Author's Preface
Chapter 05: Something Isn’t Right
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I keep going deeper into the woods.
…
Tracking this girl is… incredibly easy.
Too easy.
Footsteps.
Broken branches.
A straight line.
Sloppy.
…
If I were in her position, I’d tread lightly.
Zig-zag.
Double back.
Break line of sight.
Force the hunter to second-guess every step.
Basic survival.
…
But then again…
I can’t exactly blame the twat.
Most people never expect to be hunted.
Let alone understand how to survive it.
…
Unfortunately for Kali… ignorance is expensive.
And she’s about to pay dearly.
…
Bingo.
A clearing.
Small.
Open enough to see movement.
…
Her pace slows here.
The trail tightens…
Circles slightly.
…
Odd.
Why circle?
…
Is she lost?
…
No.
Something’s off.
…
The movement isn’t erratic.
It’s… controlled.
Smooth.
Measured.
…
If she were lost,
The ground would be chaotic.
Footsteps scattering.
Sharp turns.
Hesitation.
Panic leaves noise.
…
But this?
This is quiet.
Deliberate.
…
Unless,
…
No.
That would be ridiculous.
…
…
Wait.
…
…
The footprints,
Too close together.
Too even.
…
That’s not panic.
…
That’s pacing.
…
Was she…
walking?
…
No.... hold on.
That doesn’t line up.
…
Earlier...
Near the crash...
The stride was longer.
Deeper impressions.
Heel digs.
Toe push-offs.
She was running.
No doubt about it.
…
But then,
Out of sight....
The stride shortens.
Weight centers.
Steps flatten.
…
She slows.
She walks.
…
Why?
…
Did she think she was safe?
…
Did she stop taking me seriously?
…
Cocky?
…
Stupid?
…
No.
…
If she did walk the rest of the way
and I know damn well my tracking isn’t wrong,
then something here isn’t adding up.
…
The branches…
…
Broken.
But not from impact.
…
Too clean.
Too deliberate.
…
They’re snapped at reach height.
Not brushed past
it was fucking handled.
…
No splinter scatter.
No drag marks.
…
She didn’t run through them.
…
She touched them.
…
Placed the trail.
…
…
The branches say panic.
The ground says control.
…
Contradiction.
…
No…
Not contradiction.
…
Construction.
…
…
Meaning,
…
…
She went out of her way…
to break the branches.