Cath came racing up the rock, screaming:
"Freedom!" I ran over to her and grabbed her by the arm. She looked at me, and for a second her features turned confused. But as soon as I loosened my grip, she sprinted over and grabbed my spear, screaming. She kept running, and I hit the ground to avoid getting skewered, sending dirt flying everywhere. I jumped at her, and grabbed her arms, ripping the spear out of her hands and throwing it off the edge. Her foot flew up and connected with my jaw, and blood began to dribble down my chin. I ran forwards and grabbed her by the head, converting any strength I had left into pressure.
"Sorry Cath." I said to her. The last thing I saw from her eyes was a look of pure anger. She slapped me, and fell to the ground. Mikayla screamed,
"You killed her!"
"No, I didn't." I said quietly. "You need to calm dow-"
"She's dead! And it's your fault!" She yelled at me.
"Calm down, she's fine. Just uncon-" she cut me off again, shouting swears.
"Just shut up!" I roared. "She went crazy, like Ella and Eli. Even if I couldn't save them, at least I could do something. She's fine, only unconscious. So just calm. The hell. Down." I took a deep breath. "All we can do right now is get her back to the others and tie her the hell up so that she doesn't die. Clear?"
She swallowed. "Crystal." I picked up Cath and started walking back to our hut.
Toby and Raphael had finally started with the wall idea. Logs were strewn across the ground, and a small ring had been dug around our hut and the one closest to us, with about ten square metres of space in between, plus the various berry bushes and our little fire pit. I stepped over the tiny ditch and put Cath down in the other hut. Just as I had let go, her muscles spasmed. She lashed out, knocking me over, and then simply woke up.
"What the hell happened? And why do my temples hurt so much?" She said as she started to sit up, only to fall over again afterwards.
"You went insane. Completely. You tried to throw yourself off a cliff."
"Oh god," she muttered, then turned to me and said, "did anyone else go crazy? And if so, did anyone else die?" My face dropped, and I turned away from her gaze.
"Oh." She said quietly. Emily walked in, and asked,
"Where are Ella and Eli? No one knows." Guilt and sadness ate away at me. I ran out of the hut, and started running towards the lake, where I go when I need to think.
I sat on the bank, the water lapping at my feet. Some of the pebbles shifted behind me. I grabbed my bow, strung an arrow and turned, ready to fire. Then I realized that I was holding Raphael at point blank. He yelped,
"Christ, man! Can no one sneak up on you anymore?!"
"Not if they want to risk getting shot. If I hadn't seen it was you, you would probably be dead right now.. I thought it was a wolf." I said without lowering my bow.
"I was only going to tickle you." He muttered with a tone of fake hurt.
A small grin escaped my lips. "Then you'd definitely be dead." My face turned solemn again.
"What do you want." I said in a low voice.
"Eli's dead, isn't he." He asked. I nodded courtly.
"He went crazy like Cath, right?"
"Eli and Ella. Both gone. Off the cliff, both thought they saw something, something that could bring us back home. There was nothing there, but they still were freaking out. They both jumped, and I couldn't catch either of them. I only caught Cath because when I saw her running up the hill, I had finally figured out what was happening to people." I replied.
"Eli was one of my best friends," he said to me, "and Cath is one of yours. So are you sure that you have the best intentions?"
"Shut the hell up," I said through gritted teeth as I took a step towards him. "You know that I tried as best I can, and that Eli and Ella were friends of mine just as well as mine, and I did everything that I could think of at the moment."
"Which was nothing," he spat, "because you don't have any goddamn feelings, so why couldn't you just not have a brain?"
"I have feelings just as much as anyone else, and more of a brain then you. And you're starting to piss me off. So, leave. Now." He stormed away, leaving me in peace once again.
Dinner was quiet. I had come back from the lake with a couple fish, and someone else had caught some sort of gamey animal that resembled a fanged deer. I ate quickly, and went to sleep right after.
Fire was everywhere. The roof of the hut was smouldering, and a falling piece of ash well on my head as I stood up. I saw Toby, Raphael, Emily, Mikayla and Cath all standing back to back, staring at some terror unseen to me. I grabbed my bow, which was surprisingly still completely intact, and ran towards them. When I reached them, Emily's eyes met mine and she mouthed two words: behind you. I turned and she pulled me back into the ring of people. Then the fire came. A full circle of flames erupted around us, and began to close in slowly. Feral dogs put together from ash and flame danced in the fire, their hungry eyes watching from inside their hellish home. It came closer and closer, until they sprung. One hit Mikayla and Cath, turning them to ash. Another leapt onto Raphael and Toby, biting at their throats. The last simply charged at Emily and took off her arm. She let out a scream of pain, but it was quickly swallowed by the roaring fire. But then... It stopped. All the fire and the demonic dogs, all gone. Emily fell to her knees, clutching the stump that used to be her arm. I ran towards her and dropped down beside. She looked at me, no tears at all running down her face.
"Goodbye, Logan." She said. Her eyes closed, and the fire erupted once more. The demon dog leapt at me, it's jaws about to reach my throat, and-
I shot upright from my bed, screaming and sweaty. Toby took a look at me, my bloodshot eyes and screaming, and ran straight out screaming,
"Logan got possessed by a demon!" I calmed down let out a laugh and went outside to see him.
"I'm fine, I just had a... Unnerving dream." I told him.
"Oh. Heh..." He muttered sheepishly. I laid back down and fell asleep again. Thankfully, this time, no nightmares came.
