Blackout. [COMPLETED]

Forest.

I left Hellingly feeling empty inside, and promised myself I'd never return. I'd told them what they wanted to know and gave them every secret I had. Every little part of me was no longer a part of me but now a part of an investigation. My name was just words on a clipboard. My age was a just a number and my gender was a ticked box. I felt like I was just a small part of their pointless whatever-it-was.

"Ayla, please talk," David mumbled beside me. His hands were loose on the steering wheel as we drove home and Austin sat silently behind me, stroking my shoulders.

"There's nothing to say," I replied bluntly.

"That'll do," he said quietly. "At least you aren't like, brain dead or anything." I felt it.

"David mate, just leave it. She pretty much just spoke every word that she knows. Give her a break," Austin mumbled, still stroking my shoulders. I took a deep, nervous breath, and felt David tense up beside me.

"Austin, this is none of your business," he began, but I flashed my head round and glared at him. He looked back and sighed, before staying quiet. 

"That's one hell of a death glare, Ay," he muttered after a while. I looked down at my bare legs and stroked away the goosebumps. 

 "I hope my information meant something to them," I muttered, pulling my knees up to my chest. I observed the lakes and endless mountains on either side of us, as David was taking the detour that I'd suggested so I could clear my head. I prefered this landscape to all the buildings that we usually drove through. Austin and David stayed respectfully quiet, which I appreciated, on the long journey. It started to get dark before we got anywhere near the city though, and even David's headlights weren't enough to light up the road around us. The narrow roads curved over steep hills and sharp turns, and David was soon struggling to see where he was going. He began to slow down.

"No, no, keep driving," Austin insisted, popping his head through the gap between our chairs.

"We might have to sleep here for the night," he mumbled to me, pulling up at the side of the road. I looked out of the window and saw the silhouette of a forest against the dark sky. 

"Not again, no way," Austin moaned, shaking David's chair.

"Shall we camp under the stars?" I suggested. I was as eager not to see the cityscape as Austin was not to leave the car. David agreed to avoid conflict. Austin immediately protested, but he could barely state his opinion before me and David were climbing over a fence and wandering into the woods. He was still complaining for the entire duration of our journey through the woods.

The trees were tall and a deep black in the moonlight, and the wind was causing them to moan and creak. Austin, obviously, was terrified. Every time I snapped a twig he'd squeal like a little girl. 

I saw green, glowing eyes at knee-level to my right and stopped dead in my tracks, looking into them. They seemed to be looking beyond me, behind me, but they quickly glanced up and met my gaze before disappearing into the darkness.

We found an opening in the trees and set up camp, with a picnic blanket that David had in his car and a torch we found under one of the car seats.

"If it rains-" Austin began, but was suddenly distracted by the groaning of the trees and the strange noise that their branches made when they smacked together.

"It won't rain," I muttered, curling up on the rug. 

"I don't like bugs either."

"Austin, you can go and sleep in the car," David said, lying beside me. I opened one eye and watched as Austin nervously looked around, shuffling about on the blanket. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the stars, and he soon joined me.