keys and leaving things behind.

“What’s going on?” Terry asked. Blood dripped from the fingers that held the tiny clear dagger.

“You didn’t, text me or call me?” Sarah asked as she simultaneously helped bandage her wounded friend’s foot.  Terry shook her head in response, and Sarah stood up, gently pulling Terry with her. Sarah looked over at Melinda and Dot. They both nodded at the same time and slowly opened the door again and began to push Terry toward the door.

However, before anyone could take one step over the threshold of the door, Sarah yelped. The rest stopped to look. A man had Sarah. He in fact, had a gun, and a hand in Sarah’s hair.

“The party’s just starting ladies.” The stranger from the bar said.