The Woods

Chapter 13

(Day 5, Victoria)
     The door shut with a loud click, signalling that Diane and Amber had left. I felt like an intruder in Parker's house. An intruder with a partner. The thought filled my head as I glanced quickly at Janet, who had taken Amber's seat. The room had the feeling as though it was a field, able to be ran around with no boundaries. Maybe the lack of furniture? I thought, finally having a good look around the room and its entirety.
"Victoria?"
"Yeah." I responded with a spaced out voice.
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean? You said we should just wait until things settle down so I can go out again."
"I know. But what about right now?" Her voice sounded stressed, but I couldn't tell what she was getting at.
"Janet, what's wrong?"
"Maybe we should go upstairs."
"Okay."
     She swiftly stood and walked past me to the door, locking it before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the stairs. I tried to keep up, almost falling on the steps. As we approached the top she pushed me into a room and locked the door behind her.
"Janet-" I started but she cut me off.
"Someone is watching us, from outside."
"What? Who?" I said standing straight up.
"I don't know!" She whispered harshly as she pulled me low to the floor.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know! Where's the phone you used to call me?"
"Downstairs."
"Of course."
     We both held in a scream as we heard glass shatter downstairs. Our eyes darted around the room, looking for some place to hide from the intruder. Janet split from my arms, a blur on quick feet. My arms barely reached the handle of the closet as the loud muddy footsteps of the intruder stomped against the floor and stairs.
      The new wooden doors opened silently as I climbed inside panicked. The bedroom door shook violently under the heavy hands of the intruder, scaring me as I cracked the closet door. Who is out there?! And why do they torment us? The sound of wood splintering brought a scream to my throat, held back only by biting my bottom lip.
     I peered through the cracked closet door to see the bedroom door in complete ruin, splinters littering the ground around it. But where is the intruder? I thought as I looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the violent person, not finding them until I heard Janet scream.
"I know you're in here Victoria! Show yourself and I won't kill her!"
     It was my father. He'll kill her if I don't go out there, but he will still kill me. What do I do? My breathing became erratic as it sped up. I didn't want Janet to die, but I didn't want to die myself. I listened worriedly as the sound of a blade against skin filled the room and without thinking I jumped out of the closet.
     Janet had her mouth covered and my father was behind her, holding a knife to her throat, blood dripping off the blade. As I appeared before him his eyes jumped to meet mine, a staring contest erupting. He tossed Janet to the ground and she scrambled away, sitting against the wall as he started towards me with newfound anger.
"If you would have just stayed! Just went with the tradition!"
"You're sick!"
     I screamed as I ran out into the hallway, him staying close behind me. The stairs? They'll slow me down, but I have no where else to run. I reasoned with myself as I flew down the stairs, tripping at the bottom step. My body fell the the ground, but I wasted no time trying to stand again. As I got to my knees I was suddenly forced to the ground again, pinned underneath something heavy.
"Get off of me!"
     I screamed as I heard his heavy breathing behind me. His knees dug into my back and I felt the cold, wet blade of his knife. He drew something in blood on the back of my neck while I struggled to get free.
"You know, I expected more from you, you are my blood after all. But I guess I should have known you would be weaker than the rest of us."
"Why would you eat other people? Murder them?"
"Because our family has always eaten the flesh of others, it's a family tradition, but none of us ever expected someone to reject us. But then there was you."
"You knew from my birth didn't you? You always suspected."
"I did, I knew, but I believed your mother and she believed in you, obviously she was wrong."
     I tried to keep him talking as I formulated a plan to escape. The counter was only a few feet away, if I could get him off of me I could make it there to grab a weapon. The front door was a bit further, I could run, but only if I managed to get him off of me. Nothing works unless I get him off of me!
"Can I at least face you when you kill me? I think I've proven I'm at least worthy of that."
"Fine."
     As soon as he shifted his weight I struck, hitting him where it hurt most. He fell over slightly and I wasted no time pushing him to the ground. He fell for a moment as I swiftly ran for the counter, hopping over it and grabbing a knife before running for the door, but was intercepted by him. He wrapped me in a bear hug, so I couldn't use my hands to cut or stab him.
     As he turned to carry me back to the living room I brought my legs up, pushing off the wall, sending both of us tumbling backwards into the counter. As we collided he dropped me. I recovered quicker than him, turning and planting the knife in his shoulder. He stood still, laughing.
"What's so funny?" I demanded.
"Your sad attempts at escaping or killing me. You obviously are not capable of either so why-"
     He fell to the ground with a loud thud, landing in front of me, face down. Janet stood triumphantly over him, holding a bat. With a nod of thanks I dropped to the ground to retrieve the knives.
