Hunting Death

Chapter 3

She smelled it. The hot putrid stench of death.

Her ears pricked forward, her nose twitched. Getting closer. She licked her chops, catching another whiff as the east wind blew in her direction. She threw her head back and howled, a long low mournful sound.

She broke out in a run, her paws slapping the ground, claws sinking into the damp earth as she tore through the forest. The scent of decaying vegetation hung thick in the air but failed to mask the sickeningly sweet and cloying smell of blood.

Almost there.

Madison woke with a start. The captain of the plane turned on the seatbelt sign, informing everyone that they'd be landing soon. Putting her seat in its upright position, and clasping the buckle around her waist, Madison took a deep breath, trying to relax, her heart still beating a rapid tattoo.

Shortly after the conversation with her mother, Madison left word on the lawyer's voicemail to call her back, he'd said he had a flight to catch, so he hadn't answered. He called her later that evening, and they began making preparations for her to travel to Pennsylvania.

He would book her a room at a B&B close to his office, she'd take the red-eye flight on Sunday, and after a meeting first thing Monday, he said he'd take her out to the ranch. Her father's estate would take care of everything.

Madison talked to her boss the next day, she really wanted to give them a two-weeks notice but hadn't been able to, knowing that if she didn't go right away, there was a small chance she would end up changing her mind.

Though her boss seemed upset to see her go, he understood her decision and informed her that should she want to come back, she would always have a job waiting for her. That surprised Madison, but it made her happy too. She'd always prided herself on her strong work ethic.

Madison spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out her office and talked to her landlord shortly before dinner time.

She met her stepfather for dinner that night. He'd heard about the argument between Madison and her mother, however, choosing graciously not to get involved, he didn't bring it up but rather enjoyed his time with his daughter instead. Her mother called her more times than she wanted to count, and once her voice mailbox filled up, she finally decided to shut off her phone.

Satisfied that she'd crossed all her t's and dotted all of her i's, Madison spent Sunday packing. During her conversation with her father's lawyer, she'd been informed that all of her bills would be taken care of by the estate, her rent would continue to get paid, as well as her utilities, and if she wanted to, the estate would pay for someone to go in on a monthly basis to clean her apartment as well.

Since she relied on public transportation to save herself a little extra money, she didn't have any car payments or insurance to worry about, but Al told her that while in Lancaster, she would be provided with both.

Like someone had given her a one year paid vacation, she had to pinch herself a couple of times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. It all sounded too good to be true. So sure there had to be a catch, Madison had yet to find one.

After packing what amounted to seventy-five percent of her wardrobe into four suitcases, and a fifth full of shoes and cosmetics, Madison made her way to the airport and checked in for her flight.

By the time she got through airport security, she still had a few hours before her flight started boarding, so she took out her tablet and looked up the area of Lancaster. She didn't have a physical address to go by, instead, she scouted the general area.

The city of Lancaster itself appeared to be a decent size, with close to sixty-thousand residents and another five-hundred thousand in the surrounding metropolitan area. Lancaster had a large Amish development to the east, as well as several other farming communities, with Pittsburgh almost four hours to the northwest. But at least Baltimore, Atlantic City, and New York were all within a two-hour drive.