Halloween Night

Chapter 5

Sarah sighed as she leaned back against a tree trunk at the edge of the large clearing, the point of her witch's hat drooping a bit more as if sensing her mood. This was all so wrong and so fucked up. They were supposed to be at the party having fun, finally getting rid of that cunt Regina, and now they were scattered to the winds and lost in who knows where?

She felt a flash of irritation, at all of them, but at herself most of all. She should have known better than to run at that noise. She did know better! Even while it was happening, she knew she should stop, knew that getting separated was a mistake, but she just couldn't keep herself from fleeing. She hadn't run far and had managed to make her way back to the eerie clearing but by then it was too late. The others were gone, and she had no idea which way they'd gone. Greg's car was there but it was locked, and it was Ally who had his spare key. At least it was off so that if one of them got back, they could use it and it wouldn't idle itself out of gas. But now what should she do?

She had watched enough of the survival shows she and Greg liked to know that trying to find the others would be a mistake. Especially in the dark and with coyotes out there; she'd heard that howl. There was a road here, which meant a way back to civilization. However, going off down it would also mean leaving no one here for any of the others who found their way back to find. She chewed on her lower lip. If her phone had signal, it would be a simple matter of calling for help and using the GSP to tell people where they were. But it seemed like this whole area was one big dead zone. She was worried about the others, but she didn't see what she could do that wouldn't be a mistake.

Suddenly she blinked, sniffing at the air. The night was cool and crisp but there another smell on the wind, wood smoke. A forest fire was unlikely, which meant it must be people! Sarah stepped away from the tree cover and out into the clearing proper, turning slowly to see if she could spot the smoke. There was a thin but visible column of it coming from the woods up the ridge and it looked closely! People might be able to get help, but it would mean leaving here, and if any of the others came back...well, they'd probably know enough to stay at the car. Or see the smoke themselves and head that way. Sarah took out her phone, for the light it cast off since she still had no signal and walked off towards the curls of smoke that twisted up away from the trees.

She walked for probably a good fifteen minutes and was getting more and more creeped out as she went along. She kept hearing things, not nearby, but hearing what sounded like branches snapping and movement in the woods. Nothing close enough to make her worried about her own safety, it all seemed far off, but it was also hard to judge distance in the woods like this. A few times she'd called her friends' names, but there had been no response.

Then ahead she saw a twinkle of light and her heart leaped in her chest. Yes! Light more than anything else meant people! She resisted the urge to rush forward, carefully picking her way towards the light. It would be really dumb to break an ankle now. After another few minutes she came out into a very small and very odd clearing that was filled almost fully by a structure that could only be called a cottage. It wasn't large at all, though it did sprawl a bit, and it seemed to be made of field stone and mortar. It had a tall stone chimney in the middle of what looked like an old slate roof with a wooden door and shutters that looked very old, bound with iron. The door didn't have a knob or a clear lock, just a metal ring like it was something out of a fantasy movie. The light she'd seen came from around the closed shutters and smoke was clearly rising from the chimney.

Great, she found people but from the looks of things it would be a miracle if they had a car or even an ATV, much less a phone. But it still meant shelter and help. Sarah sighed and started to walk to the door. It opened when she got within about ten feet of it, "Sarah, great!" The delicate looking girl paused; her eyes wide behind her glasses. A tall and beaming woman stood in the door, "I hoped it would be you. Come in, come in! It's got to be cold in that dress. Love your hat, by the way!"