Chapter 70 Chapter 5–Book 2
WARNING: LANGUAGE AND SITUATIONS
Nova fell asleep almost as soon as she lay down, the stress and physical exertion having exhausted her. She didn't stay asleep for long, though; nightmares about the shed started to creep in. Then, nightmares about the people all over, looking for their ears and eyes. Each nightmare was worse than the last. The final nightmare was of James holding her ears out for her so she could choose a spot on his wall for him to hang them.
Each time she tried to sleep, the nightmares would pop in and she would scream until, finally, she just lay there and rested.
5:08 She knew, with the lack of sleep, things were not going to go as smoothly as they had today. She would tire a lot more. There was nothing she could do, though, but press onward.
When morning came, she was a mess, but at least she was still dry, and the rain had stopped. She drank some water and had a handful of the trail mix she had made. After packing everything up again, she was off into the forest.
Again, something was driving her in a certain direction. She was a little too tired to care; as long as it was the opposite direction of her house, she was okay with it. As it turned out, it was also the direction she needed to go to get over the mountains to that town. The sun had come out for a little bit and then hid behind the clouds again. It was alright, as long as it didn't rain for a little while.
She was hoping to find a small stream and catch some dinner, have a nice small fire, and relax. She found some wild blueberries, and they made a delightful lunch along with her trail mix.
Just as she was about to go looking for the stream, she could hear water running; it sounded like a waterfall. "Yes," she said to no one. "Maybe a bath as well."
Maggi Snyder waited for Nova at the crossroads for about twenty minutes. She decided that it was best to go to work; she had a feeling that Nova was on the verge of running away. Nova had left a note in her mailbox, telling her if she didn't show up for work to just go on without her. Maggi wasn't sure what to do, so she waited just in case Nova chickened out, or something else stopped her from going.
When she didn't show, Maggi was happy. Nova finally decided it was time to go; good for her. Her mother, Kathy, was a piece of shit, and her stepfather was the rest of the shit pile.
When Maggi pulled up to the motel, there was a new guest in cabin three. She wondered what kind of guest they had this time; it was usually the seedy type, looking for a place to hide for a few days. This car, though, looked more like an official car, like one belonging to law enforcement. Well, well, she thought, perhaps the local craptastic Sheriff is in for a little surprise. Maybe, finally, he will be investigated. Perhaps she might run into their guest and give him a little information she had been saving for the right occasion.
Brutus and Jack were sniffing out a pine tree. Someone had been under it, perhaps sheltering from the rain. They couldn't pick up an exact scent to tell them anything. Whoever they were, they were careful. Even the tracks that were left behind didn't tell them much; there wasn't a scent at all on them. The tracks themselves were visible only here and there. They were also in places where they would disappear in a short while, covered by the litter of the forest floor.
Whoever they were, they were light; perhaps a female, or a young male. They decided to see if they could follow them. It wasn't long before the trail was gone. Brutus sat down, frustrated. It had been a long time since someone could elude him.
As they were sitting there, thinking about their next move, Brutus's stomach let out a mighty growl. It was then that they realized that they hadn't eaten in quite a while. Jack remembered a stream that went through here, close by, and a waterfall with a pool.
It was good fishing. Brutus licked his lips in anticipation. They headed that way at a fast, but silent pace, just in case the mystery person was around.
When they got to the waterfall area, though, they discovered that the mystery person wasn't a mystery anymore. There was a female, and she was swimming naked in their fishing hole.
Brutus sniffed around, looking for her things. It took him a long time, but he did find them, carefully hidden inside a tarp in the bushes. He hid, watching with fascination at the female in the water. She seemed to be enjoying herself. What was she doing so far up into the Bear Mountain region?
He decided that since she was so good at concealing her presence, that perhaps he should check her out a little differently.
He stayed as Brutus and, in a nice hidden spot, watched the female. She was making her way to shore now. When she slowly stepped out of the pool, Jack was mesmerized by the sight; she was a goddess.
She suddenly looked afraid and started to look all around her. Her gaze shifted to where they were hiding. There was no way she could see them, still, they felt that she could sense them.
She quickly went to where she hid her things, got dressed still wet, arranged a few things in her pack, put what looked like a really heavy pack on her back, and was off into the forest again. This time, she kinda disappeared into it.
Jack and Brutus just sat there in their hiding place. They both felt a huge pull towards this beautiful female. Was she their mate? If so, what was their mate doing out here in the middle of nowhere?
Nova was not happy. She got in her bath, which was wonderful, but before she could catch her dinner, she felt the eyes of a predator watching her. Probably a bear, wanting to either fish or drink. "So much for a hot meal tonight," she said with a sigh.
She pressed on, though she didn't feel the pull this time as she continued to travel. She covered quite a bit of ground between yesterday and today. She was feeling safer now.
Even though that piece of shit was due to return tomorrow, she was happy that she would have even more distance between them. Every time she thought of him or that shed, she wanted to run around and scream like a madwoman.
She needed to get to that town sooner rather than later. The longer it took her, the more likely another person was going to die. She also felt a little bit stupid, that she didn't know what was going on. She lived there; how couldn't she see it? In truth, she felt bad. She was so absorbed into her world of getting away that she just didn't go looking when she felt the warning signals.
She said a silent prayer that she would bring that piece of filthy crap to justice. She hoped that he didn't notice that she was in his shed. That would seriously be a problem; he would move it to God knows where, and the evidence would be gone. Not to mention, what was he doing with the rest of the bodies? Why was it that it was always the Sheriff that picked him up and dropped him off? Were they working together? So many questions, so few answers.
It was then that another memory came to her: the necklace she got for her 18th birthday. She never took it off because it was the only thing her mother had ever given her. She touched it with her fingers, wondering where it came from. If it did come from one of his victims, then she was going to keep it around her neck until she reached the police. She sent up another silent prayer to the owner of the necklace, that she would keep it safe for her and would make sure he pays for what he has done.
Another part of her was cringing at the fact that if the necklace was from one of his victims, and her mother gave it to her, that means that her mother also, at least, had some knowledge of what was going on.
She had to keep pushing herself; this was bigger than just her getting away. This was a race against time, and she was running out of it.
Special Agent David was getting a lot of unexpected and very nervous visitors today, all of which told him the same thing: the two people he should be looking at are the Sheriff and a man with the last name Springer.
Well, now we have a start. Investigating the Sheriff is not always a pleasant job, nor an easy one. He called a few of his buddies to do some deep background checks on the two suspects. He decided to wait to talk to the Sheriff for a day or so, until the reports came back.
He suspected that there were more than just drugs and missing people happening around here. You don't have that many missing people just up and fucking vanish without a body floating in the river now and then.
For now, he was going to take a drive and get a little bit of the lay of the land, as well as the residents who reside here. He was also going to drive over to the other counties, the ones who have all the missing people reports. Surely there has to be at least one person who knows something, or has seen something.
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