These final moments

It was an ear piercing scream that had me sprinting through the woods as fast as I could manage. But why was I running towards it instead of away from it?

The moment I caught sight of the source of the scream, I knew I had made a grave mistake. My heart thumped erratically in my chest as I stared down at the bloody woman sprawled out on the ground. She couldn’t have been more than 20 years old and she was dressed as if she had just gotten out of bed, with a pink t-shirt and white pajama bottoms. Her feet were bare, showing chipped red toe nail polish and dirtied scratches that littered the bottoms. There wasn’t an inch of skin or clothes on her that wasn’t covered in crimson red and dirt. 

She looked far too injured for me to help her back to my car so I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and began dialing 911. Thankfully I had just enough service for the call to connect and it started to ring just as the girl moved very slightly. She looked up at me with bright green eyes that were illuminated by the bloodshot edges. 

“Help me.” Her hoarse voice whispered almost too quietly to hear. “Please.”

“I’m calling 911 right now. It’s going to be okay.” I tried to assure her, but I knew the doubt in my voice was evident. “I’ll stay right here with you. Don’t worry.”

As the dispatcher answered, the loud crunch of leaves and twigs echoed around me. I glanced up to find a man inching toward me with a blood stained knife in hand. He wore a proud smile on his face as he looked between me and the girl. I stepped in front of the girl in an attempt to shield her.

“Go. Just go.” She urged. 

I didn’t have time to mull over the choices I had, but I knew one could leave me dead as well, and that would not be of help to either of us. 

The beat of my quickening pulse drowned out the dispatcher's voice as I took a step to the side, away from her body. “I’m so sorry.” 

I ran off back in the direction I came from, my legs growing numb and threatening to buckle beneath me. My chest burned from the cold air I sucked in with large gasps and my eyes stung from the tears I fought to keep at bay. Another scream erupted from behind me, but this one was weak and final.

I made it to my car and jumped in, locking the doors behind me and glancing around at my surroundings in an attempt to calm my nerves. The parking lot was completely empty and there wasn’t a single person in sight. What would someone else have done if they were the one to find her? Would they have left her to die, or risk their lives to make sure she wasn’t alone, as I had promised she wouldn’t be? 

My phone buzzed in my hand. I whipped it up to my ear and took a deep breath. “Hello? Are you there?” 

They had hung up. 

I redialed 911 and dropped my head to rest against the steering wheel. I should not have left her alone. 

“911, what is your emergency?”

“There is a girl that I think is dead on the hiking trail in Bryers Park. She was bleeding a lot and there was a man, he had a knife and it had blood on it.” The phone shook in my hand and the built up tears spilled down my cheeks. “Please send someone as soon as you can. I had to leave her out there alone. I was so scared.”

“Someone will be there soon, ma’am. Please try to remain calm.”

It felt like hours before the police finally arrived and my body was on the verge of completely shutting down. I stumbled out of my car and waved them over. 

“Hi, I’m the one that called.” I told them as they approached me. 

“Okay, can you point us in the direction of where this took place?” The taller of the two men asked. 

I motioned to the area I had come from. “I can take you there if you need me to. It’s pretty far off from the trail.”

“If you feel comfortable with that ma’am.”

I nodded and led them into the woods. The least I could do for her was make sure that I helped them find her as quickly as possible. 

“Can you tell us what this man looked like?” The shorter one asked. “Any details you have of him or her would really help.”

I tried to paint the image of his face in my head, but all that appeared was a black blob and the blood-curdling smile. My heart sank as I thought of the poor girl, how she must have been filled with such hope when she saw me, and how quickly that hope was yanked away from her by the very man that she had thought she escaped.

“No, I didn’t really get a good look.” I said. “But we’re almost there. It’s right past that big tree with the red and orange leaves.” 

There was nothing, not even a single drop of blood where she had been left grasping onto the last moments of her life. 

“I promise it was right here. She was right here.” I ran my hands through my hair and dropped to my knees. “She was right here.”

The taller officer came to my side and offered his hand to me. “There’s nothing here, ma’am. Maybe you heard something that spooked you. Our minds can play some crazy tricks on us, especially out here in the middle of the woods.”

“That’s right. And you really shouldn’t be out here by yourself.” The other office added. “Maybe next time you can bring a friend or boyfriend.”

I shook my head. “I know what I saw, I didn’t just imagine it. She was right here.” 

The cold breeze brushed against me as I leaned forward to place my hand in the empty spot where her body had once laid. “She was right here.”