We had rented a mountain hut near a large forest park, my husband and I, together with a couple we knew. We were preparing for a white-water rafting trip down the Hante River. Just as we were about to leave, the little girl who worked at the pension, maybe six or seven years old, tugged at my sleeve. “Ma’am,” she whispered, her eyes wide.
“Are they going to drown you? ”
“Who? ” I asked, completely confused. I was sure I had misunderstood her.
“I heard them,” she insisted, her thin voice trembling. “They said you can’t swim and they want to drown you. ”
I bent down to ask her more, to understand what she could possibly mean. But at that exact moment my husband Tore came over.
He smiled and told me it was time to go. As soon as she saw him, all the courage drained out of the girl. She looked at the floor and hurried back to her parents. The drive to the river was beautiful.
A soft breeze moved through the trees and the mountain scenery was breathtaking. But the girl’s words kept spinning in my head, filling me with a deep, uneasy fear. Why would a child say something so strange, so terrible, without any reason? Beside me, Tore laughed and joked with our friends.
He seemed so happy, so completely carefree. He squeezed my hand and reminded me to be careful on the rocky path. His friend Jost told us this was real rafting, the authentic experience. He had been here before and promised it was far more exciting than any of those artificial attractions.
His girlfriend Rieke was excited and took photos of everything. She made me promise to take really good pictures of her once we were on the water. The four of us were a perfect group. Tore and I were still in that blissful phase of newlyweds.
Jost was Tore’s friend from university and they were almost like brothers. And his girlfriend Rieke had such a wonderfully outgoing and playful personality that I got along with her immediately. We became friends on the spot. We always planned trips together, just the four of us.
And I had been looking forward to this rafting trip for weeks. The girl had said they wanted to drown me. Who were they? Jost and Rieke?
That seemed absolutely impossible. It had to be the overactive imagination of a child, right? She had probably overheard a fragment of conversation and misunderstood it. I couldn’t let the strange remark of a little girl make me suspicious of my own friends and ruin a holiday I had been so excited about.
I thought about telling Tore what had happened, but then I remembered the flash of fear in the girl’s eyes when he approached. My stomach turned. Could the people she mentioned include Tore as well? No, this was becoming ridiculous.
I tried to relax and stop my mind from going down those dark paths. But there was one fact that tormented me. I really couldn’t swim. A hint of real fear had settled in my heart, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake it.
“So this kind of white-water rafting isn’t very dangerous, right? ” I asked, trying to sound carefree. “You know, I can’t swim? ”
Jost laughed.
“Haha, not at all. Don’t worry. This is a route developed by the park service. It’s absolutely safe.
Besides, the tickets include accident insurance. So you don’t need to worry. ” Maybe it was just my paranoia, but I found his laugh a little forced, a little unnatural. My husband squeezed my hand harder.
He smiled at me with that adoring look I loved so much. “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly, reassuringly. “I was on the university swim team. I even won a championship.
I’ll protect you. ”
I felt the warmth of his hand, turned around, and looked into his beautiful face. This was the man I worshipped, the man who would worry about me for days if I cut myself on paper. How could I even think, even for a moment, that he wanted to kill me?
I must be going crazy. A wave of guilt washed over me and I returned his smile sweetly and lovingly. “Come on, you two! ” Rieke called out with a playful pout.
“Can’t you stop using every opportunity to make out? It’s disgusting. ”
“Freya, I guarantee it,” Jost added. “Once you’ve experienced this place, you’ll never want to leave.
” His words were meant to be encouraging, but after the strange encounter this morning, they sounded eerie and troubling to me. When we reached the starting point of the rafts, there were only a few employees and no other tourists. I expressed my concern, but one of the workers shrugged. “You’re early,” he explained.
“The water is colder in the morning, so people usually don’t come until after ten. ”
“Well, that means we have the whole place to ourselves,” Rieke shouted cheerfully and splashed Jost with water. The two began to fool around. Their laughter echoed in the quiet morning air.
The river itself looked calm and peaceful. It didn’t seem very deep. My fear began to fade. I walked over to a sign nearby and read the safety instructions.
It showed a map of the rafting route with two sections of rapids clearly marked in red. “Put on your life jackets and helmets and hold on tight,” an employee said, casually tossing us the equipment. “Come, let me help you. ” My husband stepped behind me and carefully fastened the straps of my life jacket.
