Off the Path (continued)

Mac stuck to the road, hoping to run into someone she may know. The abandoned house wasn’t too far away from Route 44 and that road connected to the entire town. Her feet pounded the pavement, every so often she glanced over her shoulder to ensure no one was following. The man from the woods hadn’t yet realized someone had been in his home. She wondered when and if he would. Surely, he didn’t think Carl had been alone. She expected he would be looking for her once he realized someone else had been there.

She just needed to get home.

She couldn’t believe she had left her phone behind. She couldn’t remember where she had dropped it and assumed it must have fallen out of her pocket somewhere. Hopefully Bruce wouldn’t call looking for her. If he did and the man found her phone, he would have no doubt that someone had been there.

Ahead, she could see headlights. She stopped running and focused on catching her breath. She had never hitch hiked before, but desperate times called for desperate measures. As the car drew closer she waved her arms, hoping to get their attention. It was dark now and she was in dark jeans and a navy blue sweatshirt. Her black hair was tied back in a braid that she knew was fraying. Any other time she would have cared about her haggard appearance, but today was different. She kept flashing back to what she saw in Carl’s car.

Carl was dead. He was no more. If she had been a little quicker maybe she could have helped him. Maybe she could have stopped the blood. Something.

Or maybe I would be dead too, she thought to herself.

The sedan slowed to a stop beside her. She tried to relax, but her flight instinct was still activated. The passenger side window eased down and a blonde woman and her husband stared at her.

“Oh my.”

“Are you lost?” The man asked.

“I-I-I-Do you have a phone?”

The woman nodded. “Can we take you somewhere?”

“I need the police.”

“Oh my,” The woman repeated and then stepped out of the car. She held open the door

to the backseat for her. Mac was suddenly unsure. They seemed nice enough, but again they were complete strangers. Her eyes flicked back towards the way she had come, back towards Carl’s car where he sat with his throat slit, blood pouring down his front. It hadn’t taken long for him to bleed out. Mac’s throat was dry. She didn’t know what to do.

“We can bring you to the station,” The man said calmly. “Are you from around here?”

Mac nodded, shifting back and forth.

“Let us help you. Please get in the car and we can give you a phone. I’m Joyce,” The blonde haired woman held out her hand . Mac noticed that her eyes were brown and there was a cross dangling from a chain around her neck. She shook her hand and then slid into the backseat.

“Buckle up,” The man directed as he handed her his cell phone and Joyce got back in the passenger seat. Instead of continuing the way they had been heading, the man turned the car around and headed back towards town. Mac tried to place them, knowing she had seen them around town at least once before, but she couldn’t be positive where. She dialed the number for the police station and tried to get her breathing under control as she waited.

Her mind continued to flash with images of Carl’s body and the man that had passed her by in the woods. Surely he had done it. There was no one else there. The police would feel the same, she was sure of it. But there had been no blood on his clothes, not that she had noticed. His clothes reflected his time in the forest, but that was it.

But there had been so much blood.

She began to wonder if there had been someone else in the woods. Someone she hadn’t seen.

“Hello, Draven Port Police Department. How may I assist you today?”

Mac recognized the voice on the other end of the phone and relaxed considerably. It was Bruce’s older sister. “Carl is dead.”

There was a pause for a second. “Mac?”

Mac’s throat tightened and she did her best to keep her voice steady as tears stung her eyes. She hadn’t said the words yet. Not out loud. And she hadn’t yet said anything about her loss to the two people who had stopped to pick her up. Now the words were out in the open, she could see Joyce stiffen in her seat and her husband glanced at her and then quickly turned his gaze back to the road.

“We are on our way to the station.”

“Are you safe? Who are you with?”

“Yes. I’m not sure. Someone picked me up. Carl is dead.”

“I heard you Mac. I heard you. You’re safe?”

“Yes.”

“I am going to send two officers to you. Where are you currently located?”

“Route 44. By the park.”

“Pull over and wait.”

Mac tapped the man on the shoulder. “Sir, please pull over. The police are on their way.”

The man guided the car to the side of the road, coming to a slow stop. He left the motor running, the heat circulating through the cab. Mac watched as he exchanged glances with his wife, they were communicating with their eyes only.

Tabitha, Bruce’s sister, sounded concerned on the other end. “They will be there soon. Do you want to stay on the line with me?”

For a moment, Mac considered it. “No, I can wait.”

Mac returned the cell phone to the woman and leaned back in her seat, her eyes staring out the window. She quickly locked the doors on either side of her, locking herself inside the vehicle and locking the rest of the world out. As she stared out the window, she thought she saw shadows pass. Every movement put her on edge and the tension in the front seat added to her discomfort. She was waiting for them to ask her what happened. She knew the questions would come soon. The driver was curious, Joyce was obviously scared. She hadn’t locked her doors, but was instead staring at the back door she could see and the fact that it was now locked.

