The Mysterious Forest (Survival Instincts )

Chapter 3 : Back in the Forest

Angelie was very busy packing her things for their reunion when she received a text from Angelica .

  "Meet me at the forest where I was almost eaten by a wolf a year ago.  Don't tell it to other people . We are going to prepare a surprise for them . Come quickly.  "

Reading Angelica's text , she decided to stop what she was doing . She just grabbed her bag and phone . She was confused though . Why would they hide it to other people? It didn't sound like Angelica . Maybe , she didn't want to spoil the event .  Well , it's a surprise ,after all .

She was about to go when she met Arciel .
"Where are you going Gelie ? "

"It's not very important . I'm just going to meet my friend . " she replied.

Arciel was doubtful . He's sure Angelie's lying .
"Really? At this hour?  What about our family reunion?  "

"Don't worry . I'll come back immediately . Bye . "

Angelie immediately ran . She was in a hurry .

Arciel noticed it . That was so unlikely of Angelie . Should he follow her? 

Angelie went to the bus stop . She was still hesitant to go but she didn't want to disappoint her friend. She boarded the bus at 4:00 p.m. When she reached the town , she rode a motorcycle going to the mountain .

She finally arrived at the entrance of the forest . She wasn't scared . Maybe because she didn't have really bad memories.  And about the meeting place , she wasn't sure about it . She was sleeping inside the bus when Angelica was almost eaten . She told her many times .
She entered the forest . She just followed the path that they had used before . She continued walking while listening to the music .
It was already dark . 
The wind was also getting colder.
After minutes of walking , Angelie finally came to a stop .
"Angelica! Angelica!  " she shouted .
The place was very quiet and dark . No sign of people preparing for a surprise.
"Angelica! I'm here.  "
Still , nobody answered .
"Is this a prank?  Well , you won. Come out , now . I'm already scared . "

Out of the blue , a shadow came out from a tree .Angelie felt relieved .
"Finally , you came out . "
She turned her back to see if it's Angelica but the shadow which turned out to be a man wearing a black coat , grabbed her. 

"Let me go ! Help!  " she shouted .
She bit the man's hand . And tried her best to release her hands from his grip .
But the man was stronger than her . The man tied her mouth and hands.  He carried Angelie and disappeared in the darkness of the forest .
Arciel witnessed everything , but couldn't do anything . He was following her cousin , he also boarded the same bus but Angelie didn't notice . He tried calling her outside the forest but she didn't respond . He went inside the forest and saw the same person a year ago.  He was carrying Angelie . He wanted to save Angelie but his legs wouldn't move . He was too scared . He watched as the man disappeared .
Tears suddenly fell on his eyes.
"Angelie " , he cried in silence .

Meanwhile , Justine , Jyrra , Mercy and Melchi finally arrived at the forest . Nothing had changed except that it was really darker this night . A year ago, there was a heavy rain followed by thunder and lightning . They just hoped it wouldn't rain again . If there's a rain , it would be difficult to find their friends .

Before entering the forest , they put on thick clothing , in order to prevent them from unnecessary wounds . They're also wearing boots. Each of them were holding a flashlight . They decided to tie their hands , that way nobody would get lost like what happened to Angelie before. Jyrra and Melchi tied their right and left hand , Justin and Mercy did the same thing to . Justin followed by Mercy while holding Jyrra's hand with Melchi at Jyrra's back entered the forest. 

They weren't sure about their destination . They just knew , they needed to find their friends .
They walked inside the forest carefully  . Last time, there were many traps . In fact , Jyrra got hurt because of it . They didn't want the same thing to happen ever again . They also kept track on Melchi , sometimes, he's very careless .

The night was very silent . The big trees looked very scary but it didn't stop them to rescue their friends .
"Are we really sure , we can find them here?  " Justin asked .

"They should be , where else do we find them ?" Jyrra said firmly.
" Ssh! Quiet . " Mercy interrupted.

"What's the matter?  " Melchi said in a low voice .

"Look ! " Mercy pointed her fingers in front.

They saw someone sitting on the ground . He was wearing white . His back was facing towards them. Justin immediately turned off his flashlight.

"Ghost!  " Jyrra whispered .

"No, he looked very familiar . " Mercy said .

They also agreed with what Mercy stated . They had this feeling they already met this person before .Was it from the stranger they met a year ago?  But the scent was very familiar. Mercy was very sure of it . It couldn't be .

"Arciel , is that you?  " Mercy shouted .

"Mers, what are you doing?  " Justin asked .

"Let's go . You're putting us in danger . " Melchi said .

"But , I'm really sure about it .That scent?  I gave that perfume to Arciel . " Mercy insisted.

"Mers , calm down .Why would Arciel be here in the first place?  He didn't know anything . " Jyrra said calmly.

On the other hand , Arciel was still crying when he heard a familiar voice .
Impossible! Was he imagining things?  Was it the result of not doing anything to save Angelie?  Guilt?
Then he heard people arguing in low voices .
Could it be his friends ?

"Mers , Mercy!  Was it you?  "

The voices that he heard a minute ago was gone . Wasn't it real? 

"Mercy!  I heard your voice earlier . Are you here by chance ? "

Then he heard voices again .

"I told you , it was Arciel. "

"Sorry , if we didn't believe you "

He ran to the direction of the voices and saw his friends.  He was very happy . Then , suddenly he felt sad .

" Arciel , long time no see . You even deactivated your account . " Melchi said.

"Yeah and we see each other again inside this forest . " Arciel said .

"Arciel , how did you get here ? " Justin asked .
"I was following Angelie but I lost her . A man suddenly came out and grabbed her . I was very scared watching from a far . I knew I needed to help her but my legs refused to move . "

"It's okay . Don't blame yourself . We understand you. " Jyrra said .

"We knew you couldn't do anything about the situation. The good thing is you're safe . " Mercy added .

"But , why are you here?  " Arciel asked.

"We were searching for Pamela , Angelica and Kaye . They were missing . Angelica didn't return home two nights ago , the next morning , Kaye suddenly disappeared and last night , Pamela didn't return my call . When I looked for her , she was nowhere to be found . " Jyrra explained .

"Missing?  Could it be the person who abducted Angelie was the same person responsible for what had happened to the three of them?  " Arciel suddenly asked .

They looked at each other.  They were thinking of the same thing . The problem was they didn't know where to find them .

They were very busy thinking , when they heard a noise coming to their way .
It wasn't just any noise . It felt like someone was running towards them .
It's very alarming .

"Quick!  Hide ! " Arciel whispered .

But the person was already at their backs .

After few minutes  , the place was very silent again.