Expecting to Die

part of Big Foot Territory: Montana!
She started for the main gate and reached into her pocket automatically. Of
course it wasn’t there. Great. Now what? She either had to borrow a phone from
someone here or wait for a ride. She started to turn back to the set when she
heard the first twig snap.
Craaack!
Glancing over her shoulder, she searched the darkness.
No one.
Nothing.
You’re being a moron, she told herself, but felt a movement, a disturbance in
the air, an undercurrent that caused her heart to still.
That was crazy, though, right?
She was still inside the gate.
Another sound—the shuffle of stealthy footsteps?
Fear sizzled through her bloodstream, a very primal wariness.
One more look over her shoulder and she saw only the darkened forest
surrounding the lane where cars were parked haphazardly. Nothing to worry
about—
She started to look over her shoulder just as something cold and hard was
pressed against the side of her neck. A gun? A gun with teeth?
“Don’t move,” a low male voice ordered, a voice she thought she recognized.
“What?”
Zaaaap!
Pain ripped through her body.
Her scream was a mere gurgle in her throat.
Thousands of volts sizzled through her body. Needles of pain. She jerked. Her
legs gave way. She fell, hard, the ground rushing up, her head clunking, dust
flying into her mouth, her cheek twitching against the gravel.
What, what, what? She thought around the agony of having no control as her
muscles spasmed, her eyes out of focus. Pain ricocheted through her and she
tried to think, to see, to scream, but could do nothing.
“I told you not to move, Bianca. Jesus, you’re a fuckin’ bitch.”
She knew that voice. She was sure. But her brain was scrambled, her entire

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body disconnected. She tried to rise from the ground but couldn’t control the
violent spasms running through her limbs.
What was happening?
Who was doing this?
Why, oh, God, why?
Her assailant, huge and shadowed, grabbed her with strong, meaty hands and
dragged her twitching body along the hard earth.
No, oh, please no! Scraped and battered, pain shrieking through her limbs,
agony ripping through her brain, she was hauled into the darkness. Her thoughts
were scattered, the world spinning, and suddenly everything went black.

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