The Woods

Chapter 20

(Night 7, Madeline)
     In my happiness I didn't notice the blood on the ground.
"Madeline, what is that?"
"It's a phone! And it works!"
"No that."
     She pointed to the tree behind me. I turned to face it myself and saw nothing out of the usual. She then pointed again and I realized she had been pointing behind the tree. My smile left my face instantly as I turned the corner.
     Before me lied the corpse of a man, who had been shot. His clothes were wrinkled and bloodstained where the bullet had pierced his skin. His hands lied at his side, lifeless and unmoving. The expression on his face was of pure shock, confusion.
"It looks like he trusted the person who killed him."
"That's horrible."
"You said the phone works?"
"Yeah. I'll check if I can call."
     Janet crouched next to the body as I stepped back, searching the phone. Janet searched the leaves around the lifeless body and produced a gun. I found the phone app and clicked on it. It brought up the recent calls with the first one being 9-1-1.
"It looks like they called the police before they died."
"I don't think so."
     I lowered the phone and watched as Janet reached into the man's pocket and pulled out a phone. I brought the phone back to my face and hovered over the phone icon, signifying that it would call the number.
"There isn't any signal."
"What do you- oh."
     I noticed the signal bars, or the lack thereof. Janet rose to her feet, still holding the phone. The sun was setting fast and I couldn't tell which way we had started traveling before.
"Which way are we supposed to go?"
"That way?"
"That sounded like a question."
"It kinda was."
     We stopped talking and started forward, picking up pace to try and beat nightfall. We traveled quietly, hoping we would hear danger before we saw it. Wolves howled in the distance.
"Guess they finally migrated closer to here."
"That isn't good for us."
     The howling was overtaken by the sound of something crashing further ahead of us. Janet motioned to keep going, pulling out the phone she had kept and turned on the flashlight so that we could see.
     My feet ached and a headache set in, but we had a chance at freedom. I can't let this chance go. My feet moved faster and I glided over the Autumn leaves and winter snow.
"Madeline!"
     I tripped over the roots sticking up from the ground, falling quickly. I closed my eyes expecting impact, but after a moment of feeling nothing I dared to open my eyes. My face hovered only a couple inches from the ground.
"You need to learn how to slow down."
     Janet laughed as she pulled me up, steadying me. I nodded at her before we continued onwards, carefully maneuvering over the roots. My headache pounded against my skull as I put one foot in front of the other.
"Maybe it was Victoria coming to find us."
"Who's Victoria?"
"She is the one I told you about, the one who's family is trying to kill us as well now."
"Great family."
"No kidding."
     We both turned to find ourselves making eye contact with Parker. A look of realization surfaced on Janet's face. Suddenly he charged just as Janet's mouth opened. He charged towards me, but Janet pushed me out of the way. He tackled her and they both went tumbling off the edge of the hill next to us.
"Janet!"
     I cried as I watched the phone light hit the ground. The sound of fighting ensued. I couldn't help her without hurting myself. Through the light of the phone I watched in horror as Parker brought the blade up to Janet's throat and pulled it across.
                    Janet was dying.
     There wasn't anything I could do to save her, even if I could have gotten to her. Her eyes were wide as she went to hold her throat. Parker grabbed her hands, holding them back as he smiled up at me.
An evil grin.
     She struggled against his grasp, the weak attempts futile against his superior strength. I couldn't stop the tears from falling down my face as I watched her struggle to breathe, to stop the bleeding but physically unable to.
     It was painful to think that she couldn't do anything to comfort herself in her horrible condition. My own throat began to hurt. I backed away from the edge and fell onto my back, tears rolling down my face.
"But… It's not fair."
"You're next Madeline! You hear me! You're next!"
     Parker shouted from below, his voice travelling through the woods, filling my ears. He fell silent as I listened to the leaves rustle up till they were gone. I crawled back over to the edge and looked over staring at her.
      Janet was dead.
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(Night 7, Diane)
     The sound of wolves howling brought me back into consciousness. Why would that ghost girl put me to sleep!? I wondered as I shakily stood. I felt refreshed, but I knew I had lost time in catching up to Madeline.
"I was almost there too."
     My feet began to carry me forward when I remembered the machete I had taken from the murderous person. I turned back, falling to the ground in search of the machete. It took me a few moments, but finally I recovered the machete and began my walk again.
     The sun was starting to fall and I had no idea if Madeline had kept moving away or if she had stopped somewhere. I wasn't running or jogging, but walking with a slight speed so I could catch up to Madeline and Janet.
"How did Janet find her? And who was trying to kill them? Who were those people?"
