A Series of Unfortunate Mysteries

Crazy Cabins: Chapter Five

"Dante!" Diane yelled, trying to rip her wrist free from his death grip. He dragged her deeper into the forest, as if he knew where he was going.

"Dante, stop!" She finally ripped her wrist free, stopping as he continued running. "Dante, where are we going? Do you even know?!" She stared intently into his bright green eyes through the darkness of the forest.

"Of course I do-" At that, Diane rose an eyebrow at him, questioning eyes as to how he could've explored when they had all been together. "Not. I don't," He paused and grabbed onto Diane's hands. "I'm just trying to keep us safe."

Diane sighed as she put her head down. "Can we take a break? I need to rest my legs before we go running again."

Dante nodded, releasing her hands from his. "Alright, but we need to start running again soon," She started walking away from him. "And don't wander too far away." He called after her, releasing a breath as he walked to a nearby tree and leaned against it.

Meanwhile, Diane was trying to make sense of it all. Adelia, Alek, and Missy had vanished just like her and the gang had, but Dante never provided an explanation. He had acted really weird towards everyone, especially towards the others. He also wasn't as surprised as the other teens when the two clowns appeared, which was already strange.

"Hey." A voice whispered, drawing Diane out of her thoughts.

"We know you're confused, but we can help you." A different voice whispered, causing Diane to bewilderedly look at her surroundings.

There was a tree, a bush, a stick, another tree- two people. A boy and a girl. Both were slightly faded, their skin, hair and clothes lighter than their original hues.

"Don't trust him." The girl said, her light hair that once was blonde falling out of its ponytail as her pink shirt was ripping.

"He's trying to kill your friends, and he'll eventually kill you." The boy spoke next, his blue eyes still piercing despite the fading.

"Who will?" Diane asked, stepping back as they walked closer to her.

"You know him as Dante. He is not who you think he is." The girl said, eyes pleading with Diane's.

"You need to get away from him right now. We came to warn you that he will kill all of you." The boy spoke seriously.

Diane shook her head, the disbelief of this situation slowly slipping away as the puzzle was solved. "Where do I go?"

"Find your friends-" The boy started.

"And get out of this forest." The girl finished.

"We will try to protect you."

"Why?" Diane whispered, hoping Dante wouldn't discover her plot.

"We don't want what happened to us to happen to any of you. Not again. He needs to be stopped." The boy said, the two of them waving goodbye as Diane sadly waved and backed away from the clearing.

~

He stopped at a clearing, resting against a nearby trunk to catch his ragged breathing. Hands on his head, he tried to wrap his head around the situation.

One minute, he was just sitting there, laughing up a storm with his friends in the living room of the cabin. The next, he was being chased by a monster, forced to run out into the dark woods that creeped him out just thinking of them.

The clowns, the darkness, the ominous feeling- all of it was unsettling.

Especially when you're being chased by freaks.