I Dare You...

T

I run in the woods up on Swathern Hill at least once a week: normally on a Saturday. I leave at 6 in the morning and am always back at 7. My dad hates me being in the woods alone, especially in Swathern: there have been several bodies found up there recently, mutilated beyond recognition, the hearts always missing from within their chests. I mean, it's not exactly like you need it after you're dead, but still, the person who's done that has got to be pretty damn sick in the head. No-one normal does things like that.

It's why I had to promise my parents that I wouldn't listen to my music when I went running, just in case it prevented me from hearing anything suspicious. Unwillingly, I had relented to them and was forced to surrender my i-Pod and earphones every Friday night, just in case I tried to sneak them out. They are so thorough in everything they do, it annoys the hell out of me sometimes. 

Spying the rotting wooden sign a couple of yards ahead of me, a sense of dread begins to crawl up my spine with ghostly fingers. I have never been to this part of the woods before: this isn't my usual turning point. Stopping, I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw a large, slumped figure at the base of the manky old pole. Head tilted away from me. I had missed it at first, because the body was covered with a black sheet, as though the person who had left it there didn't want him to get cold, like they cared about what happened to him. I don't have a good feeling about this. I dont, I don't, I don't. But I can't move away, I literally cannot seem to take my eyes off of this limp body, fearful thoughts about that sicko murderer flashing through my head fast enough to cause an epileptic attack. My heart skipped a beat when the body twitched, as though awkening.

Either this person had been sleeping in the woods or had been left here. I am still frozen to the spot, when the boy's head turned around, bleary blue eyes visible to me even from this short distance. Suddenly, the wind picked up, causing the branches of the surrounding trees to bow and sway. I decided to take a step closer to the unknown boy, from this distance I could only really make out his eye colour - the blue was so sharp and piercing knives looked soft in comparison - and if I need to give a description to the police later, I'm going to need to have a better idea of what he looks like properly. As he saw me approaching, his unusual eyes widened in alertness and alarm. Scrabbling to his feet, he rushed towards me; clothes and hair strewn with woodland debris and probably some insects too. I could feel the hair tied behind my head in its ponytail swish around wildly, as large hands grabbed me by the shoulders and began to shake me roughly. "We have to get out of here," He hissed to me in an urgent whisper, terror contorting his strong features. "we have to get out before she comes back!" I have no idea who he is talking about, but the sincerity in his voice and panicked actions urge me to believe him; as well as the nagging sensation within me, screaming at me, telling me that something is dreadfully wrong. Instead of responding, I give him one brusque nod of acquiescence, and he takes my hand in his; dwarfing it and gripping it tightly, we begin to sprint in the opposite direction to where we just were. I stumbled slightly, when I heard a woman's harrowing wail sound from somewhere behind us.

"Don't look," the boy cried softly, "don't turn back or she'll get you too."

Maniacal laughter tainted the already frigid air around us with bitter chill, sending foreboding shivers down my spine and cutting into my skin like icicles. A sharp tug on my right hand which was currently enveloped in his larger one, had me speeding up.

I had driven here, so when I began to recognise some of the scenery around me, I knew that I could help us find our way back to the car park on the eastern side of the woods. "Hey," My words escaped me in frantic pants, barely forming a coherent sentence. "I -car- out of h-here." The boy's startlingly blue eyes flickered to me in confusion from the corners of his eyes.