Fear the Woods

Chapter 1

Susie ran as hard and fast as she could. She had to get away, and quick; for she couldn’t let him get it. Then BAM! He had caught up and grabbed the flag, ending the game.

“Dang it, James! I was almost to home base!” Susie banged her now empty hand on the wet dirt.

“Yeah, but that would have meant me loosing; and my winning streak would be broken. Now, that just wouldn’t do,” James gloated, strutting around like a peacock and waving the stupid flag around in the air. He was an idiot. Susie just sat there, being angry and such.

Suddenly, Ashley, Lyndsy, and Mark came out of the leaves. Mark was sulking, while the two girls were laughing hysterically.

“Oh, come on Susie! It is just a game, why do you take it so personally?” Ashley asked, still laughing about something.

“It is probably because she hasn’t won in a month and James is the only person able to beat her,” Lyndsy commented.

“Maybe, but still, it’s gotten annoying. Anyways, we found a cool cabin deeper in the woods. Mark won’t go in because he’s scared, but Lyndsy and me were wondering if you two maybe wanted to come! C’mon, it’ll be fun!” Ashley was getting pretty excited, jumping up and down like a maniac.

Susie got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and thought for a moment. “Well, it could be fun; and we’re on summer vacation away from our parents, meaning no one can tell us what not to do… I’m in!”

James, on the other hand, didn’t even hesitate for a single moment. “Sure! It sounds dangerous and life-threatening, and therefore fun! Let’s go!” He started running off in a random direction.

“Wait a minute, meatball. A- wrong direction. B- we need supplies. And C- Mark needs to come.”

Mark suddenly spoke up, “Wait, what? No! No, no, no, no, NO! I’m not coming! I’ve heard locals saying that people who go near there die. I’m not taking any chances. You idiots can go and sign your own death certificates on your own time! So goodbye, I’ll miss you and rest in peace and all that, cause y’all are gonna die.”  Mark seemed very passionate about not going.

“Chicken! We aren’t going to die, I’m too stubborn to die. I’ll Tell you what; if you come with us, then you will be so cool! And if you chicken out, then you will always be known as that wimp that was scared by an old wives’ tale,” Lyndsy was now acting like a chicken, making clucking sounds, and walking around Mark.

“If I chicken out I live. If I don’t, then I’m the one who was bullied into dying. I’m not going! End of story. Sorry, but not sorry.” Mark was clearly not changing his mind.

“UGH! Fine. We’ll go without you. But you will be SOOO missing out. Let’s go, guys. We should start packing now if we are doing this tonight.” Ashley seemed disappointed, but determined.

“Wait a minute, I can’t go tonight. I have plans. Maybe we can go tomorrow night? Besides, it’s already seven,” Susie interrupted.

“WHY IS EVERYONE LEAVINg ME?!?!?! J.K., I really don’t care. That’s fine by me, and you’re right. That cool with you guys?” Lyndsy said to the rest of the group.

Everyone nodded casually. Mark scowled, shook his head, and muttered angrily to himself, “Idiots. Everyone here is just a stupid idiot with a death wish.”

At nine the next day, the group met up again at the same place in the woods. Surprisingly, Mark also showed up.

“Did you come to your senses?” James asked Mark jokingly.

“No. I just wanted to be there when you all die to say that I told you so.” Mark was obviously too embarrassed to admit he was actually a bit curious about the cabin, too.

“Yeah. Sure. We’ll just pretend to believe that.” Susie drawled sarcastically, clearly unimpressed.

“OK, is everyone here? Yep? Good. So, did everyone pack a flashlight, extra food and water, a thick jacket, emergency clothes, matches, extra batteries, phone, wireless charger, and their pocket knifes? We must be prepared if things go wrong. If someone is not, we will wait until tomorrow and they will get what they need. Also, do you all remember the rules of survival? If not, they are: always stick together, if you are being chased, then go to the safest place- a.k.a. a car, woods, or anywhere that is not somewhere you can be cornered or has weapons. Don’t trust strangers. If lost and without communication, find water, food and shelter first, then find something recognisable like the north star or large tree or whatever. Don’t approach corpses, even if they are your friends. If something happens, call the cops first, then run. Don’t stop if you are in danger. Don’t hide. And most importantly, don’t be and idiot or an easy target. This may be overboard, but that’s irrelevant. Just be safe. Got it? Good, let’s go.” After Ashley finished her speech, the group started their expedition.

Chapter 2

“Why did I do this? I’m an idiot. A stupid idiot who’s about to die. Like an idiot. I knew that I should have stayed home in my nice, warm bed. Not go out into the dark cold like a stupid idiot with a death wish,” Mark complained loudly for the millionth time.

