Nighttime at Willow Bay Read Free Page A

mumbled, taking a corner around the trail. “All I wanted was one night of peace.” God, how could people stand camping? She’d been so excited buying her camping equipment at the local hardware store and it had all been a big waste of time and money.
    When the path separated into three side trails, she racked her brain to remember which direction she’d come from. After ten seconds, her brain finally yielded the necessary answer and she turned left.
    Halfway up the path, she stopped.
    Silence filled the woods.
    Cold, dark silence. 
    Slowly, she turned to gaze at the forest.  One of the blue light posts that trailed the main path flickered off.  Naomi trembled.  All of the earlier nightly noises, the ones people would expect from a forest—cicadas, owls, and tree frogs—had abruptly stopped. She could almost see the little animals hurrying back into their dens, seeking shelter from a new presence. An evil presence.  And then…rough male laughter cracked the silence. Cruel, awful laughter that had her sucking in shallow breaths.
    She stared at the darkness, bewildered, fingers clutching the flashlight at her side. Was it the Norse God?
    “Hello?”
    No answer. Just silence.
    She took a step back, thinking that it had to be the Norse God. Maybe he was playing with her. Maybe he got off on stalking women. Sicko.
    Once again, rough male laughter filled the silence, and she stumbled backward, almost losing her footing. No. Whatever was out there, it was not the man. This was someone, or something , different. Something intent on hurting her—badly.
    “Who’s there?”
    A twig snapped behind her, and she spun around, expecting to discover her stalkers, but only seeing another row of tall, dark, sinister trees. Her head craned toward the sky. Willow Bay stretched through three counties. A person could disappear out here…
    Naomi trembled, aiming the flashlight at nearby bushes. Good God, let her survive the night.
    Suddenly, without a sound, two shadowy figures burst from the darkness and grabbed her arms.
    The tall one had red eyes.
    Naomi screamed. Her flashlight dropped.
    “Well, looky, looky. We caught us a human bitch, Ernie,” said the tall red-eyed man, his hands reaching out to paw her behind. “A country fed bitch.”
    “ Yummy,” replied the other figure, Ernie, a pudgy man with a sloppy mustache, whose eyes seemed to drift sideways. “And a black one too, Telly!”  His voice grew soft. “Must be our lucky night.”
    Telly grunted at that. “You best believe it.”
    “Let go of me,” she snapped, trying with all of her might to free herself from their hold. But it was pointless. The men were too strong.  Naomi closed her eyes, attempting to pray, just as her left arm was pulled back in an awkward angle. She doubled over in pain. Water gathered in her eyes. “Please…stop.”
    “ What was that, missy?”
    “Please…my arm…it …hurts.”
    “ You goin’ stop fussing, missy?”
    “Yes!”
    “You ain’t lying, is you?”
    “No, please.”
    He immediately loosened his hold, giving Naomi time to stand straight and gather her composure. The heat of humiliation warmed her face. She glanced at the man and quickly looked away at the sight of his red eyes. He seemed to be getting off on her pain. Was he a demon? 
    “Please let me go,” she said softly.
    He laughed. “Not a chance, sweetie. We goin’ put some babies in you.”
    Naomi flinched. Babies? Yuck! Like she’d become these psychos babies’ momma. Even so, she played along.
    “Tell you what, we’ll have more fun if you let me go. See, I like to be in charge. I like to be the one on top.  It’s more enjoyable that way. What do you say? You give me a little freedom and we can get the party started. You’ll like it. I swear.”
    She gave the man her best smile only to be roughly pushed against a tree. Once again, her arm throbbed with pain.
    Telly laughed. “She’s just fooling us , Ernie.” His slimy tongue swiped her