Ashes and Ghosts (Major Spoilers for Little Hope)

Chapter Five

Beverly, Daniel and Taylor had only found themselves deeper on in the woods after having escaped whatever manner of creature that thing was. Beverly could feel the anxiety and uneasiness in the pit of her stomach making a big comeback, finding herself huddled up on the ground, leaning against a rock, as she tried to keep herself calm, Taylor sat on top of one of the nearby rocks. "How are you girls doing?" Daniel asked them after a moment, now that they had a moment to recuperate.

"I'm wondering if that thing could be coming after us." Taylor answered honestly, still worried about the new situation at hand. "I at least don't think it's coming after us." He said, he didn't sound entirely confident, but hadn't known what else to say. "What makes you so sure?" She questioned, not exactly having a whole lot of confidence with that statement either. "You and me gotta stay real close now." He asserted, not really answering her question.

"When you say close... how close exactly?" She probed as she got up and approached, getting very close to him. "This close?"

"A little closer..." Daniel trailed off, pulling Taylor even closer to him. They seemed to get pretty intimate until Beverly cleared her throat, as she had been watching the whole exchange, Daniel and Taylor looking at her before pulling away from each other. "Right, sorry Beverly, kinda got caught in the moment." He apologised as he walked over to the teen, holding a hand out to her. 

Beverly looked at his outstretched hand, hesitating to accept his help. "Look, I know we aren't close, and you're worried." Daniel began to say. "But I promised you back at the bridge that I'd keep you safe, and you're gonna have to adjust to not relying on Andrew all the time."

Daniel was right, and Beverly knew it, so she ended up accepting his help and took his hand. He helped her up, letting go once she was on her feet. "We ready to get moving?" Taylor asked the pair as they approached her. "Yeah, let's go." Daniel answered. The trio then got back on the move, following the trail being the only place they could go right now. "I don't like this... I'd like to go another way..." Taylor mumbled to Daniel.

"I don't think there is another way." He responded. Beverly guessed that Taylor had been just as anxious as she was, staying quiet as she followed behind them. They'd been walking for about a minute when Daniel stopped. "Hey, over here!" He called the girls over. "I think I found a way forward." He added once they'd caught up with him.

Beverly looked at the small wooden bridge and the water flowing underneath it. "That thing could still be round here, in the water." Taylor speculated, no longer trusting bodies of water either.

"No, we left that thing way behind. We must've." Daniel interjected, before starting to cross the bridge, only to stop and backtrack upon hearing a bit of the wood cracking beneath his feet. "Shit..." He trailed off, looking back at Taylor.

"You're going first right?" Taylor inquired, clearly not wanting to be the one to go first. He gave her a look of bewilderment in response. "You weigh half what I do, better if you lead." He insisted.

She continued to object to crossing the bridge, although Beverly understood where Taylor had been coming from, not really trusting it either. "To find the others we gotta cross. There's no choice." Daniel pointed out.

That seemed to change Taylor's mind. "Fine, I'm heading across, you guys can follow me... if the bridge is still standing." She resigned, walking across first, Beverly and Daniel following behind her. Beverly let out a sigh relief once all three of them had made it across safely, the trio continuing on. However, Beverly ended up stopping once she heard the sound of twigs snapping, looking around to see what the source of the noise was, briefly catching a glimpse of another humanoid sillouette before it disappeared again. "What the hell was that?" Daniel murmured, having heard the noise too.