3:07 a.m ☠ malik

07

Deranged

"I swear, that's what I saw," I breathed heavily, taking in their surprised faces.

I knew it was hard for them to believe me, they didn't need to say anything. Hell, their faces gave it all away . . . not that I didn't blame them.

"And his eyes were red?" Silvanna questioned, her eyebrows raised so high that it looked like they hurt.

I nodded, then looked away.

"I don't understand," Luke frowned, and then stood up. "Suppose that this is actually real - the things you are seeing are actually real . . . "

"Those things I saw were a hundred percent real!" I interrupted.

"It's okay," Zayn whispered, rubbing small circles with his thumb as we held hands. "Let him talk."

Luke sighed, and then scratched his head. "If Brian is . . . a ghost, what would he be doing here? And most importantly . . . why would he have red eyes?"

I huffed impatiently, and then scrambled to my feet. "Do you see how hard it is for you guys to believe me? You guys think I'm crazy, and there's no fucking denying it. I swear to God . . . "

I pause at my use of word, and Zayn's eyes widened.

"Yeah, I fucking said it. I swear to God that everything I'm seeing is real. But I lied this time," I hiccuped, more confusion sprouting across the campfire. "It wasn't Brian. I didn't see Brian, okay? It . . . it was something else," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"What was it?" Ginger asked.

"It was . . . it was like that shadow, except . . . it felt like it was burning my soul out with it's eyes . . . it felt like it was staring right through me," I held back my tears. To be honest, I didn't know why I was going to cry.

"You know, people say that these woods are haunted," Ginger piped in. I looked at her, the first tear rolling down. Zayn stood and held me close.

"How do you know?" I inquired. "Or are you just trying to make me feel better?"

"It's true," she shrugged. "I looked it up."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "So it's not just me, other people have experienced seeing . . . shadow-like figures that are scary as hell?"

"Basically," she nodded. "I believe you, Fawn. I truly do. I don't know about you guys, but, I believe her," she smiled at me. I returned the smile and wiped the stupid tears away.

"I'm so scared," I whispered. "So scared."

Zayn shushed me, then kissed my cheek.

"Let's get in our tent, yeah?" he suggested, then held my hand and led me to our temporary shelter.

(( Zayn's Perspective ))

I can't believe the amount of religious chaos my friends and I are going through. It hurts to see Fawn affected like this, crying every time she claims to see a ghost. I mean, it's not that I don't believe her, but . . . it'd feel wrong to deny the possibility.

So I decided not to deny the possibility and stick with that. I'm giving this a chance, only because Fawn is my girlfriend and I love her to death, and because seeing a ghost indicates a sign of afterlife . . . of fucking afterlife. Surely this would boost my already soaring meter of faith in the Lord.

When I re-entered the tent, Fawn's back was faced to me, and she was sitting like a huddled puppy.

"What's wrong, babe?" I asked, touching her shoulder. When her head turned, the pupils of her eyes were completely dialated - the color of her irises had vanished.

I shouted, and scooted back. She sat there and murmured words under her breath.

"Luke! Get the fuck over here!" I screamed, eyeing Fawn. His calls back to me were ignored.

Fawn turned her head, and glared at me.

"Soon . . . " she growled in a deep, harsh tone. "She will be mine . . . MINE!"

I scooted away even further in terror, my eyes widening and my breath hitching.

"F-Fawn," I stuttered. "Baby, it's okay . , . "

"IT IS NOT OKAY! My mother abandoned me, and my father took his existence. That is NOT OKAY!" she screamed, her voice hollow and man-like.

I scurried out of tent, then found Luke on the other side of the campfire.

"Luke! C'mere, I need your help!" I cried, and turned around to see if Fawn had followed me. There was no one, but I didn't have time. I knew what happened to her, and I'm frightened as hell.

"I can't, the fire is too big!" he hollered, which was in fact true. The fire was spreading, and it was about twenty feet tall, and the reasons for this cause were very unknown.

I trotted around the fire, almost burning myself, and got to him. Silvanna and Ginger peeped out of their tents and screamed. They scrambled out and we stuck together in a huddled mass.

"Where's Fawn?!" cried Silvanna.

"She's in the tent, I think . . . I think she's possessed," I panted.

Silvanna stared at me in horror, then began to sprint. I grabbed a hold of her, and pushed her to Luke.

"Let me go!" she cried. "You're not gonna let her burn, aren't you!?"

A sudden gust of whirling wind blared through our ears. I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut.

"What the hell!" I heard one of them scream, but I couldn't tell who had said it.

A giant and monotonous growl echoed throughout the woods, and the temperature of the untamed flames breathed on our skin.

. . . And then there was silence.

As I slowly and hesitantly opened my eyes, I couldn't see a thing. It was completely dark, the lethal fire had burned out, and all I heard were the frightened pants of my other three friends.

"Zayn? Zayn!?" Silvanna cried. "Zayn, where are you?"

"I'm here," I reassured her. I crawled against the dirt and found her shaking body. "It's okay, it's okay," I hugged her tightly.

Silvanna had the tendency to hyperventilate when she was surrounded by darkness because of her phobia of the color black and not being able to see anything.

"Luke, go find a flashlight," I ordered. "Hurry," I breathed as Silvanna's hyperventilation worsened.

"I'm on it," he said. "I can't find the bookbag."

"Ginger, you there?" I asked, praying to God that she'd respond. The last thing I wanted was for something to happen to her, any one of us, really.

"I'm here," she sniffled. "I found the flashlight."

Light was brought back, and we all sighed in relief. Then, I remembered about . . .

"Fawn! I have to get her!" I cried, then I stood up and ran to the other side of the site, where darkness, again, resided.

I opened the tent and grabbed my bag. Turning on a second flashlight, I flashed it everywhere inside the tent, but she wasn't there. I backed out, then flashed the light again around the trees and the area surrounding me. I could still see the faint bodies of Luke, Silvanna, and Ginger, but . . . not her.

"Oh my God," I whispered, the flashlight dropping from my hands, followed by a light thud.

"Fawn!" I cried, my voice echoing amongst the swaying trees.

Calling her name made no use. The last thing I thought about were her protests about seeing shadows and dark figures before I realized that she was now . . . gone.