It was a typical Autumn evening and it seemed like a standard Friday night for Scarlett, who was meeting her friends at the local hangout spot. Little did she know, that when the thunder rolled in, her nightmare would begin.
The damp, breezy air whipped through Scarlett’s copper hair as she trod across the muddy field. Her white trainers gradually turned to brown as she sank into the ground with every new step. She clung to her boyfriend, Alex, to stop herself from slipping.
The field was on the outskirts of town and ran alongside a wood. It was secluded and far enough from town that the teens never disturbed anyone. It was their space.
The couple stumbled across the grass, the orange glow of a fire progressively getting closer. Chatter and laughter flew through the air and within a few minutes, the pair had joined the group of noisy teenagers.
They took a seat on one of the five logs that were placed in a pentagon, surrounding the campfire. Scarlett welcomed the warmth and stretched her hands out in front of her.
‘Hey guys, are you alright?’ Scarlett’s best friend, Rachel, asked as she sat down beside them.
‘Yeah, not too bad. It’s a bit cold though, isn’t it?’ Scarlett responded, rubbing her hands together.
‘It’s October, what do you expect?’ Alex questioned as he wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s waist. ‘You should be wearing more than just a denim jacket.’
‘I’d still be freezing even if I came out wrapped in fifty blankets,’ she protested. ‘I just wish it was warmer. I want it to be sunny enough to wear my jacket and shorts without getting frost-bite.’
Alex stood up and briefly left to go fetch some drinks. Upon his return, he threw a can to each of the girls and popped the tab on his beer before he returned to his spot on the damp log.
Time passed. The fire slowed and the air became thick. A fog settled over the field. Dewy grass and tall trees surrounded the group of friends who had started to tell each other stories and local gossip.
‘Have you lot heard the story about the woman that lives in woods?’ Ben, the captain of the town’s football team, asked the group.
‘That story is bullshit. It’s just a stupid rumour that someone made up,’ Alex shouted across to Ben, who was sat on the opposite side of the campfire.
‘I don’t know, mate. I’ve looked into it, it’s actually pretty creepy.’
‘What story?’ Scarlett asked.
‘You haven’t heard about the witch?’ Ben raised an eyebrow.
‘A witch? No, I haven’t.’
He chuckled to himself. ‘Well, get comfy and prepare to be creeped out. My brother told me about it last year and I was scared shitless for a few weeks,’ he said, as he got into a comfortable position, ready to tell the tale. ‘Basically, a few years before we were all born, there was this woman who was some kind of herbal healer, people would visit her for herbal treatment when traditional medicine failed to help them. You must’ve seen her house, it’s the abandoned one on the other side of town. One day, she supposedly found her husband dead in their home. It was reported that he died due to poisoning. He’d eaten some kind of plant that was toxic. The townspeople believed she had killed him but there was never enough evidence for her to be found guilty. The creepy part was that he was found with an upside down cross cut into his chest, the anti-Christ symbol. People believed she had sacrificed him.’
Alex laughed to himself, clearly amused.
‘Shortly after her husband’s death, she fled from town. She completely disappeared with no trace. Nobody ever saw or heard from her again, but then something weird happened,’ Ben paused. ‘Does anyone remember the disappearance of John Harris?’
The small group of teenagers hummed and nodded in response. They were all children when John went missing, but it was a tragedy that shocked the entire town.
‘John was found dead in the woods behind us and the police labelled it as a suicide. They were very hesitant to release details of his death because he was found with the anti-Christ symbol sliced into his forearms. He’d slit his wrists. The police found some kind of book in his bedroom that apparently encouraged sacrifice and Satanism, but I don’t believe any of that crap. He was marked with the same symbol as that woman’s husband.’
‘You can’t try and say his death links to that woman just because of the same marking,’ Alex interrupted. ‘There’s no way a witch lives in the woods.’
‘My brother reckons him and his mates have heard laughter amongst the trees and they’ve seen shadows rush past them when they used to hang out here. They think it’s her.’
‘He’s clearly just been messing with you.’
‘Nah, they stopped coming here because of it.’
