Kota's only answer was to flip Leo off. He wasn't always great with the comebacks, at least not always in a timely manner. He was sure Leo was going to join Kellen in the daily runs of who can tease Kota the most.
Why the fuck were they exploring again? Right, they're all idiots.
"Jesus fuck, shut up," He said, resisting the urge to cover his ears as a scream tore from her throat. He looked towards Candy, with irritation, nerves high strung enough already. Remembering all the scary stories he'd been told as a kid, usually to teach him a lesson but fear brought up strange memories.
"Come on guys," He said, catching Kellen around the shoulder in a half wrestle and musing his hair up with his knuckles. "You're giving this numskull too much credit." He gave a wary half smile. "This is too far out of his league," He said, giving his friend a playful shove away.
He turned his attention to the dead end. Something about it reminded him of their dreams and how it always ended right before they got anywhere.
"Come on you bunch of pussies." He glanced back at them, waving his fist. "What happened to all the dainty little knocks?" He knocked on the wall. Though he wasn't familiar with the different sounds that gave away hidden entrances.
"Fuck it, doing it my way." He backed up a couple of steps, did a few quick hops in place before charging at the wall shoulder braced for impact.
Stone scraped against stone as the wall slid out of the way, revealing a vast field on the other side. Should they enter, the door would close behind them, whereupon they would find that they had emerged from the base of a mountain. The ground here was perfectly flat, the soil dry as if it hadn't rained in ages. The fog made it so that nothing could be discerned but for a lone tree, its bald and slender branches clawing desperately at the moon above.
Underneath this tree, something stirred. Something big and long-limbed, with gigantic claws for hands and hooves for feet. It possessed the head of a deer, but the face was all mangled and wrong. It smiled menacingly at them, the stench of death permeating from its diseased body.
Then it lunged.
All around them, the tree's long and treacherously thick roots rose from the earth. The fog grew thicker, and thicker, and thicker, making escape nothing more than a distant dream in what seemed to be a nightmare.
Humidity on the dancefloor lead to the frizz of hair puff out framing her face. Wild kinks and waves.
The hearty concoction she'd enjoyed now coaxed through her blood. Euphoria was all she could desire. In the beginning, the effects made her heart rate slow, but now she was approaching a crescendo. Everything around her was a stage.
Cottonmouth made her tongue stick to the inside of her cheek. Sweat clung to her form. Making some of her makeup run. Shimmery pigments tracing her cheeks and running under her eyes. Making it appear like metallic tears were being shed under bright party lights.
She'd drawn another girl into the dancing, spinning and twirling her around. Drunkenly laughing and ushering the purest of compliments. That came in shrill slurs. Cupping the poor Persephone's cheeks, offering a coy peak on the lips.
"You look like a fairy! You're so pretty!" Calista yelled over the music... Or was it her heartbeat?
She made the outline of the girl's pink blush, it was cute. Running her fingers through the long strands of blonde hair, she twirled the girl once more with a giggle. "I'm gonna go to the roof! Nights like these are better under the moon," she proclaimed. Much to the wariness of the other. Calista strolled out of the party. Water bottle in hand and her little stash tucked away into her pocket.
Swaying on her steps. She giggled hopeless when she stumbled on the floor. Blue hair splayed on the floor. Blowing hair from her face, lazily she sat up messing with the straps on her heels. Before she heard someone's approach in the distance.
"Hey stud, you're late." Calista laid back on her elbows, flashing her ever charismatic smile.
"Don't," she whispered back, "she's not worth it. They don't matter."
Ah. It didn't matter, hm? Is that why you look so miserable, Dawn?
Luc studied Dawn's face. She was brilliant, without a trace of a lie. The child within her had admired Dawn for the ease in which she played with others. Selfishly and without remorse.
Compelled by her curiosity, Luc was drawn to her. She stole her sister's spot beside Dawn and had every intention of staying there.
But to see her look so tortured.. It pricked Luc with guilt - a feeling she found unfamiliar and unpleasant. She hardly knew what to do with it. But quickly, she became lit with delight as Richie approached.
He looked so wound up by her taunting. The Richie she knew could never be bothered. But now? Luc chuckled.
He would still look pretty if he cried.
"Hey Richie, did you just get here?" Luc smiled sweetly, feigning her innocence. She was caught off guard by the hand placed on her shoulder.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Luc shuddered and spun in the direction of her brother's voice. A sense of relief slammed into her and the warmth of his hand became the only thing that mattered. Dawn, Richie, the party and all of Grimsworth. Everything faded and nothing else seemed to exist except the space between them.
Eyes closed, Luc squeezed his hand and pressed her lips against his palm. "Where were you?" She whispered, holding him tightly so he could never leave her side again.
Sang did not think she would abduct someone on her first day of school.
And yet, here they were, leading Feyre Abernathy to her inevitable doom. The girl's wrists had already been bound with a piece of fabric, but Sang kept a tight grip on them regardless. Just in case.
"Your brother is an asshole," Sang shone her flashlight on Emery, her heated words echoing in the tunnels. "I mean, who the hell does he think he is, ordering us around like this? Has the bastard ever even killed anyone?"
This night couldn't go any more wrong. With every step closer to the forest, the fear inside of Emery continued to build. His legs felt wobbly under his weight, while his body grew chillingly cold. The expression that he wore could only be described as pure panic, his complexion pale as his stomach twisted into knots.
Despite his desperate pleas, his words did little to dissuade Hunter. His mind raced with frantic thoughts, yet his voice was caught in his thought. It seemed as though nothing he said could make this situation better.
As the bright light of the flashlight shone on his face, Emery's eyes quickly clenched shut. Sang's echoing voice cut through the silence, startling the brunette. "Yeah…" He mumbled, "He can be a bit...prickly?" This was putting it mildly, but even with the current situation Emery still didn't want to bad mouth his brother. "I-Uh...I'm sure he has his reasons…" The teen responded, even if he doubted his own words.
This was met with a scoff from Sang, but the redhead did not comment further.
Soon, the way became narrower and the walls gave way to the earth. And then through a burrow-like opening, they emerged into the forest. Sang shoved Feyre forward, causing the heiress to stumble.
