They all three got inside Billy's car and he steered it onto the dirt road towards the house. Meanwhile, the young girl, who presented herself as Mary, tried to explain, not that it made anything any clearer to Billy. He got that it had something to do with some very tall grass and her dad gone missing. But it hardly made sense, even to his blurred mind.

  "Look for yourself," she said when he had parked the car and they walked around the big house that seemed like a small castle to Billy. Mary shone her flashlight into the backyard. The grass stood almost as tall as the house. Silky green grass. Thick grass, almost like trees. The wind was combing through it, creating waves.

  "Whoa," Billy said for the third time this evening (but every time it had been the proper thing to say.) "That is some mighty tall grass. Can't you rich people afford a mower?"

  "It wasn't like this earlier today. It just grew this tall. My dad is in there somewhere. He was driving the Craftsman, mowing it when it happened, when it suddenly grew this tall. My mom doesn't dare to go in and look for him since she’s afraid she might get lost."

  "And you're sure he’s still in there?" Emily asked.

  "We heard him yell a couple of hours ago, but haven't heard from him since. We fear he might have gotten hurt or something. We called for help, but I don't think the dispatcher really believed me."

  Billy spotted a woman standing at the foot of the grass, looking inside, calling a name into it. Another girl looking a lot like Mary was next to her, doing the very same. Swaying a little from side to side, Billy grabbed the flashlight out of Mary's hand.

  "I'm going in. Don't worry. I'll get him back."

  "Be careful, Dad," Emily said.

  "Pah. It's just grass. How dangerous can it be?"

  Chapter 42

  I built a bonfire. Pete didn't want to make one since it was so hot out, but I thought it would be nice. I boiled some water with what Pete had brought and made oatmeal porridge. It didn't taste very good, but it was what we had, except for a couple of granola bars that Pete gave me afterward.

  "I didn't really bring food enough for two people," he said.

  I tried to text Julia to let her know where I was, but there was no reception inside the swamps. I knew she had to be worried sick and the good Lord knew the last thing she needed was one more loved one to worry about. I cursed myself for not calling her earlier and letting her know what I was up to. I guess I had postponed it because I didn't really know exactly what it was I was up to, or how long it was going to take. I had at least expected to be home by nightfall.

  "That's okay," I said. "I'll try and eat as little as possible."

  A smile grew across his face. "Don't ever lose weight," he said.

  I stared at him in the light from the campfire. "What?"

  "I meant what I said," he said looking down at his porridge. "Fat people are prettier."

  I didn't know how to react. Was he for real? Fat people are prettier? What was that supposed to mean? Was that a compliment? Calling me fat? No one had ever called me fat, at least not to my face. I would often call myself fat in the mirror or when talking to someone, complaining about gaining weight, but that was different. That was me. Part of me wanted to be angry with Pete for saying it, but I couldn't escape the thought that he really meant it as a compliment, that he really liked the fact that I was…well, fat. In that case, then it was pretty much the sweetest thing he could say to me.

  I had no idea how to react to this.

  "So, you think I’m pretty?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "Well…Yeah. I always thought you were. You know that. You remind me of my mother."

  His mother? Who says something like that?

  "Oh, well…in that case…"

  "You still married to Rob?" he asked and poured himself some more porridge. He was eating more than twice what I did.

  I shook my head. "Nope."

  He looked up. "What happened?"

  I shrugged. "He split. Having three girls was a little too much for him. Found some other girl down south. Haven't seen him since. A Christmas card every now and then or one for one of the girl's birthdays when he remembered. Has himself a new family now, so I guess he doesn't care much for the old one."

  "Bastard."

  I chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I said. But it's all water under the bridge now. The girls are grown and never talk about him anymore."

  "Did he at least pay child support?"

  "Not really. He would send a check every now and then for clothes and stuff. It was a good help when times were rough, even if it wasn't much. He didn't have much either, so I can't really hold it against him. That new wife of his had triplets, so I guess that’s karma for you, right?"