‘Then why do you still come here?
‘Like I said, I shit myself for a few weeks, but as long as I avoid the woods, I don’t think anything will happen. We don’t go any further than this campfire.’
‘It wouldn’t matter if we did. It’s a made-up story.’ Alex rolled his eyes.
‘Babe, stop arguing. Whether it’s true or not, it doesn’t matter.’ Scarlett rested her hand on Alex’s knee and gently squeezed. ‘Let’s just talk about something else.’
There was clearly tension between the two boys but both agreed to drop it and move on to a new topic.
It wasn’t long before the group were playing a silly game of truth or dare. Several guys had been dared to down their beers, a few girls had kissed random members of the group and Scarlett admitted that she had a crush on the nerdy science teacher from their old secondary school.
It soon got around to Alex’s turn.
‘Truth or dare?’ one of the quiet girls asked.
‘Obviously, dare.’
‘Go explore the woods,’ Ben blurted out.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. ‘It wasn’t your turn to choose the dare.’
‘If he really doesn’t believe the story, he won’t have a problem with going to have a little look around, will he?’
‘You are such a child,’ she moaned.
‘Don’t worry, Scarlett. No big deal,’ Alex shrugged. ‘I’ll happily go for a walk in the woods. I’ll be back in a bit.’ He stood up and strolled towards the darkness that was behind them.
Scarlett sighed. She knew her boyfriend, and she knew he wasn’t going to let Ben hurt his pride. ‘Fine, if you’re going into the woods, then I’m coming with you. It’s late, it’s dark and I do not want you to get lost in there.’
‘Have fun guys,’ Ben called, as Scarlett ran off to catch up with her boyfriend. ‘Hope you make it out alive,’ he laughed.
The couple walked hand in hand as they entered the woods. The towering trees stood all around them and the temperature immediately dropped. Scarlett began to shiver as her body rapidly lost all its heat that the fire had been providing.
‘You know you didn’t have to come with me.’
Alex pulled out his phone and turned on the torch. Scarlett copied him and shone the light in front of her so that she could see where she was walking.
‘I wasn’t going to let you run off on your own, what if you couldn’t find your way back?’
‘I would’ve been fine. It’s not like I was planning to be out here long, it’s freezing.’
‘Well, I’m here now, so what are we even supposed to do? Just walk around?’
‘I guess so. We’re supposed to be monster hunting, right? Do you see any footprints or markings?’ he joked.
‘I get that you don’t believe it, but it is kind of scary. We’re literally surrounded by complete darkness, so I’m kind of creeped out.’
‘There’s nothing out here other than a few animals, Scarlett. There’s definitely no witch.’
Suddenly, his light went out and they both stopped walking. Alex fiddled with the phone in his hand, randomly pressing buttons. The screen was blank.
‘My phone must’ve died. We’ll have to make do with your light.’
‘See, this is why you needed me to come,’ she said, smugly. ‘We should probably go back soon anyway. It’s so cold. I can barely feel my hands.’
‘Give it a few more minutes so that Ben can’t moan that we got scared and ran back to them.’
‘Fine.’ Scarlett rolled her eyes.
They continued to walk deeper into the never-ending trees. It was completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was the two of them breathing. Every exhale caused small puffs of condensation. They would’ve seen it if it wasn’t so dark. If it wasn’t just black.
‘Did you just hear that?’ Alex asked, panicked.
‘What?’
‘That noise, didn’t you hear it?’
‘What noise?’
‘I thought I just heard someone laugh.’
‘What? Who?’ Scarlett gripped his hand, hard.
‘Scarlett, did you seriously not hear that?’
‘Alex, don’t freak me out.’
‘I’m being serious. I heard someone next to me.’
‘Alex, don’t.’
Alex jolted and jumped away from Scarlett, pointing behind her. ‘Shit, what’s that?’
‘What?’ Scarlett threw herself into his arms and buried her head in his chest. ‘What is it? Alex, what is it?’ she screamed.
‘Babe, I’m joking. Relax.’
‘I hate you,’ she whined and slapped his chest. ‘I hate you so much. Why did you do that?’