“Ma’am, are they going to drown you? ” The little girl’s warning shot into my mind again, uninvited. A dark impulse came over me and I secretly checked his work. The straps seemed perfectly secured, but to be safe I pulled them even tighter and fastened them firmly.
Then I discreetly saved the park’s emergency number on my phone and set it as an emergency contact. Our raft was a small inflatable boat, just big enough for the four of us. I was too nervous to sit in the front, so Tore sat with me in the back. With a strong push from the employee, we were launched into the current.
A splash of water hit my face. It was ice cold. But I quickly got used to it. Our boat glided downstream, carried by the current, and our excited screams mixed with the sound of the water.
“Look, so many fish! ” my husband called out excitedly. The water was crystal clear. I could see the smooth round stones of the riverbed and small fish swimming quickly away.
The banks were lined with dense trees that formed a canopy over our heads, and the air was filled with birdsong and the buzzing of insects. It was a truly wild and beautiful place. I reached my hand into the cool water and felt a sense of peace wash over me. But that peace didn’t last long.
Soon I felt the current gaining strength, becoming much more turbulent. The raft began to shake and rock violently, and huge splashes of water soaked us to the bone. Jost and Rieke screamed the whole time in excitement, but I was terrified and clung to the safety rope with all my strength. They saw my face and laughed at me.
My husband put his arm around me and hugged me tightly. “Calm down, calm down, I’ve got you,” he whispered in my ear. After we passed the rapids, the river calmed again and became quiet and peaceful, like a temperamental little witch whose mood had suddenly improved. Then I noticed something strange.
The side straps of my life jacket had come undone. Not just one side, but both. “How did the straps come undone? ” I asked, trying to seem confused.
My husband also seemed surprised. “The ride must have been bumpier than I thought. ”
“Oh come on, let me put it on for you. ”
“I’ll do it myself,” I said in a flat voice.
I pulled on the straps and tied them again. This time with a firm double knot. At that moment I saw Jost glance back, and for a split second he and my husband exchanged a look. It happened so quickly that I might have imagined it.
The straps of their life jackets were tight, and I knew with certainty that I had fastened mine very firmly. Why were mine the only ones that had come loose? Even in the roughest rapids, the chance of them loosening by themselves seemed incredibly small. Unless someone had deliberately loosened them during the chaos.
And the only person who could have done that was the man who had hugged me so tightly only moments before. My husband. I had met Tore on a trip. It was a whirlwind romance, love at first sight.
We were together for three months and then we got married. In total, I had known him for less than six months, but the time we spent together was pure joy. After the wedding, he treated me like a princess and showered me with affection every day. I had never been so happy in my life.
Our relationship was perfect. We never argued. Why would he do something like this? I didn’t understand.
I had no time to think it through. My instinct was screaming at me, a primal instinct telling me I was in real danger, that I could die today. Further ahead, the river narrowed and flowed between steep rocks. The water picked up speed again.
I knew from the map that this was a longer section of rapids ending in a deep pool. If they really wanted to hurt me, this would be the perfect opportunity to strike. I could only pray that this was all in my twisted imagination. My fear grew.
Maybe it was just nerves, but at the sight of the churning water ahead, my heart was pounding like crazy. I squeezed my eyes shut and began to scream at the top of my lungs. “Ah, help me, I can’t! ” The people around me laughed.
They started screaming too, but their screams were full of excitement and their voices echoed through the valley. Suddenly the raft headed toward a narrow, steep drop. The boat tipped abruptly and the next moment it capsized, throwing us all into the ice-cold water. As soon as I hit the water, a strong feeling of suffocation came over me.
My body flailed uncontrollably, but my life jacket did its job and brought me to the surface. I surfaced, gasping for air. “Freya! ” I heard my husband’s panicked voice calling for me.
Through the churning water I saw him swimming desperately toward me, his hand outstretched. He was my rescue. I fought to reach him. But just as I almost got to him, he didn’t grab my hand.
He grabbed my life jacket. “Help,” I gasped. My voice was barely a whisper. I looked at him pleadingly, and for a moment I saw a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
But the strong current whipped us mercilessly. I felt a sharp tug as my husband ripped the loose life jacket off my body, and the river immediately pulled me under. I fought to get back to the surface but could only see Tore’s face above the water. His eyes looked like those of a hungry wolf lurking in the forest, glowing cold and predatory as his intent to kill hardened.
