The Inauspicious Forest

Chapter Six: Willow Tree (Ending)

Warning: language, gore

Their ability to decipher time withered away as their time in the forest continued. What felt like a few minutes to them, was a long waning hour in reality. Carmen and Sabrina understood now why the forest was named to be known for its inability to provide success or basic freedom. While they did not understand what was happening, they knew that something was deeply wrong in the roots of March Town's soil. Carmen was on the edge of acceptance, her fit of rage and urgency to fix this, clouded her judgement. She was warned that this place was dangerous. She should have listened to Sabrina. It was a psychological mind-field.

"Can we please pack our shit and get out of here?" Carmen insisted while wiping her knees of leaves and dirt.

Sabrina sighed and grabbed her bags.

"What's wrong?" Carmen asked while holding Sabrina's shoulder.

"You dragged us all the way in here, to just leave, I warned you, everyone warned you" Sabrina became agitated and unusually upset.

Carmen stayed silent and sat the bags down.

"Fine, two days tops and we're out." Carmen offered.

They sat in silence in front of the charred remains of their fire. If Sabrina ever picked an argument with Carmen, she would always feel violent guilt. But this time, Sabrina sat with a petty face.

"I want to go look at that tree again." Sabrina stood up and began walking.

"Uhm, okay, at least wait out for me." Carmen follows behind her quickly. Sabrina was acting like it was a race. You could see the outline of the large willow tree, the only tree in good health on trail D. As Carmen caught up to Sabrina, she stood below the tree "admiring" it's beauty.

"It's just so beautiful, isn't it?" She stared.

"Yeah, I guess, can we please just fo-." Sabrina cut her off and lifted her hand up to the tree.

Sabrina admired the tree.

"Have you ever been judged based off of a basic inconvenience?" She asked.

"Yeah, once or twice why?" Carmen responded.

"It hurts, doesn't it"

Carmen stood silently, what was she talking about? 

"How do you think they felt?" 

"Who Sabrina? Stop being an idiot please." 

"Them." Sabrina removed her hand and a small breeze overwhelmed Carmen. Carmen sat, waiting for something to happen and as she brushed it off as a prank, she flinched as a rain drop hit her temple. 

"Shit." She said as she wiped the rain off of her face, but as she went to flick it off her hand, she realized that it had a dark red and brown pigment to it. Like blood. 

Her eyes tracked over to the tree and not like before, four lifeless bodies hung from the tree.

"Sabrina run, now." 

Sabrina moved out of the way, one of the bodies lowered down and looked at her directly in the eye. A dark, rotten odor emanated of the woman. Carmen held her breath and her throat began to tighten. She began to back away as the woman reached her hand out. 

"You have something of mine." She groaned. Sabrina sat expressionless and watched this all unfold. 

"I don't, I promise." Carmen sorted through all of her mind folders and remembered the doll they had found. The woman began to swing lightly toward her. 

"Wait!" Carmen said while digging through her pocket. She pulled out the doll from the baggie and held it up. 

"Is this yours?" 

The woman let out a terrifying smile and pulled it out of her hands.

"This was the priest, he tried to hurt me."

Carmen thought back to the hardware store book and remembered the story she read. Wait- No, it's a story about a witch to add some crazy spark to boring old March Town's story. But this woman who was she?

"Carmen, she's been in my head" Sabrina said with tears in her eyes.

"She needs blood." Sabrina inched closer to her. 

Carmen looked confused and insisted she explained. 

"When we came here, everything was fine. But, then I started to see things. I saw people, your friends, I saw my sister, this woman, she said she could bring her back to me." Sabrina began to cry.

"How could she bring her back? I'm sorry Sabrina. But, she's gone, you can't change that."

"Stop messing with her head, who ever the hell you are. You can't bring her back and you know that." 

The woman sat still and said nothing. Carmen embraced her and held Sabrina. Sabrina broke it off when she saw a woman wearing a sweater and a flowing skirt.

"Mary?" Both Carmen and Sabrina yelled in unison. 

Sabrina rushed toward her and wrapped her arms around her sister. Mary acted completely normal, like she hadn't been dead for six years. 

"I missed you so much. But, how is this even possible. I was at your open casket." 

"I've missed you too." Mary avoided the question .

Sabrina smothered her self into Mary's stomach as she hugged her. As she went to look up at her face, the sweater and skirt was now replaced with rags covered in ooze, dark tangled hair covered Sabrina's face. Mary was the woman.

"What is happening." Carmen said in awe. 

"I can give you your beloved sister back."  The woman offered. 

Sabrina's face lit up and asked how.

"I need your little friend." She whispered.

"Why would you need her?"  Sabrina whispered back.

The woman didn't respond, but only handed her a dagger with a wooden carved handle and a sharp blade. 

"Woah, woah. Why do you have that?" Carmen begged as she backed away from the tree.

"Carmen, you have been my best friend. I am so sorry for this." 

"Sabrina, she can't bring you your sister, I know you miss her, but she is lying."

Carmen began to scream at the top of her lungs. She sprinted and dodged through the trees while trying to flee. As she looked behind her, she inched closer and with one last lunge. Sabrina pierced the blade through her back. Sabrina watched her fall in a trance like state and began to breathe deeply. Sabrina began to hysterically cry. 

"No, no, no. Please, I'm so sorry." Sabrina shook Carmen's lifeless body.

Sabrina looked up to see the rotten bodies of dozens of people. The priest, the officers, Carmen's friends and other people in old style clothing. They all slowly walked toward the Weeping Tree. The forest's life force was restored and it was alive again. The witches death plagued the soil and the essence of one soul replenished it.

I guess the tale was true. .