The Hanging Tree

t e n

OF COURSE IT HAD TO BE RAINING. Nancy hated the rain. She despised it. First off, it made her hair frizzy. Secondly, it made this so much more like horror movie scene. You know when it starts to storm that something is about to go wrong. And Nancy couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. 

It also didn't help that the rain was freezing, and relentless. It was pouring down on all six people, with no sign of letting up. The only person who seemed to be enjoying it was Jess - and Nancy didn't understand why. The rain made her miserable. Jess, on the other hand, was occasionally twirling around in circles, looking up to the sky, mouth agape in order to catch the droplets of water in her mouth.

But what could possibly go wrong in this situation? Nancy asked herself dryly. Only you getting killed along with four other teens. No biggie.

Damian squeezed her hand - a reminder that they were in this together. Tonight, wherever they took them, they would finally have a sense of what they needed to develop a plan. They were willing to do whatever it took. At least, Nancy was.

Damian said that sacrifices were going to have to be made. And Nancy was willing to sacrifice herself if it meant saving the lives of four other teens. She wasn't exactly looking forward to going home, anyway. What was she supposed to tell her parents about Zoe? That she was a murderer? And what was going to happen when she faced her sister? Was Zoe even going home?

Nancy bet she would after she killed her. She would go home to her grief-stricken parents with Nancy's blood on her hands, and pretend to cry over the loss over her younger sister.

And she would get away with it, too.

That was what scared Nancy the most. She was sure that Zoe would be the one to murder Nancy, just so she could keep her earlier promise.

But what if you're wrong? The nagging voice in the back of her head asked. What if that isn't Zoe, and it's an actual person named Carolyn? 

Nancy shut out the voice as quickly as she could. She knew it was her sister. There was no denying it. She might as well accept the facts and move on in life.

"We're about ten minutes away," Their captor informed them from behind, and Nancy peered up the mountain - but couldn't see anything due to the harsh rain. She looked over to Damian, trying to determine what his expression meant.

Is it possible for him to look even hotter in the rain? Her mind wandered off of subject, and she wanted to facepalm. Focus, Nancy. There are more important things at hand.

"Take a picture," Damian teased her after he caught her staring. "It lasts longer."

"I bet she would," Gunnar interrupted - he was on Nancy's right side today, something she was eternally grateful for. "Except she doesn't really have a way of doing that. You know, since we're being lead to our death and all."

"SAVAGE!" Jess whisper-yelled from the other side of Gunnar.

And maybe it was the nervous energy that came from finally reaching the compound, or maybe it wasn't, but the whole group seemed to find that extremely funny. Nancy actually guffawed, which set the rest of the group off into loud laughter.

"Gunnar is actual slay queen." Damian choked out as the laughter died down - which set them back up again.

"What's so funny about this situation, huh?" The woman yelled. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!"

"Tomorrow, yeah," Jess turned around to face her. "But we might as well live today."

"Preach!" Nancy clapped her hands together in agreement. "You can't just tell us not to laugh at a joke. We're going to if we want to."