haunted, the forest // nct [3]

{21}

Kun gritted his teeth and shut his eyes as both him and the spirit hit the ground after charging for a tackle. However, when Kun reopened his eyes, the cloaked cult member was no longer beneath him. Kun was face to the dirt. With rage, he jumped to his feet in search for the cloak.

His eyes landed on a face twisted in a sinister smirk. The fire cast orange flickering lights on its dead skin. Kun dug his fingernails into his palm with a great urge to charge again. At least it was no longer holding Jungwoo back.

Jungwoo took this as an opportunity to continue untying Mark from the tree. He helped him away from the scene to follow Sicheng and Jisoo. They found a place behind the bushes to look at Mark's ankle. His face scrunched up in pain as they rolled up his black jeans.

"Easy, easy," he demanded as Jisoo moved it from side to side to examine the injury.

"You can't walk on this," Jisoo concluded. "This is definitely more than just a sprain."

"How the hell am I supposed to just sit here with possessed fucking blankets trying to kill us all!"

Jungwoo placed his hand on Mark's shoulder to try and calm him down. "We're going to stay here and guard you."

"What happened to you?" a new voice exclaimed.

The four turned to see another group moving into the light. As they stepped closer, the fire's glow lit up their faces to show Jaehyun, Gina, Doyoung, Haechan, Chunja, and Chanmi. Chunja's nose scrunched when seeing Mark's injury.

Though, Chanmi's eyes widened in horror at the scene just past them. "Um, more like what's happening over there?"

"We found the cult's camp," Jisoo answered. "The answer to killing them has to be somewhere near."

"These spirits are really determined to live on," Doyoung breathed in fear.

Suddenly, Sicheng gasped in surprise and pointed in the other group's direction. "Watch out!"

Haechan screamed upon turning and coming face to face with one of the cloaked figures. He backed away before running off in a different direction, and Chunja followed his actions shortly after. Jaehyun grabbed ahold of Gina's arm and pulled her behind him.

Before anyone else could act out, the spirit moved quickly to capture Chanmi. She screamed and thrashed around under the arm that locked her in a hold. Doyoung, acting out of instinct, swung his fist at the cold and colorless face. After making contact, the cult member soon disappeared with a grimace directed at Doyoung. As it vanished, the arm raised to let go of Chanmi, but bumped into her glasses. They fell to the forest floor.

"Oh no." Chanmi bent down and felt around the grass and dirt to try and find her frames. "I can't find my glasses."

Doyoung quickly moved closer to help search, but froze in his tracks when hearing the crunch of glass under his foot. He pressed his lips together before speaking. "Found them."

Chanmi let out a heavy sigh before getting back on her feet. "This is awful. My vision is so bad." She squinted her eyes while trying to make sense of the view. All the colors and shapes had blurred lines and seemed to fade into each other with a tint of orange coming off of the fire.

"Stay close to me." Doyoung took her arm and wrapped it around his. "Don't let go."

Jihwan was darting through trees surround the site in desperation to find where Lucas disappeared to. He seemed unconscious after being thrown at the tree, so Jihwan couldn't even imagine the pain and bruising he was going to get.

"Lucas!" she called. Still no answer.

Jihwan was growing more impatient and distressed as time continued on. If they didn't get out of this mess soon, someone was going to be killed. It was only a matter of seconds before the spirit could've burned her in the fire before Jihwan was able to fight her way out of its grasp. She shivered at the recent memory and hoped Lucas wasn't in a similar situation.

Something rustled from the corner of her eye. Jihwan spun around the face Yuta and Taeil hurrying to her side.

"We heard yelling and saw the fire," Taeil explained, catching his breath.

"What the hell is going on?" Yuta questioned.

Jihwan whined and continuously shifted her weight. "People are being chased and I'm pretty sure the spirits are looking for people to sacrifice. Also, Lucas is missing and I'm freaking out because I think he's badly injured."

"We'll help you look," Taeil offered before pushing Yuta off in a different direction to search for the missing Lucas.

Not long after the two left, something reached out of the thick brush and grabbed Jihwan's arm. She screamed and threw her fist in the direction of the figure.

"Ow!" the figure whimpered.

That's when Jihwan's eyes adjusted and realization set in. "Oh my God, Lucas!" She brought her hands up to his face so she could see where her fist made contact.

His eyes were watering and winced at her touch. "Damn, you have a good arm on you," he managed to joke and chuckle.

Jihwan let out a heavy sigh in relief and let her arms fall around his neck. "You're okay, you're alive." Then she pulled away with a hint of anger in her eyes. "Where were you? I was running around everywhere trying to make sure you were okay."

"Sounds like you were concerned for this dumb fool." Lucas smirked.

"I've been worry about you ever since we first entered this forest." Jihwan felt warm tears prickling the backs of her eyes. "I've been scared you're going to get yourself killed wandering off like this!"

"Jihwan, I need you to know something." Lucas straightened his express to a more serious look.

"What?"

"I found the core." He swallowed hard. "I found their bodies."