"Sang!" Emery scolded, eyes going wide in disbelief. Although he lurched forward, his arms extending to try and catch the heiress, it was too late. He watched as her knees hit the wet ground.
"There! Now what? We did what you asked!" Sang yelled to no one in particular. She looked towards the trees as if expecting an answer, squinting against the rain.
Nothing. It was as if all sound had been sucked into a vacuum, but the eyes on the tree trunks seemed to follow their every move.
A cold chill washed over Emery as the forest became eerily quiet. His hazel orbs glanced around apprehensive, waiting for something to happen.
Then, suddenly, a voice broke the silence.
"You're making a mistake."
The voice was small and shaken, but it had not come from the trees. Feyre turned towards them, her expression inscrutable.
"I don't know what you are or why you brought me here, but we can figure this out. You don't have to listen to everything Hunter says," she continued, her voice steadying with each word. "Is it money you want? I can give you that. I can give you whatever you want—"
The bargaining and pleas started to wear on Emery, his arms folding around his trembling body as he attempted to comfort himself. With every word, his resolution dimmed.
"We don't want anything—" Sang said.
"Then why did you bring me here?"
"The forest told us to," Emery replied in a faint voice despite the look Sang gave him. As he peered over to Feyre, he wore an apologetic expression. Even saying that Emery realized how crazy it all sounded. "We...don't have a choice…" His words wobbled, forced from his tongue despite his doubts. "We have to find the architect."
Feyre's gaze flicked over to Emery.
"What did you just say?" Her voice was sharp and strained, the string of an instrument tuned to a too-high key.
Emery knew that his words sounded insane. Yet, what else was there to say but the truth? As much as he wished for this all to be just a bad dream, he had heard the forest with his own eyes. Even just standing there, he could feel its evil presence.
Just then, something pale shot up from the earth—a cold, bony hand, its fingernails blackened with dirt. It grabbed Feyre by the ankle, its grip hard enough to bruise. She yelped--a medley of horror and confusion etched upon her fine features—as the hand dragged her through the mud, moving as easily as a worm in the ground. The binds loosened and fell from her wrists as she attempted to find an anchor.
Fingers digging desperately into the bark of a tree, she held on long enough to make a final attempt to escape. With her other hand, she clawed at the ground. She had bitten her lip so hard that blood trickled down to her chin.
She squeezed her eyes shut, holding a palm over the hole she had dug up, but nothing happened.
"No." She cried out, eyes snapping open. Where there had once been a fierce determination, there was now only a look of confusion and helplessness. A second hand grabbed her other foot, causing Feyre to lose her grip on the tree. They dragged her away, away, away. Her screams faded into the distance.
And then there was only silence.
The silence that overcame the forest was haunting. With the blood-curdling screams still echoing inside his mind, Emery stood motionless. His body was cold and sickly pale. With wide eyes, tears dripped down his cheeks as he stared into the darkness where Feyre had disappeared.
Everything had happened so quickly. Even now he still hasn't processed what he saw. The only comprehensible thought he had was that whatever had happened to Feyre was his fault. With this realization, an overwhelming feeling of guilt engulfed him.
Emery's stomach churned, twisting and threatening to overflow as the taste of bile lingered on the back of his tongue. His throat grew tight as if he was suffocating despite the gulps of breaths he was inhaling. A pathetic whimper left his lips, as he started to stumble backward.
"I-... I can't-" A choked sob caught in his throat. "We...we have-...have to go…" As the memory of the boney hand dragging Feyre away replayed in his mind, Emery could no longer bear to stay. The reminder of what he had done was too much for him to take.
As he turned, his feet pushed off from the ground and he was suddenly thrust into motion once more. Although his legs were unstable he ran as fast as he could, nearly tripping over his own clumsy feet. As he ran, his breaths were sharp and ragged, while his vision was blurred by a waterfall of tears. I have to find Hunter, was the sole thought racing through his mind. Even with their volatile relationship, his brother was the one person he wanted to embrace.
Even though Leo hadn't ever had a heart attack before, when the shrill scream echoed in the tunnel around him, he was sure he had one. His heart thumped against his chest, racing erratically. In his fright, he had forgotten to breathe. It took a long moment for him to regain his senses. But when he realized that it was Candy, he shot the girl a glare. "Goddamn it." He muttered as his fingers ran through his hair.
The venom in Kellen's voice normally wouldn't have bothered Leo. However, he was still sulking from being scared. "Your roommate dumbass," Leo shot back, pursing his lips into a tight line. With his arms crossed in front of him, Leo pouted as Dakota tried to calm everyone down. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He agreed, this did seem far more elaborate than something Kellen could pull off. Or at least, that's what his pissy thoughts told him.
Leo was steadily getting tired of this adventure. He was out of joints and booze and wanted to go back to the party. When Kellen suggested heading back, Leo quickly agreed. However, it seemed that Dakota wasn't ready to give up. Just as the blonde had turned to leave, he caught Dakota running full speed into the wall. The blonde was prepared to watch the guy knock himself on his ass, but as the wall creaked open his curiosity was again piqued.
As the youth stepped through, he was amazed to find that they were outside. But not just that, they were somehow at the base of a mountain. Leo was busy taking in the sights, that it wasn't until something moved off in the distance that he noticed they were not alone.
In the darkness of the forest, it was difficult to see. The sole light was the moon sitting overhead. It illuminated the monster's sinister smile. "Holy shit…" Leo mumbled, frozen from fear. When the beast suddenly lunged, Leo flinched and stumbled backward. The fog seemed to envelop him in a thick blanket. His eyes were wide as he tried to locate the evil beast. Leo's breaths became labored as his heart raced.
Candy laughed at Leo's reaction, taking a mental note to make him a target of her pranks next time. She paid no attention to the annoyance from Dakota nor the ignorance from Kellen. She knows a killjoy when she sees one and at the moment, there were two of them. "Lighten up a little," she told the group. "and no need to call us names."
When Kellen suggested for them to go back, Candy frowned. But they've come so far! Besides, turning back means defeat. She wanted to explore a little more.
It seems Dakota had the same thought. Watching the male make a fool out of himself, Candy laughed once again. She was starting to think that Dakota was all brawns and no brain.
The wall revealed a vast yet frightful field. Fog surrounded them, showcasing nothing but a tree with twisted branches.
