The half-naked man in the moonlight.

Clea McEnery was thinking. She wasn’t supposed to be, considering what was happening. But she was. Instead of thriving on the sensation of Irus’ hands caressing her breasts, her mind was working on how best she could break to him that she knew. She knew what he had done to them, to their relationship. He snatched off her bra and kissed the space between her collarbone and neck, and it was with restraint that she didn’t make a disgusted sound. Doing this was coming off so easily to him, as usual. So easily that he didn’t even notice she wasn’t responding. Well, he had always been a self-centred asshole, he was just also good at acting like he wasn’t. Now, it was all Clea could see.

How do you pay your girlfriend a visit and move right into making-out, claiming you’ve missed her so much, and in all of that, fail to notice she hasn’t smiled at you for once in all the time you’ve arrived…?

It was clear all he cared about at that moment was getting laid. No, he hadn’t missed her. So, no this was nothing special. This was just another fuck to him; the way that woman was just another fuck to him. Clea was sure it hadn’t crossed his mind when he was laying with the other woman that he was jeopardizing their relationship.

He didn’t care.

She hated him for that. And she hated that it took her so long to realise.

He pushed her onto the couch and looked around in a rush. “Condom?”

“In the bedroom,” Clea answered drily. “Check the drawer.”

Irus rushed into the room, and she stared after him with the same hostile eyes she had stared at him with since he arrived. Her eyes fell on the large flower vase sitting on the stand by the couch. Hell, he was making her consider committing murder. When he gave her this flower on their three-month anniversary, he had told her wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. That, if forever was a possibility, he would want it with nobody but her. That was two months ago.

Remembering that made her chuckle bitterly. Filthy liar. He knew cheating was a deal-breaker for her. He knew and he did it.

Forever, huh?

As he came out of the bedroom, an idea finally struck Clea. It was the perfect way to tell him, ‘I know you’ve been cheating.’

He tore the condom pack with his mouth and carried her leg up, kissing his way up her thigh. He pulled at her short roughly in a bid to pull it off and Clea swore in her heart she was going to break his jaw if he tore it. But luckily for him, he didn’t. He went from her abdomen to her left breast, then to the right one. To her chest, her neck and finally, to her lips, where she was waiting for him prepared.

She pushed her head backwards, into the couch, as he tried to kiss her. “I’ve been thinking.”

He looked away and cursed under his breath. Then looked back with a sly smile. “About what?” he sounded forced.

Clea saw how he almost couldn’t be forced to listen to what she had to say. It wow-ed her. Was this him being particularly petulant? Or was it that this was how he had always been and she just didn’t notice?

“About… forever,” she made her voice soft and warm, like a caress. She wanted to sound as sincere as possible. “I thought about the rest of my life, and I realised that I really wanted you to be in it. Like, I know I want you to be in it.” She grinned at him, and it made her look innocent and bright.

When she wanted to look ecstatic, Clea was someone who didn’t have to try very hard. As a redhead who had amber eyes and perfect fair skin, she was always glowing. A little smile was all she had to give to look ‘heavenly’, as people often said.

He smiled back, and it seemed sincere. She knew better than to think it actually was. “Really?”

“Yes,” she added more flair to her voice. “Marriage, Sin. Does Clea Sinclair not sound better than Clea McEnery? And it rhymes, baby. It rhymes.” They both chuckled, but he said nothing. “I’ve always thought Mcenery was tacky anyway.”

“It is,” he said and started planting little kisses all around her face.

“You agree about Clea Sinclair, then?” she shook off his kisses. “Say, what should we name our first child?”

He was perplexed, right where she wanted him.

“I was thinking… Susan.”

The awkward smile he had on his face took less than a second to freeze. If Clea had any doubt about his actions before, she didn’t anymore.

Susan was the name of the woman he cheated on her with.

Clea had stopped smiling too, and she was glaring at him in a way that made it obvious that she knew. She knew, and now he knew that. This was as far as Clea was willing to drag things.

She stretched her hand and grabbed the flower vase. “If you don’t find your way out the door in five seconds, I’ll break your fuckin’ vase on your head. And let me just remind you in case you’ve forgotten, you can’t outpower me. I’ll beat your ass, and if you call a friend, I’ll beat his ass too. So whatever shred of dignity you have in you, if you have any left, take it and get out of my house. And my life!”

* * *

The next day at the office had been progressing slowly until the team leader walked in and rounded them up for a briefing. It was a drug case. Normally, Clea would be indifferent as she found them boring. They were always the same story; find the cartel’s location, organise an arrest. And the recently springing up cartels were always so easy to catch. Clea attributed that to them having stupid lords- or whatever they called themselves.

But this one was different as her boss, Jon Walter, pointed out. It was different because of the location they were suspected to have chosen as their operations base.

Ohalo.

“Anyone been there?” her boss asked.

All six of them looked at each other. The consensus answer was a No.

