Sophie reacted fast. "Everybody down!" she shouted, pushing the girl nearest to her. It was Juliette.

"Oh please," a voice said to them. "Don't think that will stop me. As if."

"Dawn," Shelby whispered in horror. "I knew she was crazy, but I had no idea she'd do this.'

"OK, we need a plan. There's only one of her and five of us," Sophie said.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter," Daisy said. "She's got a gun and that improves her chances to five on five. Or maybe even better."

"We need to split up," Sophie said. "She can't follow us all. Groups of two. Shelby and Daisy, Kat and Juliette."

"What about you?" Kat asked. Shelby had wondered about that too.

"I'll be fine on my own," Sophie said. "Now, listen up. Stay with your partner. Everybody tries to make it back to the lodge. Get help. Even if you're not sure if someone made it there already, get help. We need all the help we can get right about now."

The girls looked at each other, each trying to contain her hysteria. Sophie let her gaze linger on each of them before speaking up again.

"OK, let's go. Shel and Daisy, go that way. Jules and Kat, the other way. I'll lay low until she's gone after a group and then I'll go. Try not to make too much noise. Good luck," she said before the groups departed.

"This is so uncool," Shelby whispered to Daisy. "She's really gonna kill us."

"I know," Daisy whispered. "I don't think I've ever heard the woods this quiet. It's really creepy."

"You know that statistics say that we'll be killed before we get out of here," Shelby said. "There over a hundred acres of woods here."

Daisy gave her a look. "That's really great to know, Shel," she said sarcastically. "Did you figure the chances of one group getting to the lodge too?"

"OK, I get the point,' Shelby said. "I just do that when I'm nervous, that's all."

"Do what when you're nervous?" Daisy asked.

"Statistics," Shelby said. "I figure things out so I don't have to think about reality."

"Hate to tell you this, hon," Daisy said. "But what you said? It's pretty realistic!"

They shared a nervous giggle, but it was interrupted by a sound that was not at all welcome to their ears.

"Shelby," someone sang out in a sing-song voice. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. I know you're here. You can't hide from me."

Daisy nudged Shelby to tell her to keep quiet, but Shelby had a horrified look on her face. Like her mind was somewhere else.

Shelby was transported back to her bedroom about a year and a half ago.

Flashback

"Shelby," her stepdad called. She choked back tears from the inside of her closet. She crouched on the floor, praying he would go away fro once. He didn't.

"Shelby, I know you're in here," he said, his voice getting closer. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." He flung open the door and reached for her.

End of flashback

Daisy touched Shelby's arm. She screamed. Daisy clapped her hand over Shelby's mouth. Shelby's eyes had a look of panic that soon dissolved.

Far away in the woods, Kat and Juliette heard Shelby's scream. Juliette's face paled.

"Oh no," she said. "Oh no."

Kat, trying to be rational, said," We didn't hear a gun shot. Maybe Dawn hasn't found her yet."

"I hope not," Juliette whispered. "Oh, I hope not. She'll kill them if she finds them."

"Come on," Kat said. "Let's keep going."

Across the woods, farther from the lodge than any of them, Sophie heard the scream too. Please, she prayed. Don't let anyone be hurt.

Shelby and Daisy ducked down. Dawn was just a few hundred yards from their hiding place. She had a flashlight, which was even more threatening to the girls than the gun at this point. the girls had shed their brightly colored jackets before they left. They wore black T-shirts and black jeans.

I knew being a gothic chick would come in handy someday, Daisy thought to herself. She said as much to Shelby, who gave her a tense smile. The flashlight beam swung toward them.