The Hacker (short story version)

7

Amber crouched in the trees across the road from the wrecked car. She could see the underpart of the car clearly enough in the moonlight. All of the tires were blown out. Nothing more than scraps of rubber hanging on the metal rims. How could that happen?

When she looked down the road where they'd come from, the answer came to her. She saw a spike strip. It was the kind the police use to stop fugitives in car chases. Jill must have either been driving too fast to notice it, or to stop before reaching it.

Amber's attention shot back to the mysterious man. She heard the sound of the man's heavy work boots landing on the road as he came forward. She shrunk into her little space, not wanting to be seen. Knowing that she shouldn't be seen by this man. Each step seemed to count down to her doom. She grew more nervous by the second. Her breaths came jagged and harsh.

He clomped right up to the car, and went around to the back. His posture looked dangerous. The way he held the axe gave her the chills. The axe looked stained on the handle by something dark. Amber didn't like the look of it. It made her want to run, but she couldn't. He would know where she was if she did. First those messages, now this psycho with an axe. Could he be the Hacker?

Of course he was. He obviously meant to do harm, she thought, because there's no other reason to be out here in the rain. There's no other way that thing could have gotten in the road. And only someone that had been watching her Facepage, and knew that Main street was out, would know to expect her down this road tonight.

If she was afraid before, she was terrified after this revelation. But she kept still and she kept quiet. She watched him. He looked inside the toppled car. Empty. He looked around, and when he faced her hiding spot, he stopped.

"Do I see a little firefly?" he said in a gruff, menacing voice.

Amber realized the flashlight was still on, pulled into her chest and   shining down at the ground. She gasped and clicked it off. Her heart   raced. She backed up a few paces, then took off.

She  could  hear him give chase. His heavy boots snapped twigs and rustled  brush.  She pushed harder, smacking at low hanging branches, running  blindly  through the darkness. Heart pumping, side aching, she pushed on.  The  memory of Jill's screams trilled through her head. If he catches  her,  he'll make her scream next. The uneven ground was slowing her down.   Rain had wet the dirt, causing it to be slick. She almost fell. That   would be the worst thing she could do right now. Frustrated, she   switched direction and ran for the road.

When she  hit the  wet pavement, Amber ran faster than she'd ever ran in her life.  The  moon was bright enough here to light her way. The ground did not  give  beneath her shoes as the dirt had. She couldn't hear the Hacker  behind  her anymore, but she knew he wasn't far behind. In movies, they  usually  check behind them. Not her. She kept going until she had to  stop. She  had no choice. A huge tree was laying in the road, blocking  her path.  It was so thick, it was as high as her chest. She was right in  the  middle of it and she started to climb over, but the thing laying on  the  tree stopped her dead.

Lit up by a particularly bright beam  of moonlight was a single eyeball. It's iris was swirls of green and  brown.  Her stomach tightened and tears stung her eyes. She knew that  eye, she  had looked into it many times. It was unmistakable. It  belonged to her  best friend.