Short Stories: Horror/Mystery

In the Woods

"Get away from me!" Addie screamed.

Addie ran through the forest at top speed. Tree branches were scraping her face, the rain soaking her clothes, she didn't feel anything as she tried to escape.

*****

Addie was a typical teenager, at almost sixteen. She loved being outside climbing trees, playing in the river, and catching frogs. She often hung out with her best friend, Dani. They were both kind of tom boys, absolutely refusing to wear dresses. They always had lots of fun when at sleepovers, watching horror movies, and playing pranks.

One night when Addie's parents went out they had Nicki Minaj blasting through the speakers in her room. It was already dark outside and nothing could be seen from her windows. They sat down on the bed just listening to the music when Dani saw a flash from the window out of the corner of her eye.

"Turn the music down for a sec!" Dani yelled.

"What's wrong?" Addie asked after turning down the music.

"I think I saw something outside." Dani replied.

"Let's go investigate." Addie said with a sly smile on her face.

They went downstairs to get two flashlights and light sweatshirts and went outside. They looked around the yard for a couple minutes when Addie spotted something shiny at the edge of the trees.

"Look over there!" Addie said.

They walked over to where Addie saw the flash.

"I don't see anything." Dani said.

"Let's look deeper into the forest." Addie replied.

They walked deeper into the forest trying to be as silent as possible with all the dried twigs underfoot. They shut off their flashlights so they wouldn't scare whatever was out here away. They walked about fifty feet into the forest when they heard a shuffling to their left. They both froze in place and slowly turned their heads to the left.

It was too dark to see anything, even each other without flashlights. Addie slowly reached for hers while Dani started breathing hard. Addie flipped on the light and screamed. Dani was a few feet away from her tied to a tree with rope. Her mouth was gagged and tears were streaming down her face. Addie still heard the heavy breathing that she first thought was Dani standing behind her. She started shaking and the flashlight started rattling. She slowly turned to face whatever had tied her best friend to the tree.

She finally got it within the light and panicked. She dropped the light and ran for the house.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" Dani yelled.

"I promise I will come back for you!" Addie gasped still running.

Suddenly her feet came out from under her and she fell to the ground face first, hitting her head, then blacking out.

Addie woke up to darkness. She touched her head and felt a large bump near her ear. She closed her eyes and flashes of what happened came rushing in on her. She forced her eyes open and started to hyperventilate.

"Addie!"

Addie stopped, listening.

"Addie!"

"Dani?" She yelled back.

"Addie! Help me!" Dani screamed.

"Where are you?" Addie asked.

"I'm still tied to the tree." Dani said.

"Hold on!" Addie yelled.

Addie tried to get up but her pounding head pushed her back to the ground. The pain was so fierce, like a million tiny lightning bolds slicing through her skull. She tried to get up again but the searing pain forced her down again.