In the distance, she saw the flashing lights of two of the town’s squad cars heading their way. She let out a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” The man turned over his shoulder.

“Jeff!”

Mac shook her head. “Joyce, it’s okay. I have the same question.”

“Who is Carl?”

“He was my best friend,” Mac swiped at her eyes as they began to water again. She couldn’t stop picturing him in his car, the seat leaned back, the blood that had poured from his throat. She wondered if she could have saved him if she had stayed, if she could have stopped the blood. Or was it too late? She had been so scared she had run away.

The squad cars stopped behind Jeff’s sedan and Mac unlocked her door.

“Do you want us to follow you?” Joyce asked, but Mac could tell she was only trying to be polite.

“No. Thank you for waiting with me.”

Jeff stepped from the car and was pulled to the side by one of the officers who collected his information. Joyce was questioned next.

“Hi Mac, I am Officer Stevens. I want you to bring me to the scene.”

Mac nodded. She knew Officer Stevens, of course she did. He was the same age as her. They had gone to school together. They had skipped classes together. They had been friends before life provided responsibilities and work. He knew Carl too, not as well as she did obviously, but he had grown up with them as well. There was a whole world that would now be missing Carl.

“I can do that. It’s the park.”

“Please get into the squad car. Officer Lewis will be riding with us. Do you mind riding in the back?”

He opened the door for her and she stepped inside. Joyce and Jeff leaned against their car, watching her step inside. A small part of her worried about what they may be thinking, but the rest of her hoped Stevens and Lewis could figure out what had happened to Carl. She hoped they would find the man in the woods. She assumed he was still in the house, but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to find it in the dark. Everything seemed different once the sun set.

Luke Stevens didn’t need directions to get to the park. It was a hot spot for tourists and summer hikes. He had spent more time than he liked looking through the woods for people and often found them close to the entrance. People liked to wander off from their parties and get lost or twist their ankles on some of the rock formations scattered throughout the woods. But this was different. There had never been a death. He couldn’t help but glance back at Mac. She had been Carl’s best friend. He had always seen the two together. For a long time he had thought the two were dating, but then he started seeing her around town with Bruce. Carl was no longer her constant shadow, only a part time shadow when Bruce wasn’t around.

Now, she appeared pale. Her eyes weren’t as bright as they usually were but were drained of life. She was staring out the window, watching the trees and the paths that flashed by. There were trails that weaved all throughout the woods here.

Luke turned the squad car into the parking lot of the park, noticing Carl’s car still parked there. There were no other vehicles in the area, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been someone there earlier.

“Where is Carl, Mac?”

Mac pointed to the car. Tears were streaming down her face, mixing with the dirt he assumed had gathered on her cheeks during the hike. He noticed now the dirt covering her clothes as well. There were leaves tangled in her hair.

“He’s in his car?”

Mac nodded.

The officers stepped out, their flashlights in their hands. She watched as they walked up to the car, slowly. The beams of their lights directed at the windows. She watched as Luke worked a glove onto his hand and tried to pull open the driver’s side door. It was locked, just as it had been earlier. The two men looked at each other, but inside the vehicle she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

“The doors locked,” Luke said to his partner as he did his best not to look at the body in the driver’s seat. He focused on his breathing. He had never seen a dead body before and knowing the victim made his thoughts swim. He couldn’t keep a single one straight.

“Suicide?”

Luke shrugged. He supposed it could be possible, but doubted it. An investigation would have to be launched. He took a deep breath and focused on the body within the vehicle. It was a body now. That’s all that was left. Just a body. Carl was gone.

He tried to think logically, putting together the parts of the story he had to work with. Mac and Carl had been together. He assumed they were hiking. Now, Carl’s body was in his locked vehicle with a slit throat. The doors would have to be dusted for fingerprints. The area would have to be searched for footprints. It was looking really suspicious. And Mac was the only one there.

“Call back up.” Officer Lewis stepped back from the car.

Stevens returned to the car and called for more officers. Mac would be staying in the backseat for a little longer than he anticipated.

“There’s someone in the woods,” Mac’s voice was strained. She was pointing towards the trail. “There’s a man out there.”

Officer Stevens paused before closing the door on her. She was smart, he knew that. She always had been. There was a chance that she was bluffing, trying to cover her own tracks. But he had worked the force long enough now to know when someone was lying and when someone was being honest. The emotions in her face were true. There was fear in her eyes.

“Where?”

“In the woods. There’s a house. Someone’s staying there.”

Luke looked towards the woods, wondering where the house was that she was referring to. The entire property had belonged to a few families before the state claimed it for recreational purposes. The homes and land were paid for, but many people still weren’t happy about needing to leave. The larger houses were torn down, but the smaller ones were used by the state workers until the state cut down on its employment. He imagined the house she was referring to was one of them. The state had left it to be reclaimed by nature. He assumed it had fallen in completely by now, but maybe not. He never had an interest to investigate it. Now he thought maybe should have.

