Smoke In The Woods (...literally)

Chapter 2: Why?

We had found a small clearing close to the house and set up a small bonfire, the fire crackling loudly in the quiet night. Even with the bright flames, we still couldn't see most of what was around us with how dark it was, the moon unable to shine through the tall trees. Wynter was focused on rolling the blunt as I shiver next to him, holding my hands out to get some heat from the fire. We sit close to each other on top of an old log, damp from the rain and green moss clinging to it. I take a deep breath, trying to keep calm in this new and terrifying environment. Since we entered, I have felt this pressure all over my body, like something was pulling me back. This strange energy surrounded us, but it was like I'm the only one who could feel it. Either Wynter is amazing at masking, or I'm going crazy already. I feel a tap on my arm, looking down to see a nicely rolled blunt, freshly lit and being passed. I grab it from Wynter, steadying my hands. Smoke fills my lungs as I take a pull, enjoying the burn I always had in my throat. Instantly, I was the most relaxed I felt all week. I exhale, letting the smoke disappear into the wind as a smile inches its way onto my face. Wynter looks at me and chuckles. "There's the Sage I know." He jokes and I shove him jokingly, taking another pull. We pass it back and forth for a little, joking around as Wynter messes with the lighter in his hand. We put the blunt out after we are freshly baked and Wynter holds his hands out to the slowly dying fire.

I take a deep breath, leaning my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes, listening to the sounds all around us. Everything was so quiet and peaceful, the only noise being the crackling of the fire and the occasional gust of wind rustling the leaves. Suddenly, a new noise caught my attention, the sound of whispering slowly filling my ears. My eyes shot open and I looked around, feeling completely sober. "What's up?" Wynter asks and I look at him, confusion in his eyes. "Do you hear that?" I ask and he listens, eyes slowly widening. He quickly gets up and stomps out the fire, putting us in complete darkness. His flashlight quickly shines, his hand covering most of it as he grabs my hand, both of us slightly jogging the way we came. As we continue, it feels like we are running forever, our exit lost. We didn't go that far in, did we? "Are we lost?" I ask and Wynter shakes his head. "No, I know where we are." He said, but I didn't think he knew either. I know he doesn't want me to panic, but it's way too late for that. Suddenly, a heavy fog floods the forest, blinding us to our surroundings. We stop, looking around frantically looking for any way out of this horrifying forest. I breathe in, the fog entering my lung and springing me into a coughing fit. I collapse to the ground, my body feeling like it was set on fire from the inside out. I look over to see Wynter on his back, clutching his head as he coughs heavily. My vision starts to fade as I feel my lungs giving up on me, finally lose consciousness.

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I bolt up from my sleep and groan, my head and body not enjoying the rush. I look around, seeing a familiar fence, and feel the damp overgrown grass on my clothes. Wynter sprawled out next to me as I rub my head, a banging headache buzzing to life. When did we get back here? What happened last night? I sigh softly and slowly reach over, shaking Wynter awake. "Mckenzie, get up," I mutter out and he groans, lifting his head. "Where the fuck are we?" He mumbles out and I stand up slowly, my body aching. "My backyard. Come on, let's head inside before my parents see us." I say as he slowly gets up, following me inside the small cottage. I grab a piece of paper and a pen off a desk in the corner of the living room, leaving my parents a small note with an excuse as to why we left so early, and walk out to the car with Wynter. The car ride home was silent, both of us obviously shaken up and confused after last night. "That was by far the worst smoke sesh we have ever had," Wynter says, trying to lighten the mood. I don't say anything, still a little pissed off at him.

Of course, he didn't force me to go into the forest with him, but he had the idea and bribed me in the worst way possible. This isn't the first time one of Wynter's dumb ideas had backfired, but this one was by far the worst of it. I let out a deep breath as we pull into our driveway, quickly turning off the car and getting out. I don't have to look to know Wynter is following close behind, his door slamming as he tries to catch up with me. "Come on Sage, don't be mad at me. I know, it was a dumb idea, but I'd like to think we had fun," He explains as he stands next to me, waiting for me to find the right key to unlock our shared place. "Wynter please shut up before I punch you," I state without looking at him, finding the key, and opening the door to our small living room. I throw my bag onto the couch and beeline to my room, really feeling the need to shower. I close my door behind me and lock it, signaling to Wynter that it's best to just leave me be right now.

