PROLOGUE
As the sun sank lower in the sky, casting an eerie orange glow over the swampy landscape, Marissa Jenkins, a thirty-four-year-old financial analyst from New York City, found herself wiping sweat from her brow and wondering how in the world she'd gotten where she was.
I must be crazy to have signed up for this, she thought. I made a New Year's resolution to take a break from the rat race, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind.
She was standing on a narrow spit of soggy land that jutted out into water as thick as coffee, not far from the airboat where the captain was lecturing to the other passengers about the beauty of the rugged landscape. Marissa had no doubt she would have found it beautiful if she had been staring at it on National Geographic, but to be out here in the middle of it…
Well, she couldn't deny feeling a sense of hostility, as if she were walking on a foreign planet that would kill her the moment she opened her suit and came into direct contact with the environment.
Maybe I should have listened to my coworkers and gone to a resort instead.
The truth was that this wasn't really a vacation at all, but rather an extended stay in Florida which had begun with a work conference. She had almost gone back to New York two days ago, but the thought of alternatively working in the bustling office of a cutthroat fashion startup and coming home to two screaming twins who had just reached an age that allowed them to power around the house on their bellies, a house that had not yet been child-proofed—
Well, it was more than a little overwhelming. Not to mention having a husband who had injured himself while falling off scaffolding at work and was now confined to the couch, from which he watched action movies on TV – just loud enough to interrupt the twins' naps now and then – and shouted down the hall when the mail arrived.
Yes, it was quite a life. As much as Marissa loved her family, there were days when she wondered how she had ever chosen this. She would have liked to see the receipt just so she could double-check the signature.
Joe's mom is there, she reminded herself. You know how she loves to help out. She gets to be a mother to Joe again and spoil her grandchildren. Win-win. Besides, you need a break.
Yes, she most certainly did. So why was it so hard to relax and just enjoy her freedom, fleeting as it might be?
A snake the color of a traffic cone slithered past her, and she imagined how her twins, Mike and Mel, would react to such a sight. She wouldn't have let them near the thing, of course, but she would have loved for them to be able to see it. That was another thing she was discovering: Now that she was a mother, it was difficult for her to enjoy things for herself
without sharing them with her family. As exhausting as family life could be, it seemed there was always a part of her that missed her children when they were absent.
"Alright, folks," she could hear the captain saying from a distance, "it's nearly eight o'clock, so we'll be wrapping up our tour in just a few minutes. I hope you've enjoyed your time in the Everglades so far."
Watching the snake slip away through the tall grass, Marissa felt a sudden urgency to capture this moment, to bring something back to remind herself of something she had done just for herself, not for the good of the family.
It'll only take a minute, she told herself, digging into her pocket for her phone.
The snake was fast, and Marissa had to hurry to catch up with it. The grass rasped against her knees as it parted. She knew there was a risk that the tour boat would be ready to leave before she got back…but it wasn't as if they were going to leave without her. They would take a headcount, and if she was still gone by the time they were ready to leave, the captain would have no choice but to wait. He might be annoyed, sure, and the other passengers might shoot her unfriendly glances (which would be embarrassing), but this was important to her. It had been so long since she'd had any sense of control over her own life that she didn't wish to deprive herself of this small gesture of freedom.
The sinking sun cast eerie shadows across the landscape as she headed deeper into the brush, following the snake. As the airboat was swallowed up by the screen of grasses behind her, her unease began to grow. She shivered involuntarily at the thought of the creatures that might be watching her from their hidden lairs. According to the captain, there were all kinds of dangerous creatures out here: alligators, rattlesnakes, even black widows.
Get a grip, Marissa, she thought, chastising herself for letting her imagination run wild. Surely the dangers weren't as bad as the captain had made them sound. After all, he was trying to entertain his passengers.
Still, the unease clung to her as she moved farther from the boat. The air was heavy with
humidity, and the scent of decay hung in the air like a thick fog. Her skin crawled at the sensation of unseen insects skittering over her legs, but she tried her best to ignore them.
Finally, the snake stopped, pausing at the edge of a murky pool. Marissa snapped several pictures, then nodded to herself, satisfied. The snake moved off through the weeds, and this time she didn't follow.
Time to go home, she thought with a long sigh, both excited for her return and dreading it at the same time.
