A/N: I don't own anything, except for the characters I've created. Please comment and let me know what you think.
PROLOGUE
It was almost ten o'clock at night when Candice Atkinson pulled into the small gravel parking lot of Beacon Hills Preserve in her red Mini Cooper. The seventeen-year-old had been taking the twenty-minute drive out there sometimes two or three times a week for the better part of a year, though this time she had brought some company with her.
After eight months, Candice had finally been successful in her attempts to convince her cousin and best friend, Reed, to come with her, and they would have gotten on the road a lot sooner if it hadn't been for Reed already starting to regret her decision to come with before Candice had even pulled up outside her house to pick her up.
It had taken forty-five minutes to get her to cave again, and then another twenty minutes before they could get in the car because she had been having trouble finding all her running gear.
"Where is that damn shoe?"
"I don't know, Reed," Candice had sighed impatiently, leaning her shoulder against the bedroom door frame as she tiredly watched her cousin search for her things. "Have you checked under your bed?"
Reed had cast her an annoyed look at her suggestion, and blown her bangs out of her eyes with a hard puff of air. "Yes, I've checked under the bed!" Reed told her irritably but lowered herself to the floor anyway and used the flashlight on her phone to see better. She had suddenly smiled in triumph and reached under the bed, and when she'd withdrawn her arm she had been holding a bright pink Nike running shoe in her hand.
"I swear, it wasn't there before!" she'd said, grinning from ear to ear. Candice had simply shaken her head and smiled in amusement at her younger cousin.
"Put it on, and let's go!"
Now as the girls were stepping out of the car, Candice got the feeling that someone was watching them, but pushed that thought from her mind when she looked around at their surrounding and couldn't see anyone, and went to stand next to Reed.
"You're ready?" Candice asked her, playfully bumping her hip against hers.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Reed replied solemnly, but fell into step beside her.
Not even ten minutes later, Reed panted, "I can't… I can't believe… I… I let you… convince me of… of doing this…"
Candice laughed. "I can't believe you let me, either!"
For as long as Candice could remember, Reed had always been one of those people claiming they were allergic to exercise when in reality they just lacked the proper motivation.
"Oh, crap!" Reed swore suddenly, slowing down her pace before stopping altogether. "Wait up, my shoelace has come undone."
"All right," Candice replied, stopping a few steps ahead of her and deciding to use the opportunity to stretch for a little bit, whilst waiting for Reed to tie her shoe. That's when she thought she spotted something lying in the grass, partly hidden behind a bush, a couple of feet off the side of the trail. She squinted her eyes and took a cautious step closer, feeling a little silly because it was probably nothing, but she still felt her heart begin to beat a little faster in her chest, and her hands trembled ever so slightly as she pushed a branch out of the way. Candice took a sharp intake of air before her mouth fell open and she let out a long, shrill curdling scream.
