The Woods

Chapter 15

(Day 5-Night 6, Victoria)
"Was it Madeline?"
     I asked completely focused on his words, not realizing that Janet had left the kitchen. I stood staring at Asher, waiting for the words to come out. To say that Madeline was dead, that I had failed so terribly bad.
"No."
     My eyes fell to the floor. I still have a chance! I raced to find another question, the next important question to ask. Does he know where she went? Well does he even know if she was there? As I tried to decide which question to ask first he picked at a hole in his shirt, the blackened edges breaking away.
"Do you know if she was there? Where she went?"
"She was there, but I don't know where she went."
"No!"
"What's wrong?"
"Madeline is in deep trouble, someone is trying to kill her! We need to hurry and find her."
"Other than that I didn't see any sign of her. Maybe she did perish in the flames."
"No! She wouldn't have, would she?"
"I don't think so, but it is still a possibility."
     Suddenly our eyes met and I felt different. We both felt it, I could see it in his eyes. My heart began to beat faster than normal as we stared at each other in what I thought was contentedness. He leaned towards me and I moved towards him. Why am I? Why is he? Our lips met and for a moment I didn't want us to part, but we pulled away.
     My cheeks flushed red and he grabbed my hand, pulling me gently from the kitchen. I was still in shock from what had happened, but was quickly brought out of it as I saw Janet running into the woods.
"Janet! Where are you going?"
"I'm not letting Madeline die!"
     I went to move forward, to chase after her but Asher held me back. My mind ceased to function and I wasn't sure on what to do. Asher just came back and now Janet's leaving. I fell to the ground, sitting with my knees pulled to my chest. The uneven ground forced me to lean forward into my knees. Asher sat in the grass beside me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I leaned my head on him and he laid his head on mine as we watched Janet disappear in silence.
     We sat for awhile, watching as the sun rode across the sky. The moon followed behind bringing it's army of stars with it's cloak of darkness. Asher's hands moved to my face and wiped away tears I didn't know were there. At that moment I realized I had been crying, tears continued to fall from my eyes wiped gently away by Asher's rough fingers. I stretched my arms out as I yawned, sitting up.
"Tired?" Asher asked.
"Yeah."
     I responded yawning again. Asher stood and before I could stand myself he picked me up, carrying me in his arms. He's very strong. I stared at him with heavy eyes. They fell closed and opened quickly to reveal Asher's face. I didn't know where he was taking me and I didn't care. Even if we wound up sleeping outside, as long as I was in his arms I felt safe. Secure.
     My right hand fell behind him and I wrapped my arm around his neck, holding on loosely while he carried me. My eyes finally closed to the sound of leaves crunching under footfalls. I opened my heavy eyes, staring at Asher's sleeping form until they closed again. When I finally opened my eyes I thought it was the darkness hiding Asher, but when I moved my hand over to reassure myself he was there, it fell to the cold fabric.  Where has he gone? He left me! No. No he wouldn't, would he? Where am I?
     I looked around to try and find any sign of where I might be. There were no stars in sight, just darkness. I'm not outside. I felt the fabric again, bunching it up in my fist and rubbed it against my face. Bed sheets? Where am I? What happened?
     A slight breeze caused goosebumps to appear on my arms as I rubbed them with my hands, trying to keep warm. A faint light filtered in through a dusty window, hitting the ground in a brilliant blue color. My feet swung over the side of the bed, landing on the cold concrete floor.
     The darkness of the room played tricks on my eyes, green and black figures flew across my line of sight, creating the illusion of moving shadows. I stood and took a step, before slowly taking another. Hopefully nothing is on the floor. Maybe if I call out to him?
"Asher!"
     I whispered softly, straining to hear anything in the dark. Any sign of life. The only response was the sound of crickets singing. The ray of moonlight brought me comfort as I approached it, quickening my pace. The front of my ankle slammed against hard metal, shooting pain up my leg as I pulled it away, hissing in pain.
      Carefully maneuvering around the hard metal I entered the moonlight just as voices began to whisper in my head, doubting my knowledge of what was in the dark. I sat against the wall underneath the window, praying Asher would come back soon.
"Everything is fine, I'm okay. Asher probably went to go to the bathroom and he'll be back soon."
    I waited for what seemed like hours, watching the moonlight move slowly across the room. The sun hadn't come up still and I assumed that it must have been early in the morning at this point.
     My eyes couldn't find anything familiar. Where did Asher bring me? After a few minutes I noticed that the moonlight had moved and uncovered a bag. I crawled over to it, pulling it closer into the light. My hands fumbled trying to quickly find the zipper. There has to be a flashlight.
