Slasher Summer(37)
Something in the trees chittered above. Michael yelped and threw his arms over his head, expecting a swarm of bats to dive-bomb him. The shame hit him again, smothering any fear he had of the dark. Did bats even live in evergreen forests? It was probably an angry squirrel.
He needed to be brave. He wasn’t that kid with the taped-up glasses anymore. Yet he was cowering as if his drunk parents were screaming at each other again. He bet Jason wouldn’t have ducked. And he would’ve never panicked and run off into the woods like Michael had.
Michael blamed the shock. He’d never hit anyone before, let alone caused them to crumple to the floor. He also couldn’t believe how much blood had come out of Russ. Enough to rival peak tourist season when the Slasher shadow cast did two shows a night.
He shuddered, feeling stupid. This was going to screw everything up. Fucking Ranger Russ. Michael had really thought he was Carrie’s ex, after she’d called him Daniel. Carrie wasn’t afraid of much, which most people didn’t realize because of her wholesome image. But he’d heard the anxious hitch in her breath and had struck without thinking.
And now Russ was probably dead because of him. Michael wanted to throw up. In a way he was glad he was in the woods right now, because he didn’t want Carrie to see him like this. The manly exterior he’d worked so hard to build during the past few years had flaked away in a matter of seconds, revealing the helpless little geek he’d been in high school. He’d thought he wasn’t Mikey anymore, but here he was, near-shivering from his regrets. He needed to do better. He had to be stronger, like Jason.
Jason. A sliver of discontent pierced Michael’s gut. This was ultimately Jason’s fault. When the dust settled, the blame would fall on his cousin. Michael had never intended to set foot in Cedar Lake ever again, but Jason had practically begged him to come. Jason was hurt that Michael never visited the Ackermans for the holidays. His cousin didn’t get that Michael had a new life now. He had nothing to come back for. Jason had good memories of their hometown, having been the cock of the walk. Michael didn’t. Except for those stolen moments with Carrie when they were kids.
But then Jason had mentioned the summer IT job at the mayor’s office, and Michael figured this was his last chance to make his mark on the town that had never respected him. He’d taken the job and temporarily moved back in with Jason’s parents at the beginning of June. He was going to show Cedar Lake that being brainy was a good thing. That you didn’t have to play football like Jason or Billy to be successful. Outside their dinky little town, being a top athlete meant nothing unless you were a professional. It was smart guys like Michael who went on to build Fortune 500 companies and marry beautiful and accomplished women. Last he heard, Billy was working as a personal trainer, and Jason was on track to be a gym teacher like his dad.
Michael refused to settle for that kind of forgettable life. He was above that. He’d returned to Cedar Lake to prove his worth, if only to himself.
And no one was going to stand in his way.
“The geek shall inherit the earth,” Michael declared to no one, and then promptly stumbled over a tree root. Okay, maybe not this particular patch of earth. He peevishly kicked at the root with the toe of his hiking boot, fantasizing about bulldozing this forest to build a Kline Industries office. A sprawling tech campus would show the townspeople what was really important in this world. They wouldn’t care about football and some old horror movie if Michael offered them jobs.
If he decided to ever come back, that is. When he was a famous tech founder, he’d tell people at parties how he and his wife Carrie had met. Their humble beginnings at Cranfield House. How they’d clawed their way out of that shitty little town that had looked down their noses at them. And have either of you returned to Cedar Lake since high school? No fucking way. Even when the mayor had begged, so they could be paraded around as success stories. Well, there was that one time we reunited with friends at the old Slasher cabin. The weekend everything went wrong. But you probably heard about it on the news—
A lump formed in Michael’s throat, thinking of Carrie. She must be getting anxious without him. He checked his phone again. Still no cell service. It was a light-emitting brick. A light-emitting brick with 1 percent battery. He stared in dismay as the light flicked off and the screen faded, leaving him alone in a darkness as black as his thoughts. He shook the phone and smacked the screen, as if that would help, and hated himself because he knew better than anyone it wouldn’t do anything.
Useless. Just like him. He threw up his hands in frustrated defeat. Every time he thought he was taking a step forward, hapless Mikey, the boy he’d been, was waiting to kick him two steps back.
Cautious and practical Patrick would’ve packed a portable cell phone charger. Michael might as well return to the cabin to check. He’d already left Carrie alone for too long and he was getting nowhere in the woods. She would need him as much as he needed her.
The trees loomed over him, holding their own secret desires. An owl hooted in the distance, mocking his foolishness. At least the clouds had thinned and his eyes were adjusting to the gentle illumination from the moon. He turned around, praying he was retracing his path instead of plunging deeper into the forest. A familiar shape caught his eye and he felt a flicker of triumph. He knew where he was now. There was the birdhouse he’d made in high school shop class, that Carrie had helped him hang on a tree near the road. He recognized the slightly lopsided roof.