Cheerleaders: The New Evil (16 page)

“Oh!” With a frantic cry, she turned—and saw the glass phone booth on the corner of the lot.

Yes!

Ignoring the pain in her side and the burning in her lungs, she dove forward, grabbed the glass door, pushed it in. Fell into the phone booth. Leaned heavily on the glass as she lifted the receiver.

I don't have a quarter!

Trying to clear her mind. Trying to think with the howls rising all around her, with her heart thumping almost as loudly as the howls.

I don't need a quarter to call the police.

All I have to do is—

She lifted the receiver to her ear.

Silence.

She pushed O.

Silence.

She pushed 911.

Silence.

It's broken, she realized. The phone is dead.

Dead.

I'll
be dead, unless I can get away. . . .

She turned and pulled in the glass door to make her escape—and found Alex blocking her way.

He grinned at her, his blue eyes burning into hers. His blond hair, unbrushed as always, fell over his forehead. He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving under his bulky gray sweater.

“Alex—let me go!” Corky shrieked, desperately tugging at the door.

But he raised his hands on the frame of the booth and stood in her path, blocking the door with his body.

“Alex—please!” she begged.

His eyes narrowed sympathetically at her, crinkling.

I used to find that so cute, so attractive, Corky
thought, gasping for breath, staring back at him in horror.

“Corky, what's wrong?” Alex asked softly.

“Just let me go!” she pleaded, trying to shove him out of the way with both hands.

He didn't budge. “What's wrong?” he repeated innocently. “Why did you run away?”

“Alex—I—I—”

He reached into the phone booth and grabbed her hand. Her hand was cold. His was hot, burning hot. “Corky, come to the lake with us.” He tried to tug her from the booth.

“No, Alex. No, I won't!” Corky cried, trembling all over.

“Yes, you will,” Alex insisted softly, still smiling, ignoring her terror. “Come to the lake. Come now, Corky. We'll have so much fun. You'll see.”

“N
o, Alex—please!”

Corky tried to pull free. But he held on to her hand with inhuman strength.

“Alex—let
go!”

He didn't seem to hear her. His smile remained set. His eyes bored into hers, cold and uncaring.

With a hard jerk of his hand, he tugged her from the phone booth. Corky cried out. Swung her fist. Her punch glanced off his shoulder.

She punched him again. His smile widened.

“Come to the lake, Corky,” he urged softly. “Come have fun with us.”

This isn't Alex, Corky told herself, staring at his
grinning face in horror. This isn't the real Alex, the Alex that I knew, that I cared about.

This is a different Alex, inhabited by the evil. He doesn't even know he's doing this. He doesn't even know he's dragging me back to the lake—probably to kill me.

He gripped her wrists with both hands now and began to pull her toward the back of the motel, toward the woods.

Her eyes searched the parking lot frantically. Where are Kimmy and Debra? Corky wondered. Did they get away?

Where are the rest of the cheerleaders and basketball players? Did they go back to the lake? Are they all waiting for me there?

A truck roared by on the highway. Corky opened her mouth to call for help. But it sped past before she could get out a sound.

“Come to the lake, Corky. You and I always have fun—don't we?” Alex whispered, his breath hot against her face.

What if I scream? she asked herself as he dragged her into the woods. Will someone in the motel wake up? Will they come hurrying out to help me?

The rooms were all dark. There was only the black Jeep in the lot in back.

It's worth a try, Corky thought.

As if reading her thoughts, Alex clamped a hand tightly over her mouth. Gorky's cry was smothered.

With a burst of rage, she dropped low. Spun free. Scrambled forward.

Into the trees. On all fours for a few seconds. Then up. Onto her feet. Leaning forward. Keeping herself low.

Through some low scrub, branches cutting at her legs right through her jeans. Stumbling over a fallen tree trunk. Gaining her balance. Struggling forward.

“Hey!” Alex, startled, calling after her from close behind, “Hey! Hey, Corky!”

Scrambling away from him, she slid over dead leaves. The morning sun, just poking over the horizon, cast a wash of purple over everything, making the woods appear dreamlike, unreal.

“Hey, Corky! Hey!”

His voice farther behind her now. Off to the left.

Had he lost her? Had she confused him?

She didn't have time to think, to figure out where to run.

She realized she was heading back toward the lake, but Corky didn't care. She was getting away.

For now.

Oh! She forced herself not to cry out as a slender, low branch slapped her face. She could feel the sting of it on her cheek as she kept running, weaving, criss-crossing behind shrubs and trees, trying to leave Alex behind.

Kimmy, where are you? she wondered, her eyes struggling to focus through the haze of purple. Debra—you were ahead of me. Did you get away?

She had a sudden urge to call to her friends. But she realized that would only allow Alex to find her, to capture her again.

The lake stretched just ahead, the ice a blue-purple under the low morning sun. Corky stopped, panting loudly.

No one there.

No one on the lake.

Where had they gone? Had they returned to the motel? Were they somewhere in the woods chasing Debra and Kimmy?

We know their secret, Corky thought, feeling a fresh chill run down her back. Kimmy, Debra, and I—we know the secret of their evil.

