Fog Lines

Chapter 1: Maddison.

I picked up my pace trying to catch up with the group. I moved up closer to the back and glanced around. Who thought it would be a good idea to send a bunch of kids out into the supposedly haunted forest for a field trip. Oh right, it was Mrs. Pinsky's idea. Such a good idea Mrs. Pinsky. Taking a random group of twenty teenagers into the woods for a day. What could possibly go wrong? Wait... I probably shouldn't say that. It could go wrong.

"Hey, Madd. Where's Lily?" I hear a voice ask to my right. I look over to see a short girl in a long sundress standing next to me, her long black hair in a high ponytail.

Unfazed by her sudden experience, I say, "Hi Mia, I think she's closer to the front of the group."
"Kay," She answers, before grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the front of the group saying, "Let's go find her!"

I follow behind her, dodging the people in front of me. When we reach the front, I see four familiar juniors. Leading the small group was Lily, a tan and fit blonde football player who's dating Mia. Standing beside her was Jack, who has chocolate brown hair and paler skin who is only slightly taller than me. Behind them were Jay and Brian. Jay is my older brother, who is slightly shorter than me and has short fiery red hair and a face full of freckles. Brian was taller than all of us, even though it was only by a few inches. His honey brown hair was a few inches long and sat untamed on his head. God, I really need to stop analyzing people like that. I've known these people for over a year now. I know what they look like.

"Hi, Lily!" Mia exclaimed, letting go of my hand.

Lily pulls mia into a hug and says, "Hi babe," before looking at me and saying, "Hey Madd."

"Hey, Lily."

"Jay, I thought you said your sister wasn't coming?" A deeper voice asks from the back of the group. Brian. He sounds genuinely concerned.

Jay looks towards me with an annoyed expression, but I look away and continue down the path. Now that I was in front of the group, I could walk at a faster pace. Mrs. Pinsky walked quite a bit ahead of the group. Surprisingly, her henchmen of a daughter, Hannah, was nowhere to be seen. Probably off with that little fuckboy of her's. Gross. We enter into a large clearing surrounded by trees and stumps, it's clearly man-made as the ground is lined with large stone pavers and the stumps have been carved into bench shapes.

Mrs. Pinsky steps in front of the group and says in a loud, booming voice, ¨Alright Kids, spread out and take notes and pictures. This is a nature hike, everyone, we are in nature to observe, not to harm. If I see anyone harming the wildlife or chasing the animals, they will be sent back to the parking lot and will have to wait with Mr. North until we finish.¨

The class quickly split up into groups of friends. Mia once again dragged me along with her and her girlfriend's friends. We move across the clearing to the right side. I sit down on one of the stumps and watch as Mia talks and socializes with Lily and Jay. Jack and Brian sat on a stump to my left, showing each other random pictures on their phones. God, why am I here? I don't fit in at all. I could hear sticks snap in the forest behind me. An animal? Or Hannah? Or that little fuckboy Tom.

I stand up and turn around, surveying the forest. A small animal trail leads into the forest and seemed to go pretty far in. I wonder what's back there? What even lives in this forest? Bunnies? Deer? I begin down the trail, dodging the branches and the bushes. Geez. This thing goes on forever. The trail slowly gets bigger before opening up into another, smaller, clearing. I freeze at the entrance of the clearing.

The clearing was covered in blood. The boy once known as Thomas sat in the middle, torn up with some large thing sitting on top of the body. Hannah sat at the opposite end of the clearing, still alive but covered in claw marks. Oh shit. We gotta problem here. I look towards Hannah. She looks back at me, her eyes wide in fear. I look at the monster in front of me. The large beige mass resembles a mix of a bear, a wolf, and a human. It sat on top of Tom's body, chewing on his right arm, facing away from me towards the left side of the clearing. Fuck my life. I can't leave Hannah, but I'd rather not die... you know what. Fuck my life. I'm going to help her. I slowly move around the edge of the clearing, keeping my eyes on the beast. It hasn't noticed me yet. I make my way to Hannah. I get to her and grab her arm, slowly pulling her off the ground. She looks at me with a grateful expression but stays quiet. I put her arm around my shoulders and we begin a slow and calculated walk towards the way I came. I wrap one arm around her waist to help keep her up and grab my knife out of its case that's hooked onto my belt.

Hannah freezes suddenly and I look over to see the beast looking up at us with bright yellow eyes. Fuck.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"