Chapter 2

"The guests are hitting their panic buttons! You're the head ranger, you have to save them!" Caleb shouted, his voice cracking.

The small red lights on the emergency panel behind the main desk were blinking frantically, a chorus of silent screams.

I looked at the board, then back at my son.

I gave a short, harsh laugh that sounded foreign even to me.

"Save them? Caleb, use your head."

I unscrewed the cap on the lantern oil.

"There are two dozen guests spread across multiple cabins. The fire is moving from the west. By the time I get to Mr. Henderson in cabin twelve, Mrs. Gable in cabin one will be nothing but ash."

I tilted the can, and the oil gushed out, soaking the dry wood. The fumes were dizzying.

"Who do I choose to save, Caleb? Who gets to live and who has to die? It's an impossible choice."

I looked him straight in the eye, my expression flat and cold.

"No, it' s better this way. We all go together. A real family tragedy. The dedicated ranger, her loving son, and all the wealthy patrons they served. It' s a clean story."

I tossed the empty can aside and picked up a long piece of kindling.

"Come on, son. Die with your mother. Isn't that what a good son does?"

The feigned panic in Caleb's eyes evaporated, replaced by pure, undiluted terror.

He looked from the roaring fire to the oil-soaked woodpile, then to the unhinged calm on my face.

This wasn't the mother he knew. This wasn't the woman he had so easily planned to betray.

This was a monster.

"You're insane!" he screamed, stumbling backward.

"You don't deserve to be my mother!"

He turned and fled, not towards the guests, not to get help, but away from me, away from the fire, saving only himself.

He ran like the coward he was.

Watching him go felt like a part of my heart was being ripped out and stomped into the dirt.

But the part that remained was forged into something harder than steel.

My resolve was set.

I let the kindling fall from my hand, untouched by flame.

I turned my back on the growing fire and walked towards the hidden trail behind my cabin.

The real plan was just beginning.