The Woods

•Chapter 5•

The clock screamed loudly in Lyndsey's ear letting her know that it was 7:00. She rose slowly and unwanting out of the bed. As she got up, Lyndsey ruffled the cover, awaking Taylor. "Hmmm, ugh, what time is it?" She asked pulling the cover over her head. "Lyndsey walked over to the bathroom and entered. "Seven." She said shutting the door. Allison slowly opened her red, puffy eyes. The rest of her sleep had been filled with nothing, just utter white nothingness, no dreams. She was actually quite relieved, she'd rather have no dreams than the one she had last night. She thought back to this and cringed at the thought of Kennedy, "she looked so, horrible." Allison thought to herself as she slowly sat up in the bed. She decided that she wasn't going to let the nightmare affect their plans today. "We've been waiting for this too damn long." She thought as she watched Taylor walk over to the coffee maker. "Good morning." Taylor said brightly as she popped a French vanilla pod into the machine. "Morning." Allison yawned, stretching out her long arms. "Ow, you bitch." A tired voice came from behind Allison. She turned to see Sonya holding her hand over her eye. "Oh, sorry." Allison said trying to contain her laughter. "No you're not." Sonya said sitting up beside Allison. "Not really." Allison said through her laughter. Lyndsey walked out of the bathroom and sat down in a large, cushioned chair next to the window. She yawned and stretched out, "Well today's going to be fun."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ugh, it's already 5:15, why haven't they left yet?" Sonya asked looking uneasily through the windshield. "I don't know but if they don't leave soon we won't have enough daylight to get any good footage." Allison said. The two patrolmen sat in their green jeep watching nothing and saying less. The girls had made it here at 4:55 to make sure that they went in as soon as the men left, so they could get as much time in there as possible. But they had been waiting, hidden behind a wide oak tree and some shrubbery, for 20 minutes now and the men had never left, and they didn't look like they were going to anytime soon. "Are you sure there aren't any other paths we could take?" Lyndsey asked from the backseat. "All the other man-made paths are watched 24/7, and the lesser known ones are all blocked off by underbrush, and the rest lead off cliffs, and into ravines, so, no." Allison whispered, keeping her gaze forward. "Well if they don't leave then I guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow." Sonya said shrugging her shoulders. Just as the 4 of them were about to lose hope, the patrolmen started their engine. All four of the girls jumped and simultaneously ducked their heads so they couldn't be seen through the windows. The small jeep pulled out of the wide spot where it had been sitting and turned left up the road, moving farther and farther away from the girls. "Shoo, finally." Sonya exhaled. "Ok, let's get the stuff." Allison said jumping out of the car. The four of them got out and unlocked the trunk. They each grabbed a large bag filled with their equipment and some supplies. "Ok, let's hurry." Allison said. They ran toward the path and stopped just short of the tree line. They all gazed forward with amazement. The day was very bright and sunny, one of the hottest days that month. The ground outside of the forest was bathed in a radiating glow. But the forest seemed to be pitch black, only a few slim shards of sunlight made their way through the thick canopy atop the trees. It looked as if it were night within the forest, and, although the day was clear and bright, a strange fog covered the ground beyond the trees. A shiver ran down Lyndsey's spine and she shook violently. The same shiver ran down Sonya's spine and she did the same. A cold breeze rushed out of the woods and smacked the four head on, pushing them back. They all stood speechless, hesitating to go any further. "Well, this outta be interesting." Taylor said with a slight look of fear in her eyes. The four slowly pushed closer to the woods, staying as close to each other as possible. Finally they broke the threshold of the tree line and entered the dark domain. There was an instant drop in temperature. Allison gasped as the quick change took her by surprise. "Are you ok?" Sonya asked. "Did you all feel that too?" Allison asked looking shocked. "You mean how it got really cold all of sudden, yeah, I felt it." Lyndsey said, rubbing her upper arm to try and warm it. The four of them stood just beyond the tree line examining the forest. They heard the caw of crows and ravens all around them and Lyndsey could swear that she heard a light humming on the wind. Taylor suddenly jumped as she heard a terrifying sound come from the unseen end of a small path to her right. The noise sounded like circus music, very faint, but loud enough to be noticeable. She slowly started backing away and accidentally ran into Lyndsey. "What are you doing Taylor?" Lyndsey asked moving away from her. "Can you guys not hear that?!" Taylor asked growing frantic. "Hear what Taylor? There's no noise except the birds." Allison said looking at Taylor with skepticism. "You mean you can't hear that, I can hear it perfectly!" Taylor shouted. "What is it Taylor? What's the noise?" Sonya asked growing impatient. "It's clown music! Its coming from over there!" Taylor screamed pointing down the desolate path. "Taylor," Allison said placing her hand on Taylor's shoulder. "There's no music coming from down there." Taylor looked down the path in disbelief, horror shrouding her eyes. "Ok, guys look. I think this forest has our nerves a little bit on edge, I mean it is pretty creepy." Allison said looking around the forest. "But we all need to just calm down and not let our imaginations get the best of us. It's just a forest, nothing more, nothing less. I know there are a lot of legends and myths about this place, but that's all they are. Legends and myths. So let's just calm down and go and get some footage before the patrolmen get back, we don't have a lot of daylight left." "As if that mattered." Lyndsey muttered looking down the dark path. The four all began to make their way down the path very slowly, Allison leading the way. "Making my way down town, walking fast, faces passed, and I'm home bound." Taylor started to sing trying to lighten the mood. "Do da do da da do." Allison sung, finishing the song. They all laughed and the tension grew less thick. By the time they made it down the path they were all in high spirits and forgetting all about the darkness that surrounded them. After about 20 minutes of walking, they finally came to the heart of the forest, a large open clearing that was flat and bordered by mountains on one side. Here it was not as dark as the rest of the forest, the canopy was thinner and more light was allowed through, but there was still a soft gray light that hung in the air, giving off a very pleasant feeling. Also, this place was not covered by the fog, the ground was visible and solid. No grass grew here though, the ground was a light, gray dirt. The whole perimeter was made up of tall trees except for the side the mountain bordered. On this side there were no trees even on the mountain itself, giving a clear, unobstructed view of its high peaks and steep slopes. "Alright, let's get to it." Allison said clapping her hands together and sliding the pack off her shoulder. The other girls sat their packs down as well. "Hey Lyndsey, come help me set this up." Allison said as she unzipped her pack and pulled the tripod out. Lyndsey ran over and helped set up the camera. Taylor and Sonya walked around the clearing, studying the scenery. "Oooo, I think that'll be a good shot, if we pan from the mountain to the forest in a big circle." Sonya said holding her hands open and placing her thumbs together while she moved in the direction. "We'll see, I'm the director here, you're just the narrator." Allison yelled across the clearing to Sonya. Sonya rolled her eyes and continued walking. "Ok guys, we're ready." Allison said excitedly as she stepped away from the camera. "Alright, let's document some shit."