The Woods

Chapter 7

(Day 2-Night 3, Victoria)
     My heart beat against my chest as I thought about everything my family would do to her if they found her. My mind spun and I became dizzy and sat down on the dirty ground. Asher limped over to me and leaned against the wall while the nurse looked around the corner to keep watch.
"Thank you." I managed to speak through my dizziness.
"It's my job to help people. I couldn't imagine having to go through hell on my own."
     I held my stomach as pain creeped its way in and caused me to feel sick. Asher knelt next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. I felt comforted and yet I felt lost, as if nothing was real, I didn't really exist.
"This isn't happening, it can't be." I said in disbelief.
"We are wasting daylight." Asher said quickly, looking up at the sky.
     The sun was getting low in the sky and darkness followed the dying light. We needed a place to stay and I was sitting here, doing nothing about anything. I nodded to Asher and we began to move, the nurse followed us carefully.
"By the way, what's your name?" Asher asked kindly.
"I'm Janet."
     She replied cheerfully and with a smile. Her teeth shined a bright white and matched her face perfectly. The roads stretched for miles and my feet began to ache and suddenly I realized I had no idea as to where we had been heading.
"Where are we going?" I asked exhausted.
"There is an abandoned house over this hill, you guys can stay there and I'll bring you food and water and whatever you guys need until everything gets sorted out."
     Again she displayed a cheerful smile and I felt myself intrigued by it. She smiled as though nothing was wrong with the world. I became suspicious of her, but Asher stared as though he had seen the most beautiful thing alive. Janet turned back towards town and began to walk away. I had so many questions, but I couldn't find my tongue to ask them.
     I turned back to Asher and tapped his shoulder. He turned to me and I gestured for him to follow me. We made it to the top of the hill and rested. The hill was a lot taller than what it looked like and I looked around for the house. As I scanned the land around us I figured I should voice my thoughts to Asher.
"I'm suspicious of Janet." I said bluntly.
"Why? She didn't do anything to not help us." He replied turning to me.
"She just seemed really, happy?" I questioned my own logic.
"I understand that after what happened to you, you probably don't trust very many people, but I'm telling you that it is okay, Janet seriously wants to help us."
"How are you related to the girl that is missing?" I impatiently blurted out, unable to contain my curiosity.
"She, she was my friend. I can't imagine what kind of sick person would try to hurt her. She had an amazing smile, could light up the darkest room and yet she was going through her own problems. I miss her and I want to help look for her, but there has been so much going on." He admitted with concern as he looked out into the woods before he continued talking still gazing into the dark woods.
"Maybe we should go try to find her."
     I stared at him more in thought than shock. I understood his situation but I knew that we weren't safe, I wasn't safe. I realized he could go look for her, But was it dangerous? I knelt down next to him.
"If you don't think that it is dangerous, go for it, you know where I am. You can return to society, I have to stay hidden."
     He stood, seemingly empowered. He then nodded at me in approval, before carefully making his way down the hill, towards the woods. I looked after him, watching as he stepped into the woods a smile on his face as he turned to me.
"Thank you!"
     I returned to the road, looking for the house. A smile creeped onto my face and I felt nice. Maybe he was right? I spotted the abandoned house and began to jog towards it, the darkness becoming too much for my liking.
     From the outside it looked weathered. A large hole was directly above the living room and the windows had been broken. The entire house looked as though it had been burned many years ago and was only holding up by a thread.
     I slipped through the doorway and made my way around, the old boards creaking under my weight. I found myself in a room with lots of outdated appliances, which together resembled a kitchen. I backed out of the room and continued down the worn halls of the house, eventually finding myself at a stairwell. As I moved up the stairs the moonlight began to shine through the holes in the wall more brightly and I noticed the glint of some item.
     I crouched next to it and pulled on the boards of the wall, which were surprising strong. I pulled harder and they broke free. I reached carefully into the hole I had created and moved my fingers to find the item. I felt the tips of my fingers brush against cold metal and reached my hand in further, wrapping them around the cold metal object.
     I pulled my hand out quickly, cutting my arm on the split wood. As I brought the object into the moonlight I almost threw it. It was a gun. Why was it here? I questioned myself and looked up at the ceiling as I heard the creak of the roof moving in the faint breeze.
     This place had a history to it, like every place, but this one had a more horrifying history, I could feel it. I ran through wild theories, but came to the conclusion that I shouldn't be guessing. I stood and placed the gun in my back pocket, just in case a squatter decided to try anything funny in the middle of the night.
