I heard a branch break and knew he was near.

"Shhh," I whispered, "Get down." Aimee whimpered a bit and I glared at her. That damn dog was going to get us killed.

The wind had died and left the woods hot and sticky. It felt like August in Mississippi, though I didn't think of that until later. The brush was prickly and thin, lousy cover. The three of us were barely hidden and Cole's dog was going to give us away.

Another branch broke, closer. Aimee growled.

"Lauren," I mouthed at my wife, pleading with her to do something to keep Aimee quiet. She and Hannah were trying to hush the dog and keep themselves under control too. Their eyes were wide and red, darting around. Their breathing was shallow and fast as the Chesapeake Bay Retriever's. All three of them were tensed like sprinters.

I looked around the tree I was beside but couldn't see him anywhere. I held my breath and …show more content…
It painted itself on an otherwise invisible arm that extended from Cole's elbow to where his original one would have been if it wasn't a shattered flag flapping in the air. The blood hinted at the shape of fingers reaching for his maniacal sister.

They struck the floor of the ditch beside my feet. Hannah was knocked free of him. I was suddenly, and keenly, aware of Lauren's screech.

I found myself standing, staring at my boy. He was piled into the big rock that I had fallen against. His neck was at too steep of an angle. Hannah was beside him, rising to her feet and scrambling away.

Cole twitched, put both his real and his invisible hand under him, pushing himself up. His head was resting on his chest. The broken arm thumped against his side like a bell clacker. Shit.

All of us were screaming then.

He found his feet and stood, head facing the ground. He held his face with both hands, the broken one hanging off his elbow like a snake skin with bone a meat in it, and adjusted his head until it was back in place. He regarded us