“Right. I don’t know anyone who has been there too. It’s a town on the north side of Ohio. But it’s mostly separated from the State. It’s surrounded by a large rainforest of thick-tall trees. Like a maze. The state did its best to develop it, to no avail. There’s a school, there’s police there- but they’re pretty useless. The people love their town, they say nobody has moved out in over fifty years. But the visitors, they hate it. Especially the forest. Couple of casualties have been reported there, caused by wild animals. Animals that seemingly attack only the visitors, and not the towners.”

“Maybe because the towners are less likely to go on adventures in the forest because they know of its dangers, and the visitors don’t,” Kali Dameri spoke. She knew where Jon was taking this, and she didn’t like it.

Jon continued with his theory anyway. “Or maybe, the town hates visitors. I’ve heard enough to believe it… has spiritual elements.”

Kali huffed. “No, you’ve heard enough to soothe your superstitious soul.”

Clea sighed, thinking, ‘Not now, Kali.’

“Kali, all I’m trying to say is, it’s dangerous.”

“We know that we’re not going to an amusement park, Jon.”

Clea wasn’t so sure about that. When Kali had told her about the case last night, what she had used as its selling point was, ‘we’ll catch them easily as always. we can use this as an avenue to go on a vacation. Small town, exciting prospects. I’m sure the guys there are hot, too.’

The ‘vacation’ was what got her. Clea needed a break. Needed it like oxygen. Now it was seeming like there was going to be more danger than she expected on this vacation. That didn’t discourage her though. If anything, Clea liked danger. Because danger meant action.

“Your eagerness tells me another story.”

“Jon,” Clea called. “Kali and I are your best shot at getting this case done with as soon as possible. You know it. Or who would you rather send? Albert who misses two shots out of five, or Jesse whose wife’s due in a week?”

Albert coughs. “I’m right here.”

Clea threw him a nonchalant glance. “I know.”

“There’s me,” a voice came from a corner, behind Clea.

She couldn’t believe Steven Paul, the guy who held the award for the most failed cases just opened his mouth to speak.

“I only miss one out of five shots.”

“Yes, but you’re stupid,” Kali returned in a beat. “And you can be very irrational. Everyone here knows it.” She faced Jon. “As Clea said, we are your best shot.”

“You’re still just two women,” Albert voiced.

Clea chuckled. One of them finally had the guts to say what they were all thinking.

Kali didn’t find it funny. “Oh, you wanna go down the sexism lane?”

“It is what-”

“Enough, enough,” Jon stepped in. “Alright, Kali and Clea, you’re up. Have a nice time catching those criminals.”

* * *

Clea was three hours into the journey when she realised that she should’ve waited until the next day as Kali advised. She had set out immediately after she got back from work, estimating that if she drove fast enough, she would get there before evening. But now, it was evening, and the town was still nowhere in sight. She must’ve been driving down the Ohalo road for two hours now, and all she saw, ahead, and at her sides, was a forest. Trees, trees, and trees. And maybe, one or two humans. So far, only one car had driven past her.

“Why is it so far?” she mumbled to herself as she brought out her phone and dialled Kali’s number.

“Girl,” Clea drawled. “I’m still on the road.”

“Told ya!”

“Fuck Jon. He said it was an hour journey.”

“He also said he had never been there. You should’ve listened to me and waited.”

“I should’ve,” Clea agreed, glancing in worry at the orange sun.

She was scared that nighttime would come and she’d still be on the road. That meant this journey would cut into her sleep-time, and Clea loved her beauty sleep. She usually avoided anything that could cut into her sleeping time. 9PM - 5AM.

“Why did you insist, anyway? It’s not like you.”

“I… I don’t know.”

Jo moew-ed on the passenger seat and Clea looked at him, chuckling in fondness. “Jo says Hi.”

“Awww, my little potato,” Kali coo-ed.

“She says Hi too,” Clea told Jo, and he returned his gaze outside.

“Girl, you better step the fuck on it if you don’t wanna sleep on a creepy road.”

“It’s not that creepy. Besides, I should be close to the end of the road. I’ve been driving long enough.”

It wasn’t until two hours later that Clea reached ‘the end of the road’. The road suddenly ended, and the forest continued. She was sure this was a joke. The fuckers that built this road couldn’t be serious. There was divergence to the left, but rather than a road, it was a forest path.

A fuckin’ forest path.

Now, Clea’s biggest worry was that her car wouldn’t make it out the other end as whole as it entered.

It didn’t take long for her to be proved right. She was barely five minutes in when a kangaroo jumped in the lane.

The last thing Clea would do was hurt a helpless animal. Her subconscious thought to avoid it and sent her swerving straight into a tree. When Clea recollected herself from the hit, Jo was in her face. He had jumped and wrapped his limbs around her head in a move to shield her. And now, he was whining in pain.

“Oh God, oh God, why did you do that?” She carried him off and kicked the door open. Inside her, she was asking the same question. ‘why did you do that, Clea?’

Clea opened the boot to get his first-aid box, but something caught her attention and she shut it. She turned slowly to find a half-naked man standing on the path she had just swerved off. The moonlight casts its glow on him, but rather than the man, what caught Clea’s attention was the curved dagger in his hand. And the fact that the moon was also shining on her. He could see her.

And he was staring right at her.