Scarlett was trembling as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his hands up and down her back.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he laughed. ‘I couldn’t help myself.’ He kissed the top of her head and nestled his chin in her hair.
‘That wasn’t funny,’ she pouted.
Scarlett’s heartbeat and heavy breathing eventually slowed and she pulled away from the hug. Almost instantly, the light on her phone flashed and flickered. Seconds later, the pair were in total darkness. Her phone screen was black.
‘Wait, what? What’s going on? My phone shouldn’t be dead.’
She repeatedly pressed the on and off button. The phone briefly came to life, showing a white screen for a few seconds before going black again.
‘It’s dead,’ Alex stated.
‘It shouldn’t be. I know it had almost full charge.’
‘Phones are a load of crap. Mine always dies. Let’s just head back before we get lost. I can’t see shit. It’s so dark.’
Above the branches and leaves on the trees, the clouds had turned grey. The silence of the woods was shattered by a loud crackle of thunder. The rumble startled the couple and as they both looked up, the sky began to pour. Rain showered over the trees. Within seconds, the soaked leaves sent droplets down to the ground. A large blob splashed onto Scarlett’s forehead, ran down her nose and finally dripped off the tip.
‘Seriously?’ she sighed. ‘Let’s get out of here and get home before we end up drenched.’
She went to grab Alex’s hand but as her fingertips brushed his, a low rumble echoed around them and a flash of lightning lit up the entire woods. Scarlett was staring at Alex and almost chocked on air when she saw the sight in front of her. She only got a glimpse, literally a second, but she knew what she saw. A figure was stood behind Alex. Someone else was there. Black hair and grey skin.
‘Run.’
‘What?’
‘Alex, run,’ she screamed.
He didn’t need to ask again. He heard the fear in her voice. Both of them dashed between the trunks of the trees. It was almost impossible to see what was in front of them but the frequent flashes of lightning allowed Scarlett to swerve and duck through the maze of branches around her. Her legs never stopped moving until she made it back to the field.
She bent over, hands on her thighs. Her body moved up and down with every pant. Her heart pounded against her chest and her head felt dizzy.
‘Scarlett, are you alright? What happened?’ Rachel was concerned.
‘Someone is in there,’ she said, between breaths.
‘What?’
After gaining some composure, she turned around, expecting to see Alex stood behind her. ‘Where’s Alex?’
‘What do you mean?’ Rachel placed her hand on Scarlett’s shoulder and tried to understand what had happened. ‘What do you mean, someone is in there?’
‘Alex was right behind me. Where is he?’
‘We didn’t see him. You’re the only one who came running out,’ Rachel explained as the group of friends crowded around Scarlett.
‘What? No, he was with me. He was right next to me.’
‘Scarlett, what’s going on? Who did you see?’
Scarlett put her hands to her face and swiped across her eyes, pushing away her soaked hair. She tried to stop the panic from taking over her, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘She’s seen the witch,’ Ben said, calmly.
‘Don’t be stupid, Ben,’ snapped Rachel.
Thunder boomed across the sky and the rain came pelting down. The fire was out and everyone had packed everything away. They were ready to leave.
‘There was someone,’ Scarlett nodded. ‘I definitely saw someone.’ She was shaken up.
‘I told you.’ Ben was smug.
‘Shut up, Ben.’ Scarlett threw herself at him and forcibly smashed her hands into his chest, which caught him off guard. He stumbled back a few feet. ‘This is all your fault. We need to go back. You have to come help me find him.’
‘I’m not going anywhere but home. We’re all soaking wet. He’ll show up at some point, but for now, I’m out of here.’
Ben picked up a bag of drinks and began to walk away. The rest of the group stood silently for several seconds. They all looked at one another and made a mutual agreement between their eyes, they were going home. One by one they picked up their bags and made their way to the cars at the edge of the field.
‘You can’t be serious? Are you all leaving? Alex is in the woods with some creep following him and you lot are just going home?’ Scarlett shouted, angrily.
‘Forget them, Scarlett. I’ll help you find him. Let’s go.’