The river felt like a thousand hands dragging me into the abyss. Just as I was about to give up all hope, I heard the wailing of a rescue buoy in the distance. Earlier, during the first rough section of rapids, I had a premonition that something terrible would happen. My phone was in a waterproof case around my neck.
I had secretly pressed the emergency button. I didn’t dare look at the screen, and because of the roar of the water, I couldn’t hear if anyone had answered. So I pretended to be terrified and screamed: “Ah, help, I can’t! ” The others had laughed at me because they thought I was a coward.
They had no idea I was really screaming for my life. The sound of the siren from the shore grew louder and closer, and I could hear people shouting. In the ice-cold water, my husband’s expression changed instantly. The cold indifference faded, replaced by panic and then desperate urgency.
He began swimming frantically toward me, calling my name, putting on a convincing show for the rescuers. “Freya, quick, take my hand,” he shouted with a feigned, strained voice. I took his hand. The rescue team arrived quickly and pulled me out of the water along with Tore.
On the riverbank I was wrapped in a blanket. Tore hugged me tightly, as if afraid someone would try to tear me away from him. He was overdoing it. I was shaking uncontrollably and gasping for breath.
The deepest fear I felt didn’t come from the raging water, but from the man who was holding me. “Darling, you gave me such a scare. Are you okay? ” he asked, his eyes full of concern while examining my face.
But he wasn’t worried about me. He was only assessing my reaction. His performance, that elaborate farce, made me freeze to the bone. I had no strength to answer.
He continued trying to calm me down. “It’s all right now. The rescue team is here. You’re safe.
”
“Thank you,” I managed to stammer. “Don’t thank us,” said one of the rescuers. “Your husband saved you. ”
I looked at my husband and he gave me a tender, loving smile and pulled me even closer.
“You’re my whole world,” he whispered. Jost and Rieke came over and hugged us. “Freya, we’re so glad you’re okay,” they said. Apparently they had also been pulled out of the water by the rescue team and were in worse shape than me.
I scoffed inwardly. What a performance! One of the rescuers seemed puzzled. “It’s strange that the boat capsized.
We’ve tested this section for safety countless times. As long as you keep your balance, it shouldn’t be a problem. You all leaned to one side while it was rough. ”
No one said anything.
He was right. When I remembered, I realized that when we reached the rapids, the three of them, as if on command, shifted their entire weight to my side of the boat and deliberately capsized it. Of course, everyone involved considered the incident an accident. Only I knew the truth: that my new husband and his friends had tried to murder me and make it look like an accident.
But I had no one to turn to and no way to prove it. Back at the hut, news of our terrible experience had spread. Everyone told us how lucky we were that the rescue team had found us so quickly. They praised Tore for being such a heroic husband.
I forced myself to give a weak smile. On the other side of the room, I saw the little girl with the braids hiding behind an adult, watching me with worried eyes. Tore told everyone I needed to rest and politely declined their offers of help and concern. Then he helped me back to our room.
Every movement of this man I called my husband was filled with a strangely perfect tenderness. It was as if he was trying too hard to present himself as a devoted husband. But underneath it all, I saw a deep malice in his eyes that he desperately tried to hide, and that terrified me. It was only noon, but the picturesque, peaceful room now felt completely different.
When we arrived, I was full of joy and excitement, but now, standing in the same room and looking at the same bed, I felt only indescribable terror. It was as if all the familiar objects had turned into the elements of a hellish cell. “Darling, I want to go home,” I said quietly. “Let’s leave tomorrow morning.
” I felt so alone and vulnerable there. I just wanted to go home, away from them. Whatever they were, if I got home, I could escape their influence. “Well,” Tore hesitated, concerned.
“Let’s wait until you’ve recovered. You should rest. I’ve ordered you a warm herbal tea in the kitchen. You should drink it while it’s hot.
”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pair of braids at the window. The little girl, Mona, was peeking in. Her big eyes were fixed on me. “Darling,” I said, turning to Tore.
“I feel like having one of those chocolate brownies we had yesterday. Could you ask the kitchen if they still have any? ”
“Of course,” he said, turned around, and left the room. As soon as he was gone, I went to the window.
