A Plagued Winter

Chapter 17

As I watched the blood pool in a devastating circle around me, soaking my sock-covered feet, it becomes clear that I was too late to save him. I begin to wonder if I ever really had that chance at all.

Carlee

His blood still remained a fresh trail on the grass. I don't use his name, it doesn't feel right to say after his death. Especially when I had no idea who he was, and now I never will.

I tried to swallow down the horrified sobs that were building up in my chest and with the cries around me for some other outcome that will never be given a try, it was easy to drown out.

"The exit is over this way!" Mikey was telling everyone.

Somewhere in my mind I heard him shout and knew exactly where he was talking about without having to look up. I couldn't get myself to stop replaying the image of the monster feasting in front of my very eyes. It was done purposely that much, I was sure. That thing... It wasn't random. It was smart. It was an animal made to hunt with intelligence. It had tried to scare us and it worked.

I only looked up from my spiraling thoughts when Andre spoke in a wavering voice.

"Thought you said the exit was back here?" Andre seemed to permanently be glaring whenever he looked at Mikey but a flicker of panic crossed his eyes behind it.

"I-it it is I know it is, Carlee get over here and tell me I'm not crazy." Mikey waved at me with his hand and I met them at the edge of the trees.

To enter and exit the Ghost Hole officially, there was only one pathway. The one most people take because of it's super obvious entrance. The others are a series of makeshift trails that you can take if you are already in the forest and making your way back towards the Ghost Hole. Before you can see the opening of the clearing, there's a thin layer of trees that sort of hides the Ghost Hole; but that didn't make it extremely secluded. Really, there were probably only about 12 scattered trees that created the said layer.

Andre grabbed my hand when I tried to step into the layer of trees and gave me a look that I couldn't decipher. I squeezed his hand reassuringly and he released me after a short pause with a hesitant frown. Then, I went off to check for the exit.

I walked into the woods instantly leaving behind lamp light from the party as I did. I knew the entrance like the back of my hand. So, the light really wasn't needed for guidance; it was merely a comfort. Soon, I started walking too far and I began to notice this because the steps I kept taking weren't supposed to be taken. I should've walked out of the woods by now....

I squinted and tried to find sources of light between the gaps in the trunks that would've came from houses and streetlights nearby. I was only met with the now, black backdrop of the night sky, and endless trees.

Unnerved, I jogged back to the clearing and consolted with Mikey.

"I can't find the exit. It should've been back there.... All I could see were trees... They just keep going." I kept my voice a low whisper so that the others wouldn't freak out anymore than they already have.

"I know, that's what I saw too... Should we take another exit?" Mikey whispered back.

"The second most reliable one is going through the sewer tunnels... There's no way anyone is going to be willing to walk out into the forest." I thought out loud.

Andre cut in, " Sewer tunnels? Are you serious?"

"We don't have any other safe places. Unless you wanna take a pathway through the trees and chance facing that thing in the dark." I hissed and Andre placed his hands on the back of his head in worry.