     As I neared the top of the stairs I felt a strange presence. Not that of a person, but the feeling one gets when alone in a dark room, as though something is either watching or waiting for you to move. I couldn't pinpoint the origin of the feeling and decided that it couldn't harm me, and that I was just paranoid after everything that I had witnessed.
     The upstairs was a large room, used as an attic by the previous owners. Burnt boxes were stacked high, almost reaching the ceiling. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer height and the thought of the boxes falling on me, but I approached them anyway.
     One box sat alone on the side and I moved over to inspect it. It had a label, but it was difficult to make out in the darkness. The box was not burned like the others, which meant it was brought here after the fire. I figured that I could probably find a blanket or pillow inside. It has to be something a squatter brought in.
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(Day 3, Madeline)
     I struggled to stand with the aching pains everywhere on my body. I managed to limp to a nearby tree to regain my breath. This is going to be painful. I knew it would be, but I had no choice if I wanted to live. I tried to think if there was any kind of water sources nearby and remembered that Everport had its own river named after it. Everport River. But where, which way? My thoughts became dark and I felt tears forming in my eyes.
     I stumbled forward and fell to my knees in defeat and weakness. Tears fell from eyes, crashing onto the leaves below. Anger, fear, and sadness tore at my heart. Part of me wanted revenge, wanted to hurt whoever did this to me, but I felt fearful in the case I happen upon them again. Might they finish me off? My question would remain unanswered as I found myself able to stand.
     I took three steps and felt dizzy. I have to find water, food, I need to bandage my wound. My last thought hit me with reality. I still lose blood when it gets torn open. I looked down at the bleeding wound and wondered how much blood I had lost. I pulled off my sweater and wrapped it tightly around my waist. That should slow it down. I thought as I continued to step forward, feeling a bit more refreshed.
     My head still hurt, but there wasn't anything I could do to help that. As I stumbled looking for a water source I got to thinking. Should I have stayed back there, where I was stabbed? It would be easier to locate me right? How do I know this isn't some messed up nightmare, some daydream? I'm dying. That's why.
     My tired eyes fell upon a beautiful blue pond, with crystal clear water. That seems impossible. I fell to my knees next to it and placed my right hand in, the pain subsiding. The mud that had previously been stuck on my cuts washed away. Tears of joy filled my eyes as the warm sun began to climb the sky. I used my hand to cup water and brought it to my mouth, able to drink very little.
     I felt better, feeling returned in my left arm, causing me to shift in discomfort, but at least I could feel it. This is a miracle! I started scooping water more quickly, drinking as much as I could each time. When I felt satisfied I backed away from the water's edge slightly.
      I looked down at my reflection and noted the head injury, but looked back into my light brown eyes, my light blonde hair falling, almost touching the surface of the water. I pushed some of it behind my ear and stared at the injuries that I had been burdened with. My mother's voice entered my head again.
"You have such a pretty face."
     As her voice filled my head I knew I couldn't die out here, not without a goodbye to my mom. I heard the snapping of twigs and sticks before the sound of someone calling my name. I was in utter confusion on how they knew where I was, but I wasn't going to ask.
"Madeline!" They called, the voice sounded similar to my mother's.
"I'm over here mom!" I called with a somewhat hoarse voice.
"Where?"
     As my mother's voice left my head I quickly realized that this was not her. The voice was deeper and I remembered it from the other night. It was him, he who had stabbed me. I backed away slowly as I saw his figure come into view. He held that same knife, but the blood was gone. Is he hunting me?! I thought stressfully.
     My initial response was to run, to flee the danger before me, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. I wanted to scream, but he knew not of where I was and I couldn't let him know. Carefully I moved behind a tree and watched fearfully as he searched the area.
     I looked around frantically as I realized I had nothing to defend myself with. My back popped and I thought he had heard it when he stopped moving. My hands fell upon a rock. I almost tossed it aside, but instead held it tightly in my hand.
     He drew closer and closer to where I was and I held my breath and prayed that my idea would work. I threw the rock as hard as I could and watched it disappear into the woods, back the way he had come from. After a moment he took off in a half sprint.
     A breath of relief escaped my lips as I stood and began to move away from the area, hoping he wouldn't see me as I made my escape. I used trees to help me stand and made good distance before I collapsed to the ground completely exhausted.