I Tried

Chapter Four

So Many Regrets.

James's POV

I had a lot of regrets. Some of which are very small, like I regret not putting ketchup on my hotdog, or not bringing extra trail mix. But then, I had big regrets. Like coming on this stupid hike.

I regretted standing outside with a freaking bear. Or whatever the heck it is. It was hard to tell, but there was the sound of heavy foot steps in front us and another sound that almost sounded like... Plants growing?

"Stay calm..." Megan whispered. As if that was even a possibility. All of us were stressed out enough we didn't need another disaster.

"What is it?" Elizabeth muttered. Her face was a terrible mixture of fear and confusion. I wanted so badly to tell her everything was going to be alright, but I was terrible at lying.

"It's a cute fluffy kitten." I replied in a cold tone. I was pretty darn good at being sarcastic though.

"That's one terrifying kitten then..." She replied. This why I liked being friends with Elizabeth. She got my humor. She got me. She didn't drag me on stupid hikes where we all stupid die. Unlike some other friends I have.

"What if it's the tree monster?" Heather said. Her voice was flooded with fear.

"I'm sure it's not..." Elizabeth said. But Heather didn't seem to believe her.

"What do we do?" I asked. Hoping st least Megan would have a reasonable plan.  It was he least she could do anyway for dragging us on this awful hike.

"Frick, I don't know. It's... I don't know what it is... It's definitely not an animal though." Megan replied, she didn't take her eyes off of the darkness around us.

"Well is it a friendly non-animal?" Elizabeth asked.

"Why don't you find out?" I replied sarcastically. But of course, Elizabeth didn't realize that and she started walking towards it.

"Wait, Elizabeth no!" I shouted. I tried to grab her arm and yank her back. But she simply jerked her arm away. She quickly kept walking forward until she was out if the lantern's light.

"Elizabeth?"

"El?"

Nothing.

Fear start pulsing through my veins, spreading like a vine. Until it was the only thing I could think of. Well that and regret. Funny how it's always the worst traits that stick around.

"Ow!" Elizabeth shouted and the I heard a thud.

"Elizabeth? Are you okay?" I said as I rushed forward. But before I could, somebody carrying Elizabeth rushed into the light. I thought it was human at first but then I noticed the staticy head and limbs. And somehow it was carrying Elizabeth?

It kept muttering the same words over and over again: "Are you okay?" As if that was going to make everything okay.

The static thing grabbed my arm and as if it was trying to urge me to go forward. But I didn't move.

"Let her go!" I shouted as I tried to pull Elizabeth away from it. I failed though and the second I heard another eye pricing scream the static thing ran off.

"Wait!" I shouted as I ran after it. "Elizabeth!" 

She didn't respond though. The thing seemed to have knocked her unconscious.

"Stop!" I pleaded as the darkness began to surround me and I couldn't see anything. I was simply running after the sound of foot steps.

My heart was pounding, my head with spinning, everything was dark. But I couldn't stop. I couldn't leave Elizabeth like this. She helped me before and now it was my time to return the favor.

I rushed through the words, Megan called out my name but I didn't have time to deal with her right now. I needed to save Elizabeth from whatever the static thing was. I needed her to be safe.

But then I tripped.

A sharp burning pain went through my bare palms and knees as they hit the cold, hard, Rocky ground.

"No, no, no!" I shouted. I couldn't hear the footsteps anymore. I couldn't see anything. I could almost feel the hopelessness setting in. I'd lost Elizabeth.

She was my only real friend... The only real decent person in this world... And now she was gone.

"No, no, no..." I repeated and I could feel the tears starting to build up.

Suddenly I heard somebody scream. But it wasn't Elizabeth. The voice was too high and it was coming from behind me...

It was Heather.

I may not be able to save Elizabeth but I couldn't let anything happen to Heather. That poor girl had already been through enough. I couldn't possibly let her go through anything else.

I got to my feet and started rushing back as fast as I could, trying my hardest not to trip on anything. However I wasn't really good at that. I tripped at least four times before I saw Megan's lantern.

But, when I got there, I didn't see anybody. The only sign that anybody had even been there was Megan's lantern on the ground, with a big crack down the middle of the glass.

"Megan? Heather?" I shouted. "Anybody?!"

But nobody was there.

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Sorry for this chapter being so confusing, I'm not very good at writing actions scenes. But anyway thanks for reading and I'd love some feedback <3