Hunt of the Night

c h a p t e r o n e ( 3 r d p o v )

6:00 pm Friday

The full moon lit the pathway through the foggy air for the teens as they crowded around the tiny pavilion. They looked around at each other with confusion when they noticed there was not an authority figure present. That was until a peculiar woman appeared from the woods that lay before the pavilion.

Her dark, black hair was wound in tight curls that seemed to be straight out of an eighties movie. The black and red striped tights that clung to her stick thin legs lead up to a puffy, pink tutu that sat low on her hips. In contrast to her eccentric lower half, she wore a tight, plain polo shirt with a nametag that read "Tim".

"Hello! Welcome to the 15th annual Wake Forest Scavenger Hunt! My name is Autumn!" the woman's screechy voice pierced the calm night air. All the teens were looking at her with awkward expressions.

A boy wearing a beanie and cargo pants asked with a skeptical look on his face, spoke up first, "Is this a joke?" The girl next to him nudged him with her elbow, causing him to throw his hands in the air.

Autumn directed her gaze toward the boy, narrowing her eyes, "Your name is?"

"Wyatt," the boy answered, trying to cover up his discomfort like most of the other teens.

"Well... Wyatt... Why don't you go ahead and stand over there?" Autumn spoke slowly, like she was struggling to place the words in the appropriate order. She pointed her boney finger toward one of the wooden posts holding up the roof on the shack to her left.

Skeptical, Wyatt proceeded to his spot while Autumn directed three of the others to join him.

Autumn watched his every step, as if she was studying him. When he turned around, he noticeably swallowed, clearly uncomfortable with her heated gaze on him. When she was certain he wasn't going to act up, her features softened and the hard look in her eyes disappeared as fast as it had came. A wide, white smile spread across her lips as she turned to the rest of the group. "So, what are your names?" Autumn inquired as she stared at the four teens who stood awkwardly next to each other, her features conveying feigned innocence. When none of them answered, she continued to stare at the group, but tilted her head slightly to the side like a dog who heard its name.

Afraid of another outburst from Autumn, the girl next to Wyatt, who wore a tanktop and jeans with a flannel jacket wrapped around her waist said, "I'm Jamey."

The girl on the other side of Wyatt wore a black shirt and white shorts, and informed the crowd that her name was Amber. She used her pointer finger to push her glasses further up her nose.

"And your name?" Autumn asked as her eyes landed on the last person standing near the post. He was a scrawny boy, dressed in a white button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Suspenders held up his pants, which lay on top of a pair of clean loafers. A pair of thick, black glasses framed his round face.

"Mikie," he answered in a hushed tone.

"Well..." Her voice trailed off as she thought, "You four are the team captains." Autumn then turned her back to them, and began to choose who was going in each group.

Autumn stared down a girl dressed in a floral dress with matching dress shoes. "Flower girl, you're in Jamey's group."

She began to walk around the others, like a shark circling its prey. She hummed a tune unfamiliar to the teens as she studied the teens with a mysterious curiosity that made the hair on their bodies stand on end. As she walked around, she paid special attention the boy in the skinny jeans and band shirt. He reeked of weed and many other things, but was standing with his hands in his pockets. She said, "Smoky, you're also in Jamey's group." The boy didn't say anything else, but he walked to stand with the other two in his group.

"Could we hurry this up Timmy?" the guy in the varsity jacket huffed as he rolled his eyes.

Autumn paused, as if she was sizing the athlete up. She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Sure, you can head on over to Mikie's group, but be sure to text your Dad while you're at it. I'm sure he's wondering where his clothes went." Autumn replied with a tone full of sass as she prowled forward to her next victim.

Walking to the other boy, the impatient teenager mumbled under his breath. "My dad wears sweater vests."

The girl who was making sweater paws tried to avoid eye contact with Autumn, but failed. Her blue eyes came into contact with the older woman's before Autumn said, "You can join Wyatt."

"Yes ma'am." the girl's voice came out in a squeak as she scurried to stand next to the attractive guy nearly twice her size.

Autumn's eyes wandered around the last of the pawns until they fixated on a blonde girl in a romper. She spoke slowly, almost deliberately, "You... join Mikie and the other one."

She shuffled her sandal covered feet towards the two.

Autumn continued her prowl. She decided that the girl in the baseball hat and jersey would be next so she directed the girl to join Amber.

A redheaded boy caught her attention next so she placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. As soon as her pale hand touched his skin, chills cascaded across his entire body. He watched from the corner of his eye as her bony finger lifted to direct him towards Wyatt's group.

He rushed away from the outlandish woman. That meant only one person was left. The boy was wearing all black, and had a dark fringe with blue highlights.

"You are with Amber," Autumn decided.

"Was there really any other team I could have gone to?" he snickered and stomped his large combat boots as he sauntered over to his group.

Autumn decided not to acknowledge the boy's snide remark. Instead, she said, "You all now have approximately 30 minutes to read over the guidelines and think of a group name," she paused and eyed over the entire entourage before speaking again, "Now scatter."

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"Okay, before we begin tell us all your team names," Autumn hushed the groups, using over exaggerated hand gestures to signal for them to come closer together.

Autumn looked at Wyatt to begin.

"We're the Sinking Ships," he said.

Autumn looked at Mikie to which he said, "Uh... we couldn't agree on a name..."

"Just say the first thing that comes to mind," Autumn encouraged the boy.

"Uh... the Dragonflies," he said with uncertainty.

"Are you kidding me? The Dragonflies?" the guy in the letterman jacket scoffed.

"Shawn, it really isn't that bad," Jade spoke, resting her hand on the athlete's arm.

"It really isn't that bad," Shawn raised his voice a few octaves and pretended to flip his imaginary hair to mock Jade.

The girl should have been repulsed by the boy's attitude, but she just giggled and stood closer to him.

"Our group's named the Avalanche," Amber smiled as she spoke.

"That's a great name!" the boy with the blue hair said enthusiastically.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Amber asked politely.

A blush coated the tough boys cheeks, and he twiddled his fingers before saying, "I'm John." Amber smiled and gave him a small, shy wave.

"We're the Trouble Makers," Jamey announced to take the attention off of Amber and John.

"Did you really steal the name from Pitch Perfect?" Wyatt laughed, his tone condescending.

"No, dip-wad. They are the Treble Makers," Jamey scoffed.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Let's calm down," Autumn interrupted, "Now, here is your first clue."

Autumn proceeded to pass out folded slips of paper while giving explicit instructions not to open them until after the whistle is blown.

"Now, on your marks, get set, Go!" Autumn announced before putting the yellow plastic whistle in her mouth and letting out a sharp puff of air.  

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QOTC What are your initial thoughts on Autumn?