“We will look into it.”

“He’s there now.”

“How do you know?” He knew everything they were discussing was off the record. That was fine. Talking to her as a friend would be the best way to get information, it would keep her calm. At least until the others arrived.

“I saw him. Carl and I got separated. He went back to his car I guess, I didn’t know. I don’t know why. I didn’t know why. Now I guess I understand,” She paused as the pieces began to fall together. The only reason Carl would have left her was if he was scared. He must have seen or heard something. She sank back into her seat. “He went back to his car. I noticed he was gone and started heading back too. On my way there was a man. A huge man, I hid and he didn’t see me. He’s out there. I’m sure it was him.”

Luke nodded. “We have back up coming in. We’ll scout the area. If he’s out there, we will find him. Sit tight for now.”

Mac nodded. He closed the driver’s door. She was locked inside.

The woods were searched that night in the hopes of locating the man Mac had seen. They didn’t have to search hard for him. He was found in the living room of the house Mac and Carl had been searching through earlier that day. The police surrounded the building and brought him out in handcuffs. He didn’t resist. He was more confused than anything, but he thought he had smelled something different within the building. A perfume almost. He thought back to his trip into the woods. He was trying to remember if he had seen anyone. But he didn’t remember passing anyone. There had only been a car in the parking lot.

He was brought in for questioning and held as the investigation continued. Mac was only held overnight, her innocence was quickly verified, but the man was an anomaly. He wasn’t a local at all, but was a drifter that was looking for someone to settle for the upcoming cold months. He had no home, no license, no form of ID at all. He provided his name and birthdate but had little else to offer.

He was in good spirits being held in a cell in the basement of the local police station which made it all the more strange. He didn’t complain about the terrible music that was often played on the radio or about the tasteless food. In fact, he ate every drop of food they gave him and Luke Stevens suspected he would ask for more if he could. He was happy to be inside. The longer he stayed, the less Stevens suspected him but he wasn’t ready to release him yet.

It only took three days for Carl’s death to be ruled a suicide. He had taken his own life within his car after leaving Mac behind in the woods. Luke had never seen anything like it and doubted he ever would again.

Mac did her best to return to her normal life, but life without Carl wasn’t normal. After learning he had committed suicide she was left with more confusion and sadness. She had been so sure it had been the man in the woods. He was an outsider, a drifter. There had been a skull in the house. The officers explained the body was that of an elderly man that had gone missing from four towns over a few years ago. The house was never checked because it was so far away from the starting location. He had been presumed dead for quite some time but most people believed his body was at the bottom of the lake. Instead Mac and Carl had stumbled upon it.

Bruce remained patient with Mac. He stayed up with her when she awoke from nightmares and even returned to the park with her whenever she had the notion to go. He became her shadow and did his best to never mention Carl again. Part of him though, was happy he was gone while the other part feared his girlfriend would never truly recover from his loss. He wondered if things would have been different if Carl had in fact been killed by the man in the woods. Would it have been easier for her to recover? Or would the recovery have been different? He doubted he would ever know. Mac though, found herself wondering the same thing. Carl had chosen to leave. Was it because he thought she was going to be killed? Or was it something else? Had it been his plan all along? She doubted it, but the fact remained that he did it. And now there was no turning back. He was gone and she was alone.

Mac met Bruce for coffee early one morning, her mind still processing the events that had happened. He was being patient with her, but she knew that wasn't what he really wanted to do. If she had been in his shoes, she would have wanted to shake her and tell her to snap out of it. But it wasn't one of those things you snap out of. Her life changed that day and Carl was the reason behind it. She had never loved him, that was obvious, but there was a bond between the two that she didn't share with anyone else.

"I've been thinking."

Mac nodded. She knew what was coming. It was the good bye she had been waiting for. She mentally prepared herself for it. "I had a feeling."

Bruce ignored her comment. "We should go on a vacation. Somewhere different."

He handed her a folder full of brochures for a town she had never heard of. She smiled, glancing at the pictures and the typed itinerary. He had put thought into it. He wasn't a planner, she was. She couldn't help but laugh as tears welled in her eyes. "Happy tears. Don't worry."

Bruce smiled, patting her hand. He would of course worry, but she didn't know. Life was again in their hands and he would make sure it stayed there.

Katrina Thornley is a nature poet and novelist that resides in Rhode Island. She has two poetry collections currently published, a novel, as well as a short story anthology. Her poetry collections "Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature" and "Arcadians: Wooden Mystics" were inspired by a local park and life in her small rural town. You can find them on Amazon now!

Also, be sure to give her a follow on Instagram (@seekatwrite).