Haunted in the Night

Chapter Twenty-One- Part One

Chapter Twenty-One.
Claire didn’t know how to reply, she didn’t know if it was because of embarrassment being caught out like that in front of everyone or if it was because of his cold eyes that were staring her down, she figured it was probably a bit of both.
“It won’t happen again" she finally managed to get out, her heart beating loudly in her chest, she didn’t bother trying to make an excuse, it would more than likely just rile up Tony more and the last thing she needed to do was insult him more.
“Good, now Jared and I will have first watch, Harvey and Bob can have the second watch, you’ll need all the sleep you can get tonight Claire, the track to the mountains if a tough one" Tony told them, leaning forward in his camping chair, resting on his arms that he had placed on his knees.
“Well... goodnight then everyone" Claire said, standing to her feet, she could take a hint, Tony didn’t want to be around her at the moment and with the way he was staring her down she felt the same way.
She didn’t want to be intimidated by him but he made it rather hard, especially seeming as she was the only women here and all the men could defend themselves better than she could, it made her feel belittled.
“Goodnight Claire, sleep well" Harvey spoke kindly to her, his eyes sympathetic, he knew what it was like to have Tony stare you down and make you feel insecure and small, but that had been to toughen Harvey up, especially for the life of a ranger, with Claire however he was doing it as to punish her.
She smiled thankfully at him before climbing into the tent, Bob was not far behind her, settling into his sleeping bag.
“Are you alright?” he asked her but she couldn’t speak, she felt embarrassed and almost paralysed, her voice caught in her throat as she tried to slow her rapidly beating heart, all she could do was shake her head in reply.
“Don’t worry about it, Tony can be overly reactive and harsh, both Harvey and Jared know that" he told her, being sure to speak quietly so the men outside their tent couldn’t hear them.
“How do you mean?” she managed to mumble out, looking at him from the corner of her eye, her curiosity getting the better of her again.
“He would throw them into tests, sure to fail and when they did he would leave them in the situations he had forced them into, saying the only way that they will learn is by doing, poor Jared nearly drown in that river we passed, nearly got swept away" Bob told her.
“Why didn’t you do anything about it?” Claire gasped but made sure to stay quiet, she couldn’t believe that Bob could just let that happen.
“I wanted to but Jared didn’t want to press charges, said it was his own fault, there was nothing I could do, he has manipulated those poor boys into believing that he is helping them, he has a bit of a messiah complex unfortunately” Bob explained, it did make a lot of sense with Tony's personality.
His ego for one, his arrogance, also how he was quick to get annoyed and react in anger over the slight things, also it explained why Harvey and Jared both made sure to watch themselves around him, if they did anything that Tony didn’t like they would surely pay.
She worried about if he would make Harvey pay for telling her about him but the men outside were quiet, she was sure that if Tony did punish Harvey he would make sure to do it in private, it made her feel even worse about how she had used him for information.
“Not to worry, we’ll be at the mountains tomorrow, hopefully we’ll get the answers we’re looking for" Bob said, laying down on his side, facing away from her and she sighed, not completely sure at all that she wanted the answers she was searching for, tomorrow all of her nightmares risked coming true.

Claire was finally there, the mountains, she turned to look at Bob only he was no longer at her side, she turned to the left, neither were the rangers, they were gone and she was by herself.
Slowly she turned to the cave she stood outside of, she wasn’t sure what she’d find in there but she had to know.
Step by step, each one careful, slower than the last as she made her way inside, the rocky cave consuming her as she travelled inside and at the sight that met her eyes, she gasped and froze in shock.
Her mother, her father, they stood in front of her, just as she remembered them from that awful night they disappeared, they were alive, they were happy, they were smiling down at her.
“Mum, dad, your alive" she gasped out, she wanted to run to them but she was frozen where she stood.
“No darling, we’re not" her mother suddenly said, her voice strange, cold, empty, it didn’t even sound like her mother’s voice, then the sight that met Claire would haunt her forever.
Her parents flesh started to melt and rot away in front of her eyes, their screams met her ears, piercing her eardrums and she quickly covered them, trying not to hear their agonizing cries, however covering her ears met she couldn’t cover her eyes.
She couldn’t close them either, the sight too overwhelming for her to think of it, to tear her eyes away from, slowly they rotted away in front of her, their flesh bubbling, sagging, rotting until they were nothing but bones, bones that blew away into dust before her and she was left standing alone, shaking from the horror that had unfolded before her.