The girl poked her head in, her eyes bright and clear. “I was so afraid you would die,” she said simply. “Oh, my dear,” I said, reaching out to stroke her hair. “Where did you hear that they want to drown me?
”
The girl pointed upward. She told me that her little cat had a secret hiding place in the attic, and that she had been there when she heard my husband talking to someone about his plan to drown me. “Ma’am, are they bad people? ” she asked.
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, my voice full of emotion. “You saved my life. ”
I heard footsteps in the hallway and the girl ran away.
I rushed into the bathroom and poured the hot tea down the sink. I wouldn’t consume anything Tore gave me. Just as he opened the door, I slipped into bed and pretended to be fast asleep. He carefully pulled the blanket up, closed the door quietly, and left.
I waited until I heard his footsteps in the hallway. Then I slipped out the window and, following the girl’s instructions, climbed onto the narrow attic. The wooden ladder was almost vertical. The entrance was incredibly narrow, and the air inside was dark and smelled musty.
Rays of light seeped through the cracks in the floor. Then I heard Tore’s voice. “I think we should forget it for now. Maybe we can find another opportunity later.
”
“It’s getting harder and harder to deceive the insurers,” Jost’s voice said. “If we don’t kill her this time, it will be even harder to make it look like an accident at home. I have a Plan B. We should try again.
”
“Freya wants to go home,” Tore said. “Do you think she suspects anything? ”
“We absolutely cannot let her go,” Jost replied firmly. “If she suspects anything, that’s even more reason not to let her leave.
”
But Tore still sounded hesitant. “Tore,” Rieke’s sharp, mocking voice interrupted. “Don’t tell me you’re going soft over her. Freya is pretty, after all.
”
Tore’s voice suddenly turned cold and clear, without any warmth. “From the first day I met her, she was nothing more than prey. Jost, tell me about your Plan B. What’s the play?
”
“A venomous snake,” Jost said in such an icy tone that it sounded like it came from a dark, damp cave. Jost explained that through special contacts he had bought a highly venomous local snake, which he had hidden nearby. The snake’s venom was so strong that a single bite was a guaranteed death sentence. He just needed to find an excuse to keep me here for another day and lure me to the nearby Whispering Pines Meadow.
Then they would release the snake and let it bite me. A deadly snakebite while hiking in the mountains. Nothing would look more like a tragic accident. No one would suspect anything.
“Snakes are unpredictable,” Tore noted. “What if it bites us? ”
“Don’t worry,” Jost said confidently. “This type of snake injects all its venom on the first bite.
It’s incredibly aggressive and practically incurable, but its second bite is harmless because it takes seven days to produce more venom. So as long as we follow my plan and make sure Freya is the first one bitten, the rest of us are safe. ”
It was a perfect, diabolical plan. I listened, paralyzed with terror.
I couldn’t stay there another moment. I didn’t even dare return to the room for my things. I took a thin blanket from a clothesline outside. I wrapped it around my shoulders and ran.
I followed a small path behind the hut that led deep into the dense mountain forest. I ran down the narrow mountain path. The sun was setting, and although it was summer, the temperature in the mountains dropped rapidly. I soon realized I was lost, and as night fell, I knew I might not make it down at all.
The vegetation on both sides of the path was dense and overgrown, and I heard small invisible animals rustling in the branches. At that moment something cracked in the forest and a huge dark shape moved through the trees. A bear. I dropped to the ground and hid behind a bush, not daring to move.
A wave of regret washed over me. Their conversation had frightened me so much that I could only think of running away, hiding from them. Now I realized how reckless I had been. If they didn’t kill me, my own stupidity probably would.
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that the dark shape wasn’t a bear. It was a farmer with a wide-brimmed straw hat and a backpack. “Sir,” I called out, my voice full of relief. He flinched in surprise.
“My God, you scared me. Miss, what are you doing here all alone? ”
“I was walking and got lost,” I lied. “Walking up here on the slope.
What foolishness. This mountain is full of snakes at night. That’s too dangerous. ”
“Why aren’t you afraid of the snakes?
” I asked. “We mountain people carry a special powder to repel snakes. We don’t fear them. ”
“What powder?
”
The old farmer untied a small cloth bag from his belt and handed it to me. “Take it, take it. It’s made from sulfur and some ground dried local herbs. Carry it with you and rub it on yourself.