“For the last time, we aren’t going to die! Oh look, we’re here!” Susie squealed in excitement.

“Yay,” James said sarcastically, tired from the long hike uphill.

“Oh, grow up. That was hardly more than a short trek,” Ashley teased, not even winded or breaking a sweat.

“Yeah, well you are on both the track and swim teams and my stamina is non existent,” James argued, his chest heaving.

“This is a lot more creepy in person. I’m not so sure about this guys…” Susie trailed off.

The cabin was covered in moss and cobwebs, boards were missing and loose, windows were shattered, holes were everywhere, crows cawed, and was pretty much the definition of just really creepy.

The group of friends continued into the cabin anyways. Immediately, they noticed the stench. It smelled like rotting cat feces. Then, they saw the old, black cat. It had one brown eye and one blue.

“Aww, kitty! Hey, where’d you go?” Susie frowned. It had disappeared, like Poof!

“Woah, cool. But also really creepy. Probably for the best, though. It might’ve had rabies or something,” James whispered.

“Seriously?! Where are your priorities, people? That cat just disappeared into thin air! We might be next! How are you all so calm?” Mark began freaking out even more than before.

“Mark’s right, you know. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Cats usually don’t just disappear into thin air,” Ashley said tentatively.

“Ya think?!?!?!?!” Mark shouted.

Lyndsy just shrugged and nonchalantly offered, “Meh. was probably just a trick of the light or your eyes playing tricks on you. Now hurry up! We’ve been standing here for ages.”

“Well we can’t just leave her,” James said.

“I guess we follow her, then,” Susie said.

“AHHHH!” Lyndsy shrieked from around the corner.

The group ran up and froze. The cat from before was lying dead, surrounded by a huge pool of blood.  

“Hey, just to let you all know before we all die and stuff; I told you so,” Mark said, eyes as big as tennis balls.

Chapter 3

“What is going on? Who is doing this to us?” Ashley began to hyperventilate.

“Guys this just got really real really quick. We should go now, like right now,” Lyndsy was clearly not having fun any more.

All the other nodded in agreement. Everyone sped back toward the entrance, or tried to. Somehow, a wall had manifested where the corner once was.

“Sooo… anyone pack a big hammer or axe or pickaxe… ?” Susie’s voice began to waver as she attempted to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, thanks for trying but it’s not helping. What we need is to find somewhere safe and camp out until we get a better plan. At least we all have our supplies with us,” James said, trying desperately to calm both himself and his friends down.

“Why is the cat walking around and staring at me? It was dead. And then a white fog went into it. And now it’s alive. And I might pass out. Someone please tell me that I’m not crazy. Seriously, I’m freaking out over here!” Mark, true to his word, collapsed like a Jenga tower.

Everyone turned around and saw the creepy possessed cat standing in a pool of its own blood. It didn’t have a single scratch on it, and was simply staring at the group like it was having a perfectly normal day and was a perfectly normal cat. This may have been even creepier than if it was floating in the air with glowing red eyes.

“Mrrow?”

Chapter 4

“So, do we trust this thing or not? I mean it’s not like it is trying to kill us, right? It’s just kinda freaky,” Ashley said nervously.

Everyone else shrugged or nodded. Then the cat seemed to try to tell the group to follow it, motioning its tail then venturing down the hall. James and Lyndsy then lifted Mark with some difficulty, and the group followed the kitty deeper into the haunted cabin in the woods.

Eventually, the cat stopped at an old door with no clear differences from the other doors in the long, dark hall. Then, the weird kitten decided to walk through the solid door as if it wasn’t there. Because WHY NOT?

“Okay, so this cat has died, disappeared, come back to life, and can now walk through doors. I am wondering if we are in an alternate universe where sanity doesn’t exist,” Susie whispered cautiously.

Nevertheless, the group entered the room. Inside, it seemed like it was once a bedroom for multiple people. It had three medium sized beds, a broken lamp, a chair, and two nightstands with candelabras on them. Oh, and don’t forget all the cobwebs. Lots, and lots of cobwebs. Everywhere. The spooky cat was lying on the middle bed waiting for them.

Lyndsy and James set Mark down next to the kitten, Ashley lit the candelabras, and Susie used the chair to block the door, just in case.

“Evil kitten! I’m going to die! Have to get out! Wait, where am I? Ah! It’s right next to me!” Mark woke up as soon as he was set down.

“Calm down, Mark. He’s on our side,” James reassured his friend and caught him up on what he missed.

“So, we should probably name our paranormal feline here. How about Ebony?” Susie offered.

“So it’s a girl?” Ashley asked.

“I think so, but how does the name sound?” Susie said.

“I like it. The title suits her. ‘Ebony the Terrifying Kitten of Death and Despair’!” Lyndsy began to laugh so hard that she had to sit down.