Rachel grabbed her by the hand and yanked her body towards the woods. Their shoes squeaked as they moved across the slippery grass.
They entered between the trees and Scarlett held onto Rachel’s hand as tight as she could. She wasn’t going to lose her too.
‘Thank you.’
‘You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just find him. You should try calling him.’
‘I can’t, my phone isn’t working.’
Rachel pulled out her phone and placed it into Scarlett’s shaky hand. The screen lit up and Scarlett’s eyes drifted to the top right corner.
‘You don’t have signal.’
‘Brilliant. I guess we’ll just have to yell and hope he hears us.’
Scarlett flicked on the torch and stretched her arm in front of her, swaying it side to side, lighting up all around them.
‘Alex, it’s Rachel and Scarlett. Say something back if you can hear us.’
Silence.
‘Rach, what if,’ she paused. ‘What if it find’s us?’
‘It?’
‘The person.’
‘Are you sure you saw someone?’
‘Yes, I know I did. I promise you,’ she paused. ‘I think it was a woman.’
‘Scarlett, don’t let Ben scare you. His story was just a rumour. It’s just a story, that’s all it is. Alex is fine. You just lost each other. He may have even found his own way out. He could be back at the field by now.’
‘Whether the story is true or not, I saw someone.’
‘I believe you. It was probably just some random person walking their dog or something. Relax.’
The friends ventured further and further into the woods, but saw no signs of Alex. The storm raged on and the girl’s teeth began to chatter, both of their clothes were completely soaked through. Scarlett began sneezing and her lips faded from a perfect rouge to a faint blush. She was freezing.
‘Alex, please,’ she begged, so quietly that even Rachel barely heard the whisper.
‘I know you are going to hate me for saying this, but do you think we should go back?’
‘What? No.’
‘I know you don’t want to, but he may have already left. You’re going to get sick. If we can’t contact him, we can always call the police, but I’m sure he’s probably back at the field and wondering where we all went.’
Just as Scarlett contemplated leaving, her torch lit up a clearing. Up ahead in the trees, there was an opening. It was a small meadow.
‘Rach, follow me.’
They both powered forward but as soon as Scarlett past the last tree, she gasped and froze.
The ground in front of them was scattered with what looked like animal bones. Various sizes had been used to make a marking on the floor, a pentagram. In the centre of the star sat a pool of blood. It was fresh. As the rain splashed on the muddy ground, the blood began spreading across the star and soon filled it. The two girls stood there, stunned.
‘What the fuck?’ Rachel breathed.
The two of them looked at each other.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Scarlett started to tear up. ‘We need to find Alex. Now.’
A tree to their left rustled and both girls held their breath. The leaves shook and seconds later, a bird burst out and flew directly towards them. Scarlett screamed as its wings frantically flapped around her head. The jet-black crow cawed loudly in her ears as it circled around her.
‘Rach, help me, please.’
Rachel swatted at the bird until suddenly, it fell to the floor. Their eyes stared at the lifeless crow beneath them.
‘What did you do to it?’ Scarlett questioned.
‘Nothing. I barely touched it.’ She swung her foot forward and gently poked the creature with her shoe. ‘What the hell? It’s actually dead.’ Rachel stood there shocked and confused.
Scarlett shone their torch towards the tree that it had flown from and her heart almost stopped beating. The phone slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move.
‘Scarlett?’ Rachel reached down to pick up her phone and shine the light in the direction Scarlett was looking. Then she saw it.
Scarlett’s eyes instantly filled with tears and she fell to her knees.
Rachel’s hand flung up and covered her open mouth.
There, in the tree beside them, hung Alex, lifeless and cold. His clothes had been stripped and his forehead had been marked with the anti-Christ symbol.
‘No,’ Scarlett choked. ‘No. No. No. No,’ she screamed, her hands clawed the dirt beneath her while her head rested on the soaked ground.
‘Scarlett, I’m so sorry.’ Rachel began to cry and bent down beside her best friend, placing her hand on Scarlett’s back.
