It Lives In The Woods

Chapter Four

After what felt like forever, Bee and Andy emerged from the woods, gasping for air. "What did he say to you Bee?" Andy asked, flinching with every step as they walked back towards town, basking in the savory sunlight. Bee looked over, remembering the ice cold breath on her neck with a shiver, "He said friends don't leave friends. Isn't that crazy ? That he thinks we're all still his friends?" Andy sighed, running a shaking hand through his hair. "He's thought worse. Do you think the others are okay?" They rounded the bend towards town and saw Stacy sitting on the edge of the road, her head hung, tears slipping down her face towards the ground. "Stacy? Are you okay,what happened?" Bee cried out, rushing to her side. Stacy looked up, a dead look in her blue eyes, "I lost hold of mouse, she-she was right behind me. She walked out behind me, and just kept going. What are we doing here?" She sobbed, holding her head in her hands. The prom queen, the head cheerleader, broken on the side of the road. "We're here to end it." They all looked up to see Noah tugging Tanner along, blood dripping down the corner of his mouth like someone had suckerpunched him. Bee felt her stomach quize, she reached out and helped support Tanner's limp body, soaked in sweat, "Is he okay?!" Noah shrugged, "We were running, and he just collapsed, shaking and heavy breathing. Where's everyone else?" Stacy stood up, wiping her face roughly with the edge of her sleeve. "Lily walked back to her hotel I think, has anyone seen Ava?" They all looked back into the woods, where the darkness waited, where Jamie and Ava were concealed away from their worrying eyes. "I'm right here." She stepped out from the shadows of the trees, an angry cut from a vine leaking blood from her arm. Bee nodded, taking in their defeated demeanors, "I'm sorry we didn't find him Ava, we'll keep looking, we'll get the police involved." Ava nodded, cradling her arm awkwardly. "I'll take her to the hospital, get her stitched up before I pick my brother up from school." Andy volunteered, smiling lightly at Ava who nodded. Bee sighed, relieved someone other than herself would be looking out for Ava, "I'll take Tanner back to the house, let him rest. Will you guys be okay?" Bee asked, taking the rest of Tanner's weight from Noah as she sagged under his weight. "Yeah, yeah i've gotta get home to check on mom."

"I have to call my son when he gets home from school. Regroup tonight for dinner?" They all nodded in agreement, feeling the silence where Jamie's remark should have been.

-2008-

School hadn't been the same for Lily since she'd come out of the closet their freshman year, teenagers they were ruthless to the bone. But the cheerleaders, they were the worst. The small tan girl walked through the halls by herself, not an uncommon scene, she had always been the outcast of the group, she didn't couple off like the others over the years, but Lily didn't mind, she preferred the solidarity of her own company compared to the loudness of their group. People shoved past her, nearly knocking her small body to the ground, a mouse amongst beasts. "Hey queer, where you going?" Lily's shoulder slammed into the lockers, pain stinging through her body. She didn't have to look back to see who it was, she knew the cold voice, the whip of an insult from the mouth of the senior class president Fiona Fire. She groaned and turned around, "Please not today." She whispered, her body already sore from a rough game of tag with Blue. Fiona towered over her, broad shoulders and muscles and all, co captain of the cheer squad with Stacy. "I hear you went out on a date with another girl, are you just turning everyone gay or is it only the tourists?!" Fiona snapped, slamming her hand besides Lily's small head, the vibrations shaking the wall. Lily cowered against the lockers , her eyes searching desperately for a sign of her friends, any one of them, all stronger and braver than she was. "I-I..." she struggled to answer, flashes of the pretty girl's dark face smiling down at her between their meal crossing her mind, a serene moment now tainted. "What was that?!" Fiona lowered her face to Lily's, till Lily could smell the spearmint of her breath. "Just leave me alone!" Lily cried, trying to wiggle away. "Not till you answer my question!" Lily flinched as Fiona raised her fist to punch, but the hit never came. Lily peeked her eyes open slowly, and gasped at what she saw. Fiona hovered there, like frozen in suspension, her eyes glowing like blue fireballs. "Blue?" Lily whispered. Fiona's body began to shake, like she was having a seizure. "Nooo hurt friendsssss" came a hiss from Fiona's mouth. Lily's eyes widened in shock as Fiona fell to the ground, seizing, and Lily took her chance to escape.