Are we out of the woods yet? (The GC)

Chapter 14

The three girls had been walking through the woods in the direction of the howl they had heard for around 15 minutes and still hadn't found a single soul. They hadn't spoken much, the nervous energy that hung over the group was too heavy to cut through with their pointless small talk and they were all too focused on something else anyway. Killing the hyde. Or more accurately, killing Henrik, one of their best friends.

All three of the girls were fighting a war in their mind, trying to get over the huge task of having to kill someone they once cared so much about.

Jess couldn't even bring herself to kill a random man she had never met before so her mind was swimming with doubts about herself and her bravery, or rather her lack of bravery. The only think that was pushing her forward was the idea of getting revenge for her friends who had brutally been murdered.  She could still picture Raven, laying lifeless on the ground in her own blood. And the image of Sam having her head ripped off by Henrik had yet to leave her mind since it happened. It was the only one of their friend's deaths that they were forced to witness and it had haunted them all since.

Lisa and Gemma had both managed to kill the men in the cave but killing a stranger and killing someone who you considered one of your best friends only yesterday was a very different thing.  They had already gotten revenge for Caitlin's death and both girls realised that it didn't make anything any better, it didn't fix anything. Caitlin and all their other friends would still be dead no matter what they did. The only thing they could do now was try to protect each other.

From their right, down a large hill, the group heard a growl and spotted the hyde looking for them down by the river. The group all shared a wide eyed glance, making a silent pact to be as silent as they possibly could to avoid the monster turning to them and coming straight for them. Lisa took a step forward to get a closer look, taking the bow from her holster on her back as slowly as she could to avoid making any unnecessary noise. She then slid a sharp arrow from the holster and slid it into the bow, pulling back the string and taking aim at the vicious beast.

Gemma and Jess stood still, holding in their breath as they watched their friend aim with hammering hearts. Lisa had never shot a bow and arrow before so she was silently freaking out because she had no clue what she was doing. That was probably the cause of her terrible miss. The arrow went flying straight over the hyde's head, doing absolutely nothing other than drawing Henrik's attention to the group.

All three girls looked at the beast, their eyes widening in fright. "Run!" Gemma yelled turning on her heel and booking it through the forest in the opposite direction from where Henrik was.

Lisa turned too, sprinting away from the danger zone and leaving Jess there, limping away from the monster that was looming behind her. "Oh fuck!" She yelled as she attempted to run, the pain in her abdomen becoming overwhelming. She knew she couldn't run so the only thing she could do was turn and fight. 

She quickly stopped, reached into her holster to grab the hunter's knife she was carrying. The blade was a decent bit bigger than the knife that Raven used to initially stab the hyde and the knife was bordering on being a sword, but it wasn't quite big enough. The tip of the knife was slightly hooked unlike a kitchen knife and there was probably some explanation for why it was useful for hunting that Jess didn't know.

She turned herself around, baring the knife in her shaking hand as the monster made its way towards her. She pulled her arm back just in time as the beast swung its claws towards her torso, she brought the knife down swiftly and the blade pierced the skin on Henrik's arm. 

The blade didn't go deep into his arm, instead only making a gash on the edge of his arm from the sharp blade. Jess stumbled backwards, tripping over a tree stump and falling onto the ground as Henrik let out a loud growl of pain. Jess hadn't done as much damage as she had hoped and Henrik was able to advance on her one more, this time having the high ground.