Home Sweet Home

Chapter seven

   Evelyn turned around in circles, breathing heavily. She could make out small misty cloud as she exhaled sharply at intervals, dreading to inhale the cold air that stabbed her lungs. Her body shook violently from the biting cold and fear that swept over her. Her vision was blurry as she swayed back and forth, unable to stand firmly on her cold feet deep in the moist soil of the woods.

  Blood slithered down her temple and dropped on her pajamas. She let out a whimper as she crumbled to the ground.

  "What's wrong with this place." she cried. "The path was right there I swear," she talked to no one in particular.

  She dropped her cellphone and scissors on the ground and dug her face into her palms, sobbing non-stop. She was completely alone in the forest.

  No. Evelyn Hayes, get yourself together. There has to be a way. I can't die here. I can't die like this.

  Snapping out of her weak self, she tried other numbers apart of Greta's. The signal was a bit better outside because the call went through at least, but no one was picking. It led her straight to voicemail. She tried Greta's number, only this time, she actually picked the call.

    Evelyn shot up immediately, pressing the phone on her ear. "Greta, something's after me, y–you have to come now!"

  Silence.

  "Greta! Are you hearing me! Come back to the cabin, something is after me please," Evelyn clamored.

  Finally, she heard some murmurs in the background and the sound of a small object hitting the floor.

  "What's the matter Eve? Why are you calling so l–" a loud yawn interrupted her speech.

  "Greta! I'm in trouble I can't explained over the phone but please be here quick. A creature is chasing me I swear. It told me to leave here and I saw dead bodies Greta. They were even rotten."

  There was a slight pause. "Eve I'm really tired okay? And stop making things"–she yawned heavily–"up, I won't come. Just go to sleep it's two freaking am for Christ sake!" the line went dead.

  "No no no. Greta you can't hang up! Damn!" Eve clenched her fist tight, biting her chapped lip hard enough to draw a good amount of blood.

  Her eyes were blurry with tears as she looked at her phone. It was 2:16am.

  Why is Greta doing this to me? She brought be here and now I'm in trouble, she doesn't even want to help me.

  Evelyn tried Greta's number copious times but it was even switched off. The last option there was Murphy. She didn't even know how she got his number saved in her contact list but it was there anyway. Thinking twice, she  clicked on the call button, hoping for an answer.

  While it rang, she walked around, with the hopes that she could find the path again. She just wanted to believe that everything that was happening was her imagination. Maybe she imagined Gray claiming her house and car. Maybe she imagined Greta driving her to a cabin she called her home. Maybe she even imagined the creature resembling her, the dead bodies, the missing path. One thing she was sure she wasn't imagining was the pain that throbbed in her head, the striking ache on her ankle and the blood she felt dripping down her head.

  Everything was too much for her to handle. She had never seen a dead body before, but on this night she saw more than one, she even saw the kind that ran after her, seeking for her dear life.

  "Hello?" the baritone voice of Murphy cut Eve's reverie short.

  "Murphy? Is that you?"

  "It's me sweety, what's the matter? Why are you up so late?" Murphy grunted.

  Evelyn broke down again, "Please help me, something's chasing me. Please believe me–me. I'm in the woods somewhere, I uh...I think I'm lost. Please save me."

  There was a loud crackle of laughter over the phone. Murphy laughed continuously, and Eve could already see him clutching his stomach due to the laughter that he let out.

  "Is it funny? Why the hell are you laughing?" Eve wailed. "Do you think it's easy seeing dead bodies, fending off a monster that wants to claw my face off. We haven't even talked about the awful smell. Please just help me." Eve pulled at her hair, as if wanting to rip it off her scalp.

  The laugher didn't die down even after Evelyn's pleas. Evelyn's grip on her cellphone tightened and her lips twitched, her fear was soon replaced with anger that sprouted from the depths of her chest. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks uncontrollably.

  The sickly sweet smell of rotten flesh lingered in the air. Evelyn could unmistakably taste it. The smell was familiar enough to tell Evelyn the next step to take.

  Ignoring the obnoxious laughter of Murphy that only seemed to get louder and louder, Evelyn broke into a sprint.

  A loud shriek like knife cutting through butter reverberated in the air. The rotten corpse was back to torment Evelyn. Evelyn whipped her head as she ran to know how close the creature was. The white light that emanated from the moon gave Evelyn a perfect picture of the creature. The hair left on the scalp of the creature swayed with the cold breeze and its mangled head was slightly tilted to the right. It seemed to be dragging itself with difficulty due to the bloody stump that replaced its feet. It was a few feet away from her and if she didn't increase her pace, she would be defeated.

  Evelyn's lungs burned from exhaustion and her knees began to buckle. Every muscle in her body felt like it was gradually freezing. While she swerved past the tall trees covered in moss, her hair stuck to a branch or two. Evelyn simply ripped it off and yelped in pain. She could bet her foot developed sores underneath, she wished she could go back to put on something.

  "Evelyn Hayes, don't run away from me." Evelyn ears perked up as she looked back to meet its horrific smile.

  She immediately turned east, unsure of where she was even going. She just wanted to be far away from the creature.

  It continued, "You've trespassed tonight, and I'm going to make you pay." its last word sent quick shivers down Evelyn spine.

  Her forehead almost connected with a tree,she was lucky she moved just in time. Her eyes felt swollen from all the crying, her throat felt sore as she hadn't had water for a while. She shivered from the cold but her body temperature wasn't getting any better. She didn't know how, but she had to stop herself from bleeding. She could pass out from the blood she had lost already.

  She swallowed the huge lump that formed in her throat as she looked back. It wasn't there any longer.

  Her eyes rummaged her surrounding until her eyes landed on the top of a tree, at least five feet away from her. There it was, glued to the top of the tree, staring daggers at Evelyn Hayes. Evelyn got caught up in some leaves and instinctively, she used her hands to wage past them, almost falling to the ground in the process.

  "I will be back for you."

  Evelyn turned west, increasing her speed this time around. Her chest heaved rapidly and she  skidded to a stop when a small hut came into view.

  She looked around for the creature but it seemed she had lost it. She placed her hands on her knees and panted like a dog, wiping invisible sweat from her forehead. Blood coated her hands and she cleaned them off with her clothes.

  She casted a wild look at the hut made of palm leaves, ripped clothes,  large tree branches and trunks and she could make out a dull glow of light from the hut

  There was an axe and a pile of wood placed beside the hut.

  Who's in there?

  Tentatively, Evelyn inched towards the hut but stepped back instinctively. It wouldn't be a good idea to go around checking anything that didn't seem in place when she already had enough to deal with.

  Just as she was about to turn back to continue her endless race, a head covered in grey hair stuck out of the hut.

A/N: finally! I literally struggled with this chapter. I hope it's worth it. This book is slowly coming to an end. If you're curious to find out the mystery behind everything, you have to stick till the end :-D