"Is he?"
"He's dead."
     I responded strongly and with a hint of glee. Janet took deep breaths before sitting down in the living room. I stood again, pushing bloody hair out of my face. What do we do? Where's Asher? I thought as I remembered the abandoned house. He doesn't know we went here.
"Janet, we should probably go back to Madeline's old house and wait for Asher to return."
"Yeah, it's better than staying here."
     With that we left the scene, only bringing ourselves. The long walk seemed even longer with the lack of communication from both of us. I felt uneasy, alert, weird. I just murdered my own father. As much as I tried I couldn't repress the thoughts.
     The thoughts left on their own as we approached the now collapsed ruins. We took shelter from the sun next to the building, the old beams creating shade for us to sit in. Birds chirped and cars hummed, but we sat in silence. It wasn't until the sun began to set that I thought I heard a familiar voice. Asher?
     I stood looking around, Janet cautiously following my actions. A look of realization crossed her face as she heard the voice too. It was too far away to understand but we were both positive that it was Asher. But where is he? I questioned in my head.
"There!" Janet pointed into the woods and my eyes followed.
"Asher! Over here!"
     I called to him with joy. He acknowledged our existence and made his way over. His clothes looked slightly burnt and he had a few new cuts on him. What happened? Did he find Madeline? I had many questions for him, but reveled in the joy that the familiar face brought.
"Victoria!"
"Asher, I'm so glad you're back."
"What's with the blood?"
"We should go somewhere more private to talk."
"Okay."
     He sounded confused and worried and Janet only watched on with a neutral face. I grabbed Asher's hand and began to pull him into the ruins, carefully weaving around the debris. The kitchen was still intact and we stepped inside, Janet standing in the doorway.
"So, who is asking questions first?"
"Sounds like you already started."
"Fair enough. So what is with the blood?"
"My father, he found me and tried to kill me. If Janet hadn't been there I don't know if I would still be alive."
"Wow, that's insane."
"We killed him though, we don't need to worry about him anymore. What happened to you? Why are your clothes burnt?"
"Well, I was out in the woods looking for her and I got a few cuts from nature, but I came across this burning house and I went in to see if Madeline or anyone else were in there, I only found a burnt body."
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(Day 5, Madeline)
     His eyes fell on mine, my head peering around the corner. My sight fell to his hand as it moved towards his pockets. My feet hammered against the floor as I sprinted for the stairs. I knew what was going to happen. Tripping on the stairs I turned to look at the front door and the conflict within the doorway.
     He produced a gun and held it against Mary's chest, his mouth moving, but my ears heard only silence. Mary stood firmly in the doorway, blocking him from entering with her body. The only sound I managed to catch was the sound of the gun going off and the following sound of a body falling to the ground.
     Tears obscured my vision as I scrambled up the stairs, my ears ringing. My feet almost gave out as I turned quickly to hide in Mary's room, climbing into the large cabinet. My hand fell over my mouth after closing the cabinet door. Tears still poured down my face as my breath was erratic, muffled only by my hand.
"Oh Madeline! Where has thou gone?"
     His words chilled my spine and I realized I was shaking violently. I could feel my wound getting torn back open, so I crouched down, hugging my knees with one hand, listening to every footstep. How close it was, how loud it was, anything to give me a signal of where he was.
      I risked peeking through the crack in between the doors to the cabinet to see if I could make my escape. He was nowhere in sight, I took the moment to climb from my hiding place and move to the hallway. Where did he go? I questioned myself. I was a mouse crawling down the stairs.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!"
     He shouted from above me, a scream climbing into my throat, ready to be let free. I held back barely and reached into my pocket. I'll have to burn the house down, kill him. I grabbed small pieces of wood and brought them to the bottom of the steps, pulling the matchbox from my pocket. I lit one and set it inside of the wood and watched contently as it caught fire, the flames licking the carpet and walls.
     The small fire quickly engulfed everything around it and kept consuming everything. I hurried to the front door and found Mary, barely breathing. Falling to my knees in front of her she grabbed my hand weakly. We stared into each other's eyes, but surprisingly I was alone in my tears.
"I knew this would happen, I saw it." She choked out.
"Can't we get you somewhere safe?"
"No, I am not going to make it. Leave quickly before he gets you."
     She spoke on her dying breath as fire scorched my side. I fell sideways out of the house and watched the fire block the doorway. I forgot to ask how to get back to town… I wanted to scream at my foolishness, my idiocy.