He came up to me, lowering his head until his face was inches from mine. I could barely make out the gleam of the cabin light in his eyes. “I told you we’d look at this rationally first, before we start freaking out.”
“Your idea of rational is thinking Christina and Rigby are behind this,” I whispered harshly. “And if you think it’s not even remotely frightening that they’d go so far as to rip the head of their own precious llama, then you’ve got a screw loose.”
“I have no screws loose,” he shot back in anger. I could feel him tense up, on the defensive.
“Oh we both have screws loose. Just f**king look at us, Dex! We’re in the mountains trying to find Sasquatch and we’re arguing over the llama formally known as Twatwaffle.”
He sucked in his breath and looked down at the grainy shape that was the llama’s head in the darkness. “All right, all right. So I don’t have a f**king clue what’s going on.”
I coiled my gloved fingers around his coat sleeve and pulled him toward me. “Neither do I. So then what do we do?”
He looked back at me and in the thin light I saw the look of defeat on his brow. “Wait until morning I guess.”
I sighed and turned around, heading back to the cabin. He was right as he often was. There wasn’t much we could do until morning. There was no way we were going to make our way back to Rigby’s at night, which meant we were shit out of luck.
Once we were back inside, Mitch went to make sure the remaining llamas were OK. Luckily they were fine, though thoroughly spooked and uneasy about the whole event. We still didn’t know what happened, whether Twat– I mean, Apricot got loose and then was attacked or whether he was taken from the pen. I wanted to think it was the former, because if it was the later, then it meant that we could be taken from the cabin. That’s if there was a beast, and you know what, I was starting to think there was. Why on earth would Rigby and Christina decapitate their own llama – something that would have cost a pretty penny – in order to prove a point? There were better ways to do it, however from the furrow on Dex’s brow as he sat near the fire, I could tell he was still thinking it over. I knew he had a darker view of humanity than I had and would be quicker to place the blame on a fame-hungry business.
Even with all the doors locked and Mitch taking watch for most of the night, his eyes bug-eyed and creepy as hell, shotgun in his lap, I barely slept. In fact, because I couldn’t sleep by our feeble bedroom window, Dex and I ended up bringing all of bedding out into the living area and sleeping in front of the fire. I felt a hell of a lot safer this way, even though trigger-happy Mitch was in the room with me. And unlike my fantasies, this was no time for sex with Dex on the rug.
When I finally did drift off though, I found no respite. I dreamed of teeth, blood and claws.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning I felt like my mouth and head were shoved full of cotton balls. The lack of sleep wasn’t taking it easy on me and I slogged around the cabin in a half-asleep state. I wish I could say this meant I was more relaxed and chill but though it felt like the world was passing by me like mud, I was still nervy from the night before.
And I was also getting a little cabin crazy, which is probably why, when Mitch suggested we go camping, I didn’t protest as much as I thought I would.
I still protested, though.
We were outside surveying the remains of Apricot in the sunshine. It was a piercing blue sky that soared high above the trees and the world around me glistened like a Christmas card. It was warmer, too, and I found myself sweating underneath my gloves and hat, which still didn’t counteract the chills I got whenever I caught a glimpse of blood out of the corner of my eye, the slaughter even redder now in the broad daylight.
I was keeping the camera focused on Mitch and Dex as they argued over what to do.
“We really need to get back to Rigby,” I told them, Mitch especially.
“Rigby is too far away,” he answered, not looking at me. He shoved the sleeves of his army-issued jacket up his arms in a huff. “And the walkie talkies are useless.”
That they were. We had been trying all morning, but neither of them could pick up any signal. It was like broadcasting into thin air.
“He’s not too far away,” I countered. “That was an easy walk, just over an hour. We could be there and back before lunch time.”
“Then you guys go ahead,” Mitch said with hard eyes. “I’m finding out what happened to the llama before it gets picked up by the raptors.”
Oh shit. “Raptors?” I questioned with shaking lips.
“Birds of prey,” Mitch said, like I was an idiot. “They’ll come and pick off whatever is left behind. I thought you celebrities were all about finding the proof. Well here is your proof, if you want it. If you don’t, tough tits, but I’m going and I’m taking a llama with me.”
“You’re camping?” Dex asked.
“Couldn’t pick a better day to do it, could I?” Mitch growled back, raising his arms to the saturated sky. “You’re both welcome to join me still. I can take you to the places on the map, just like Rigby wanted.”
I remembered the map that Christina had given me, then decided it was best to keep it a secret for now. I looked to Dex. He had his newsboy cap pulled low on his head, his eyebrow ring glinting in the sunlight. He was thinking and thinking hard and I knew that the decision would come to me. It usually did.
As I thought, when his brows couldn’t knit together enough, he raised his head and looked at me with wondering eyes. “Well, kiddo, what do you think?”
What did I think? If Dex and I left for Rigby’s, we’d be on our own without a guide. It didn’t seem like a tough trail to follow but it was one we were unfamiliar with. With luck it would take us a short while to get there. Without luck, we could veer way off course with minimal food, no protection and walkie talkies that didn’t work. It didn’t seem like a very good plan.
“Will my llama lead us back?” I asked hopefully.
“Your llama will lead you to my llama,” Mitch answered confidently. “And I’m the one with the food.”
I wiggled my lips back and forth. “What about if we stay behind in the cabin and wait for you to return?”
Mitch shrugged. “If you want to do that, be my guest. Just know that I’m taking the gun and according to Rigby, that thing can open doors.”