Candy gulped. Okay. Maybe it was a bad idea to explore further.The ominous feeling was back. It made her skin crawl.
"Something's wrong," she murmured yet she didn't have the time to think about it when something showed up.
Candy stared at the creature's beady eyes, her heart stuttering. The stench of death made her forget how to breathe. Her body was screaming for her to run yet she found herself rooted on the spot out of fear.
She felt like a fool. She shouldn't have come here.
Then the creature lunged.
Candy stumbled towards the cold soil, her knees buckling. She scampered away to hide. Fear and panic were consuming her. Just what the fuck was that?
"Guys?" the girl whimpered when she found herself all alone. The people around her were snatched away by the thick fog. She wanted to scream her terror, bring someone running to save her, but she wouldn't risk other people's lives nor risk her own life.
Calm down, she told herself while forcing herself to take a deep breath and focus. You're safe. For now. But how are the others? Are they okay?
The insults didn't sting they way they should have; Baby was too preoccupied with his own unease to tell Kellen to go fuck himself. He shifted out from under Benji's arm, uncomfortable with where he was and what he'd suddenly experienced with the group. Again, he thought back to his dream, the shock that it wasn't unique had yet to wear off as he glanced around in the darkness. Out of all the times he'd seen these tunnels behind closed eyes, and as many doors as he'd knocked on, opened and lost, the message on the wall had never been part of it.
Baby didn't want to know what came next.
When Kellen suggested they make like a tree and leaf, Baby was all for it. "Yeah, fuck this," he agreed, ready to turn back. The group was greeted with a dead end that Dakota thought he could solve. "You're going to hurt yourself," he warned before the other boy put his broad shoulder into the stone facade.
It was like Dakota hit a secret button and suddenly, they weren't in Grimsworth anymore. The wall in front of them slid out of the way, and like sheep lead to slaughter, Baby filed through into the clearing. The fog was so dense that Baby couldn't make heads or tails of the place, but the ground beneath his feet felt solid. Real. "Guys…" he tried to speak, but found his voice to be nothing more than a whisper.
And then he smelled it: rotten, diseased. The stench was thick in the air, and Baby thought he might be sick.
But there was no time for that, not when the source of the smell had stirred. Even obscured by the low clouds, its body was overwhelming. Baby was stricken, unable to comprehend what he was seeing and unable to flee. His feet felt rooted to the ground and all he could do when the creature lunged was scream.
The sound of his own fear was enough to startle him, stoking a lizard-brained response that chose to flee instead of fight. Baby took off, unknowingly dodging the clawing roots of the tree for a few sweet seconds until he smacked into a body. Stars flashed across his vision, but that didn't stop his hands from grasping for a lifeline.
"Benji?" he rasped. "Leo? Kota?"
Candy. It was Candy's lithe form he'd barreled into like a bat out of hell. "Jesus…"
How were they going to make it out of whatever they'd stumbled into.
Ewan Abernathy's absence had never instilled anxiety within his younger sister. Even without his support, her conviction would carry her forward to kill the Provider. It was rather his presence that made her tremble.
The realization of how much she missed his comfort felt similar to despair. She held his hand tightly, never willing to let go. There was nothing that could move Lucida more than to have him at her side. Noticing his disheveled appearance, Lucida frowned in return. "It's only a bruise — where were you?"
The discomfort and anxiety he'd been feeling finally started to melt away now that he was reunited with Lucida. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ewan knew that it was silly, even unhealthy, to rely so heavily on younger sister, but he'd never been able to deny himself; she was his other half and seeing the bruise on her cheek turned his unease into outrage.
"Just a bruise," he scoffed, having ignored her original question until she repeated it. Ewan looked away from her intense eyes, over to Dawn who was occupied with that boy, and then around to the rest of the room. No one seemed to be paying attention to them, but looks could be deceiving and Ewan was done being played.
He shook his head, his thumb delicately caressing Lucida's cheek, "not here. Let's go to your dorm and I'll tell you everything. And you can tell me who did this to you." The promise to kill whoever had harmed her lingered in his words.
His rage sent sparks up her belly, leaving her warm and lucid. Lucida giggled in delight; her brother's anguish was a delicacy only she could enjoy. Smiling, she kissed his hand again in appreciation. His devotion to kill was praiseworthy, Ewan was such a sweet boy.
Mother, do you see? Your beloved son belongs to me.
She knew they were watching. Their eyes festered in every corner, always looking. She wondered if they would bleed.
Lucida stared at her brother's features. His beauty was the only thing she knew to be authentic. Forever isolated, the pair were bound to one another. Even then, she wanted more. His eyes which were once so full of scorn and disdain, now looked at her so dearly. The raw emotion of it all, she was to inspire and take more.
"Yes, but I can't possibly leave Dawn here, alone. Take her back first." She feigned the gentlest expression, "Please. There's much you need to know."
Having Lucida's attention was akin to being under a microscope, and Ewan was a sample fit to squirm. On a normal evening, nothing would have delighted him more than stealing her away from Dawn—effectively reminding her that blood was thicker than water—but this wasn't a normal night. His run-in with Cyrus was still stuck at the back of his mind, tucked away behind the ordeal in the woods and all of it needed an outlet.
"Don't play with me," he begged in response to Lucida's pleading expression. "She's not part of this. She's not even paying attention to you."
Finally, he tore his eyes away from Lucida to glance toward the arguing couple, but Richie had gone and Dawn looked ready to burst. Before he could say anything, suggest that she was capable of making it back to her dorm without a helping hand, she was off in the opposite direction. The crowd swallowed her small form whole and Ewan returned to his sister.
"Let's go," but it was no longer a suggestion.
Feeling hesitant, Lucida frowned at the crowd which Dawn had disappeared into. She gingerly nodded her head and followed behind her older brother.
"Crap, I just got goosebumps." Benji smiled to mask how nervous he was starting to feel. Shit was getting weird - nah, weirder. If he were sober, he would have bounced and called it a night. His heart was already pumping from Candy's scream, which startled him and had him staring wide eyed at her.
"Hey, chill out. We know you didn't write this, Kell." Feeling Baby move away from beside him, Benji put a hand on his back reassuringly before walking closer to the wall. He swiped a thumb over the engraved writing. "It's just hard to believe that's what it says."
