Shanna was a veteran of the trail as much as Jack and Paul were, so no matter how big it got or how elaborate the preparations it never really managed to surprise her.
This year however the mystique of it had worn especially thin. She just couldn't bring herself to get into the spirit though she tried her best for Katie's benefit. All the same she found herself guessing the tricks well before each stop on the trail. A whiff of cornstarch told her of fake blood, while she could hear the creaks of springboards before the ambushes were even sprung. Latex and spirit gum assaulted her nostrils well before the costumed spooks made an appearance. Twigs snapped yards and yards away. She was ready for anything.
What finally threw her was when the group was thrown together in a jumble. They had been herded down a narrow copse of trees, then shoved into each other by burly staffers in more reaper costumes.
She'd remembered this one from previous years. It was primarily to throw a group off-guard, often making festival-goers wonder where their friends had gotten to in the confusion.
With Shanna this year the confusion was quite genuine. Her senses were assaulted, smelling an acrid scent she assumed must have been vinegar on the costumed staffers, whilst the sound-effects rang in her ears and left her spun about.
She was panting by the time they were through the gauntlet, her nerve-endings raw from the sudden overload.
By the time she gathered her wits again, she noticed that Anna was gone. There was a palpable panic at the realization, something that bowled over her cynicism about the staged events of the trail. She choked this inexplicable worry down as best she could, just as Emily noticed the same thing.
"I didn't think they really split you up on this thing," Emily said with an edge of concern.
"Don't sweat it, babe." Jack replied. "It's all according to plan. The little side things are pretty cool."
"Guess she'll have to tell us about it when it's all over," Emily mused.
Shanna didn't really speak up, though she was nervous the next few minutes as they continued to be led down the trail. She thought back to the lingering memory of the kiss, and wondered if that was the reason she was so rattled by what she knew to be just another trick of the trail.
She smelled her dark-haired new acquaintance before she heard or saw Anna. The musk from earlier was back, and it had grown stronger and more dizzying, as well as being mixed with sweat and adrenaline and... blood?
Human blood, Shanna realized with flared nostrils, looking over her shoulder to see those Mediterranean features limned in dappled moonlight. Anna was cradling her hand, as if it had been wounded, but with a bit of curiosity in her expression. She stared intensely at the palm, and the scent of blood began to pass.
Anna noticed the blonde's attention, and gave a crooked smirk. With a flourish, she turned her hand over and showed Shanna an unblemished palm with a giggle.