Scarlett sobbed into the mud. She felt as though she couldn’t breathe. She was so caught up in the moment, the shock, the grief and the pain, that she didn’t notice when her best friends hand left her back. She only lifted her head when a flash of lightning struck, and it was then, that she saw Rachel, being dragged into the darkness…
‘Justin, stop,’ a small girl shout’s. ‘I don’t want to hear any more.’
The young girl’s older brother laughs to himself as he tucks his terrified sister into bed.
‘Hey, you’re the one who asked for a bedtime story,’ he smirks. ‘I thought I’d give you a little history as to why this house was abandoned before we moved in.’
The damp, breezy air whipped through Scarlett’s copper hair as she trod across the muddy field. Her white trainers gradually turned to brown as she sank into the ground with every new step. She clung to her boyfriend, Alex, to stop herself from slipping.
The field was on the outskirts of town and ran alongside a wood. It was secluded and far enough from town that the teens never disturbed anyone. It was their space.
The couple stumbled across the grass, the orange glow of a fire progressively getting closer. Chatter and laughter flew through the air and within a few minutes, the pair had joined the group of noisy teenagers.
They took a seat on one of the five logs that were placed in a pentagon, surrounding the campfire. Scarlett welcomed the warmth and stretched her hands out in front of her.
‘Hey guys, are you alright?’ Scarlett’s best friend, Rachel, asked as she sat down beside them.
‘Yeah, not too bad. It’s a bit cold though, isn’t it?’ Scarlett responded, rubbing her hands together.
‘It’s October, what do you expect?’ Alex questioned as he wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s waist. ‘You should be wearing more than just a denim jacket.’
‘I’d still be freezing even if I came out wrapped in fifty blankets,’ she protested. ‘I just wish it was warmer. I want it to be sunny enough to wear my jacket and shorts without getting frost-bite.’
Alex stood up and briefly left to go fetch some drinks. Upon his return, he threw a can to each of the girls and popped the tab on his beer before he returned to his spot on the damp log.
Time passed. The fire slowed and the air became thick. A fog settled over the field. Dewy grass and tall trees surrounded the group of friends who had started to tell each other stories and local gossip.
‘Have you lot heard the story about the woman that lives in woods?’ Ben, the captain of the town’s football team, asked the group.
‘That story is bullshit. It’s just a stupid rumour that someone made up,’ Alex shouted across to Ben, who was sat on the opposite side of the campfire.
‘I don’t know, mate. I’ve looked into it, it’s actually pretty creepy.’
‘What story?’ Scarlett asked.
‘You haven’t heard about the witch?’ Ben raised an eyebrow.
‘A witch? No, I haven’t.’
He chuckled to himself. ‘Well, get comfy and prepare to be creeped out. My brother told me about it last year and I was scared shitless for a few weeks,’ he said, as he got into a comfortable position, ready to tell the tale. ‘Basically, a few years before we were all born, there was this woman who was some kind of herbal healer, people would visit her for herbal treatment when traditional medicine failed to help them. You must’ve seen her house, it’s the abandoned one on the other side of town. One day, she supposedly found her husband dead in their home. It was reported that he died due to poisoning. He’d eaten some kind of plant that was toxic. The townspeople believed she had killed him but there was never enough evidence for her to be found guilty. The creepy part was that he was found with an upside down cross cut into his chest, the anti-Christ symbol. People believed she had sacrificed him.’
Alex laughed to himself, clearly amused.
‘Shortly after her husband’s death, she fled from town. She completely disappeared with no trace. Nobody ever saw or heard from her again, but then something weird happened,’ Ben paused. ‘Does anyone remember the disappearance of John Harris?’
The small group of teenagers hummed and nodded in response. They were all children when John went missing, but it was a tragedy that shocked the entire town.
‘John was found dead in the woods behind us and the police labelled it as a suicide. They were very hesitant to release details of his death because he was found with the anti-Christ symbol sliced into his forearms. He’d slit his wrists. The police found some kind of book in his bedroom that apparently encouraged sacrifice and Satanism, but I don’t believe any of that crap. He was marked with the same symbol as that woman’s husband.’
