One By One by Freida McFadden(25)

Noah starts to roll his eyes at me, but then when he looks at me, he does a double-take. His hazel eyes widen, and it takes a second to realize he’s looking at my sweatshirt. Or should I say, Jack’s sweatshirt.

But couldn’t possibly recognize Jack’s sweatshirt. It’s just a nondescript gray shirt.

“You guys don’t need to fuss over me,” Lindsay says. “I’ll be fine. I just need to rest.”

“Rest?” Warner repeats. “Lindsay, I was carrying you.”

I’m waiting to see what Lindsay is going to say back to her boyfriend, but then I feel Noah’s fingers close around my forearm, and he tugs me a few paces back. His lips lean in close to my ear. “Hey,” he says. “Where did you get that sweatshirt?”

Damn it.

“Um,” I say.

“Is that Jack’s sweatshirt?” he asks.

I could lie, but that might make it worse. If I’ve got nothing to hide, why would I lie? “Yeah. I was cold and he had an extra sweatshirt, so…”

Noah blinks a few times and tugs at the sweatshirt he’s wearing. “If you were cold, I would have…”

“Would you?”

He opens his mouth, but before he can get any words out, we hear a bloodcurdling scream.





Chapter 14


CLAIRE



The scream came from Lindsay. She’s gotten to her feet, and she’s pointing into the distance.

“Lindsay!” Warner is trying to do his best to calm her down. “Stop screaming. What’s wrong?”

“It was a bear!” Her blue eyes are flashing. “I saw it! It was coming towards us! It had huge claws and giant white fangs!”

We all turn to look in the direction she’s pointing with her shaking hand. It’s gotten pretty dark now, but it doesn’t look like there’s anything there. Only blackness, branches, and leaves. Now that she’s stopped screaming, all we can hear are crickets chirping. An owl hoots in the distance.

Once again, I flashback to Emma’s words. I dreamed you got eaten up by a monster.

I think of those claw marks on the tree. Despite Jack’s sweatshirt, I shiver and hug my chest.

“A bear isn’t going to just attack us out of nowhere,” Jack says patiently.

“How do you know that?” There’s something wild and unfamiliar in Lindsay’s eyes. “That bear is going to kill us all! I know it!”

“Jesus,” Jack mutters under his breath.

Lindsay clutches her belly and drops back down onto the fallen tree. She lets out a low moan. She’s acting so strangely. I can’t imagine what’s gotten into her, except…

“Lindsay ate some wild berries,” I blurt out.

Jack’s head snaps up. “Wild berries?”

“Blueberries,” I say. “About an hour ago. Maybe a little more.”

“Lindsay!” Warner cries. “Is that true?”

She lifts her head and nods miserably. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“How could you do something so stupid?” Warner’s handsome face turns pink. “Eating wild berries in the middle of a forest? Why would you do something like that?”

“I was so hungry,” she whimpers. “I just had a few…”

He shakes his head. “And now look what happened to you…”

Jack’s forehead is crumpled in concern. “Claire, what did the berries look like?”

“They were blue,” I say helplessly. I try to remember those tiny berries that Lindsay was stuffing in her mouth. “Bluish, at least.”

“How many did she eat?”

I lift my shoulders. “I’m not entirely sure. Ten? Maybe fifteen?”

“Shit,” Jack breathes.

“What?” My heart flutters in my chest. “What do you think it was?”

Jack just shakes his head and crouches down next to Lindsay, who looks even worse than she did a minute ago. She’s doubled over, and now she’s mumbling something incoherent. I feel a stab of guilt in my chest. Lindsay was begging me to stay in the car with her. If only I had done it…

“Hey.” Noah touches my arm to get my attention. “You didn’t eat any berries, did you?”

Is that concern in his hazel eyes? “No. I didn’t.”

Thank God.

Lindsay is deteriorating rapidly. She’s becoming lethargic, and Warner is rubbing her shoulder, trying to get her to answer questions. I comfort myself with the fact that he’s a doctor. We’ve got a licensed physician with us—a surgeon. Even if Lindsay ate some poison berries, he’ll be able to save her.

“She’s losing consciousness.” Warner’s voice is even, but there’s a note of underlying panic. “We need to lie her down.”

Lindsay’s eyes are closed and she mumbles something incoherent. Jack and Warner lower her down onto the dirt, and she’s like a ragdoll. Her face looks really pale.

“What the hell did she eat?” Warner mutters.

“Could be elderberry,” Jack says. “But I’m more worried it could’ve been deadly nightshade. I’ve heard of that growing out here.”

I squeeze my hands together. “Nightshade?”