“Jill?” she whispered, and stepped toward the shrub she’d seen her hiding in. “Jill, it’s Abigail.”
Jill stood up and took a step backward. She was wearing a long satiny nightgown that was either white or yellow. Down her right side, under her arm, there was a dark stain on her nightgown that looked black in the moonlight. “Are you hurt?” Abigail asked, and Jill took another step backward, looking confused. She held up her arm, the inside of which was also coated in what was clearly blood.
“Who are you?” Jill said.
“It’s Abigail, Jill, what’s wrong?” She moved rapidly toward her, and Jill turned and began to run across the lawn toward the line of trees that bordered the end of the bunks.
Abigail froze for a moment, wrapping her robe around her, shocked by what had just happened. The moon was bright, and Jill was moving fast, her white nightgown whipping around her. Abigail didn’t know if she should dart back into the bunk and wake Bruce, but if she did that Jill would be long gone. Abigail began to chase her across the lawn, the grass damp under her bare feet.
As she ran, the moon must have moved behind a cloud, because it darkened. Even so, she could see that Jill had reached the line of trees. She disappeared into the woods.
Abigail slowed down, breathing rapidly, staring into the darkness. “Jill,” she shouted. She stepped right up to the edge of the woods, staring into them, letting them come into focus. There was nothing to see, though, and nothing to hear, except for the wind whipping through the tops of the trees. Inside the woods was total darkness. Even so, Abigail, shaking now from the cold, took a few steps farther. She could feel the fallen pine needles sticking to the soles of her feet, and she could smell damp soil and rotting vegetation. “Jill,” she shouted again, but she knew that she was gone.
Suddenly scared, Abigail turned and raced back across the lawn toward her bunk. A few lights were on at the main lodge and they jangled in her vision as she ran. She considered going straight there, but decided she needed Bruce with her.
She pushed through her door and into the bunk, going directly to the bed and shaking Bruce by the shoulder. He woke, as he always did, sluggishly, looking at Abigail as though he didn’t know who she was or what she wanted.
“Bruce, wake up,” she said, still shaking his shoulder.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jill. I just saw Jill outside. She was bleeding and I chased her into the woods.”
Bruce, sitting up now, rubbing at an eye with the heel of his hand, said, “Say that again.”
She told him exactly what had happened as they got dressed.
“Let’s hit the button, call Paul,” Bruce said.
“It could take too long, Bruce. Let’s just go straight up to the lodge and let whoever’s up there now know about it. There needs to be a search party. They need to alert the police, is what they need to do.”
“Okay, relax. They’ll take care of it.”
When they got to the main hall of the lodge, there was light coming from the balcony level, but Abigail just shouted into the dark cavernous space, “Anyone here?”
The chandelier, the one that looked as though it were made of real candles, suddenly lit up, and she heard racing steps on the stairwell, and then Paul, their own personal staff member, was coming across the hall to meet them. He moved quickly but his face was placid.
“There’s an emergency,” Abigail said.
“What can I do?” Paul replied, and Abigail told him quickly that she’d been awoken by a tapping on her window, and then she’d seen Jill with blood on her. She’d chased her into the woods. “You need to call the police,” Abigail said, and Paul nodded.
“Take a seat, both of you, by the fire. I’m going to go wake up Chip, but I’ll be right back. In the meantime, can I get either of you a warm drink?”
Abigail, being led to a seat, said, “You need to send out a search party. She was only wearing a nightgown, and it’s cold.”
“I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Jesus, should we just go look for her ourselves?” Abigail said to Bruce, as Paul raced back up the stairwell.
“Relax for a moment, okay?” Bruce said. “He’s going to get Chip, and he’ll take care of it. I promise.”
“But they need to call the police. Something was really wrong with her.”
“They will, but it’s only been about five minutes. Besides, maybe she just drank too much or something. Maybe it’s a personal matter.”