Taken by the fog

The truth

"Oh my god, is that Rose?" Connor asked.

TJ ran to a tree and I heard him vomit. I felt a shiver run down my spine. 
"Go to him." I ordered Connor. I carefully crossed the clearance before Connor could hold me back. The fog was escaping on my left, making its way up the hill. That hill is one of the greatest mysteries of our town. No one ever went up that mountain, everyone who tried came back with either an injury or suffered another type of accident. 

I turned my back to the hill and walked to Rose. Her lifeless body was hanging from a tree. Her face was a mix of agony and peace. Both her arms were chained to the branches of the tree, her feet were dangling inches from the roots. The silver eagle still visible on her wrist and her wedding ring still on her finger. Rose looked the same, the same Rose who always listened when you had to tell something. I looked from the hill back to Rose. The retrieving fog and the lifeless body of Rose, they wanted to see the suffering they had inflicted on her and for us to see it too. This was revenge, revenge for me not being taken?

"Help me." A voice whispered. My head whipped to apparently not so lifeless body next to me. 
"Help me." It sounded again. I took a step closer and felt a faint breath tingle the hairs on my forehead. 
"Don't get too close!"  Connor shouted from behind me.
"Jen, let's go! We'll sent the authorities over. This is way out of our league." TJ joined in.
"Guys, she's alive!" I shouted back. I leaned closer to look at the chains on her wrists when they suddenly fell off. 

Rose screeched and tumbled forward. We fell back, the air got smacked out of my lungs as Rose fell on top of me. She sat up and her eyes turned jet black and her veins green. Her skeleton-like fingers closed around my neck. I struggled for air but she was stronger than any elder should be. 
"Jen!" The boys ran towards me. It seemed to distract freaky Rose for a second. I flipped us over and dodged her hands trying to claw at my face. 
"This is not the Rose who hands out cookies to the kids in the neighborhood," TJ stated in shock. 
"Seriously, that's what you're thinking about?" I yelled angrily, still dodging Rose her nails. After minutes of struggling, a black fluid escaped from Rose's mouth and I felt her shaking and startling underneath me. I jumped up and backed away. 

"What was that?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath. The boys came up to me and Connor wrapped his arm around me. 
"Are you okay?" TJ asked worriedly. 
"Yeah, I'm fine." I quickly swallowed the lump down my throat. "What was that?"
"I don't know." Connor answered as he ushered us back towards the forest. "Let's just go back to town and never talk about this. Jen, you're shaking." I nodded and shrugged. The adrenaline and fear were slowly fading away.
"Wait!" I ran back and wrapped Rose's necklace in a couple of leaves. Luckily, the necklace fell off during our struggle. 
"Good thinking." Connor praised me.

"Guys, what are we doing?" TJ asked as we were slowly making our way back to the group. He was pale and shaking. I pulled him in for a hug, Connor looked at me and gestured to the necklace in my hand. 
"Look, people will get pissed if they knew we didn't get help. We'll be those stupid teenagers who think they can fix everything themselves. We need a cover story." I stopped for a moment and held out the necklace.
"We stayed on the trails, we found the necklace and recognized it as Rose's. That's when we decided to go back. Agreed?" Connor stated easily. I nodded hesitantly, playing with the necklace in my hand. TJ still looked pale but nodded nonetheless. 

"How do we convince the rest of the group to join our lies?" Connor asked.
"We don't." Both boys looked at me confused. I walked to the bushes on our left and made my way through. We arrived on a different trail. "This trail will lead back to the rest of the group, we just have to decide where we found the necklace and stick to the story." The boys followed me and as soon as we decided our 'finding place' we made our way back to the group.

"There you are!" Tess yelled as she sprinted towards us. 
"Hey guys." Connor grinned. "Missed us that much?" 
"Didn't you guys go off the trail?" Beau asked warily. Damn her and her intelligent brain. 
"We did, but it felt wrong so we walked back to the trail." Connor answered with ease. 
"Why does TJ look like he has seen a ghost?" Tess asked as she handed TJ a water bottle.
"Did you find anything?" Mike wrapped his arms around me. My heart dropped as I knew I had to lie. I enjoyed a minute of peace before answering.
"We did, we found the necklace of Rose." Everyone looked at the bundle of leaves in my hand. 
"What are those scratches on your neck?" Mike tilted my chin up. I slowly brushed his hand away and put on a smile.
"I scratched myself on a branch." He nodded and intertwined our fingers. His expression told me he didn't believe me. I know I'll tell him the truth, not now, not in front of everyone.
"Let's go, this place gives me the creeps." TJ stated. We all walked out of the forest. 

TJ and Mike escorted me to the police station, Connor would bring the girls home and come shortly after. 
"Dad, I have to tell you something." I said as I burst into his office, with Mike on my heels. 
"Jen, Mike, what are you doing here?" We looked at the other adult in the room, Mike's dad. I silently heard Mike curse behind me. 
"Dad we went to the woods. Before you get pissed, we found something." Mike spoke calmly. He gave me an encouraging smile and gave me a small nudge forward. 
"So, the eagle told us 'they would read it in the forest'. Which I found weird, so we decided to check it out. Keep in mind, it was my plan and I convinced the rest of the group to come." Mike opened his mouth to interrupt, I quickly covered his mouth with my hand and continued. "Don't Mike, it's the truth. It was my plan and they came along." Both our fathers looked at each other confused. I dropped my hand, losing all my nerves.
"We did find something." Mike jumped to my aid. This seemed to trigger the adults as they both looked at us with full interest. 
"Honey, tell us what you found. I promise I won't get mad at you going to the forest." My dad tried to reassure me. Mike grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 
"We found the necklace Rose used to wear. We went back after we found it. I figure she must be closeby." My voice was shaky. I am the worst liar in history but they all seemed to believe my story and probably blamed the shakiness of my voice on fear. 
"Where did you find the necklace?" Mike's dad asked. I gave them directions and Mike agreed to everything I said.

Five minutes later and we were excused. 
"Mike, can you hang back a minute?" My dad asked. He gave me a reassuring nod and I walked to the waiting area. Connor and TJ shot up as soon as they saw me. 
"How was it? Did they buy it?" Connor and TJ asked at the same time.
"They did." I answered. We all stayed silent for a moment. "I'm going to tell him everything." I blurted.
"What?" TJ's face turned pale once more. 
"Are you sure you want to tell Mike?" Connor seemed unconvinced.
"Tell me what?" Mike popped up behind me. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against his chest. 
"Everything." 

ᴥᴥᴥ