I finally make it into my bathroom, looking into the mirror. My back-length dreads were covered in dirt, a leaf stuck in one of them. I reach my hand up to pull it out, dropping it in the trash can before focusing on myself in the mirror again. My bones ached from exhaustion as I looked over my face, checking that I had no scratches or bruising. After a quick look over, I turn the shower on, grabbing what I need from under my skin as I wait for the water to warm up. I slowly pull my clothes from my body and hop in the shower, the warm water instantly relaxing my body. I sigh softly and close my eyes, enjoying the sense of peace that I finally had. After a while, I finally decided to wash my body, starting with my upper body and working my way down. I reach my thighs and wince, the soap finding a cut that I didn't. I look down and expect to see your typical cut, but instead, I find a weird symbol etched into my skin, it bleeding softly from my rough touch. I stare at it, confused as hell. It looks almost like a tattoo, the symbol clearly shown on my thigh. "What the fuck?" I mutter and roll my eyes, thinking Wynter somehow did this.

I quickly finish cleaning and step out of the shower, throwing a towel on and walking into my cold bedroom. I barely dry myself off before throwing on a loose tank top and shorts, wanting to confront him about this stupid prank. I walk out of my room, arms crossing as I see him sitting down on the couch. He looks up as he hears me approach, smiling softly before I glare at him. "Do you think this is funny?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow, angering me more. "Your stupid little prank," I state like it's obvious and point to the outside of my thigh, the symbol still irritated from earlier. He looks at it and his eyes widen, "You have one too?" He asks and I look at him, very confused at this point. He pulls back on his sleeve, showing me the same symbol that was etched into his skin, as fresh as mine. "I have no clue where it came from. I was gonna tell you in the car, but you didn't want to talk." He explains as I stare at the symbol on his arm. "Where the fuck did they come from then?" I ask as I sit next to him, looking down at the one on my leg. Wynter shrugs his shoulders. "Hell if I know, but they look badass," He jokes and I groan, rolling my eyes at him.

 "Wynter this is serious. We don't know what happened to us in those woods and now we have mysterious markings on us? This is some horror movie shit." I explain and it's Wynter's turn to roll his eyes. "Come on Sage, you are thinking too hard about it. Why don't we just ask your parents about the symbol? It obviously has to mean something," He suggests and I look at him like he is stupid. "Are you kidding? They would know we went into the forest, you idiot." I say, lightly smacking the back of his head. "We have to investigate on our own." Wynter shakes his head and stands up. "Fine, but we can do that after I take a shower. I feel like shit." He says and walks back towards his room, closing the door behind him. 

I sigh at his laid-back attitude and grab my computer from the coffee table, ready to find out something about this symbol. I pull out my phone and take a picture of the symbol, uploading it to my computer, and putting it into the search engine. After a while of searching through mindless theories and unreliable websites, I don't find out much information on it. Some articles completely contradict one another with the meaning behind the symbol. I feel the couch dip beside me and I look over, seeing Wynter in fresh clothing and wet hair, looking down at his arm. "Y'know, this looks kind of like the symbol on that stone we found in your room." He states and I remember the stone he had picked up and showed me. "You're right, but that doesn't give us much since I don't know where that came from," I say, looking down at my computer. "We could still ask your parents, it's probably be easier if we show them the stone." He explains and I stop, thinking about the idea. It would be easier if they think we just found the stone and were curious about its meaning. "We could, but I'm not going back there today. I told them there was a work emergency and Toby needed both of us." I explain and Wynter nods, seeing the predicament we were in. "Welp, we can wait a couple of days." He says and I nod slowly, having some kind of doubt that this could wait that long. For now, we were left in the dark, our own heads forming theories.