Venomous snakes and insects will stay away from you. ”
The old farmer led me back to the main path and asked if I was staying on the mountain or in the valley. At that moment I hesitated. I could have gone down the mountain and escaped.
But then I thought of the sincere love I had given Tore over the past six months, only to become a lamb for slaughter. Even if I went to the police now, I had no evidence, and they would probably convince me not to. And since I knew their secret, they would never let me go. Why should I be the one to run?
Why should I be the one fleeing in panic while this group of vipers got off scot-free? At that moment I looked at the lights of the hut glowing on the mountaintop and told the old farmer that I would stay there. Running away wasn’t the solution. I would make them pay for what they had done.
When I returned to the hut, Tore, Jost, and Rieke were desperately searching for me. Tore ran up to me and hugged me tightly. “Darling, where were you? ”
“I was just taking a walk,” I said calmly.
Jost seemed annoyed. “A walk? You could have at least told someone. You didn’t even take your phone.
We were terribly worried. ”
“Freya, you scared us. It’s getting dark. Be careful,” Rieke chimed in with feigned concern.
“I’m not a child,” I said, giggling. “I was just taking a walk. Why are you all so nervous? The forest air is so fresh, you should take walks too.
”
Later that evening, back in our room, Tore spoke to me in his usual gentle tone. “Darling, Jost said a tire on the car is flat. He’s already called the nearest garage, but they can’t send anyone until tomorrow afternoon. It looks like we can’t drive home tomorrow.
”
I knew the flat tire wasn’t an accident. It was just his excuse to keep me here for another day. “Well,” he continued when I didn’t respond, “maybe that’s for the best. We can stay another day.
The innkeeper told me there’s a beautiful place nearby called the Whispering Pines Meadow. We could have a picnic there, enjoy the sun, and just relax. ”
I nodded, pretending to be satisfied with the idea. This man, still so handsome and gentle, the exact image of the man I had fallen in love with at first sight, but now in my eyes he was no different from a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
The next day was bright and sunny. We set up a tent on a grassy slope on the so-called Whispering Pines Meadow. The meadow was like a bright green canvas. In the distance, gentle hills spread under a clear blue sky.
It was a picture of peace and tranquility, but beneath that serene surface, deadly venom was brewing in the hearts of those who accompanied me. I pretended to be relaxed and happy while carefully watching their every move. Tore and Jost were busy setting up the tent, and both seemed unusually tense. Just as I suspected they were planning something with the tent, Rieke came over and blocked my view.
“Wow, how beautiful this is. Let’s take a selfie,” she said, raising her phone. She pressed her cheek against mine, and the beauty filter on the screen made us look painted. But in the photo I could see a subtle, cunning gleam in her eyes.
“That looks great. Let’s do another one,” she said. But Rieke didn’t fully distract me. I was almost certain that Tore and Jost had just brought the venomous snake into the tent.
They moved with extreme caution, and when they had firmly zipped the tent shut, they both sighed with relief and exchanged a satisfied look. Tore turned to me with a carefree voice. “Darling, the tent is ready. There are a lot of mosquitoes out here.
Why don’t you go inside and rest? ”
Rieke chimed in with a feigned pout. “Ugh, you two are all ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart’ all day. How cheesy.
”
“I don’t feel any mosquitoes,” I said, refusing to move. “Freya, the sun is about to reach its peak,” Rieke urged. “You should go inside, rest in the tent, and wait for me to cook. You have to try my famous barbecue.
”
“Okay, I’ll go in when the sun gets stronger,” I replied. When she heard my agreement, Rieke’s voice became lively. She turned to the two men. “Hey, you two, get the grill ready.
Today I’m going to show off my cooking skills. ”
The fact that they insisted so much that I go into the tent only confirmed my suspicion. They had definitely brought the snake in there. While Tore and Jost were busy with the grill, I leaned toward Rieke and whispered, “Did you know there’s a surprise in the tent?
”
Her face changed instantly, a flash of tension in her eyes. “What? ”
I put a finger to my lips. “Shh, don’t tell anyone I told you.
Tore told me not to say anything. ”
“What are you talking about? ” she asked quietly. “He told me this morning, as we were driving, to come up with an excuse to not be the first one into the tent,” I said with feigned innocence.
“He told me to make sure you went in first. I bet Jost has a surprise for you in there. ”
Rieke was stunned. “Tore told you that?
