𝙃𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙋𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙎 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙄𝘽𝘽𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝘿𝙎; 𝙃𝙊𝙊𝘿𝙔

Chapter 13

I walked out of the library after taking an hour to study. It was tiring, but still necessary. My body collided with someone and I jumped, taking a quick step back, which allowed me to regain my balance. I made eye contact with warm brown eyes, which caused a smile to cross my face.

"Hey Stacy!" I greeted joyfully, to which she happily greeted me back.

"Hiya, (Y/n)! Wanna go on a walk with me?"

I shrugged, still retaining my smile. I didn't personally see a problem with it and I didn't have anything to do, so why not. "Sure! Do you mind if we drop off my bag first?"

Stacy shook her head and grabbed my hand, pulling me to the dorm building. She skipped and hummed a happy tune, her feet making noises on the smooth concrete. "I was thinking about going on the short trail through the woods. What do you think?"

My breathing stopped for a few seconds as my heart grew heavy. The mark burned a little on my right hip, spreading no further than the lines. I could practically hear Hoody yelling at me to say no in the back of my head, but I ignored it in order not to make Stacy suspicious of me in any way. "That should be fine, but we have to get back before dark."

"We've got plenty of time!"

We stood, flashlights in our hands, in case we needed them as we walked side by side. We had stopped for a snack and informed our roommates of what we were doing while dropping off our bags. Katie had given me a slightly worried look, but had let me go anyway.

I paused, staring at the trees as a heavy feeling grew in my gut. Something wasn't right. "Stacy, maybe we shouldn't go through the forest. We could just continue walking along a path outside the forest."

She pouted, her plump bottom lip popping out as she gave me puppy dog eyes. "Please, (Y/n). You said we could go in there." I wanted to say no, but something in me made me just give up.

"Fine, but we turn back at the first sign of any sort of danger."

I couldn't help the shaky breath that left me as I followed behind Stacy, who was strangely calm for her personality. As soon as I took one step onto the darkening trail, a small bit of static began ringing in my head. The forest looked darker than it should have been, especially at this time.

"Stacy, how long is this trail?"

"Half an hour." Her voice was flat, which pushed fear in my heart. We were hardly even five minutes into the trail, but I couldn't see the entrance if I looked back. The static was growing louder the further we walked, and so was the unease.

Something about those warm brown eyes on my friend had turned cold as her face revealed no emotions. "Stace?" I asked quietly, earning no response, not even a glance.

She stopped, staring into the forest, which made me halt. With no hesitation, Stacy took off running in the direction she was staring at, dropping her flashlight in the process.

It took me a few moments to process what she'd done before I quickly took off after her, turning on my flashlight. Fear chilled me to my bones as my friend barely managed to stay in my eyesight. I knew better than to call out in a forest, but that didn't mean I didn't want to.

Out of the corner of my eye, a figure followed. I couldn't see much other than the featureless, white face that seemed too high up for a human. I gasped as I locked my eyes onto it. My gut told me I knew exactly who it was. The Operator.

My foot caught on a root. I flailed my arms and my flashlight flew from my panicked fingers. "Fuck!" I let out quietly as I made contact with the ground, my face smashing harshly into the dirt. Pain exploded in my body from the impact and I quickly pushed my body into a sitting position, so I wasn't inhaling dirt.

I scrambled to grab my flashlight and shone the light in each direction I looked. No Stacy. No tall, faceless figure. There was no one. Nothing.

The forest seemed still. Empty.

That can't be good.