  "Right," he said, laughing.

  "My second husband, Johnny, was loaded, though. We lived in his mansion in Winter Park for a few years. Beat the heck out of me, though. The worst three years of my life. Can’t believe I was stupid enough to stay that long, but I figured I deserved it, you know how those types make you believe it’s all your own fault. Well, I didn’t realize it had gone too far until the day he laid his hand on Julia. That was the day I split. Packed my stuff, grabbed the kids, and left. Found a good divorce lawyer and took the bastard for half of every penny. Quit my job and bought a small house in the middle of Webster, one of the cute old ones, with a little porch that I can sit on and watch the sunsets and hear the church bell. I’ve never worked a day in my life since. Figured I didn’t need to, so why not focus on being a mother. And that’s what I am now. Mama McGee, ain't no stopping Mama McGee when it comes to my children and grandchildren. No siree. My third marriage, well that was a whole other story."

  "Three marriages, huh?"

  "Guess I never found Mr. Right."

  He smiled.

  "What are you laughing at? I saw that little smirk."

  "Nothing," he said with an exhale. "It’s just good to see you again."

  "Yeah, well…likewise, I guess."

  Chapter 43

  They ran till darkness fell. Sam's dad was leaning on Sam's shoulder for support, so they weren't going as fast as he would like to, but they still managed to get away from the flytrap. Next thing, they found themselves constantly running from vines trying to grab them, branches reaching out, plants trying to trap them, and roots suddenly moving up from the ground making them trip.

  Sam was panting with exhaustion, running, holding his father upright, avoiding every plant and tree, even the grass that seemed to want to wrap itself around his feet, till they reached a clearing out to open water and Sam finally dared to put his dad down on the soil.

  He threw himself in the moist mud, gasping for air, then sat up when he had caught his breath. His dad smiled and looked at him, coughing and laughing.

  "I can't believe you did that. You badass, you…you…you bit that darn thing till it bled!"

  "Plants don't bleed, Dad," he said seriously, yet not without smiling on the inside. His dad had never called him that before. It made him feel really good about himself.

  His dad stopped laughing and looked at him.

  "Thanks, son."

  "No problem, Dad. You would have done the same for me."

  "Guess I should have listened to you, huh? Darn nature. I can't believe those big plants. Did you see how big they were? Who would have thought this place would suddenly turn on us like this, huh? I guess nature is creepy and nasty after all."

  Sam stared at the mangrove trees behind his dad. He was keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't suddenly move. He was still trembling from running and jumped at every sound he heard. The trees, it seemed, were staring back at him through the darkness.

  His dad hung his head. "They came as if out of nowhere. The vines. We were having a nice bonfire. Well, you were there. You had just gone to bed when it happened. The neighbors were singing. It sounded awful." Greg chuckled, but it didn't sound happy.

  "We were telling stories when suddenly John reacted to something. I don't know if he heard it, or if he felt it. All I know is that, in the next second, he was swooped out of his seat and we watched him—completely baffled—being pulled into the forest. It took less than a second. There was no time, absolutely no time to react. His kids, of course, were screaming hysterically, but only for a few seconds. Before I even got to comfort them or even say anything, the little one, Elliot was pulled away from us too. Simply vanished in between the trees. It was the worst freakin' scary thing in the world. It went so fast, there was no time to even think. I heard screaming coming from the group next door and turned to see the woman with the guitar being pulled across the ground, her head hitting every rock and tree stub on her way. Her head split open and blood came out. Lots of it. Soon, everyone else was snapped up too. Me and the girl—what was her name again…? Oh, yeah, Sandra. Sandra and I were the last ones. Sandra went first, screaming like crazy, and then I was all alone. I had no idea where it was coming from, what it was or what was going on. I just had the thought that I had to get out of there and that I had to get to you in the tent before it was my turn. That was when I felt something grab my leg and wrap itself around it tight, so tight it felt like it broke. I screamed your name right in the second I was pulled towards the trees. I passed out somewhere along the way, so I didn't see how I got to the…plant, what was it you called it?"

