The Woods

•Chapter 4•

The car drove steadily down the rain soaked road. The five passengers looked out at the scenic forest that ran parallel to the elevated road. "Hey, hey you guys. We should totally go rafting. This town has an awesome river for that kind of stuff." Kennedy said turning to face the three girls in the back. They laughed. Allison looked out at the open road. "I think that'd be fun. Where do we go to like, get the stuff." She asked looking at Kennedy. "I don't know. The rafting store." Kennedy said laughing. All the girls giggled. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, but a dim glow still lit the empty street. The girls nodded dreamily, they had been driving for 8 hours straight, plus Kennedy had supplied them with some Mary Jane from her favorite sock monkey. Allison's eyelids felt heavy, and they began to fall. She had smoked just as much as everyone else, but thought she would be OK to drive. "Its not that far, it'll be OK." She had said when her friends asked if she was able. The car went silent as Allison drove farther down the road. Suddenly Taylor gave out a scream. Allison opened her eyes to see an 18 wheeler heading straight towards them. BAM! The cars collided sending all the passengers flying forward. Allison saw a large log flying towards her, she looked over to see Kennedy gone from the passenger seat, and Sonya climbing out the back window. Then, the world went black. Allison awoke in a small hospital room. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to focus on her surroundings. As she came to, she felt a strange feeling in her throat. It was as if she was chocking on something. As she was trying to raise from her bed a nurse who had been checking the charts of the bed next door ran over. "Oh sweetie calm down. Here, lay back down, it's OK. Let me take that tube out." Her voice was sweet and soft, it comforted Allison. She removed the breathing tube that was in Allison's throat and put more pain medication in her IV. "I'll go get you some food." The nurse said as she propped Allison up on the pillows. After the nurse left Allison could hear her talking to someone. It sounded like multiple voices, they sounded worried and concerned. A few minutes later she saw her friends enter the room. Taylor wore a sling on her left arm, and had multiple scratches and bruises on her face and arms. Allison noticed a particularly ugly looking scar going across her eye. Sonya had a casted leg, and Lyndsey didn't seem to have any serious injuries, except for a few scrapes. They walked over to Allison, they looked as if they had been crying, but Allison had no idea why. "Oh my god! You're awake!" Sonya yelled as she wrapped her arms around Allison. "Sonya be careful, she's still recovering." Lyndsey said trying to pull her back. Her and Taylor gently hugged Allison. Allison looked at the trio with confusion. What happened? She thought. The last thing she remembered was a log flying towards her face, then nothing. "Www-what hhh-happened?" Allison asked, her voice unexpectedly shaky. "We were in a car crash with a logging truck. You were hit in the head by a log. You suffered massive bleeding in your brain, they thought...." Lyndsey said trailing off, she didn't finish. "They thought what?" Allison asked looking at them all individually. No one answered. Taylor finally spoke, "They thought, that you wouldn't wake up." She said looking at the ground. Allison stared at the foot of the bed. It was then that she noticed that Kennedy wasn't there. "Where's Kennedy?" The three girls all stared at her, their faces turning pale. Their eyes filled with tears, as they finally found a voice. It was Sonya's. "She," she said trying to force out the words. "She didn't make it." She said breaking into tears. "She was thrown from the car, and her, her neck was broken by the impact with the road." Lyndsey said fighting a losing battle to keep back her tears. Allison's mouth was agape as she stared out the large window on her left. Tears filled her eyes, she felt something deep inside her rise to her throat. A heartbreaking scream escaped her lips as she jumped out of the bed. She took off down the dim hallway, not caring where she was going. After running for what seemed like an eternity, Allison fell to the ground weeping and wheezing. Her sight went fuzzy and her head felt light, then blackness. Allison opened her eyes to find that she was standing in a small opening in a dark wood. She looked around confused, then she saw something. Standing in front of her was Kennedy. Her skin was a pale green, her eyes red as if they were filled with blood. Her neck was broken and her bone protruded from the rotten skin. Her limbs were gnarled and decaying, she looked at Allison with a face of stone. Allison stared back terrified. A blood curdling scream filled the air, breaking the silence that encapsulated them. "You." Kennedy said pointing one of her disfigured fingers toward Allison. "You did this to me! You! YOU!!!" Kennedy screamed lunging forward.

Allison woke up screaming, drenched in a cold sweat. Sonya was sitting in front of her with her hands on her shoulders. Taylor and Lyndsey sat in the bed next to them staring at her concerned. Allison calmed down and took slow breathes, closing her eyes. "Are you OK?" Sonya asked studying Allison's face. Allison opened her eyes and said in a shaky tone, "Yyy-yeah, it was, just a nn-nightmare." Sonya lowered her hands from Allison's shoulders, and rose off the bed. She walked over to the small mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She handed it to Allison. Allison took small, slow sips, her hand shaking furiously. The girls watched as she drank almost half the bottle. She sat it on the oak nightstand and slid back down in the bed, raising the cover to her chin. She then noticed that her face was covered with tears. She looked at her friends as they watched her. She looked out the window towards Elmore Woods, the image of Kennedy remained in her mind and she was suddenly overcome with an unexplained feeling of dread. Sleep claimed her once again and all her thoughts evaporated as the world went black.