Cotter Woods

Part 14

Morning came, finally. We all got up, ate breakfast, and were ready to leave by 5AM, but we still needed to pack food for later. All of us had another dream, but it wasn't like the first. This time, we were in the woods. There were bright, golden arrows pointing us in the direction of what I am assuming was supposed to be Emily's friends. But, before we arrived at the final arrow, some force pushed us back. The feeling was terrifying, the dreams were terrifying. But they motivated us to find these missing people as fast and as soon as we could.

"Don't you think we should bring like... weapons out there?" Dallas asked as we packed food into our school backpacks, that we had dumped out in his room.

"What do you mean? Like, guns?" Aiden said back.

"My dad has like three rifles in our backyard. Not to mention, a ton of knives." Asher said.

"Um, why?" I asked.

"Him and my grandfather used to go hunting out in the woods near the border, not Cotter Woods. It's still early, we can drive by there and I can go get everything before he even wakes up."

"That sounds good. We have no idea what's out there." Avery said. "Everyone packed? Come on, let's go before it gets light out." We all filed out of the front door, closing it quietly behind us. Dallas had his truck parked across the street.

"Are you sure we should do this, Avery?" Camila asked her.

"Would you rather be haunted by a bunch of hospital demons?" She nervously laughed.

"They aren't demons. They're souls, spirits of some kind. Don't get them mixed up." Diego corrected her. The air outside, this early, was cold and burned my throat. Dallas let each of us wear one of his sweatshirts, but the one he gave me was particularly thin. When we reached the other side of the street we all hopped in the truck, quickly. Dallas put on the radio but kept it turned down very low and started up the vehicle. We made a couple of turns down familiar roads and Asher told him to stop. He hopped out of the truck and returned in about five minutes, carrying a duffle bag. "That doesn't look suspicious at all." Avery joked. He opened the door and stood outside of it, looking around for anyone watching. Then, he pulled out three rifles. Each of them a shiny black color with a wooden handle. I had never seen a gun in real life before. For some reason I felt guilty, or like someone was going to get hurt right away, as soon as I looked.

"Anyone here not know how to use a gun?" He asked. 

I was the only one who raised my hand, "What? You all know how to?"

"We had a field trip in ninth grade to some museum. It had a weapon area and the tour guides gave us a demonstration. It's pretty easy." Aiden said, grabbing the rifle Asher handed to her.

"Okay, Aiden's got one. I've got one. Anyone else think they can use it well?" He dangled the last one of them in front of him, like it wasn't probably used to kill a hundred animals, like it wasn't at all dangerous. I flinched.

"Me! I'll just take it." Camila said, grabbing the gun. Asher nodded and hopped back in the car.

"The rest of you, here are some knives. Keep them in your pockets. If it's a bear I think you aim for the nose... if it's something else... I don't know just stab it." He pulled out four shiny objects and put the second-largest one in his own pocket. As he handed them out, the little bit of light coming through the truck windows danced on the blades. Finally he reached over and handed me mine. It was the largest one out of all four. It had a silver handle with small designs were carved into it. The blade was half the size of my forearm and looked horribly sharp. I took a deep breath and slid it into my pocket. Finally, Dallas began driving again. We drove for about 15 minutes before making it to the other side of our small town. The sun had finally made an appearance, and it shined through the giant trees of Cotter Woods that towered about 30 feet ahead of us. I hadn't seen the woods myself yet, but I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. The trees had dark bark and dark leaves, that added to the general feeling of fear. As far as I could see, no paths led into the woods. There was only a small sign in front of it that said 'Cotter Woods.' The most terrifying part, however, was to the right of the us. The playground. It was old and it was clear no one had played there in a long time. The swings swayed gently in the wind, causing a screech of metal that was as loud as the crows perched on the slides. I could imagine it all. A group of kids, playing truth or dare right where the benches of the playground were. I could imagine a young Emily daring a young Layla to enter the woods. I could imagine the kids waiting, all the way until sundown, for her and the other chosen child to return. And, I could imagine it never happening. They never came out.  "You guys ready?" Asher asked quietly, still making me jump.

"If we have to," Aiden sighed "Let's go."