He began to regret this. Especially with Baby in the mix, he was relieved he was there with him but at the same time wish he weren't. He could tell how uncomfortable he was starting to feel. Arms crossed, Benji stared at the wall like a puzzle. The fuck did it mean? Before he could ask anyone the question, Dakota found his own answer.
Benji expected the wall to stay in place. He expected Dakota to lunge and smack into stone. The group would have gotten a laugh out of it, then they could have gone back to the party or called it a night. That would have been fine.
But instead, the wall began to move. Benji could no longer reassure himself with a smile. The cold air that seeped through the cracks was an omen of what was to come. He immediately felt agitated, his eyes absorbing what little it could. Quickly, he stepped ahead of the group to keep them from wandering too far in. "Hey guys, lets call it." He turned to look at them, "This is getting-"
Fuck.
When did the wall close behind them?
This was all wrong, and there was this smell.. like rot and death. He could see it in everyones faces - something terrible was behind him.
Needles pricked his fingers, dread weighing heavily inside his stomach. He turned his head to look at it - that thing. There was a second of dead silence. Benji couldn't move - couldn't breath. Then, it lunged.
"Go!" Benji yelled at the others. He hit the ground running, the panic and fear forcing him to move. Was he going to die? No, he didn't have time to think. He saw Dakota, frozen in place. Grabbing him by the arm, he dragged him into a sprint. "Move!"
He couldn't see anyone else, or the thing. The fog grew thicker, and everything seemed to vanish within it.
Silence. Grimsworth was often bereft of it. The halls may have appeared hallowed, but they teemed always with the vibrant thrum of life, youth, and boundless activity. But left to the forgotten, isolated paths of Abernathy Hall, the only noise that came to the teen's ears was his own weighted footsteps.
The shadows leered at him. The fixed eyes on the walls' portraits followed him, staring down in inanimate reproach. He walked fast, wanting to put as much distance between himself and what he knew was taking place in that secret room as quickly as possible. Even with the roar of his emotions building in his body like a drum, still he could not hear the beat of his own heart.
But no monster ever did.
Why the fuck had Feyre shown up then and there?
Hunter wanted to punch something. Something hard, something real, maybe something flesh. He wanted to tear the paintings down from the walls with their pretentious stares and cast them in the woods instead. His fingers flexed and unflexed unevenly at his sides, the look on his face like hell frozen over. It was stupid - the feelings of regret, hurt, rage broiling in him. It was all so stupid. He'd known that they would have had to take someone to the forest eventually. Blood for blood; he lived for a function. Sang and Emery too.
So why did he feel guilty for forcing them to do what they all were tasked to do?
The hell with it. He didn't need this shit. Like a mad dog, he shook his head, as if trying to bodily shake the thoughts from his head. Hunter didn't want to think about it anymore that night. He didn't need to think about. What was done was done; he just had to go to the party, make his rounds, say his hellos and goodbyes, and leave.
Even if he hadn't known where the party was, the music beckoned one from the end of the hallway. He nearly made it too, before a voice called to him from below, wispy as a song.
Hunter stared down at the shadowed form before him. He blinked once, twice.
"Calista?"
Vibrant blue hair with vibrant dilated pupils. The two traits matched - and not in a good way. His stare intensified.
He didn't back down from things that were clearly dangerous or would break the rules. Opening a hidden door that led out of the school, it hadn't seemed so bad in the beginning. What's the worst that could happen? That right there was a question he shouldn't have asked.
Looking into a small clearing with heavy fog hanging in the air and creepy trees that looked like limbs reaching for him caused his imagination to run wild.
Maybe it was the growing nerves that had him thinking about all the bad things that lurked in the dark.
It was just his luck that one such creature, one from his very nightmares, had made itself at home in Grimsby woods.
Kota could only gape in both horror and fear at the creature that seemed to slice through the fog with its presence. A wendigo...a mother...fucking...wendigo.
Why, out of all the stories he'd been told, did this one have to be the real one?
His petrified form suddenly jerked into motion. A tight grip pulled at his arm, not giving him a chance to stumble.
"Fuck...Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Kota chanted, just seconds later and he could have been dinner.
"We're dead," He said with his next breath.
They were running so fast that when his foot caught on a root, there was no way to stop himself from crashing into the other boy. He went down hard, elbow cracking against solid ground, the rest of him following a moment later.
Why were they still trying? There was no logical way that they'd all make it out of this alive; not against a Wendigo which was faster and stronger than any of them.
Kellen had reacted the only way he knew how when thrust in a state of inexplicable fear: take it out on somebody else. Luckily, Benji had diffused the situation before it could worsen. Kellen fell silent as a result, shrinking into the sidelines even if the frenetic energy of his frame still took up the entire room.
He couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to go terribly awry, but he squashed any temptation to leave as soon as the thought took form in his head. If he backed out, he'd never live it down. And besides, what was the worst that could happen?
As if in answer, the wall slid open, revealing a clearing on the other side. At first, it looked as if they'd arrived at one of the school's many open fields. But Kellen's relief was fleeting when he discerned a curious tree that looked nothing like Grimsworth's own. They were a long way from home, or so it appeared. Nothing in their immediate vicinity carried any semblance of familiarity. Even Grimsworth, for all its pretentious agedness, seemed more welcoming than the tense, godless calm of this wasteland.
Quite frankly, he'd seen enough.
Without uttering a word, Kellen turned to leave, only to realize to his horror that the secret door had already shut behind them. A torrent of oaths cascaded from his mouth as, with every bit of strength he could muster, he attempted to force the door open. Yet it remained stubbornly unchanged, looking as if it had never even been there in the first place.
It was too late. They were stuck here, wherever the hell "here" was.
Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, a foul stench assaulted his senses. Somebody screamed. Another yelled at them to "Go!" Go? Go where? Kellen swiveled around, only to find himself staring into the hollow eyes of a horned beast. It was charging towards him, teeth bared in a maniacal frenzy. Almost a moment too late, Kellen dove out of the way, just barely landing on his feet. The candle slipped from his hands, lost to the fog.
And then he ran.