Hearing a coughing sound behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to where she could barely make out the outline of the airboat through the trees. The boat's engine sputtered to life, then smoothed out.
Probably just getting it warmed up. The captain hasn't made a count yet, so he doesn't realize I'm missing.
Still, the sound of the engine only deepened her unease. The sinking sun seemed to mock her as she stumbled toward the boat, casting sinister shadows that seemed to dance with malevolent glee.
Her heart raced as she pushed through the thick undergrowth, the distance between her and the airboat seeming to grow with each step. The shadows lengthened, the sun dipping below the horizon as if urging her to hurry.
"Come on, Marissa," she muttered to herself, vaulting over a fallen log that blocked her path. "You can do this."
The ground beneath her feet grew muddier, sucking at her boots like hungry mouths. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she scrambled over roots and struggled through tangled vines. Was this really the way she'd come? Or had she taken a different path?
"Wait!" she called out, her voice hoarse and desperate. "Please, wait for me!"
But her pleas went unheard over the rumble of the airboat's motor. She watched in horror as the boat began to glide away, leaving her behind. The captain
was speaking to the group, and they all seemed to be laughing as if he had just told them the funniest joke ever invented.
"Can't you see I'm not there?" Marissa screamed, desperation clawing at her throat. But her voice was swallowed by the vast emptiness of the Everglades, carried off by the ever-present hum of insects and the distant cries of birds.
Fear stilled her limbs and choked her breath as she watched the airboat pull away into the murky waters, its wake rippling outward like a cruel reminder of her isolation. The once-enticing mysteries of the swamp now seemed to close in around her, suffocating her with their oppressive presence.
The darkness crept forward, casting the world in shades of gray and black. Shadows morphed into sinister shapes, and every rustle of leaves or splash in the water set her heart pounding. She was truly alone, abandoned by her tour group, and left to face the unforgiving wilderness.
"Keep calm," she told herself, forcing back tears. "You're resourceful. You can survive this."
Maybe if she just ran along the shore, out where there were no trees, someone on the boat would glance back and see her. Or maybe this was all just a big joke, a playful way to punish her for not coming back in time. They would turn around, knowing grins on their faces, and she would find herself the butt of the joke.
Better to be the butt of the joke than to be left alone here.
As the last vestiges of light vanished into the encroaching darkness, Marissa took a deep breath and hurried forward. Her heart thundered in her chest, but she knew panic would only make things worse. She tried to retrace her steps, remembering the path she had taken when she wandered off from the group.
The oppressive humidity clung to her skin like a second layer, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she stumbled through the murky water and tangled undergrowth. With each step, the squelching sound beneath her feet seemed to grow louder, echoing the beat of her racing heart.
"Help!" she cried out, but her voice was swallowed up by the chorus of insects and the distant calls of nocturnal creatures. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm her resolve as the realization set in that no one could hear her.
In the darkness, the Everglades transformed into an alien world. The twisted branches of trees reached out like grasping hands, and the shadows cast by the pale moonlight danced across the water, creating illusions of lurking danger. Every sound, every movement, heightened her sense of fear.
The last remnants of sunlight seeped through the dense foliage like a fleeting dream. The shadows grew longer, deepening into an abyss as twilight turned to darkness. Her breaths came in short, raspy bursts, her pulse racing with each passing moment.
She burst from the brush and found herself standing only a few paces from where the boat had been docked only five or ten minutes before. Nobody looked back, and the boat did not turn around. This was no joke.
They had forgotten her.
"Damn it!" she cursed under her breath, clenching her fists. "How could they leave me?"
Marissa shivered, feeling the chill of dread wrap around her spine like a sinister serpent. She blinked back tears, refusing to let herself crumble under the weight of despair.
She heard a sound behind her and spun around, her heart fluttering.
"Hello?" she called out weakly, her voice barely audible over the symphony of nocturnal creatures awakening. "Is anyone there?"
As if in response, a nearby alligator splashed, its low growl echoing through the murky waters. Marissa's heart leaped into her throat, her body frozen in terror. She knew that any sudden movement could provoke an attack, but staying still felt like signing her own death warrant.
"Okay, stay calm," she murmured to herself, trying to focus on the sound of her own breathing and not the growls of the lurking predator. "You can do this."
She forced herself to take a step back, then another, gradually moving away from the source of danger while keeping her eyes on the water. ...
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