  "Cape Sundew. It's a flesh-eating plant."

  "Thank you, I got that much. I…I just can't believe it."

  "I can't believe I didn't hear you all when you were screaming. You even yelled my name?" Sam said, puzzled.

  "Yeah, well, you always were a heavy sleeper." He paused and looked sad. "At least that's what your mom once told me. I haven't really been around much to…well, to know."

  Sam didn't know how to respond. He felt closer to his dad than ever in his life and that part felt good. He wanted to say something, something nice, but he didn't get to do it. Instead, he turned his head when he heard a rustle coming from behind them.

  "What was that?"

  A big blue heron walked out of the bush. Sam breathed easier.

  "Guess we should take turns sleeping, huh?" his dad asked. "You go first."

  Sam didn't feel much like sleeping, but he did feel exhausted beyond anything he had ever felt. His entire body was aching badly and he felt weak from the lack of food. He put his head in his dad's lap and closed his eyes while his dad stroked him gently. Sam looked up at him.

  "What do you think happened to everyone else? You think they're all dead?"

  His dad placed a finger over his lips. "Hush, son. Get some sleep. Let's not think about it."

  Chapter 44

  "Mr. Ingram! Mr. Mayor! Sir?"

  Billy swayed through the high grass. Or was it the grass that was swaying? It was hard to tell.

  "Mr. Mayor, sir, I am coming for you. But I need you to say something or I don't know what direction to walk in, sir."

  There was nothing but the sound of the wind, except wind hardly made a sound, right? It was the stuff it moved that made a sound, like now, when it moved across the grass and made this swooping sound.

  It was some truly stunning high grass, taller than any Billy had ever seen, and he had even worked as a landscaper back in the day, for a few years. He had seen his fair share of high grass, but nothing like this. No, siree.

  Billy continued straight ahead, trampling down the grass as he walked. The girl had told him her dad had been all the way in the back, riding his new mower when he disappeared. Billy found it very odd since it didn't seem like any of the grass had been mowed in a very long time.

  "Sir? SIR?"

  Billy yelled at the top of his lungs, thinking maybe the man simply couldn't hear him. Not that there was much sound out here in the middle of nowhere. Not even a dog barking or someone mowing the lawn. There were birds circling in the sky and Billy wondered why they were doing that this late. Were they looking for something? Mice in the grass? Rats?

  Billy shivered at the thought. Nothing in this world scared him like rats. He turned around to look behind him, to see if he could spot Emily, but he couldn't even see the big house anymore.

  Wait, is that even the way back?

  Billy felt like his mind was playing a trick on him. Everything out here looked the same, the same high wall of grass everywhere he looked, and even with his half beer-fried brain, he could see that it was going to be very hard to find his way back. Very hard indeed.

  "Sir? Mr. Mayor? It's Billy Bob. Please, tell me where you are."

  And that was when he finally heard it.

  "Over here. I'm over here."

  The voice was coming from his left and Billy turned. Then he heard the voice again. "Please, hurry. I can't see anything. It's all dark."

  This time the voice seemed to come from his right, so Billy turned and walked in the opposite direction.

  "Sir? I’m coming for you, sir?" He shone the flashlight on the tall grass, trying to look through it, but it was too thick. He tried jumping to see if he could look above it, but it was too tall.

  "Please, help me; I’m lost!"

  The voice was shrill and obviously belonging to someone who was terrified. It scared Billy and he started to run. He was trampling on the grass, sometimes moving it to the sides with the flashlight, even breaking parts of it as he moved ahead, but no matter how eagerly he tried to keep it down, it would stand tall behind him again as soon as he moved on. It simply refused to stay down.

  You gotta stay focused, Billy. Gotta keep going in the direction of the voice.