Beneath him, the roots grew longer and wider, breaking through the ground, writhing with a studied malevolence. At that moment, it didn't matter that he'd just seen something impossible. It didn't matter that he had no idea where to go next. All that mattered was that he kept moving, if only to borrow a little more time. He ran and ran even when his legs began to protest, even as his heart fluttered in his chest and pounded in his ears.
He had to find everyone else. He had to know if they were alright. Fuck. Where the hell was everybody?
The fog shifted briefly, revealing two stationary figures that Kellen recognized to be Benji and Kota. The pair stood side-by-side with their backs towards him. Kellen screamed their names until they turned their heads towards him. Slow. Inhuman. Eerily synchronized.
And they didn't. Stop. Turning.
Their heads twisted to an impossible position, staring down at him with empty sockets for eyes, faces slashed to near shreds with what looked like claws. Kellen started, tripping from the shock of what he'd just witnessed. He hit the ground hard, knocking him out of his breath. They approached him slowly, menacingly. Worms crawled out of the cavities within their skulls as their hands reached for his face.
Kellen lost all ability to move, emotions torn between fear, horror, and grief.
This can't be real. This can't be real. This has to be a dream.
Candy was starting to feel sick. As much as she tried, her thoughts were listing down the worst-case scenarios: one of them getting eaten by the monster, another being torn apart like tender meat.
She tried to breathe deeply, to focus on the dirt under her fingernails and the erratic beating of her heart. But it was hard to do so. Not when a figure slammed against her. Candy barely stifled a scream.
"Baby," she scolded on a wavering breath, her eyes looking left and right before whispering. "Thank heavens you're safe. Have you seen the others?"
Yet before she can hear his response, a piercing howl suddenly filled her ears.
Candy swallowed hard. There's no time to lose. The howl was too close for comfort. She had to make sure that at least they're safe! With the fog so thick, who knows what else is lurking out there?
Candy tugged Baby to follow her. Her instincts were telling her to head for the tree to seek shelter. Perhaps hide under its roots until they were safe. Though as she stepped further into the fog, she felt as if she'd fallen into some strange nightmare. She suddenly found shadows jutting out of the wispy smoke, feral growls filling her ears once again.
Her heart hammered against her chest as she stood silent and unmoving. A gargantuan gray wolf emerged from the fog, snarling and snapping. Adamant to take a piece of her.
"Fuck," she whispered while trembling on her spot.
Only her brothers knew about her irrational fear of wolves. It was a fear that stemmed from hearing too many fairytales for bedtime stories.
Her thoughts were acting out once again. Will the wolf huff and puff to blow her away? Or will it eat her? Or will a knight in shining armor save her?
While the abominable monster charged them, Leo stood paralyzed with fear. His trembling legs became heavy as if they had sunk into the ground and he was unable to even lift them an inch. The unnatural fog quickly thickened around him, snaking its shadowy tendrils through the group until his friends' forms vanished from his sight. In an instant, all that was left was utter darkness.
Leo instinctively widened his eyes in a vain attempt to improve his vision, blinking over and over as he stared stupefied. "What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?" He chanted in a panic, gulping down breaths as his throat tightened and his lungs burned for air. His gaze frantically swept all around him, waiting for that thing to appear. As his heart continued to pound in his chest, it felt like time had stopped.
After a few long moments, Leo called out in a choked voice. "Guys?" The silence around him was eerie, with the only sound filling his ears were his heavy breaths and racing heart. Although the others were just near him, it suddenly felt as if he was all alone. With the idea that something might have happened to them, it was enough to break the spell gripping his body. He took a hesitant step forward, lifting his hands in front of himself for navigation. "Where'd you go?" His voice whispered, fearing that he might attract the monster if he made too much noise.
As he ventured further into the dark, a strange voice caused him to jump. Not just a voice, but a laugh. It started faint, so quiet that Leo started to doubt his own sanity. But, it steadily grew with more voices joining in until it was a thunderous chorus of maniacal laughter.
"What the hell?" He questioned, turning on his heels to glance around him. The laughter seemed to be coming from every direction as if he was surrounded. The thought that this was all just a prank reentered his mind. Yet he still had a hard time believing it. "This isn't funny guys," Although his tone was stern, he was unable to stop his fear from causing his voice to wobble.
"What an idiot," A cackling voice that sounded similar to Kellen's rang out around him. The deafening laughter hushed, shifting into a sinister giggle.
"As if we would be friends with him" The disembodied voice of Benji came from behind him, causing Leo to turn on his heels. As a lump formed in his throat, Leo mumbled "What?" His tone was completely defeated and confused.
"Even his parents didn't want him" As the familiar voice of Candy echoed around him, Leo could feel his heart drop.
"He's only good for his looks and his parents' money," Baby responded, an uncanny venom dripping from his voice.
"But his looks are already fading. Look! He's even getting fat," Another voice chimed in, this one sounding like Dakota. The group erupted in laughter once more. Leo's head lowered, peering down at his trembling body. "Th-that's not true…" He wrapped his arms around himself, appearing to shrink into himself
"It's probably from all the drinking." Baby chuckled with a bite to his tone.
"He's only fun when he's drunk or high," Benji added. Leo felt himself start to break with every word, a shameful burning starting to threaten his vision.
"His personality sucks," A delighted giggle came from Candy.
"He isn't even good at anything" The voice of Dakota commented. With a hurt expression, Leo continued to turn with each voice. His stomach churned, and he soon felt as if he was going to be sick.
"He just sleeps his way into everything." A resentful sounding Baby came from another direction. "You're wrong…" Leo choked out, a tear slipping past his defenses.
"What a whore!" Candy snickered to herself.
"And a faggot" The harsh voice of Kellen hit him like knives, piercing his heart and leaving it painfully mutilated.
"Yet he still can't keep a relationship. How pathetic" Benji responded.
"He's just going to be alone forever," The voice of Baby seemed to revel in his words. "St-stop…Just stop," Leo replied weakly, his voice sounding pathetic.
"It'd just be better for everyone else if he just killed himself now." Kellen's words sent him over the edge, and he simply couldn't take it anymore.
"SHUT UP!" Leo's hands went to cover his ears, trying to block out the horrible words. His legs gave out as he went to his knees, curling into himself. As his eyes closed tightly, he couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his face.
Behind the curtain of his eyelids, he could imagine those grimy fingers stretching towards him, the faces of his friends gnarled into malicious smiles. Just like that time in the forest.