That is why they came after us.

That is why they will not let us escape alive.

She heard a scrabbling in the bushes behind her. Alex?

Yes. She heard his muttered curses. Then she heard him change his tone and call to her again: “Corky? Come here, Corky. It's me—Alex! Don't be afraid of me! I want to help you!”

No, you don't, Corky thought bitterly. You don't want to help me, Alex. You want to
hurt
me.

Her eyes searched the frozen shore for a hiding place.

Where can I go?

She saw a shrub move just behind the nearest trees. Alex was getting closer. Soon he would see her. Soon he would catch her.

Struggling to think clearly, struggling to find a path of escape, Corky backed up. One step, another.

I've got to get away from him. Got to get to a hiding place.

She raised her hands to her face and kept her eyes forward as she backed up.

Where can I go?

“Hey!” She cried out as her feet started to slide out from under her. Without realizing it, she had backed onto the frozen surface of the lake.

She barely got her balance.

She glanced down.

“NOOOO!” Her scream echoed off the bare trees.

Two eyes stared up at her from under the ice. Two lifeless eyes. Black hair floated around the face, billowing in the frozen water beneath the ice.

Pain made Corky drop to her knees. She felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She bent over the face staring up at her, the dead, bloated face under the ice.

Kimmy's face.

Corky forgot about Alex, lifted her eyes from the horrifying sight, and let out a furious howl of rage.

O
n her hands and knees on the ice, Corky stared down at her friend. Kimmy's face pushed up against the surface, her hair billowing out like dark seaweed.

They drowned her, Corky realized, her entire body trembling. They trapped Kimmy under the ice and drowned her because she knew the truth about them.

Corky couldn't take her eyes off the pale, watery face that stared up at her. Did they drown Debra too? she wondered, unable to stop her trembling.

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. As they hit the frozen surface, they sent up tiny puffs of steam.

They'll drown me next, Corky realized.

They'll catch me and force me under, trap me under the ice and watch me drown.

She forced herself to her knees, wiping the tears from her cheeks with both hands. I've got to stop them, she told herself. I've got to find a way to stop them.

And I have to pay them back for murdering poor Kimmy.

Once again she pictured Alex's smile, his inviting eyes pleading with her to come to the lake. He's evil, she knew. They're all evil. They're not the kids I knew.

They drowned Kimmy.

They want to drown me.

A rustling in the woods made her turn away. She saw tall weeds bend. Heard the soft swish of footsteps on wet leaves.

They're coming for me. Got to get away. Got to run.

Without realizing it, she had climbed to her feet. Now she was making her way back into the woods, stumbling, staggering, lurching unsteadily. Her legs felt as if they were made of stone. She forced them forward, forced them to move, one step, then another.

The morning sun had risen above the treetops, casting golden light that trickled down through the trees. The bare branches reached out for Corky as she hurtled between trees that were deliberately blocking her path.

Turning back, she raised her eyes to the tall purple cliffs that overlooked the lake. I should've run in that direction, she thought. I could've climbed the cliffs and escaped.

Corky saw two figures move out onto the frozen
lake. She recognized Jay, his Mighty Ducks cap on backward, his hands shoved into the pockets of his Shadyside High jacket. He was spinning slowly, his eyes searching the shore.

Searching for me, Corky realized with a shudder.

Through the tangle of tree branches, Corky could see Lauren step up beside him. Lauren shielded her eyes with one hand as she searched the woods for Corky.

They used to be my friends, Corky thought, turning away. Jay always made me laugh.

Now he wants to kill me.

“There she is!” she heard Lauren cry.

Corky froze at the sound. Her entire body suddenly felt as cold as the ice on the lake.

With a low cry, she willed her legs to move. But they wouldn't cooperate.

Ice. I've turned to ice, she thought.

She heard the crackle of dead leaves, rapid footsteps as Jay and Lauren hurried to capture her.

Corky sucked in a deep chestful of cold air. Got to move. Got to move! she urged herself.

“Corky—where are you?” Alex's voice. Nearby.

They're circling me. They're trapping me.

No!

With a surge of effort, she bolted forward. Grabbing a tree trunk, she hurtled herself deeper into the woods.

“Corky—I want to talk to you!” Alex's phony pleading from somewhere to her left. “I just want to talk, Corky!”

She cut sharply to the right. Felt the prickle of burrs against her cheek. Brushed them away and, ducking her head, kept moving.

Deeper into the woods.

The voices followed her, voices she knew so well, the voices of strangers now.

“Where is she?”

“I just saw her.”

“We have to form a wider circle. All of us. Then just tighten it around her.”

“We may be too late. She may be on her way back to the motel.”

“She won't get away. If she comes out of the woods, we'll have her.”

Corky forced back a sob. Her chest felt ready to burst.

The voices were so close!

Dark trees circled her, appeared to be closing in. She spotted a double trunk, two trees growing together, entwined as one. With a desperate lunge, Corky darted behind the wide trunk, slid into the coolness of the indentation between the two trunks.

Waited. And listened hard, trying to slow the pounding of her heart.

The crunch of footsteps grew louder. The voices nearer.