     From the corner of my eye I sensed movement. I spun to watch a black cloak disappear behind trees. My hand tightened around the machete's handle, my knuckles turning white. The hatred for Parker resurfaced as I stormed over, not caring about how loud I was.
     As I approached the tree I raised the machete, preparing to bring it down onto Parker's unsuspecting face. I would split it in two, make him go through hell, just like the rest of us. The figure jumped out and my machete fell, phasing right through their body.
"What? What are you?"
"I'm a victim of betrayal. I can't stop trying to hide from every traveler in these woods. It's my instinct. But how do you see me?"
"I don't know."
"You have some kind of gift. Maybe you can end this terrible person once and for all?"
"That's what I plan on doing."
"Follow me."
     He said as he started heading away from where Madeline and Janet had gone. Janet is a nurse, she'll protect Madeline. I quickly followed him. His feet didn't interact with the ground, he floated above it, but still walked as though he needed to.
     His head looked from side to side, fear in his eyes as he walked alongside me. His movements reminded me of someone who was being hunted, looked for. Like in a game of hide-and-seek. He had dull brown eyes and medium length black hair.
     His hair was slicked back over his head. He was relatively small, but seemed to be strong nonetheless. His long cloak was torn and the front of his body was cut open. I walked a little faster so I could see more clearly.
     A red line dug into his neck. Had he been hung? I was afraid to ask him about how he died. I looked at his wrists which were barely visible and noticed cuts there as well. Parker is a psychopath. My face frowned and I turned away from the ghost victim.
"We are almost there."
     I could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke softly. Up a small hill was a little concrete building. From the outside I could see one small window. I climbed after the man and he pointed to the door before going over to it. Pulling on the handle showed that it was locked.
"It's locked."
"We need to find a way to get you in there."
"Can't you just phase through the wall and open the door?"
"It doesn't work that way. I'm still bound to physical barriers. I can't phase through walls or doors, I can't go through the ground. I can hover above the ground and stuff like that, but no phasing."
"There was a window."
"Is it unlocked?"
"If it is locked I can just break it."
"Fair enough."
      I peered around the side of the building and approached the window. Looking inside I noticed a bed, with a metal bed frame that was longer than the mattress itself. There were shelves and a chair. On the chair was a bag. I tried the window and it opened. I managed to get my foot over and fell in, hitting the concrete floor.
"That felt great."
"We're in. In that bag, I saw what was in it last night."
     I cautiously moved over to the bag and grabbed the zipper, tugging on it curiously until it slid open. A horrible stench filled the room. Inside the bag intestines were packed in, folding and sliding over each other, tied up in knots.
"Why show this to me?"
"Because he doesn't just kill people. He tortures them to death."
"What happened to you? If you don't mind me asking."
"Well, he hung me from a tree, just barely keeping my alive and then slit my wrists. And as I was bleeding out he emptied my guts into that filthy bag."
"That's disgusting as much as it is inhumane."
"It wasn't only me, there have been so many others. Follow me."
     He had been sitting on the bed and now stood walking over to the corner, which had a few shelves. He waved them away, so I thought he meant move them. I pushed and pulled them from the spot until it revealed a trap door.
"What's down there?"
"Terrible things, but important things that you must see."
     I reached for the handle, wrapping my fingers around the rotting wood and pulled upwards hard. The handle broke in my hands and I fell back. The entire hatch crumbled into pieces, falling inwards into the hole.
     Inching across the floor back to the hole I felt my heartbeat calm. There was a rusty, peeling, yellow ladder leading into the depths below and I grabbed it, lowering myself. For a moment it was quite dark, but my eyes adjusted enough to notice a light switch against the wall. Flicking it put the horrors on display.
     Eyes had been strung like Christmas lights down the hallway, leading to an ominous looking door. Severed arms had been glued to the wall so they would touch you as you passed by.
"He is sick!"
"If only you knew."
"Let's get out of here and go find my sister, then we can get here out of here and I can come back with the police."
"Okay."
     We quitted the underground tunnel and I climbed up the ladder pulling myself into the dim moonlight coming in through the window. My body moved on its own accord. Heading for the window and climbing out into the darkened world.
     The ghost didn't follow me, but stayed behind as I walked emotionlessly through the woods. Passing trees and rocks and hills. I weaved between everything and stepped over roots.
     Light caught my attention and I snapped out of my robotic state. In the light I could make out someone lying on the ground and I rushed over, noticing more and more details. The red hair. It was Janet.
     I fell beside her and stared at her lifeless body. My hands went to her neck and my fingers felt along the cut across her neck. I was lost for words.
     Then I heard something else. Someone near me was crying. Madeline was with Janet. I looked up towards the top of the hill next to me and listened carefully.