The Funeral Island

3. They Need To Improve On Time Management.

The group had been wandering for what felt like hours. They tried to retrace their steps, but it was nearly impossible with all the moss and twigs covering the ground, not to mention they couldn't even see the ground. Though they were all on the lookout, Katherine seemed to be the most paranoid.

The longer they walked, the more anxious she got to get out of the forest. Something about the forest just didn't seem right, the lack of bird call and wind made things seem much darker, and though she was always scanning ahead of the group, Katherine couldn't help the glances behind her shoulder to peer into the darkness of the forest. It didn't matter whether she could see it or not, Katherine was convinced something was following them. It was the subtle snap of a twig, and the way things went unnaturally still whenever she'd take a glance over her shoulder.

'Perhaps I'm simply going mad' is what she'd tell herself, that is until she realized that the truly psychotic people thought they were perfectly sane, therefore, she couldn't be crazy. She giggled at the thought, hysteria finally setting in.

The group had stopped to stare at Katherine as she continued to giggle, raising their eyebrows out of concern as she started to get louder, the laughter bubbling out of her lips, bending over at the hip to try and catch her breath between her laughs which had become short and wheezy.

Aaron took a step forwards, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand over her shoulder in a soothing motion. "Katherine," he kept his tone quiet yet comforting as her laughter started to die down. "We need to keep moving,"

It took her another couple minutes to calm herself down, keeping her eyes glued on Aaron in fear that when she finally glanced behind her, something would actually be there.

She could tell from the way the hair on the nape of her neck and arms stood up out of the blue, like an icy chill running over her body. She could feel the eyes drilling holes into the back of her head. It was unpleasant to say the least.

When Katherine finally sobered up, the group kept moving, and Katherine refused to look into the thicket of trees behind her, choosing to focus on scanning the front for oncoming danger.

Another few hours had passed before Katherine caught sight of something glowing through the trees. A fire.

She raced forwards with the rest of the group following close behind, before emerging through a thicket of bushes and in front of the fire, where Sienna and one of the guys from Canyon-View High School were seated on a log, practically touching at how close they were seated together, right where the group of teenagers had left them.

Amber frowned, how many hours had passed from when they left to go exploring to right that very minute? It had to have been at least two or three, though it felt longer than that.

"Hi kids," Sienna was the first to break the awkward silence, scooching backwards to create some much needed distance between her and the male teenager beside her. "I thought you all went to bed a couple minutes ago," she raised her eyebrows in questioning, "So how'd you manage to get through the bushes so quick,"

Looks of confusion mixed with relief passed over their faces as they stared at Sienna, "What the Hell are you talking about, man," Aaron started, taking a step forwards, waving his fist around in the air like a madman, "We were gone for hours,"

It was Sienna's turn to tilt her head in confusion at the boy's words. "Hours," she echoed, "No dear, you guys decided to turn in fifteen minutes ago," Sienna took a glance at her watch before biting her lip, "Well, if you really want to get technical, it's closer to 20 now,"

A eerie silence overtook the group as they all turned to pass a look of confusion off to each-other.

"Oh," Alastair breathed, "In that case, we'll all be turning in for the night," he nodded to himself as though trying to convince himself of his own words. "Goodnight, Sienna," he gave a curt wave of his hands before turning around, beckoning the rest of the group to follow behind him.