  For the first time in his life, Billy regretted drinking all those beers earlier in the day. Usually, it made him sharper and even funnier (Even though Emily usually said the opposite, but what did she know? She was just a kid.), but right now he needed to really focus and he couldn't. He could hear the voice of the poor mayor calling out, but it seemed to be coming from all directions, almost spinning in circles around him.

  Billy ran first left, then right, then back, then forth, and still, he didn't seem to get any closer to finding the man. He didn't even know where the house was any more or which way was the way out.

  "Please, help me, please help," the voice went on and on, now screaming helplessly, desperately, but Billy couldn't—for the life of him—figure out the right direction. It was coming neither from the right nor from the left, not straight ahead or even from behind him. It seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere.

  Billy ran and ran, confused, frustrated and scared, till he finally tripped over his own feet and fell face-down into the soil, his mouth filled with awful tasting dirt. The flashlight fell out of his hand and rolled away, the light flickering till it finally went out.

  By then, it was Billy's turn to scream.

  Chapter 45

  I didn't sleep very well. The ground was hard and the animal noises even worse. Nature simply wasn't my thing. Or maybe it was camping. I loved nature usually. I liked to watch the sunset and to take care of my garden, so it wasn't that I hated nature per se, it was more the part of sleeping in it. It had been many years since I had to spend the night in it. It was no pleasure.

  I blinked my eyes to wake up, then sat up, trying to rub away a massive headache. The tent was warm, so I stepped outside.

  "Coffee," I groaned.

  I looked for Pete. He wasn't there. His backpack was gone too. Immediately, I felt a wave of fear roll through my body.

  "Pete? Pete? PETE?"

  It didn’t take much time to look over the entire area, since it was flat, mostly water in front of me and grass. Had he gone somewhere to pee? Why would he take his backpack with him to do that?

  "He left me," I mumbled, quite baffled. "He left me in the middle of the swamps. THE BASTARD!"

  I never thought he would actually leave me. Not at one point did I expect him to be this cruel to me. At the gas station, yes. At the parking lot, yes, but out here? In the middle of absolutely freakin' nowhere? Where I could easily be eaten by gators or strangled by pythons? Leave me with nothing but an old tent?

  Wow. He had just taken being a bastard to a whole new level. I didn't, in my wildest dreams, think anyone could ever be that cruel. And to think I had once loved the man.

  "Now what do I do?" I asked, quite startled. I still found it hard to believe that this was actually happening.

  I found my phone in my pocket and looked for a signal. I gasped. One bar! There was actually one bar. Never had I been this excited to see one bar on my phone.

  I fumbled with the touchscreen, finally managed to find Julia, and hit call. I waited for her to answer with my heart in my throat, my phone pressed hard against my ear.

  "Come on, Julia, come on…please, please don't let it be voicemail, please don't let it be…"

  The phone rang once, then twice. It was going through, but only barely. The third ring was scratchy. Then the voice of Julia followed, the sweet small voice of my beloved daughter. It was distant, but it was the voice of an angel.

  "Hello? Mom?"

  My heart jumped at the sound of her voice. Finally, finally. All I had to do was to tell her where I was, then she would send someone to find me. I knew she would. She knew many guys who knew their way through the swamps.

  "Hello, Julia?"

  "Mom? Where are you…I've been…?”

  The sound was scratchy and distant. Words were missing when she spoke.

  "…why didn't…Danielle said…"

  "Listen, Julia, I need your help. I’m in trouble. I’m in the Everglades, in a nasty place called Hell's Bay. I don't know how to get back."

  I stopped and waited for her reaction. There was a heavy crackle and I was sure I had lost her, but then it cleared and I heard her dear voice again.

  "…hear from you. I told them you weren't…but…maybe…Grace…so where…are you?"

  Another scratchy sound was in my ear and it buried her words, so I repeated myself. "I'm in the glades. Hell's Bay. I need help."