BLACKOUT; JR [1]

13.3

"Guys." Sam called, his nervous voice breaking the silence in the van. The ride was bumpy, as we weren't technically on a proper road anymore. "What are we actually going to do in the forest?"

"Well, we're not going on a picnic." Phoebe mentioned, her sarcastic reply causing Sam to huff. He sat on the other side of me, while Andy sat in the passenger seat.

"We're off to fight a demon who wants to kill us." Sam added, staring at Phoebe in the mirror beside her head.

"No, the demon wants to kill Felix." The woman corrected, giving a sure nod. Sam still looked displeased with her answer, and he momentarily took his eyes to his shoes. When he picked his head up again, there was a strong terror in his eyes, something I hadn't seen before.

"What if we get in the way?" He asked her, his tone suddenly very serious. She didn't say anything, as she appeared to be taken aback by his question. When she gave no valid response, we all got an answer, and it was the one we didn't want. The demon would kill us if we tried to protect Felix, and we knew it. No other words were spoken as the drive continued, the thick tension throwing everyone into a state of silence. Another minute or so passed before anything actually happened, and Phoebe stopped the van. She leaned over the steering wheel, causing the rest of us to peer out our own windows, trying to identify what she herself was looking at. There were two cars situated on the dirt road, but nobody was in them. The doors were left wide open, and then I registered that one of the cars belonged to a police officer.

"Where did they go?" I asked, squinting my eyes at the vehicles. Phoebe pulled the keys out of the ignition, mindlessly placing them in her purse. She was the first to get out of the van, and when she did so, we all assumed it was safe enough for us to follow. Sam and I instantly went to the police vehicle, the both of us shoving our faces up against the dim windows to see what was inside. Much to our disappointment, the car was empty. But on the ground beside one of the tires was a large piece of cloth, and the object put us off. It sat on the slope against the edge of the road, out of place. Sam sent me a puzzled glance before he leaned over to pick it up. With his arm extended outwards, he pointed to the police car, and an astonished smile crossed over the features on his face. We had a lead, and it was Sam who discovered it. He turned his back to me, looking over the small cliff face.

"They went this way." He announced, halting the banter between Andy and Phoebe. Sam didn't wait for their approval before he stared down the slope, digging his heels into the soft soil below. I followed him without looking back, quickening my pace as I neared the bottom. I glanced up at the sky while we waited for the others to catch up. There was a storm brewing, and by the shape of the dark clouds, it was clearly a magic storm. I absentmindedly tapped Sam on the arm, keeping my eyes up. He refrained from commenting, but I could tell he was just as stunned as I was. We wasted no time in darting toward the altar, suddenly too agitated to stall for the rest of the group. We heard their footsteps echo against the sound of our own, so we knew they weren't far behind. Sam and I weren't going that fast, so the others were soon right on our tails. The boy stopped me with an unaware whack across my stomach, pointing up into the trees. No words needed to be said to understand what he was referring to. The footsteps behind us faltered, then disappeared completely. They were looking, too. Hanging across a few scattered branches were those strange witchcraft objects, and the wind caused them to sway eerily.

"Alice was here." Phoebe said, her announcement sounding terribly wary. Her hand was on a tree, and she seemed to stroke the moss thoughtfully.

"We need to go this way." Sam mentioned, pointing to his right. He began to take a step in his chosen direction, but Andy stopped him urgently.

"No, this way." He objected, gesturing to the left of him. Sam shook his head, and that was an indirect signal to the rest of us that an argument was coming. "The twister came from that way." Andy added, frantically waving his extended arm.

"Yeah, but if we're looking for the altar, it's up that way." Sam retorted, just as thunder cracked in the grey sky above us. The clouds were moving to our left, away from the altar.

"It's starting." Andy said, taking his eyes up to the sky. "Come on, this way." This time he took off without waiting for our reply, causing us to automatically follow him.

"You better be right." Sam muttered under his breath, knowing the Asian boy couldn't possibly hear him, as he was meters away from Sam's whispering voice. We all raced after him, our shoes sinking into the thick undergrowth as we manoeuvred through the trees.