     Pulling the zipper across the bag a terrible smell hit my nose. My hands reached in anyways, still hoping for a flashlight. Something warm and wet. My hand wrapped around it and pulled, lifting it into the moonlight. I dropped it and backed away.
     The tangled mess of intestines lied on the floor, glistening in the moonlight. I could feel the wetness on my hands, the small pieces of gut sliding in between my fingers. The whole ordeal had vomit rise to my mouth. I stood and ran when I saw the glint of the metal doorknob in the moonlight.
     My wet hands slid off the doorknob as I fumbled to get it open. Come on! Finally getting a good grip, the doorknob turned and a breeze greeted me. I began to run, not stopping to check for which way I was going. Just running. Memories came flooding back, the gunshots and yells.
     I fell to the ground on my knees, crying. Rubbing the tears away I no longer cared about the chunks of moist intestine and blood that coated my fingers. The sound of twigs snapping caught my attention and I turned, looking in all directions for the source of the sound only to feel something heavy hit the top of my head and I fell to the ground unconscious.
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(Night 6, Madeline)
     My eyes shot open and I looked around at the darkness, snow covering the ground and me, as well as the trees. It wasn't a thick layer, but the fact that snow was there still indicated that it was cold. I shivered at the thought and began to rethink about my dream as I stood.
     Snow continued to fall around me and got stuck on my clothes, melting immediately. Thinking back to the dream I thought of the way I had traveled to get back to Everport. It isn't even that far. I assured myself as I started walking.
     The coldness seemed to seep through my clothes and chill my bones. I reached up to feel my face, my fingers running over the frozen cheeks and then my forehead. I'm cold. I-I need help. My walking was hindered and instead I had to shuffle.
"Is-Is anyone out there!" I called weakly for help.
"No one else is out there."
"Who are you?!"
     I asked in fear as I stopped, spinning to try and find the source of the voice, but finding darkness. Just another auditory hallucination? I thought. The crunch of snow behind me forced me to jump forward, turning around to come face to face with someone.
      I couldn't see their face well, but they weren't attacking me. Still I kept my distance. No chances, I can't die out here, not now. Not tonight! Their voice sounded feminine and kind. Welcoming almost, however my distrust stayed.
"I asked, who are you."
"I'm here to help."
"Why should I believe you, how do I know you aren't here to kill me?"
     The woman pulled off her hood and stepped closer. Her red hair felt lively against the white and black background of nature. The woman then held out her hand. It took me a moment but I finally noticed that she was holding something out to me, which I then took. Bringing it close to my face I squinted to read it. She works at Everport Hospital!
"You-"
"Yes, I work at Everport Hospital. I heard of your predicament and I couldn't let another person die."
"Another?"
"Let's discuss getting out of this cold first okay?"
"Yeah."
     She took my hand and I held it back. I trusted her. Trust got me into the mess, maybe it can get me out? It was a leap of faith that I was willing to take. This could be my only hope. For some reason I still felt off about her, something seemed wrong, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
"So I have talked to your friend Amber…"
"You have, she is probably worried sick, I bet everyone is."
"Yeah, but they haven't given up hope yet."
     At that moment I noticed the blood. Blood coated her clothes in a splatter formation. Did she kill someone? Amber!? Mom!? I backed away from her.
"W-Who's blood is that?!" I demanded.
"It's a long story, but it was an evil man. He was trying to kill his daughter and I had to stop him."
"Oh my. I can't imagine having to be the person to stop someone from killing another person. It would be so confusing, so difficult."
"It was, but I knew what was right and I did that."
     The acceptance in her voice made me feel a bit more comfortable and I moved closer as we started to walk again. She does what is right, not what people want her to. I took mental notes, making sure that nothing raised any red flags.
"I would tell you it gets easier to watch people die but it doesn't. Especially when you are trying to save lives."
"You aren't the only one who has watched someone die."
     We talked normally. I wasn't afraid of being heard anymore. He had to have burned in that house, I just need to get out here and now I have a nurse with me. I took another step when suddenly lights blinded me. I couldn't see anything and my breath started to speed up. A hand wrapped around mine as I was being pulled.
     The hands were rough and callused, and they pulled hard. They're dragging me! At my realization I struggled, pulling away. Digging my feet in the ground earned me a punch to the gut. I doubled over and suddenly hands were all over me, pinning me in place as scratchy rope wrapped around my hands and feet.
"We got her."
     A deep voice spoke out as my vision began to return. The snowy ground and crumpled leaves of autumn acting as a blanket for me to lie on. I stopped struggling as a chill ran up my spine from their words.
"It's the girl from earlier."
     Then a heavy force hit the back of my head and I couldn't see or think or feel anymore.