A second passed. Two. After what seemed like ages, Kellen finally opened his eyes.
And… nothing.
He stared dumbstruck into the dense fog, a spine-chilling sensation overcoming him. He turned around.
The first thing he saw were its eyes. Glazed over, unseeing. Its skin was the ashen grey of death. Its rotten breath brushed over Kellen's wet cheeks. The corpse was his father, or what was left of him.
You killed me. And now you'll die too.
Kellen lifted his fist as if it were lead. It arced in the air, landing on nothing, the vision drifting around it like smoke. His lips parted in shock.
And just like that, the figure vanished.
As he tried to make sense of what he had just seen, Kellen heard Candy's voice. It was faint and distant, but he would have recognized it anywhere. Kellen scrambled to his feet, following the voice like a sailor drawn to a siren.
He found Leo crumpled on the ground, tears running down the boy's face. Kneeling down, Kellen grabbed Leo by the shoulders as though to shake him awake.
"Hey, man. Come on, get up!"
But one of the voices drowned him out. A voice that, to his surprise and dread, sounded exactly like his own.
"Hey!" He screamed this time, voice tinged with desperation. He slapped Leo once across the face for good measure. "That's not me! Listen to me, goddamn it. Snap out of it!"
Calista had been musically amused at the appearance of mister tall dark and grumpy before her. "Heeeeyy," she almost purred with a giggle rippling off her voice. "I was gonna go to the rooftop, watch the stars. They're soooo pretty tonight. But, I just can't get these damned heels off." She laughed. Everything was just so damned amusing. Licking her glossy lips, they tasted sweet and a coy smile tugged on her cheeks.
Sticking her tongue out she feeling the cottonmouth strong this time. It almost gave her the desire to crawl back to the party for a drink. Nothing seemed enough. Instead, she flipped her hair over shoulder and clicked her lip. Humming to herself. Scratching lightly at the powder stick stuck to her nose from the line she did.
Hunter's eyes were keen in the dark.
Something was off about her. Her movements were sloppy and disjointed, and her laugh was just a bit too off-key, the widening of her eyes exposing enlarged pupils. His gaze hunted out the clumsy fumbling of her fingers at her heels, and his jaw set in a hard line.
"Fuck's wrong with you? Are you high?"
"Fuck's wrong with you?" Calista mimicked. Struggling with the straps on her heels. Rubbing her nose with the side of her wrist. Brows knitting together with deep annoyance.
"I had something—it's not that bad." Calista tried to make the statement convincing. But her heart was beating too hard in her head. And her skin felt like it was dancing on live wires of energy.
Looking over at Hunter, she tilted her head to the side. "You keep frowning like that, you'll get wrinkles. Hunt." Her voice was disjointed sultry and an absolute mess. An easy picking target to a douchebag that wanted a screw—if she wasn't careful.
"Jesus Christ."
He didn't have time for this. He had a party to get to, irregardless of how inane and pointless it might have been. His missing presence may have well been noted, and he couldn't afford to lose out on anything else that may occur that night.
And yet the teen's feet refused to move, having suddenly rooted to the ground.
"Just take them off," Hunter ordered brusquely. "Obviously you can't tie them so screw it."
"I'm trying to take them off though!" Calista complained. Growing amply more annoyed with the conversation.
"You were late, dickhead." She grumbled, managing to get one heel off. Holding the damned thing up. Before tossing it to the floor with a fit of conquest. Flipping the shoe off. Returning to the other one.
Starting the infuriating ritual again. Picking at the ties at the current shoe. "What's up with you? You're testier than normal." The blue haired moonchild said, pursing her lips. Staring at him, for a moment. Observing his outfit, offering a hmmmm of approval—who was she to say the guy couldn't dress. He had style. And it paired well with his; caveman demeanour of grumping.
Goodie for her, being the target of the grumping.
His patience, whittled down already by his previous tense encounter, snapped like a bow's string under her attempts to free the other foot. Abruptly, he was down on the ground before her. Flicking her fingers away, he ripped with unnecessary force at the straps binding her heels and slipped it from her foot, tossing it away by the other one.
"Late to what? The party?" His eyes drew up, alarmingly intense in the gloom. "You're so high you don't even know what you're talking about."
Somewhere in his mind came the acknowledgment that he was being a churlish ass.
But damn if every second of it didn't feel good.
She flinched at the flick of her fingers away from her shoe. Tucking her other leg under this. Calista moved her foot to make the shoe easier to access. "Ouch…" the girl complained, frowning at Hunter.
His regard for her state made her frown. "You're being an arsehole…" Calista whispered. Feeling a pang in her chest at his words.
Reaching out to touch Hunt's cheek, soft fingertips ran along the curve of his jaw. "What happened to you?" She said softly to him. "You're not right—you're you, but not… Something is bothering you?" Calista asked, holding a certainty in her tone.
Hunter's head jerked out of reach. "I'm fine. And I'm always an ass, remember? That's what you always say."
What was he really doing down there crouched on the ground with a girl baked inside and out, an obvious lie slipping from his disgruntled face? Why even bother conning her? Yeah, he was pissed. Yeah, he wasn't right. He'd never been right. Not since he'd been born - but she wouldn't get that. Nobody did but the others.
He scanned her worried face wordlessly before looking away.
"You should head back to your room before someone catches you. I dunno. A teacher or something." He rose slowly, glancing towards the thrum of the music.
"Nah, I'm goin' to the roof," she remarked stubbornly brushing aside his comment. Going to bed wasn't something on the agenda for a little while. Trying to haul herself to her feet. Clumsily steadying herself, reaching Hunter's shoulder. Patting it subconsciously like he offered her the help, when Hunter didn't. Wandering over to her shoes. Almost tumbling when she reached down to grab them.
Turning back towards the party, listening to the music. Her expression showed something as if she was considering going back there.
"Actually, I think I saw Cyrus.. She looked as shitty as you did." Calista remarked. Tilting her head to the side in thought. Trying to figure out where she wanted to go.
Who gave a shit about Cyrus?
"The rooftop?" The quarterback barked, and his lips twisted sardonically. "Why, so you can fall off?"
She wasn't even going to make it there. Calista was permanently off-kilter for the night - something she was foolishly failing to realize.
