The Curse

Escapade

The group of kids silently made their way through the forest, careful not to tread over broken branches. It was formulated that they would venture in the part of the forest to the north of their house, since they already knew that the aliens populated the other sides. The party consisted of 6 people, with Jillian leading the way. They walked on for almost 3 hours straight, until Sophie flopped down onto the ground. " Let's stop here for a minute - my legs feel like they will fall off any moment!" The others agreed. Everyone was feeling hungry, and not to mention thirsty. Jillian, or rather her apparition sat on a rock, contemplating their next course of action. John went over to her.

"Strange isn't it, how our lives can get transformed in the course of a few hours?"

"Hmmm?...Oh yes it is," said Jillian looking up.

"Around 48 hours ago we were just supposed to have a sleepover. Now this turned out to be more of an adventure, an unpleasant one to be honest.....Look I know it's not the time to think about all this," John added at the look on Jillian's face," I just wanted to talk to someone about it."

Jillian sighed. " I know John, but.....I really don't know what to say." She put her hands around John and he felt as if he had laid back on some ice.

"I love it when you put your arms around me," began John in an attempt to ease the tension, "But your arms freeze me up!"

"Oh sorry," Jillian vocalized and burst into snorts of laughter.

"Hey shouldn't we get going now?" Anthony called out," It's been around 10 minutes you know." Sophie groaned , picking up her rucksack. It was pretty dark outside the forest, so it can be well imagined how the situation was inside. Luckily, Filip had brought a whole collection of torches with him. Even luckier was that the trees deep in the forest were covered by a greenish stuff that seemed to emit light. They really didn't need the torches anymore. However, none touched the greenish substance, not after what happened to Jillian. Rest aside, though, the stuff did seem to be a godsend.

The kids walked on for what seemed like hours. It was around 7 PM by their watch when a distraction came in the form of a grunting noise. It seemed to be coming from behind a clump of bushes. A strange bluish light could be seen even from a distance.

"What the hell is that?" Jackson whispered.

"I...I don't know," Jillian responded, squinting into the distance," Let me go and check."

"Hold on," said Sophie blocking her way," What if they see you?". Her voice quivered.

"They can't. I told you before. Besides, I can understand their language now."

"Hey, you never told us....." Filip began. But she had already gone.