” I nodded with the most innocent expression I could muster. “Yes, so please act surprised. Okay, and don’t tell them I told you. ”
For a moment Rieke forgot to keep up her friendly facade.
Her face darkened, her expression turned ugly, and she threw a complex, suspicious look at Tore, who was still busy with the grill. I knew her thoughts were racing at that moment, filled with doubt and anger. My little maneuver to sow discord had worked perfectly. Since Tore had saved me from the river, she had been constantly making sarcastic comments, wondering if he was going soft.
Now I was sure she no longer trusted him at all. Her voice was tense, almost a hiss. “Don’t listen to Tore. Jost is as romantic as a log.
He wouldn’t plan a surprise. Tore, on the other hand, is full of surprises. ”
Rieke stood up and went to the grill. “I’ll cook the skewers, otherwise he’ll make his usual charcoal briquettes out of them.
”
“You don’t like it spicy, right? I’ll help you,” I began. “No, it’s fine. Go into the tent and rest.
We’ll bring you food when it’s ready. ”
I nodded, and in the bright sunlight she gave me an icy, predatory smile. I walked toward the tent. As I approached, their conversation stopped abruptly.
Their movements seemed to slow down, as if in slow motion. I felt all their attention fixed on me. I pretended not to notice. I casually unzipped the tent and stepped inside.
A wave of cold air hit me as I entered. The temperature inside was noticeably cooler, and the still, thick air made me hold my breath. Despite my calm exterior, my heart was pounding. I knew I was close to death, sharing this small space with a deadly creature.
But I had no choice. It was a life-or-death situation, and my only hope was that the repelling powder I had rubbed on myself would work. I moved carefully, trying not to startle the snake lurking in the shadows. From a corner I heard a faint hiss.
I saw movement under the edge of the tent mat. The powder seemed to be working. The snake was trying to flee from me, moving slowly and silently toward the ventilation flap at the entrance. “Ah, a snake!
” I let out a bloodcurdling scream. Outside I heard sudden chaos. “Freya! ” Tore ran into the tent first.
“I was bitten! ” I shouted, pointing at my ankle. There were two small puncture marks that I had deliberately made with a sharp thorn earlier, perfectly imitating a snakebite. Two tiny drops of red blood seeped from the wounds.
Tore frantically examined my ankle while Jost and Rieke crowded into the tent behind him. “What? You were bitten by a snake? ” they asked with feigned surprise.
“I went into the tent and suddenly felt a stabbing pain,” I said, pretending to have difficulty breathing. My words came out in short, painful gasps. “It was a snake,” Tore concluded darkly. “Did a snake come into the tent?
” Rieke asked with wide, feigned eyes of horror. I nodded weakly. After a short, pointless discussion, Tore began to get theatrically agitated, wiping the wound with alcohol and looking for a cloth to bandage it. I watched him coldly as he made these useless movements.
He was a first-class actor. Beads of sweat even formed on his forehead. “I don’t know if it’s venomous. Call for help quickly!
” he shouted. But Rieke and Jost didn’t bother to keep acting. They moved slowly. Their concern wasn’t convincing at all.
I let my head fall to the side and pretended to lose consciousness. “Freya! Freya! ” Tore shouted, shaking me.
“Stop shouting,” Jost said contemptuously. “The venom of this snake works fast. ”
“What do we do now? ” Tore asked.
When he saw me unconscious, his voice suddenly lost its panicked tone and became much calmer. “We wait another ten minutes,” Jost said. “Just to be sure she can’t be saved. Then we call for help.
”
“Waiting ten minutes sounds suspicious,” Tore questioned. “Rieke, you should call now. ”
“What, are you trying to save her? ” Rieke mocked.
“Can’t bear to be separated from your sweet new wife? Or maybe you never wanted her to be the one to die, huh? ”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? ” Tore demanded.
“You know exactly what it means. But it’s too late, even if you can’t stand to let her go. She’s already gone. ”
“You crazy, what are you talking about?
” Tore snarled, his friendly facade completely gone, revealing the horrible truth of his character. While they were arguing, I heard the snake slithering from under the mat. Repelled by my scent, it was trying to escape, moving from its hiding place toward the tent entrance. Tore, who was holding me, was out of reach, but Jost, who was standing near the entrance trying to calm the argument, wasn’t so lucky.