"Go to your room, man. You're all fucked up."
"I never thought of falling off…" She pondered. "There's a fence around the rooftop…" Calista commented in a sing-song tone of voice.
"I mean---I could always go back to the party." The girl bluntly ignored the barks of command. Stumbling with her steps. "Then I can chill with Cy. Maybe have another line and joint," the girl chaotic in her heightened state. Turning on her heel. Going to wander passed the grouch.
"Why do you even care, Hunt?" She tilted her head to the side. "Not like you're one to play the concerned friend, often…" Calista pursed her lips together. Frowning a little. This was likely the nicest he'd been to her in caring about well-being before. Did she have to be some level of fucked up for him to care?
Even if she was higher than the sky, Calista had asked an absurdly astute question. Why did he care? Calista was always screwing with something. Drugs, life, boys. That was just her way.
But Hunter was never one to explain himself. And he had reached the end of his patience with people arguing with his every word. He shoved his feelings down and turned towards Calista, the exasperation in his eyes palpable.
Wordlessly, he leaned down. Grabbing the girl behind the knees, he swung her up and over his shoulder, holding her in place with one arm. He turned away.
She didn't even see the movement coming before he lifted her up. Causing a startled sound to creep past her lips. Hands dropping the shoes. Which she wiggled around trying to catch before they landed on the floor. "Hunt! What the fuck?! This isn't fair, you're using your height against me!" Calista poke into the side of his back. Writhing in his arms, and not in the good kind of way.
"This isn't fair!" She grumbled. Struggling against him left her panting. But the desire to mess with him was more profound now. "Put me down! Now." Calista demanded.
"Where's your room?" Hunter asked, entirely ignoring her demands.
"I'm not telling you." She retorted, like a spoiled child on the gear. "Get stuffed."
In reply, Hunter shrugged his shoulders, intentionally jostling her.
He didn't need her for directions. Abernathy Hall had sectioned the female rooms off to the western half of the dorms. It didn't take long to find a gawking gaggle of girls hanging out in the hall between the dorms, and the nervous prattle that flew out of their mouths at his questioning would have been funny...if not for the struggling, hapless quarry over his shoulder.
And of course, his own foul mood. Who could forget that?
"This your room?"
The question was rhetorical. Shoving it open, Hunter scanned the large, multi-bed room over quickly before abruptly hunkering down, slipping Calista from his back.
There was a peep in the corner by the desk. Calista wasn't about to give him an answer. Stubbornly looking for the exit back to the party. At the very least, she could go back there when he goes away, right?
Lauren Harrison was quickly picking up all the items that had gone flying when the door burst open. Thick glasses slipping down her face. Like a deer in headlines her sights caught on Hunter. Her lips quivering instantly.
"Th-this is the girls' dorm…" She muttered, tears collecting in her eyes.
Causing Calista to reach for the door handle, slowly dragging it shut. Making her move to walk around Hunter and head back toward the party. Barefoot and without a care. She'd party until she dropped.
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," Hunter snapped off to Lauren. "Hey Four-eyes -"
With a single step, Hunter blocked the door with his bulk.
"Your friend here is shitfaced. Coked up, too. So if I catch her at the party or wandering the goddamn halls, I'm gonna say you both got fucked up. So do us all a favor Calista -"
His eyes focused on the blue-haired pixie, bright in the fluorescent light.
"Sit tight. Sober up, yeah?"
Lauren's glasses were foggy with the spiked heat in her face. Tears begin to form. Soon streaming down her face. Which only made the ink staining her freckle kissed cheeks smear. "Please, I don't wanna get kicked out of this school. I don't wanna go back to the group home," the sobs erupted and she was quickly wiping at her face. Her small form shaking.
Calista halted hearing the girl's pleas. Some part deep down she felt a boiling anger at Hunter. "What the fuck?" She shoved at him. Not that it would do anything to move his bulky form. "That was so cruel of you." Fists tightened in his shirt.
"You made her cry." There was so much anger in Calista's words. Maybe it was the coke. But, she wasn't able to cool it because of that.
The blue-haired girl peered back at the sobbing redhead. Messy face and stained fingers. She stayed in her room that night. Likely not invited to the party like her roommates were. So, she'd been all alone all night. Now, she was being threatened with blackmail.
Calista's blue eyes looked troubled. Guilty. But she didn't want to stay. Part of her was so mellowed out. Fucked up and coked up. She'd probably follow the wrong person around again. "Why you bossin' me around, Hunt?" Her voice was confused. Staring down at his outfit. "You never care before. Why now?"
So many questions. So little time. The last thing Hunter wanted to do was stare deeper into a soul he was quite sure did not exist.
The football captain's nonverbal cues were beginning to take a familiar shape and pattern. When he reached behind and opened the door behind, his eyes flickered between Calista and the sobbing nerd, and for the most scant of seconds, some emotion flickered across his face.
It was gone too quickly to be analyzed. He pulled out of Calista's grasp and back through the open door, giving a hard nod.
"Get some sleep. Kid with the glasses: keep an eye out for her."
And without another word, he spun around, moving away from the room.
Calista's eyes were cold on him. As she heard the curious shuffle from the kid in the bedroom. Feeling the tug on her sleeve.
"Fuck you, Hunter Nolan!" The angry girl flipped him off with a raging temper. Still having her reservations about slipping into the bedroom. Wasn't even in her bedroom. Sitting back slumped onto one of the beds. It didn't seem to have a tenant.
It was good to find someone else, but their group had thinned considerably since stepping through the doorway and now, separated and scattered by the fog, Baby worried that he might die in this unknown place. Candy was about the only tangible thing he had in that moment, and her voice, however frightened it was, offered some relief. "I got split up from Benji," he started to explain, "I don't know where—" but a piercing, guttural howl muted the rest of his words.
With the fog still in their way and the roots of the tree steadily crawling toward them, Baby didn't know which way to turn. Luckily, Candy took the lead. The small blonde tugged him along and he followed automatically, not thinking twice about where they were going or what they might end up. All he knew was that they had to escape, that they had to get as far the fuck away from whatever was hunting them.
