Duskwood : Dawn

Chapter I - Into the Nightmare

"I'm done with running away".

That's the last text Richy send me before making the call to Jessy. I have a really bad feeling about this. Seeing him crying, apologizing, makes me feel like he has taken a horrific decision. 

I need to go.

Now.

Fortunately, when the group went hiding in that secret house, I decided to get closer of Duskwood in case of an emergency. I knew that Jake never wanted me to go with them but I couldn't just stay so far from my friends. After all I was in Belgium, 4 hours away from Duskwood in West Germany. It was way too far if the group needed me. I booked a room in a small hotel. It was in a town +/- 20 minutes away from Duskwood. I didn't tell anyone because I knew that they wouldn't want me to be so close to danger. Especially Jake. 

I act in automatic mode. I put all my belongings in my bag in a hurry. It doesn't take long because I didn't really unpacked when I arrived. I take my bag, close the door, run down the stairs and put the keys of the room on the hotel counter. Thank God I trusted my instinct when I chose to pay the stay in advance. Nothing prevent me to reach my car in a second (except the questioning look of the receptionist).  

Once inside, I take my keys but I tremble so hard that I struggle to put them into the keyhole. Come on Mathilde, get it together ! There is no time to waste ! Finally, I hear the engine start. I haven't the time to set up the satnav that I'm already out of my parking lot. As expected, the satnav indicates that I would be arriving to Grimrock in less than 30 minutes. While driving, I don't see the scenery outside my windows pass and change. I feel like I'm in slow motion. It's just now that my brain take the time to process what I've just learned a few minutes earlier. 

It was him all along. A flood of emotions crash over me : sadness, betrayal, relief, worry, anger ... How could it all happened before our own eyes ?! How could we have be so blind to not see what was so evident ?! How could he have mislead us from the beginning ? Flashbacks from the threatening calls resurface. I can fell all the fear crawling under my skin like a snake beneath the sand. Always there lingering in the back of my mind. For nearly 10 weeks, I jumped at every phone call. For nearly 10 weeks, I slept with a knife in the nightstand. For nearly 10 weeks, I put a stop to my life to search for a missing girl that I don't even know, in a country that I don't even live in. And for what ?!

For what ?...

I take a deep breath, focusing on the road ahead. A tear escape from the corner of my eye. Everything changed with that text. My life will never be the same. I lived so many things, some horrific and others blissful. I made a bond with people that is beyond friendship. I have fallen in love. I never knew it was possible to feel something so intensely, especially for someone I don't even know in person ! How can an experience like this can be so two-faced ? Just like water and oil, those events, good and bad, coexist in my brain yet it can't fully incorporate them into each other. Yes, my life will never be the same but if I could, would I like to go back ? 

Jake. Oh my god, I don't know if you're still down there, if you managed to escape or if the FBI finally gets its hands on you. You promised me that you wouldn't get caught and that we would meet in Duskwood. You always keep your promises, so it means that you're okay right ? The uncertainty makes my foot push harder on the accelerator. 

So many things turn and turn again inside my foggy head. If someone could see my face right now, they could see all the different emotions interchange as my train of thoughts progresses. Suddenly, my satnav pull me back to reality and announce my destination in 1 kilometer. I shake my head to regain my senses. Now is not the time to process what's happening. I need to focus on making sure that Richy is safe and to know if the FBI is there for Jake or not. I drive a little more before parking alongside the forest, near the blocked road. Locking my car, i walk to the gate, now opened to let the police cars get in. Alan told me that there was approximatively 800 meters of walk before approaching Grimrock. No one is here, they must all be at the top already. I need to make it quickly.

The road is made of pebbles and dirt, and it ascends quite a bit. I feel my phone buzzing non-stop from texts. I know that my friends must have seen the footage of Richy removing his MWAF mask and Jessy in an uncontrollable state. I'm sorry guys, I don't have time right now to give you more informations on what's happening. At least, they know that Hanna is out of danger. Speeding up my space, I can see some lights ahead. Blue and red alternating. However, I see something else : a deep yellow and orange glow. I don't know what it is yet but my instinct told me that I need to go even faster ! At the same time, I hear a siren screaming behind me. I have only a second to dash on the side of the road before a fire truck rush past me and goes to those lights. 

No no no no no no ! What have you done Richy ?! Please be okay ! Please Jake, I need you to be safe ! I beg both of you ! I run to those lights, tears streaming down my face. I can smell the smoke. I nearly trip over some bigger rocks but I don't give a damn. My only goal is to reach that waterfall !

Out of breath, I'm finally coming to a clearing where I see people running in all directions. Duskwood police officers, FBI, firefighters, medics. Everybody is so focus on the commotion that no one cares for my presence. And I don't care for them either. The only thing I focus on is the flames dancing before my eyes. There aren't many but they all come from that hole in the ground, and that is the entrance of the mine where Richy and Jake were not too long ago. I seems like the gate to Hell itself.

It can't be. No, it is not possible that they both trap in there. I know that they had reached the second exit that Jake used to get in. They have to. I can't catch my breath. I don't know if it's from the race, the dense smoke the fear of seeing love ones dying, or a mix of everything. The scene is blurry due to my eyes being overwhelmed by tears. Focus Mathilde, you need to find answers. That's the best way to understand the situation and to try to help everyone. Getting back to reality, I reconnect finally with my surrounding. I look around and that's when I hear it : a crying scream. I look in its direction and I could not mistake the person from which that cry comes. I've seen that face so many times on my screen.

That's her. That's Hanna.

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Author's note : Hi everyone ! I hope you enjoyed that first chapter of Duskwood : Dawn ! I'm excited to share this story with you because, like many of you, Duskwood has such a big place in my heart that I felt the need to share what, in my mind, went after the end of chapter 10. I'm also very nervous for two reasons. First, I haven't write something in a veeery long time on Wattpad and I was 15 the last time (when my writing skill was not the finest should i say..). Second, It's the first time that I write a story in English ! Since it's not my first language, I apologize in advance for mistakes that can be left out, even thought I take every precautions to avoid them. Feel free to tell me when you spot one ! 

Feel also free to like and comment if the beginning of this story suits you ! I will try to maintain a certain schedule for posting, I'll keep you update on the community tab ;)

Take care and see you on chapter II ! :)