Noctuidae Read Online Free Page B

Pete . . .
    She couldn’t see Ron, couldn’t see much of anything. Though the cave was shallow its roof was so low no moonlight entered far. Sue-Min squeezed out a short set of stifled squeals, hoping to get her boyfriend’s attention or at least wake him if he could somehow still be asleep while his best friend raped her. Because she knew that’s where this was headed. Any woman would know. Pete had always given off that creeper vibe. She hadn’t worried much because Ron was always with her when Pete was around. But where was he now? The first flashes of heart-pounding panic faded and a wintry calm filled her frame in its place. She was going to survive . Not only survive. She was going to stop this. Even if she had to hurt him. Even if she had to. . . In that moment her mind became icy clear.
    She tried to bite Pete’s hand but his grip on her jaw covered her chin and was too firm for her to open her mouth. She struggled again to scream but her whimpers dwindled in the back of her throat. Pete shook the shadowed silhouette of his head. His movements seemed at once both frantic and subdued. Something didn’t add up. Was Pete himself frightened of something? His face was no more than a blur but she felt certain now he was scared. Terrified. Of what— of Ron? Where was Ron? Where—?
    Pete was linebacker big, outweighed Ron pretty well and her by maybe double. Sue-Min was no weakling but he was strong and had surprised her. She needed a weapon. What? Her Leatherman was zipped out of reach in her pack. A loose rock might be good but the cave floor offered only a mix of dust and the little river cobbles. A few scattered sticks. If she could find a sharp stick she might stab him in the eye. Worked for Ulysses, right? But his knees pinned her arms at the elbows, her hands already growing numb. Still, if he really wanted at her he would have to get up and peel her bag back at some point. She had to be ready to make her move when that happened. She couldn’t expect a second chance.
    Sue drew in another breath and Pete pressed her down so hard she could feel individual stones on the cave floor through her sleeping bag and pad and the dense cover of dust beneath. He held his left index finger to his lips to shush her. Then he pointed into the night outside the cave mouth and rolled her head that direction with a shift of his heavy sweaty paw.
    She had no clue what he wanted her to see. Outside was just more dark. Then it clicked. Part of the outside was too dark. Far too dark. She remembered stars when she fell asleep beside Ron, the sky above the opposite ridge thick with them. Now the sky without was a pool of ink. No stars, no moon, no silvered clouds. Nothing.
    Pete pointed once more into the night. She understood he was giving directions, asking a question. Asking if she saw . . .
    what? He rolled her head beneath his hand again, pointing out along the angles at the corners of the cave mouth. Left, right, and thin strips of stars there to either side. Pale moonglow on the canyon’s facing ridge beneath. Between, more nothing . Then she knew this was what he wanted her to see. Something blocked the stars from sight in a broad rising swath straight ahead. Not clouds. Something closer. Some impossible bulk rising from the canyon outside to blot the sky and stars.
    Pete held her gaze to the side one more time and pressed his own face forward. She tried to shrink back, expecting he sought to force his mouth on hers, but he only offered the down nod again as he stared at her, his coarse porous face mere inches from her own. He whispered —Promise you won’t scream if I take my hand away. If you scream, we’re both dead.
    She stared up at him and willed her eyes into Tesla death rays. No luck.
    —Listen to me Sue . This is life or death. That thing outside, I think it already got Ron. Killed him, ate him, I don’t know.
    She felt a deep chill emptiness rush through her chest, ice water flooding her guts. Ron. Dead. She