It Lives In The Woods

Chapter Eighteen

The sounds of restless teenagers and adults alike filled the gym of Crescent Point high school, where the seven friends stood in the bleachers, looking around earnestly for the missing team. "Wasn't the game supposed to start already?" Bee asked, frowning as she looked out over the crowd. Andy nodded an uneasy feeling taking hold of him, "Yeah, see how the other team is down there, all restless ?" He pointed to where a group of teenage boys in red jerseys were ganged together, whispering in agitation amongst themselves. "What's wrong?" Ava wondered, knitting her eyebrows together in concern. "I don't know, but look, here's Paul now." Andy turned and put his phone to his ear. "Paul, what the hell is going on in there?" He asked. Andy listened with a frown to the heavy breathing on the other line, "Paul ?"

"Comeee playyyy..." Paul's surreal voice hissed from the other line. Andy's face paled to a creamy white, his heart falling into his stomach. "What the fuck?!" He cried. "The prince is mineeee....comeee playy King Andyyy..." The line died on the other end, leaving Andy weak, his stomach churning. "Andy, what's wrong, what is it?" Stacy asked, recognizing the distraught expression on his face. "We have to go." He whispered, turning towards the bleacher stairs. "Hey, hey wait, what is it?" Bee asked, grabbing his wrist, she yelped with surprise when he shoved her off, into Noah who snarled at him in protectiveness. "Hey what the hell's your problem man ?!" Noah snapped. Andy kicked the side of one of the bleachers, startling several teenagers and their families. "Outside, now." Andy snapped, hobbling down the bleachers with the rest of them hurrying in his wake. Andy was pacing nervously, tears swelling in his eyes, "It's Blue, Paul just called me, except it wasn't Paul, it was that demon CONTROLLING HIM!" Andy yelled, punching the side of the school, his knuckles bleeding from the impact. Lily covered her mouth with her small shaking hand, "That's impossible, we locked him away, we did everything right!" She cried, turning to Tanner who nodded insistently. "Fiona said if we weren't strong he would break out, we must've, we must've failed." Bee cried, holding her chest with uncertainty. Ava grabbed Stacy's hand roughly, her wide red eyes widening, tears filling them like someone had turned on the faucet inside of her. "Jamie, we have to go check on Jamie!" She whispered, turning and running to her car.

They all met at the hospital where all seemed quiet, it was surreal to them, knowing the beast could now be anywhere at any time, just laying in wait around a corner for them. "Take the elevator Ava, I'll take the stairs." Tanner assured, sprinting up the several flights with Noah not far behind him, leaving the five women to squeeze into one, very tense elevator. They were all waiting for the downfall, the dread of either Jamie being dead, or still in a coma, dead to the world. Ava shoved them out of the way and threw open Jamie's door, Tanner and Noah closing in behind her, their faces just illuminated shadows in the flickering lights. "No...NO!" She screamed, holding her stomach in distress. The room was a mess, the bed was flipped over, the wires that had once been attached to Jamie were now hanging limply from their machine, which laid on the floor in a pile of broken glass from it's shattered screen. "Dammit." Noah breathed, running his hand through his sweaty black hair. "What do we do?" Lily asked, tears dripping from her lips. Bee shook her head, "We could ask Fiona for something else to help ? Maybe a weapon or something she could enchant to kill him ? I don't-" She sat on her heels, thighs tensing from her weight as she buried her head in her hands. "I don't know. I feel like we're always two steps behind him." Tanner shook his head no, offering a hand to help her up. "If that was the case we'd already be dead. I say we go to Fiona's like you suggested. I know no one wants to leave Paul or Jamie in the woods with Blue, but we have to figure something out before we all panic. Right?" Tanner asked, giving Bee a small questioning look. Despite the situation Bee felt a ray of pride shine inside her at his show of leadership, a glimpse of the man he used to be, before the drugs corrupted him, it was nice, even in all this disaster to see someone improve themselves. "I think that's a good idea, right Ava ?" Lily asked, rubbing Ava's back, giving her a comforting smile. She sniffled and nodded, rubbing at the tears on her face roughly, turning her brown skin a red rash color. "If that doesn't work we go in after them, I don't care. I'm not leaving him there." Andy nodded, "I agree, Paul is still a kid, I don't want this to mess him up, not like it did for us."

The drive to Fiona's house was quiet and tense in Bee's car where Noah sat in her passenger seat, biting his lower lip in thought as he watched the town pass by in the window. "I can't believe we're stuck in this situation again." Bee said, her voice breaking under the weight of the terror she felt deep inside of her, the terror she felt that night all those years ago. Noah turned and reached out, lacing his fingers with hers. "It's okay Bee, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. It doesn't matter how he got out, or why he's still after us, all that matters is that we're in this together. Right?" Bee smiled despite herself, squeezing his hand while the other one steered. "Right." She responded, bringing the back of his hand to her lips, kissing it softly. "Do you think she's asleep?" Bee asked, as she parked outside of the home she'd spent a lot of time in the past few weeks. Noah looked out through the front windshield to see the windows of the house dark. "Maybe, it is almost 9:30." Bee and Noah climbed out of the car and started walking towards the house, the others parking behind them, rushing to get out, the nightime's darkness making them all uneasy. "Wait," Noah held up an arm to stop Bee from knocking, his eyes falling on the ground before them that was illuminated by the yellow porch light. "What the fuck is that?" Bee whispered, her stomach flipping, throat tightening as she stared down at the bloody paw prints leading out of Fiona's house, her door clawed open. "What're you two waiting for ?" Ava asked, ignoring them, her eyes missing the blood, as she walked into the house, a blood curdling scream escaping her lips. Noah rushed in and caught her as she nearly fell to the floor, her slim body wracked with sobs. Blood was splattered all over the walls where the shelves full of occult items had been, the shelves now buried in broken glass on the floor. All the furniture was clawed to pieces, cotton still floating in the air like ashes, the worst sight of all was Fiona's mutilated body in the middle of the living room, blood covering every inch of her clothes, her eyes open, dead, bloody sockets staring up at the ceiling. "PAUL!" Andy shouted from outside. Bee turned and raced out of the house, to find Andy standing at the edge of the woods, his eyes alit with rage as he stared through the trees. "Andy don't." Bee pleaded, pushing past Lily and Stacy who stood watching, horrified. "I saw him, he was right there, watching us with this sick, twisted grin." Andy insisted, his words sounding crazed, but she knew, she knew he was being honest. "It's Blue trying to bait us into the woods, he's trying to split us up." She told him, reaching out slowly to grab his arm. "King Andyyyyy...." Paul appeared between the trees, his usual brown eyes lit up a brilliant, yet horrifying blue. "ANDY DON'T!" Bee screamed running after him without a second thought, she didn't realize her mistake until the woods closed around her, burying her in the darkness.