LifeWild

Haley admires the orange glow of the small cooking fire she has created. The process has never been a natural one for her, more often than not she is forced to rely upon her emergency stash of matches, but her flint and steel released a spark onto her piece of char in almost textbook fashion and within moments the tiny flames began crackling through her tinder nest of pine needles and bits of bark.

It is a welcome accomplishment at the end of her day. The twelve mile hike to reach her favorite camping location has never been too taxing, she has walked over twenty miles in a day, but the combination of emotional exhaustion and lack of sleep made her feel as if she had been traveling for days. Fishing even took longer than it should have. The portion of the creek by her campsite has a level section of slower moving water and it is normally all but effortless for Haley to catch a brown trout or two, but today was another matter. It takes three unsuccessful attempts and the sun almost completely setting before she finally manages to pull in a cutthroat.

Skewering her freshly prepared trout on a skinny tree branch and placing it over the fire on a makeshift frame of wood remnants she found along the forest floor, Haley nibbles on the inner bark of a trembling aspen while the fire heats her meal.

A chill runs down her spine as the sensation of a strange odor and the sound of nearby movement reaches her simultaneously. Her movement ceases and she concentrates her gaze in the direction of the sound. The fire between her and the unknown creature is distorting her ability to see into the darkness, but she is sure she can make out a shadowy figure moving behind the trees in front of her.

“Hello?” Haley attempts to make her voice sound confident. Her parents wouldn’t have been hiding in the shadows and she is sure any wild animal would not look or sound like this, at least not in her experience. Still, she can’t imagine any random hiker or camper out this far into the forest either.

The figure pauses behind the tree closest to the fire momentarily before stepping into the light. Haley blinks and cocks her head with incredulity upon recognition of Brent Lydell, her doctor’s office assistant.

“Mr. Lydell? What are you doing here?” Any confidence her voice had is lost to the utter bewilderment she is now experiencing.

“Oh Haley, I am so glad I found you,” concern coloring his tone. “Dr. Modino sent me. We just received the results from some of your lab tests and he needs to see you immediately.”

“I haven’t seen the doctor in almost a year, Mr. Lydell, what tests are you talking about?”

Haley’s pulse begins to quicken. She finds it inconceivable he even found her out here. Nothing about this seems right. The warning in the letter to her parents about the doctor flashes into her mind.

The pause before he responds is uncomfortably long.

“We were doing an analysis of past tests and saw a change we needed to look into.”

It comes out as more of a question than a statement. Haley can see even he doesn’t believe what he just said.

“Sorry,” she forces the word out with authority, trying to sound self-assured. “If it has already been this long, I am sure it can wait a while longer. My parents and I will make an appointment when I get back home. Now, you’d better get going if you want to be home before midnight.”

“This is not a request, Haley, you’re coming with me now.” He begins stepping around the fire toward her.

Haley quickly glances around, analyzing her surroundings. The adrenaline rushing through her system has masked the fatigue she had been feeling, but she is sure she could outrun him anyway. Even though he is a bit more muscular, he is quite older and at least one hundred pounds heavier.

“If you’re thinking of running, Haley,” his words seeming to predict her actions, “it will be a futile act.” He waves in front of him what looks like a TV remote with a little screen on the front. “With this receiver, I can find you anywhere, anytime, the same way I found you tonight. All you will be doing is delaying the inevitable.”

As Brent continues around the campfire, Haley begins circling as well, attempting to buy the time she will need to figure out how to get away. If she can figure out how his receiver works, she may have a chance.

“What if I break your remote?” It would be a long shot, but worth a try.

“You’re welcome to try, Haley,” the smug response is spoken while he places the strap to the remote on his neck, freeing both hands to fend off any attempts at reaching it. “Besides, I’ve got more receivers.”

Brent picks up the pace and lunges to grab her arm. Haley ducks away and runs a bit to place herself across the fire from him again. Her mind races in an attempt to figure out what those receivers are tracking.

The necklace. Dr. Modino has been telling her as long as she can remember she has an allergy to sulfonamides and the necklace would alert any doctors to her condition if she would ever be unable to do so herself. He told her she could never take it off.

“What if I do this?” She grabs the necklace and yanks it from her neck and holds it out in front of her over the fire. It was purely a guess, but the immediate look of concern and frustration clouding Brent’s face reveals her deduction was correct. When he begins talking again, she intends to throw the necklace into the fire and run as far and as fast as she is able.

Waiting for his response, she is momentarily stunned to see him leaping across the campfire and grabbing the hand clutching the necklace and twisting her around so her back is facing the flames. Raising his other hand, more quickly than she would have expected, he swings his arm toward her head and suddenly, pain is slamming through her body. The force of his hand across the side of her face is like needles being blasted into her skull. She sees a flash of light and it quickly turns dark as she loses her balance. She reaches out instinctively to try and catch herself and is met with the sounds of wood cracking and snapping as well as the popping and sizzling sounds from the nearby flames. New pain immediately tears through her hands and arms as she falls into the campfire. Her hands throb like they were smashed with a hammer and the burning sensation moves up into her arms and chest. Commanding her body to half jump and half roll away from the flames, her back slams against one of the rocks surrounding the fire and her head instantly follows. The air leaves her lungs in a rush. She struggles to breathe as the pain spreads along her back like knives ripping through her body. She is sure her head has been cracked open and her chest and sides sting like she is still within the fire. She screams in anguish and struggles to right herself but her body fights every movement.

She forces herself to slide a few feet along the ground and starts to turn around. As her vision clears, she sees Brent leaning over her and she begins to scream again. With a renewed burst of energy, she flails her arms and legs defensively in an attempt to fend off whatever attack is coming and manages to hammer one of her heels into his kneecap hard enough to knock him onto his side. Pulling herself up into to a crouching position, Haley grabs one of the rocks ringing the fire pit and strikes him across the temple as hard as she can.

As Brent’s body slumps to the ground, Haley doesn’t wait to see if he is still conscious. Thinking only of self preservation, she uses the opportunity to regain her footing and stumble toward the forest. Unsure of where she is heading or how long she can keep going, but knowing she must get away from him, she pauses only for the briefest of moments against the nearest tree before running into the darkness.

She runs along the side of the creek, using it as a guide, but keeps far enough away she wouldn’t be easily found by Brent if he was coming after her. She runs for what seems like hours. When she can no longer recognize anything around her, she stops to catch her breath. She instantly regrets this action as the pain from her injuries overwhelms her senses. With as much energy as she can muster, she continues moving. After about a dozen more steps, Haley’s eyesight blurs and she begins to black out. She tries to keep her balance, but finds she is too weak to stand any longer. She falls toward the uneven ground and lands in a heap. The slope of the hillside causes her to roll a few more feet until she is lying in a ravine with her left leg and arm submerged in the cold water of the small mountain creek.

Pushing against the ground, Haley tries to move, but she cannot seem to make it happen. Lying there, sprawled out on the ground looking up at the night sky, she wonders if this is the last time she will see the stars.

After a few minutes, there is a slight rustling noise and suddenly there is a huge shape looming over her. It must be Brent. Somehow, he must have found her already. He seems bigger, though, and wider, too. Her mind is playing tricks on her. A scream is attempted, but she has nothing left in her to fight. This is it, she tells herself. It’s all over now.

The shape leans over and scoops her up as easily as she could pick up a bag of groceries. Haley tries once again to move or speak, but instead the world becomes darker and her senses start to fail her until finally the void of unconsciousness consumes her.