The Mating Ritual Read Free

thought about her clothes. It wouldn’t
take them long to discover them, and then they would know she was
in the lake. She heard the sound of snapping twigs and leaves as
footsteps moved in her direction. Too afraid to chance a glance,
she took a deep breath and sank beneath the surface, then swam in
the opposite direction.
    It was a large lake. Toni wasn’t even sure
she could make it to the other side, but she knew she had to try.
And then what? She couldn’t very well hide out in the water all
night, she’d die of hypothermia. Her last option of traipsing
through the woods to find her nearest neighbor wearing next to
nothing was no more appealing.
    First things first, she had to get to the
other side of the lake. She couldn’t hold her breath that long and
soon came up for air. A quick glance behind her confirmed one of
the men had found her clothes.
    “There! I think I see something over there,
in the water!” The other man came running from the direction of the
cabin. “It has to be the girl! Get the truck!”
    Shit! Toni filled her lungs, and dove
beneath the surface again. She continued to swim across the lake,
praying she made it there before they did. At least she had a head
start. She pushed herself to the limit. The next time she came up
for air she paused long enough to listen and search for the truck,
hearing it in the distance. Thank God, there wasn’t a road circling
the lake, but she knew she wasn’t out of trouble yet. If they were
determined to get to her, they would find a way.
    When she reached the shoreline, she crawled
out of the water and lay there for a moment, gasping for breath and
trying to think of what her next move would be. The sound of the
men’s approaching vehicle decided it for her. She got to her feet,
half stumbled up the embankment, and dove into a wooded area, just
as the flash of headlights broke through the trees and landed on
her.
    “Fuck, man, there she is!” She heard one of
them shout out his window.
    “I’ll get the bitch!” The other one said, and
then Toni heard the unmistakable sound of the door being opened and
slammed shut again.
    She took off in a dead run, tearing through
branches and bushes with only one thought on her mind—she had to
get away if she wanted to live. It was completely dark now and she
was moving on pure fear and instinct, adrenaline giving her the
edge not to question where she put her bare feet. With no direction
in mind, she ran and ran, pausing only long enough to catch her
breath when she had to and listen to see if they were in
pursuit.
    At first all Toni could hear was her own
labored panting and the eerie sounds of an active nightlife
surrounding her in the woods. She became frighteningly aware of how
noisy the forest became after dark, of the howls and shrieks, the
hoots and screeches of animals as they moved about in the brush in
search of food. She had no way of knowing what they were, or how
dangerous, and the thought of bears was never far from her
mind.
    “She went this way!”
    The closeness of the harsh comment warned
Toni that the men were nearer than she’d hoped. She took off again,
forced to go slower this time, as the forest grew denser and denser
the further she went into it. She was constantly tugging her long
hair free from branches or pushing the spidery limbs away from her
face and arms. When she wasn’t quick enough to avoid the occasional
slap against her skin she ignored the sting, focusing on escape. It
didn’t occur to Toni that she was following the sound of running
water until she came to the edge of a rocky cliff. At least she
thought it was a cliff.
    Oh! She just managed to stop from falling
off, doing a little jig backwards to gain her balance. It was too
dark to see but judging by the noise of rushing water she sensed
the black void below her was a river, possibly rapids. She stepped
back out of fear. One thing was certain; she wouldn’t attempt the
descent until day light. She wasn’t a fool, but