Truth or Dare... and Die

Chapter 4

At first, the dry creekbed seemed to be just that, a natural occurrence of no importance. However, the fresh dirt surrounding the indentation and foul smell emanating from it suggested something much more sinister at play. Cody held my hand a little too tightly, indicating a hidden fear of what we might have stumbled upon, as I instinctively hid behind him. "C..Cody? Wh... what's in there...? I'm sc..scared," I stuttered as fear crept into my veins.

"Shh...don't give yourself a panic attack. I don't know, but I guess we're about to find out. Don't be scared, I've got you, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise," he consoled.

However, he was the one who screamed at what we saw. Bodies, children's bodies. Dozens of them, strewn bloody and decomposing in a mass of flesh, dirt, and bones. Their eyes... oh God, their eyes were staring directly at us, discolored and crawling with maggots. Some were missing limbs, mouths stuck wide in what must have been their last cry for help. The closest thing to a dead person I had ever seen was a mannequin, and neither one of us had ever experienced such horror. When I saw the horror on his face, I didn't know what to do or say. I tried to scream but no words formed out of stupefying fear. Cody turned to run, and as he did so my hand slipped from his grasp, allowing me to stumble backwards... into the pit.

I found my voice as I realized what was about to happen. "CODY!!! Help me!" He rushed to my aid, but instead of pulling me up, Cody tripped on a tree root, or what we thought was a tree root, and fell down with me, somehow managing to slow me down before we hit the horrible mass at the bottom. Despite his efforts to shield me, I felt my head crack against something solid, something that felt like... teeth. I heard him quietly sob as everything went red, then a deep black... I don't know how long I was out, but the moon was hidden behind a deep fog when I awoke to a throbbing pain in my head and Cody desperately whispering my name.

"Niah... Niah, you're alive! I... you wouldn't wake up, wouldn't.. wake up... I ... " he mumbled as I groggily looked around. We were still in the pit, but Cody had managed to move us to a small corner of ground with no bodies on it. "Awen't dey looky fur uh doe?" I put my hand over my mouth as I realized that I was speaking complete gibberish. Cody looked worried. "No one's come looking. I heard footsteps, and I thought mens' voices, but then they were gone. Can you stand? I think I can climb out and then lift you up, if you're up to it." I nodded my head, not wanting to speak again.

Cody was able to get himself out of the pit, and then pulled me up, making sure to be extra careful since I was hurt. Once back on safer ground, he inspected my head; sure enough, there were deep teeth marks. I must've landed on one of the open mouths; it still makes me shudder just thinking about it. We ran back to the clearing when we started to hear low, gravelly voices. I don't know why we thought that would be any safer; I guess Cody just wanted to find the others as soon as possible. But.. when we arrived... we were shocked to see our friends cowering together, shaking and crying. "Hey, you guys! What's wrong? We've got to get out of here!!" Cody yelped.

Dylan looked up with tear-stained eyes. "Hey.. we.. they.. said you were dead.." "They, who's they?" Cody inquired as I dizzily crumpled to the ground, blood rushing through my head. "The.. the large men. We said we were waiting on our friends, and they..they told us to be quiet or we'd get killed too. They were talking about you.. weren't they?

"I.. it doesn't matter, we just need to get out of here right now. You don't want to know what we found. Clara, Charity, get up and start running, Stay together. Dylan, help me carry Niah, she's hurt bad." Cody seemed naturally good at getting people to listen; I guess because his father was once in the military. And so we ran. Or rather, they ran and I got carried, as I was growing weaker by the minute.

As we got up to the gate, we heard footsteps not far behind us. Clara and Charity were already waiting in the development as Dylan squeezed in and Cody handed me through while scurrying in after me. We ducked down, hiding behind some old bushes; out of sight as the footsteps slowed, then ran back in the opposite direction accompanied by a foul stench and cursing. That's when I blacked out; I remember waking up back in Cody's yard with a headache and a t-shirt tied around my head. In that tent, we promised to never speak of these events again, until we were old enough to go back and investigate more. Therefore, we told my parents I had fallen and bumped my head on a sharp stick. My parents believed anything I said, so they didn't question to amount of blood loss. I did have a concussion, but after a few days of rest and a couple minor blood transfusions, I was back to normal. Well, nearly normal. I carry those teeth marks still as a scar, and my already troubled mind grew even more troubled. But that's enough about the past; I'll go back to the present.