“Ah! ” Jost screamed as the snake struck. “You, you bit me, you ungrateful beast! ” He roared, picked up a stone, and threw it at the snake, which quickly disappeared into the tall grass outside.
“Are you okay? ” Rieke asked, rushing to his side. “I’m fine,” he said, breathing heavily. “The second bite has no venom.
”
I smiled to myself. “Are you sure it was the second bite? ” I murmured silently. “That’s even better,” Jost said with dark satisfaction in his voice.
“Now that I’ve been bitten too, the accident will be even more believable. We wait ten minutes and then call for help. It’ll take them at least twenty minutes to get here. By then she’ll be dead.
”
The three of them calmed down, and under Jost’s direction they began coordinating their stories to deceive the police and the insurance investigators. As I listened to them, I finally understood the whole picture. Jost, who worked at an insurance company, had given us a policy called “Love Nest”. It was a joint policy for couples with the motto: “Mutual protection, eternal love.
” I hadn’t thought much about it at the time and signed the papers without thinking twice. I never imagined I was signing my own death warrant. But before they could finish their story, Jost’s voice broke off. “What’s happening?
I can’t feel my leg anymore. ”
“What? ” Tore and Rieke looked at Jost’s leg and saw the area around the bite swelling rapidly. Panic reflected in Jost’s eyes.
He tried to stand up but couldn’t. “How, how can this be? ” he stammered, visibly horrified. “There’s venom,” Tore exclaimed in surprise.
“But you said the second bite wasn’t venomous! ” Rieke screamed. Tore was equally confused, and a look of fear crossed his face as he realized how close he himself had been to being bitten. He tried to calm Jost down.
“Don’t worry. It’s probably just some residual venom. It won’t be fatal. ”
“Call for help,” Jost said, his voice growing weaker.
Tore immediately dialed the emergency number, and his acting talent kicked in again as he stammered into the phone: “We’re on the Whispering Pines Meadow. We were bitten by a snake. Two, two of us, a venomous snake. You need to come quickly.
”
The person on the other end seemed to give him first aid instructions. Rieke tore a strip of cloth and tied it tightly around Jost’s thigh. But Jost’s breathing became shallower. “My arm, my arm is going numb too,” he gasped.
“And I’m very dizzy. ”
Rieke was desperate. “Why is this happening so fast? ”
I lay there listening to the chaos unfold, and a sentence Jost had said earlier shot through my mind.
Guaranteed death sentence. He deserved it. “Jost, help is on the way. You just have to hold on,” Rieke pleaded, but I never heard Jost answer.
“Forget him,” Tore said in a cold, pragmatic voice. “We stick to the plan. The box the snake was in is still in the backpack. Let’s bury it now.
”
Rieke followed him out of the tent, leaving me, the unconscious victim, alone with Jost’s body. Outside the tent, their argument escalated into a furious quarrel. “Tore, this was your plan from the beginning,” Rieke accused him. “You wanted to kill.
He lent you money, and if he’s dead, you don’t have to pay it back, right? ”
“You’re an idiot,” Tore countered. “Jost bought the snake, and he was the one who said the second bite was harmless. It’s his fault.
We were all in the tent. Any of us could have been bitten again. Did you think about the fact that he almost killed us too? ”
Inside the tent, Jost lay almost motionless on the ground.
His lips were pale, his eyes slits, and his expression was hopeless. But when he saw me stand up, his eyelids, which had already fallen shut, snapped open. I smiled at him slightly and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “You were bitten first, you idiot.
You got all the venom. You’re going to die. ”
A strange gurgling sound came from his throat, like an old cat’s purr. I carefully stepped over his body as he twitched weakly for the last time.
The argument outside grew louder. “Don’t pretend Jost means anything to you,” Tore said contemptuously to Rieke. “You’re just after the money, just like me. When the rescue team arrives, don’t mess up the story.
You’ll get your share, and I’ll still be alive to spend mine. ”
“Your plan was to kill me too, wasn’t it? So you wouldn’t have to share the money with anyone,” she retorted. “What are you talking about?
You told Freya to send me into the tent first. Weren’t you trying to have me killed? ”
“I told her to go into the tent. Who told you that?
”
“Freya did. She told you. ”
“She told me that! ”
I had already slipped out through the back of the tent and crept into a grove at the edge of the meadow.
