Falls Peak

Chapter 22

Being led through the forest against his will made the strangest thought appear in Kyle's head. He couldn't really explain why, but he suddenly wondered if this was how his dog, Oscar, always felt when he didn't want to go for a walk late at night.

He silently promised that if by some divine miracle he did live to see that crazy dog again, he'd always make a stand against anyone trying to drag him out of the house. Oscar had always been there for him; he just wished he could return the favour to his furry friend now.

With his hands bound, it had been hours since Kyle had been able to check his cell phone for the time and he usually refused to wear a watch, so the exact time was lost on him but he had to assume that it was almost 4AM. Normally he'd be exhausted at this time of morning after the weekend he'd had, but his senses were refusing to shut down right now.

"Where are we going, asshole? Couldn't we have at least stayed inside where it was dry?" Katie asked, breaking Kyle from his thoughts. Until that point he hadn't even noticed that a light drizzle had taken over.

Katie was at the front of this deadly conga line before Kyle followed closely behind her, with Jess and Matt finishing off the queue. Realising that Katie's question wasn't going to get a response, Jess took over, trying a new tactic.

"You don't have to do this you know?" She said to the men who were flanking them either side.

"Of course we do," One grunted. This was the first time anyone other than Jake had spoken. "We're doing it for the town. It's for the best."

"Weirdly, I disagree," Katie sighed before Jess continued.

"Surely you can see that this is nuts? Please! Imagine one of us was your sister or brother. Would it still be for the best then? We have families and friends who need us!" Despite her best efforts, she began to cry again.

"Can't you see that this is for them?" The boy said again. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

"I've never met anyone more full of shit than you," Matt told him. He couldn't see her, but Katie grinned widely. She'd clearly had an impact on him.

After a few short minutes, they arrived back at the waterfall where, ironically their tents were still up.

"Well at least we might get our stuff back," Katie sarcastically remarked.

"You're taking these jokes in serious situations to a whole other level," Kyle sighed. Katie simply shrugged.

Finally, they were halted as they were led into the centre of the clearing. Whereas before there'd only been around three people walking them on each side, now the teens were surrounded by a countless number of cloaked people on either side.

"Jesus. It's like the whole town showed up," Matt gawked.

In one swift motion, they all threw down their hoods and stared straight ahead. Thankfully there were no familiar faces for anyone.

"Good evening!" Jake boomed, commanding the attention of everyone around. Not even the rain made a sound, as if it was listening to this madman too.

He was stood up on a giant moss-covered boulder of sorts, higher than everyone else around, surely inflating his ego even more.

As much as he didn't want to be, Kyle was slightly impressed by Jake. Not everyone could easily make so many people follow them blindly into something as crazed as this. Kyle and his teammates struggled enough to follow their soccer captain, Danny. And the whole squad was only twenty guys! He just wished that Jake could have channelled his ability into something a little less nefarious.