The Woods (GxG)

Chapter V

   We sprinted down the hallway and into the spare room. My hand instinctively went to cover my mouth, tears welling in my eyes.

   Amy hung from the ceiling fan, stripped naked, the words "it made us do it" carved into her stomach, the same jagged lines as Elsa's wound.

   Blood pooled around her on the floor, dripping down her bare legs, droplets falling from her toes.

   I quickly spun around, charging out of the room, the whispers filling my ears once again. I covered them, closing my eyes, images of the figure flashing behind them. "Shut up!" I yelled.

   Elsa ran up behind me, grabbing my shoulders. "Peyton..? Who're you talking to..?"

   "The whispers... I can hear what they're saying..." I replied, collapsing to my knees as the whispers grew louder.

   "What're they saying?" Elsa asked.

   "You're all going to die here... One by one... Bloody, violent deaths..." I continued repeating the words as they flowed through my ears, the threats becoming more and more vulgar the longer they went.

   "Ok... Please stop..." Elsa begged, but I couldn't, the words kept spilling past my lips, harsher, darker.

   "What is she doing?" I heard Ashley ask.

   Suddenly, my eyes shot open, peering down the dark hallway, the flash of red eyes lighting up the walls.

   Elsa let out a scream as the eyes faded out.

   I got to my feet, determination and adrenaline fueling my movements.

   Ashley followed close behind me as I charged the front door, ripping it open, screaming into the night air. "What do you want from us!? Why are you doing this!?"

   Ashley pulled me back inside, slamming the door shut, the whispers suddenly ceasing.

   My chest heaved as I breathed in and out, feeling light headed, my knees weak.

   Ashley sat me on the couch as Noah led Elsa into the living room. "Ok, we have to get out of here." He said.

   "How? The cars won't start." Ashley replied.

   "We'll walk, then." I added.

   "It's to dark... I'm scared, Peyton..." Elsa said softly, her body trembling.

   Noah stood tall, looking between us. "I'll go..."

   Ashley stepped in front of him. "Noah... You can't... Not without me..."

   He rested his hands on her cheeks. "You're safer here with everyone else... We don't know what's in those woods... I can't put you in danger..."

   She let a few tears leak out. "You better come back to me, do you hear me?"

   He nodded, giving her a soft kiss, before heading back down the hallway, returning a minute later with the shotgun.

   We all watched as he stopped at the door. "I'm gonna get help... I'll be back before you know it..."

   And, with that, he was gone...

   The minutes ticked by slowly... Everyone sectioned themselves off. I still sat on the couch, whispering to myself. Elsa leaned against the wall, picking at her bandage. Ashley paced the length of the room, cracking her knuckles. She was nervous. Anxious. I can't say I blamed her.

   Two of our friends were already dead. What killed them was still a mystery. It could be lurking in those woods as we speak. The figure. What was it? What did it want? Elsa saw it, she had to. Which meant I wasn't imagining it. It was real. The whispers, were they coming from that thing?