From a distance I saw Tore quickly return to the tent. In the distance I heard the wailing of sirens. I ran toward the road. Tore could never have imagined that, along with the ambulance, several police cars would arrive at the scene.
They loaded Jost’s lifeless body into the ambulance, while Tore and Rieke were handcuffed. “Let me go. Why are you arresting me? ” Rieke gasped.
“Officer, this must be a mistake,” Tore tried to explain in a hysterical voice, while his eyes betrayed his guilt. “We were having a picnic and our friend was bitten by a snake. We have to accompany him to the hospital. ”
“Tell us everything at the station,” the officer said bluntly.
“No, you can’t just arrest us like this. ” Tore was still trying to argue when he saw me step out of one of the police cars. His voice broke off. While they were arguing, I had run into the forest.
When I heard the sirens, I knew the police were coming up the mountain. I ran as fast as I could toward the road. Branches scratched my arms, but I didn’t care. I had never run so fast in my life.
I managed to flag down the police cars as they approached the meadow. “It was me. I was the one who called the police,” I gasped, out of breath. In the car, I briefly told the police what had happened and handed them my phone.
Before I faked the snakebite, I had secretly activated the voice recorder and recorded the entire conversation. Their plan to murder me for the insurance. Their plan to use a venomous snake to make it look like an accident. Their quarrels and mutual suspicion.
Everything was recorded. I also had another witness, the girl from the hut. Back on the meadow, when Tore discovered that I, the person who should have died, had mysteriously disappeared from the tent, he must have realized that something had gone terribly wrong with his plan. But when he saw me step out of the police car, his mouth dropped open and his carefully constructed facade crumbled.
“Freya. ” He was still using my name. How ironic. I didn’t even look at him.
My heart felt cold and hard as stone. I walked directly to the spot where they had been digging and showed it to the police. They immediately dug up the blue plastic box with the snake. “Freya, the snake didn’t bite you.
You faked it the whole time! ” Rieke screamed at me. I looked at her contemptuously. “You were all acting too, weren’t you?
But when it comes to acting, I’m a match for any of you. ”
“Darling, I’m so glad you’re okay,” Tore begged, still refusing to stop acting. “There was a misunderstanding. I just found out about all this.
That box was Jost’s. ” To me, he looked like a fish caught in a net, flapping uselessly. “Stop it, Tore, stop it,” I said in a flat voice. “From the day we met, I was only your prey.
This whole trip was an elaborate plan to kill me. ”
“Freya, how can you say that? I love you so much. ”
Love.
The man I loved never existed. He was only a venomous snake in human skin. “Explain it to me. Explain it to the police,” I interrupted him.
“I already gave them the recording of your conversation in the tent. ”
When Tore heard those words, the last glimmer of hope in his eyes died. His pleading expression froze, replaced by a look of pure, sharp hatred aimed directly at me. Suddenly he roared and tried to lunge at me.
The police threw him to the ground and dragged him into the car. His vile curses filled the air. A gentle breeze blew across the meadow, carrying the sweet scent of wildflowers with it, purifying the air from their filth. The beautiful landscape around me finally revealed its true, untouched splendor.
I stood there in the sunlight and smiled. Later, the police reconstructed the entire story, and I learned some shocking details. During her interrogation, Rieke confessed everything. She had been Jost’s mistress, and together they had murdered Jost’s wife in a staged accident to collect a huge insurance payout.
Rieke was clever. Afterward, Jost had proposed to her several times, but she had always refused because she was afraid of becoming his next victim. She said she didn’t trust men at all, only money. Eventually, Jost had targeted Tore, who was drowning in debt because he had cheated women.
Jost paid off Tore’s debts on the condition that he join his plan. Tore’s task was to use his charm and good looks to find a victim, marry quickly, and then murder his new wife for the insurance money. And I, with my lack of romantic experience, had met Tore at a party through a friend and immediately fallen in love with him. Tragically, I had become his next victim, leading to everything that had happened.
In the ruins left behind by the storm, I was covered in wounds. But it was precisely this experience that forced me to grow up quickly. After surviving this life-and-death struggle, my heart had built a fortress around itself. I was no longer afraid.
The lies and conspiracies that had once caused me so much pain had become the foundations of the path beneath my feet, and I would continue walking that path into a new life.