Baby looked over his shoulder every other step, his brown eyes wide with fear and his heart hammering in his chest. He could feel eyes on them, predatory, and the fog took on a darker color, almost as if it were closing in on them completely. Before he knew it, they came face to face with a gray wolf. The animal's hackles were raised, its large paws dug into the earth and its jaws snapped and snarled, dripping with foam.
The tension and terror in Candy was palpable, and Baby squeezed her hand tight. He wanted to drag her away, but he knew better than to turn his back on a wolf.
Once upon a time, he'd stayed in one place long enough to take and complete a few rounds of scouting courses, and he learned a thing or two about mountain lions: make yourself big and defend yourself with whatever you've got. The same had to apply to wolves...right?
"Get out of here!" Baby yelled like as if it were the last thing he'd ever do. He kicked at the ground, sending dirt flying toward the wolf. It didn't back down, but it hadn't advanced either.
A regular master of his domain, Ewan was pleased to find that Lucida had followed him out of that godforsaken hell hole the poors called a party, and out into the hallway. He was silent as they walked, though the anticipation was killing him; he wanted to know every fine detail about the meeting with the Provider: what was said, who had reacted and how, and most importantly, how the light of his life had come to to sport such a horrid bruise. As usual, Ewan was ready to coddle Lucida and nurse his own wounds in the process.
The tricky hallways were quiet that night, still as they'd been when he'd come in from the woods and it wasn't long before they'd arrived at Lucida's dorm. Grimsworth rules said that he wasn't allowed in, but rules were for other people who didn't have their names on buildings. "Now tell me," he began once they got in the door, "tell me everything, because I need to know. This is destiny we're dealing with here, you and me."
He turned to her in the dark and caught her by the wrist to bring her in close while his other hand returned to her cheek. "Were you brave today?" Gently, he pressed his lips to her forehead.
The tree roots littered the floor. Benji couldn't see what was ahead of him. He ran blindly into the fog, not knowing if he was running away or towards that thing. From behind, he could hear Dakota but chose to ignore him.
He didn't want to die.
His breaths suddenly became more shallow and less controlled. He was desperate, pushing the air out of his lungs in short, harsh breaths to urge himself to survive this nightmare. With each step, the roots seemed to move, writhing underneath.
Something shoved him from behind and the impact knocked him forward. Benji found himself colliding with the earth. Disorientated, he stumbled as he tried to pick himself up again.
"Shit.. Dakota.. Come on, we need to find the others." Benji grimaced, gritting his teeth to avoid succumbing to the pain that shot throughout his body.
"We need to.."
He saw the blue of Kellen's eyes.
Kota hadn't noticed yet, still picking himself up from the ground. "Are you intentionally being retarded? I said we're dead."
When he didn't receive any response Kota looked up at the other boys, still form. "Benji?" Slowly, with dread growing within him, he lowered his eyes, following the direction of Benji's gaze.
Muted and faded with death, Kellen's eyes gazed unseeingly from his severed head. It rested beside Kota, The rest of him lay in broken pieces across the blood stained ground. Not only his, but the other familiar faces stared back. Sightless eyes, expressions frozen in terror.
A shout of horror slipped past Kota's lips as he scrambled back from the head of his best friend. "Holy gods," He choked out, using Benji to pull himself to his feet, his face turning different shades of green.
He pressed his hand to his mouth, grabbing Benji with his other hand, trying to pull him away from their fallen friends. "We've got to move man…"
Maybe one of them would make it out of here.
Yet, his words didn't reach. Benji couldn't hear him. He could only see the terror in the eyes of his friends. Was he breathing? No, he couldn't. He couldn't look away from Baby's ripped torso. Couldn't move from Candy's blood stained arms, Leo's tattered throat.
Was this real? It couldn't be, it felt like a dream. But still, the bodies of his mutilated friends scattered around him. Their limbs, flesh, bones, mixing with the smell of rot and decay.
"Kota.. I'm sorry." He didn't have the strength.
A screech pierced the air.
"I'm sorry." His throat burned around the words. He had to get up, both him and Dakota were still alive. Tears rolled off his cheeks and he grit his teeth to stifle a cry. Grabbing Dakota's hand, Benji pulled himself to his feet.
Kota caught his arm trying to help steady him, even as his own legs shook like a newborn giraffe. "Come on…" he said, the words sounding strained and meek.
But already, it was too late. They weren't alone anymore.
The screams of familiar voices filled the silence. It called to them in desperation and terror, chilling enough to terrify anyone who heard them. They grew in volume the closer the Wendigo came. Its vile scent filled the air like a toxic gas that induced paralyzing fear.
That awareness burned in it's bottomless black eyes. It circled around them in that slow jerking way that could only come from awkward limbs. This didn't slow it down or make it weak, somehow it did the opposite.
Kota was about ready to crumple in terror, his grip on Benji's arm was enough proof of that. There was no doubt that as soon as their limbs were ripped from their body, his fingers would still be gripping that arm.
It was toying with them, waiting for the right moment to attack. It basked in the scent of their fear.
They were so fucking dead.
As if the thought had jolted the creature into action, it lunged. Mouth open in a screech, it revealed jagged teeth - blackened and stained with rot.
Despite his crippling fear, Kota shoved Benji out of the way as hard as he could before twisting to make himself as small as possible, as if that would somehow save him.
"Dakota!"
A few beats passed with nothing happening, no agonizing deaths or haunting screams, just the sound of panicked breathing.
Benji rasped, his body shaking. The wendigo vanished into smoke, collecting with the fog. Realization settled into him - it was all just an illusion.
Slowly, he picked himself up from the ground in disbelief. What the fuck was that? What was this place? As the smell of blood and scattered limbs disappeared from around him, Benji felt choked up in relief. None of it was real.
"Kota, it's okay. You're all good." Benji knelt by his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what that was, but it wasn't real. I think the others are okay, too." He tried his best to keep his voice from shaking. For a moment, he thought he was going to see another friend shredded by a monster. It was fucking terrifying.
When Kota lifted his head again to look, he found the Wendigo really was gone. Seemingly gone from existence.
Benji looked at his friend and felt a wave of gratitude. Despite how scared he was, Dakota had pushed him away. It was fucking courageous and took some massive balls. Opening his mouth to express his appreciation, Dakota leaned into him and blew chunks. Astonished, Benji's mouth remained open as puke dribbled off his sweater.
