Blackstone Island

Part 5 - Cleanse

Mona, Cole and Elliot slowly trudged through the woods, glancing about in slight fear that somebody would leap from the trees and attack them. Every so often, somebody would jolt in surprise and terror at the slightest of noises, causing everyone to panic for a moment. They were all beside themselves with fear, despite not knowing what there was to be afraid of. Mona groaned in annoyance after their fifth or so time grouping up. "This is getting ridiculous! We can't be so jumpy, otherwise we won't be able to react when there's an actual threat!" She exclaimed, stomping her foot to punctuate her sentence and amplify her annoyance. "Can we please just find this godforsaken stream?! I'm about to pass out from exhaustion!" She sounded exasperated while shouting this. Elliot looked around frantically, before shushing Mona worriedly. "Please, miss Burton, lower your voice! You never know what unseen things are just behind the curtain!" He sounded utterly panicked. Cole chuckled nervously, patting Elliot on the back. "Relax, relax! Ain't nothin' out here that'll hurt us! C'mon, gettin' all worried like that ain't gonna do anythin' for us." He waved his hands to try and calm the other two down. Mona clicked her tongue, before stopping dead in his tracks. She stared directly ahead with wide eyes, slowly raising her arm and pointing straight ahead. "Look." The other two looked up ahead to see a slow stream of water trailing past. Elliot let out a satisfied sigh, relaxing his tensed body. "Thank the heavens, finally! My nerves are beyond shot!" They all hurried forward, relieved beyond belief they were nearly out of the woods.

Mona hesitated before the water, noticing how there was so much mud gathered up by the riverbank. She groaned, her shoulders drooping. "Do I really have to dirty my clothes? I'd rather not have mud stains for the foreseeable future." Cole laughed heartily, shaking his head. "Don't you worry, ma'am. I'm good with cleanin' clothes, once you're done I'll get those stains out before you can blink!" Mona looked up at Cole, before letting out a dramatic sigh. She begrudgingly got down onto her knees, taking her flask from her bag. Her necklace hung from her neck, almost touching the water as she scooped the streaming water into the flask. She closed the cap on it, before looking up to the two behind her. "You're not just going to watch, are you? Go find food, you two." She demanded, before looking away and covering her mouth to yawn.  Elliot and Cole met one another's gaze, before silently pointing behind them to signal the direction they were going. They quickly turned and walked off, leaving Mona kneeling by the river swaying ever so slightly as she fought off sleep.

Back at the camp, Ashley had been given a small notebook by Suzie. The mute woman was jotting things down in neat, small handwriting, all related to herself as a person. Her expression was melancholic as she wrote. Suzie was watching Ashley's every movement with great interest, but didn't dare speak a word out of fear of breaking Ashley's concentration. The only sound between them was the sound of the pencil scratching against the page. After a long while, Ashley finally finished writing and slowly handed the notebook back to Suzie. The young woman began to read the neat, tidy handwriting. "This is tough for me to admit, even through writing, but... I have severe anxiety. My family has a long history of suffering from anxiety disorders, so I received a bad hand. In some situations, I am capable of speaking short sentences, but oftentimes I find speaking to be too mentally taxing to be worth it. When I was younger, any time I forced myself to speak to classmates, I was ignored or treated like a freak. Like I didn't belong. And so... I don't speak much anymore. I'm scared to. I'm sorry." The writing trailed off with a blotch of ink, as if Ashley stabbed the pen into the page. Suzie slowly set the notebook down onto her lap, letting the silence linger for a moment to let everything sink in. After a while, she softly spoke. "Ashley... I understand. The world can be so cruel... You definitely did not deserve such an unfair upbringing. I'm.. I'm so sorry." She turned to face Ashley, her eyes slightly misty as she held back tears. "I can relate in some ways to your story. I've struggled with anxiety a lot myself... but that means I can understand you better than most. And... I-I'm proud of you." She said gently, before wrapping her arms around Ashley. The other woman tensed slightly, before a few tears trickled down her face. She slowly let herself return the embrace as a warm smile appeared on her lips.

Meanwhile, at the stream, Mona had gradually dozed off beside the water, kneeling in the mud. She looked tranquil in the way she was sitting, her hands resting on her lap as she slept. Her flask lay beside her, in the middle of purifying the water from any bacteria. As she peacefully slept, somebody slowly crept up behind her. The figure was cautious with their steps, not making a single sound. As Mona finally begin to stir from her nap, she suddenly felt a hand on the back of her head. Before she even had time to react, her head was submerged in the water. She began to kick her legs and flail her arms as much as she could, trying to push and struggle away from the position. The air quickly left her lungs, the frantic movements only making it harder to breath. Mona felt a foot on her back, holding her down and compressing her body even more. She began to felt more and more faint, her vision slowly darkening. Her tears disappeared immediately with the flowing water as her body trembled weakly. She gradually began to fade away, and so with her last conscious moments, she prayed to the stars. And with that, her eyes slowly closed as her body went limp.

The figure moved their hand off Mona's head, leaving her body laying face down in the water. They quickly fled, not making a single sound with their steps. They disappeared into the woods, no sign of their presence at all.