As Lucas ran through the blur of green and brown, branches assaulted the sides of his face and rocks left marks on the soles of his feet. Unfortunately for him, taking the time to fix himself up would surely land himself dead in the forest.
He and the other four dashed through the woods, struggling to avoid crashing into the trees. However, it seemed as though the Jorvik didn't have that same problem. Its lack of a solid form allowed it to phase right through any obstacles thrown its way.
Blood rushed from Lucas' brain to the muscles in his legs in order to propel himself forward faster. His temple throbbed in pain as it could only focus on the single goal known as survival. Yet through it all, a thought dawned on Lucas: Could this be how Enoch met his demise?
Through laboured breaths, Lucas laughed bitterly to himself. He and his friends got wrapped up in this silly little mystery and they found themselves the answer in record time. Such a shame, really, that they wouldn't be able to share this accomplishment with all the people back in the Yellow Plains.
Lucas put one foot after the other, and while he was already pushing himself to the limit, he internally scolded himself for not being fast enough. "Dash-dash-dash" became "dash, dash, dash". Then the fluid motions became frivolous sequences in Lucas' perception. A leg was lifted and stretched out ahead of him, took its place on the ground as a step, and he used that planted foot to push himself forward. Fatigue had finally caught up with him and taken a hold of his legs.
Lift.
Stretch.
Step.
Push.
Lift. Stretch. Step. Push.
Lift. Stretch. Step. Push. Lift, stretch, step, push. Lift, stretch, step, push!
Lift! Stretch! Step! Push! Lift, step, push! Lift! Lift! LIFT! STEP! PUSH!
LI-
Lucas tripped. Next thing he knew, his entire body was sent crashing towards the ground. Expecting the soft cushion of fallen foliage on the forest floor, Lucas was shocked when he collapsed onto a smooth, cool surface. Had he... fallen into a cave?
He had. And so had Jalen, Sophia, James, and Aidan. The four young men and one woman groaned as they lifted themselves from the ground. Once the blood eventually returned to Lucas' brain in giant, forceful pumps, he remembered that the Jorvik was still hunting them down.
"Guys, get up!" Lucas stumbled to his feet. "Come on, we still need to run!"
"To where, Lucas?!" Sophia exclaimed. She gestured violently towards the stone wall blocking their way.
Lucas' eyes darted around, desperately trying to find an alternative way out. Unfortunately, the only route present was the same way that they came from, and also the same way that the Jorvik was waiting at.
Peculiarly enough, when the Jorvik cams into view just outside the cave's opening, it didn't launch itself at the group and rip them to shreds. Instead, it shook as if to nod to itself and left.
"Wha- What? Why did it let us go?" Jalen asked.
Lucas, James, and Aidan all shrugged in response. Sophia got up and dusted herself off before slowly walking towards the wall opposite to the cave's entrance. Her eyes were transfixed by giant words hastily written in mud on the rocky surface.
"THIS PLACE IS WICKED," was what was written. And beneath the foreboding writing was a black and charred mess sprawled out on the ground with for appendages and a globular member attached. Wait...
Oh.
Sophia's hand shot up to her mouth as she stumbled backwards.
"I- Is that...?" James couldn't even bring himself to finish his sentence.
"God. Good God," Jalen croaked out. "I- I need to step outside."
"Go ahead," Aidan said. He struggled to pull his eyes away from the wretched sight.
Like how it was some subconscious reaction for Sophia to back away from the case's latest development, Lucas found himself being inconceivably drawn towards it. He didn't stop until his feet reached the scorched flakes crumbling off of the subject. Now that he was this close, there was no mistaking it: The burnt mass in front of Lucas' eyes was a corpse.
"Look at the way the 'W' was written. And at how the 'T' and 'I's were crossed. There's no doubting that was Enoch's writing no matter how rushed it was," Sophia noted quietly.
"Guys!"
Everyone turned to face Jalen standing at the mouth of the cave. He was holding up a few yellows pieces of paper in ten shape of squares. "These were scattered all over the ground out here, and while most of them are blank..."
Jalen pulled out one paper from the cluster in his hands. Everyone took his discovery as a reason to finally emerge from the cave and take a look.
In Enoch's messy writing, "�HE KNOWS," could be read.
"There you are!"
The group spun around to see someone in yellow contrasting the duller colours of the forest. That person was William, making his way towards the others. James' eyes widened, then he yanked the yellow note from Jalen's hands. Then he inexplicably popped the note into his mouth.
"Wha-?"
"What are you guys doing out here?" William took his place beside Jalen, nearly bumping into a currently invisible Aidan. His eyes darted between James and the cave. "So, I see you guys have finally met James."
James gulped down the paper. "Yep."
"Have you guys had breakfast yet?"
"James made me some tea," Sophia replied. "I don't even like tea, but it was pretty nice."
"Tea isn't a sufficient meal," Will huffed. "Come with me to the bakery. I'll whip up something to fill you guys up."
"Even me?" James asked.
In an unusually cold tone, Will answered, "You can feed yourself."
And with that, Will took Lucas, Jalen, and Sophia out of the woods.
✦✧✧✧✧✦
"Thif breah i' fo goo'!" Sophia mumbled enthusiastically.
"Try it with the jam," Pine suggested.
Sophia picked up her butter knife and used it to spread the name on a loaf of bread. Before she had the chance to try it out, Will tapped on Pine's shoulder.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure."
The duo headed to a room just off of the kitchen-dining room hybrid and shut the door behind them. Sophia went to eat her bread, but then Lucas slapped it out of her hands.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"How can you just be eating while we're in the same building as a murderer?" Lucas hissed.
"Who? Pine? They're not the only one capable of killing someone with fire," Sophia pointed out. "Besides, the not you found referred to a 'he'."
"...No. It referred to a 'she'," Jalen interjected.
"Is your eyesight alright? It said 'he'."
"There was an 'S' at the beginning!"
"That was just a scribble!"
"Shut up, the both of you!" Lucas scolded. He pointed at the door blocking Pine and Will from view. However, they could still hear some of what they had to say.
"This is what happens when you don't listen to me!" Will barked. "You just go off and do your own thing and land yourself in trouble. Guess who has to pull you out of those messes? That's right, me!"
"What are you, my mom? I never asked for your help!" Pine retorted.
"Keep your voice down!"
"You're the one who started the yelling!"
Sophia's eyes widened more and more as the conversation wore on. "I take back what I said earlier."
"Guys." Jalen was now standing at the doorway to one of the bedrooms.
"What are you doing there?" Lucas demanded. "Get back here!"
Jalen slowly lifted up two square yellow notes. They each had realistic sketches of a different young man with a terrified expression. One of them had lightly-shaded attire and short hair on the brink of counting as "bald". The second young man has slightly longer and darker hair and donned glasses.
"Enoch's Gift...," Sophia faltered.
"I'm pretty sure I got these from Pine's room," Jalen said.
Lucas got up and pushed in his chair. "Jalen, leave a note with an excuse for why we had to leave."
---
A/N
Mm the plot thickens. Anyways, I'm bad at outros...
Bye.