James checked his watch. “Well, it’s almost midnight. We should decide on sleeping arrangements and set up a watch schedule. How about Ashley and Lyndsy sleep together on the far left, Susie and Ebony can sleep in the middle, and Mark and I will sleep in the last bed. That cool with everyone?”

They all nodded in agreement.

“So how about I take first watch, Susie you take second, Ashley you take third, James will take fourth, and Lyndsy can take last watch. Each shift will last an hour and a half. Is everyone fine with that?” Mark suggested.

Everyone agreed that it was okay, and they all ate some food, drank some water, and went to sleep as mark took first shift. The next morning, Lyndsy woke everyone up at the end of her shift.

Chapter 5

“Rise and shine, sleepy heads. We should all decide on a plan of action for today.” Lyndsy tried to wake her friends quietly, for fear of what else may lurk in the cabin. Once they were all awake, the group took stock of the remaining rations. This included thirteen bottles of water, some cheese, a box of crackers, some salami, ten pepperoni sticks, five large pieces of flatbread, seven apples, and thirtyfive protein bars.

“If we each have one protein bar, one fifth of an apple, and some pepperoni for breakfast, that would give us all about seven breakfasts each. The water can’t really be changed, but we must use it sparingly. For lunch we can each have one fourteenth of a piece of flatbread, a little salami, some crackers, and a little cheese; giving us roughly seven lunches per person. We can have the same thing for dinner. This gives us seven more days to escape this place.” Ashley was dividing the food into little groups as she spoke, ending up with seven groups for seven days, each with little mini sections for each person, and then inside those were even smaller sections for each meal. James had brought some ziplocks along for any cool stuff he might have found, which they used to put the meals into.

“Wait, what about Ebony?” Susie asked as the last meal was packaged up.

“She’s a ghost cat, and most likely won’t need food. Besides, we saw her come back to life; so if she starves Ebony will just resurrect herself. Problem solved!” Mark told her.

“Okay, so we have a food plan and a watch cycle for each night. We should pack up base and decide where to go from here. We should also probably find better weapons than pocket knifes, just in case.” James declared.

“Well, Ebony has been guiding us so far, and it’s worked pretty great. And we all know that you never split up. So why don’t we follow her for the time being?” Susie chipped in.

“Works for me,” Mark said. Everyone else agreed, and with that the meeting was concluded.

While gathering their stuff from the base, the friends took loot such as candles and small pieces of broken wood that could be used to start a fire.

As the group finished packing the base up, they all told jokes and sang stupid campfire songs.

Chapter 6

After that was done, it was around 7:00 a.m., and they all ate their rationed breakfasts. Then, Ebony led the group farther into the dark hallway. Eventually, they arrived at a set of large, wooden double doors at the end of the hall.

“Well what are you people waiting for? Just open the stupid door!” Lyndsy said loudly, clearly being her impatient self.

“Okay, okay! Sheesh! Calm down woman.”Ashley said as she opened the doors with a loud arrggghhhh.

“Well that’s the loudest door in the world.” Mark commented.

The room seemed to be a library/ living room combo. There were walls of floor to ceiling bookshelves, packed full of books; and still there were mountains of discarded books. There were a few desks that seemed to be for working at. There was also a central area with couches, seats, tables, a fireplace, and a T.V.

“Everything looks so expensive! Velvet seating, satin pillows, Fur blankets, taxidermied animals, an animal skin rug that looks pretty real to me, and look at that T.V.! It’s huge! Seriously, this looks like a rich person’s house.” Susie was staring at it all, dumbfounded at all the abandoned wealth.

“I just don’t think that I’ll ever understand how people can have taxidermied things in their home and still live with a clear conscience.” James was trying not to look at all the animals lining the walls.

“Hey, guys look! It’s an old gun collection!” Mark waved his friends over.

When they  got there, they found three shot guns in a case, and next to the guns was a small box containing the bullets.

“Do any of you know how to use these?” Ashley asked.

Mark, James, and Ashley all raised their hands. After shocked looks from Lyndsy and Susie, the three each took a gun and one third of the bullets. After looking a little longer around the huge room, Ashley and Lyndsy found a large display of antique daggers, swords, armor, bows, crossbows, quivers, and shields in a far corner.

“Cool! I love sharp and deadly objects!” Ashley smashed the glass and pulled out a belt of daggers, then put it on. Lyndsy gave her a questioning glance.

“Do you even know how to use those?” Lynds asked.

“I have a very strange family. Don’t question my amazingness.” Ashley said with a smirk, then began to laugh.

