The Woods

Chapter Three

Author's Note- We'll carry on, we'll carry on....
     Sawyer woke up, thoroughly coated in sweat, and with tears running down her cheeks. For a moment she was confused as to where she was, before remembering  she had fallen asleep outside in the cold darkness of the night.
     Something was wrong. That dream was far, far too realistic. Her dreams were always vivid, but none as much as this one was. What worried her the most was hearing Quentin's voice whispering "help." Is he in danger? Where is he?
     She pondered these questions and more, before realizing the time. It was already 10:30, and school started at 8:00. She wasn't the type of kid to break rules and skip school, but this time she decided she needed the time to think.
     When she had gotten back to her house, she snuck to her room as quietly as she could. Her mom was at work, for she was a teacher, but her dad worked at home. After grabbing her bag, phone, earbuds, and a good book, she head out, thankful that so far her presence had gone unnoticed by her father.
     She was walking out of her room when she heard a noise from the kitchen. She practically dived out of the house, narrowly escaping. After her heartbeat started to slow back to normal, she set off to the park, where she planned to read and enjoy herself.
     Sawyer hopped on her grey and black bike and rode off, passing neighbors and familiar houses. She began to relax as she got farther and farther from her house, and eventually got tired from biking. She sat under a tree and rested, before finally getting up to continue on.
Sawyer had been biking for about an hour when she realized that she had subconsciously rode onto a trail that goes through the forest. This gave her an uneasy feeling, but she kept going
out of pure curiosity, for she had not been in the woods since that night.
The rustling in the bushes got louder and louder as whatever was in there got closer. Sawyer's heart began to beat faster and faster. Suddenly, Quentin stumbled out of the bushes. Both our eyes grew wide with surprise.
Suddenly, as if pulled by gravity to the woods, she hopped off her bike, letting it tumble to the ground, and walked slowly into the woods. You might think she would be scared, heading into a dark, mysterious forest by herself, but she was far from fear. If anything, she felt enlightened, as though she was finally at home.
The leaves crunched under her feet, for it was late October, with Halloween only three days away. All leaves had abandoned their trees, and were lying on the ground, ranging from deep blood reds to light oranges and yellows.
Sawyer kept walking and walking until she could no longer see the trail she had come from. She traveled on, not caring as the sun went down, but still noticing the shadows growing taller and taller. As night grew near, the forest came alive.