“Okay, well I think that I’m going to take the crossbow. My dad taught me how to hunt using bows and crossbows, but I always preferred the crossbow.” Lyndsy grabbed her chosen weapon and a quiver, then began looking for some arrows. After grabbing all the arrows, the pair walked back to the rest of the group.

“Looks like you two were busy.” Mark said, noticing the wardrobe change.

“We found a stash of antique weapons in the far north east corner. You can go and pillage it some more in you want.” Ashley said.

“Nah, I’m good. Besides, it’s lunch time. See? 1:00 p.m.” Mark declined, showing his watch.

After eating, they began to set up base again in the center area. There were enough couches and chairs for everyone, and Ebony even had her own chair. James lit a fire while the other four boarded up the doors in and out on both sides of the room. For the rest of the evening, they all read and talked. Dinner passed, and eventually midnight came. The night passed tensley, but uneventful all the same.

Chapter 7

Day three went by as uneventful as the rest. By the end of the fourth day, everyone was beginning to lose morale. So far nothing had happened and there was still no escape in sight. It was 7:00 p.m., and the group had found the master bedroom and were about to set up base when they heard a cold, dark laugh coming from the closet.

“No one touch that. Run.” Ashley whispered.

Everyone grabbed their stuff and ran as fast as they could. Ebony led the way, past the kitchen, through the office, and further and further through the cabin. They could hear an extra set of footsteps behind them, banging and slowly catching up. There was cackling and evil laughter. Then a raspy man’s voice dawling in a sing-song voice, “It’s tea time! It’s time for tea! Would you like some tea? You need some tea. I’ll make you have my tea.”

They didn’t look back. They didn’t stop. Then, after what seemed like ages, Ebony led the group to a broken glass door going outside.

“Yes! Come on, hurry up guys!” Ashley, who was in the lead, got onto the porch and helped her friends out. First James, then Lyndsie, then Mark, then Susie. Susie grabbed Ebony off the ground, slammed the door, and together the group ran in no particular direction. Just away.

After a while, they looked back and the cabin was gone. But, the evil man wasn’t. He was still singing his demented song and casually following them. He had stark white hair, black eyes, olive skin, a gaunt face, a red blazer, a black suit, and a cane. Everyone was exhausted, but that didn’t matter. This was about life or death, and they chose life. The group continued to rus for another two hours, changing course at times to ensure that they lost him.

Chapter 8

No one slept well that night. They started a small fire and used their coats as blankets. No one got much sleep. The next morning, they all ate breakfast and figured out which way the town was. After putting out the fire and grabbing their things the five friends began their way home. They stumbled through the forest, down to the last five water bottles and weak from sleep deprivation. When anyone tried to call someone or use google or GPS, no one could get a signal. Every once in a while, they would hear the evil man’s song, and they would run until they were about to collapse. That night and the next day went by the same way, running and trying to stay ahead and away from him. Once in the night they had to run away because the he was close.

“We have to be close. If only we didn’t have to keep backtracking because of that creepy evil dude. We are on our last two bottles of water, and our last day of rations.” Lyndsy stumbled along with the group.

“Just keep walking. We can’t give up now, we have come too far to stop here.” James said, determined to keep everyone on course.

“It’s tea time, pretties!” the evil man suddenly jumped out in front of the group without warning.

Chapter 9

Susie and Mark tried to get the rest of the group to run away, but Lyndsy was the unofficial leader and she was not budging.

“That’s it. I’m done running from you.” Lyndsy raised her crossbow, loaded it with an arrow, and fired at the evil man. He simply laughed and telekinetically swiped it away. Susie, Mark, and James all tried to fire at him, but he did the same thing to the bullets. What the evil man didn’t notice was that while those four friends distracted him, Ashley had crept up behind him. She took out two daggers and drove them into his back. The evil man’s eyes widened as he hoarsely said, “Tea time’s over my pretties.” Ashley cut off his head for good measure. Then, the body vaporized into smoke and dust, leaving only the head, which Lyndsy burned.

“Good job.” Everyone congratulated Ashley, and they all sat and ate lunch, then continued on their way. A few hours later, dinner passed. They finished their last bottle of water, and nightfall arrived. Then, after hours and hours of walking, they saw lights in the distance.

“Look! We made it!” Mark cried in joy.

“Finally. I can’t express how much I miss sleeping in my own bed.” Susie sighed, relieved and tired.

“And showers. Don’t forget showers. Really all forms of hygiene.” Lyndsy added.

Everyone laughed as they entered the town looking like homeless, deranged crazy people. Everyone went to their homes, cleaned up, and slept like the dead.

Chapter 10

The next morning, everyone met up at Susie’s house. She had kept Ebony, the two had begun to like each other’s company. The five friends all agreed that they would never enter the forest again. Nothing is ever as it seems in the woods.

The End