‘You can’t try and say his death links to that woman just because of the same marking,’ Alex interrupted. ‘There’s no way a witch lives in the woods.’
‘My brother reckons him and his mates have heard laughter amongst the trees and they’ve seen shadows rush past them when they used to hang out here. They think it’s her.’
‘He’s clearly just been messing with you.’
‘Nah, they stopped coming here because of it.’
‘Then why do you still come here?
‘Like I said, I shit myself for a few weeks, but as long as I avoid the woods, I don’t think anything will happen. We don’t go any further than this campfire.’
‘It wouldn’t matter if we did. It’s a made-up story.’ Alex rolled his eyes.
‘Babe, stop arguing. Whether it’s true or not, it doesn’t matter.’ Scarlett rested her hand on Alex’s knee and gently squeezed. ‘Let’s just talk about something else.’
There was clearly tension between the two boys but both agreed to drop it and move on to a new topic.
It wasn’t long before the group were playing a silly game of truth or dare. Several guys had been dared to down their beers, a few girls had kissed random members of the group and Scarlett admitted that she had a crush on the nerdy science teacher from their old secondary school.
It soon got around to Alex’s turn.
‘Truth or dare?’ one of the quiet girls asked.
‘Obviously, dare.’
‘Go explore the woods,’ Ben blurted out.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. ‘It wasn’t your turn to choose the dare.’
‘If he really doesn’t believe the story, he won’t have a problem with going to have a little look around, will he?’
‘You are such a child,’ she moaned.
‘Don’t worry, Scarlett. No big deal,’ Alex shrugged. ‘I’ll happily go for a walk in the woods. I’ll be back in a bit.’ He stood up and strolled towards the darkness that was behind them.
Scarlett sighed. She knew her boyfriend, and she knew he wasn’t going to let Ben hurt his pride. ‘Fine, if you’re going into the woods, then I’m coming with you. It’s late, it’s dark and I do not want you to get lost in there.’
‘Have fun guys,’ Ben called, as Scarlett ran off to catch up with her boyfriend. ‘Hope you make it out alive,’ he laughed.
The couple walked hand in hand as they entered the woods. The towering trees stood all around them and the temperature immediately dropped. Scarlett began to shiver as her body rapidly lost all its heat that the fire had been providing.
‘You know you didn’t have to come with me.’
Alex pulled out his phone and turned on the torch. Scarlett copied him and shone the light in front of her so that she could see where she was walking.
‘I wasn’t going to let you run off on your own, what if you couldn’t find your way back?’
‘I would’ve been fine. It’s not like I was planning to be out here long, it’s freezing.’
‘Well, I’m here now, so what are we even supposed to do? Just walk around?’
‘I guess so. We’re supposed to be monster hunting, right? Do you see any footprints or markings?’ he joked.
‘I get that you don’t believe it, but it is kind of scary. We’re literally surrounded by complete darkness, so I’m kind of creeped out.’
‘There’s nothing out here other than a few animals, Scarlett. There’s definitely no witch.’
Suddenly, his light went out and they both stopped walking. Alex fiddled with the phone in his hand, randomly pressing buttons. The screen was blank.
‘My phone must’ve died. We’ll have to make do with your light.’
‘See, this is why you needed me to come,’ she said, smugly. ‘We should probably go back soon anyway. It’s so cold. I can barely feel my hands.’
‘Give it a few more minutes so that Ben can’t moan that we got scared and ran back to them.’
‘Fine.’ Scarlett rolled her eyes.
They continued to walk deeper into the never-ending trees. It was completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was the two of them breathing. Every exhale caused small puffs of condensation. They would’ve seen it if it wasn’t so dark. If it wasn’t just black.
‘Did you just hear that?’ Alex asked, panicked.
‘What?’
‘That noise, didn’t you hear it?’
‘What noise?’
‘I thought I just heard someone laugh.’
‘What? Who?’ Scarlett gripped his hand, hard.
‘Scarlett, did you seriously not hear that?’
‘Alex, don’t freak me out.’
‘I’m being serious. I heard someone next to me.’
‘Alex, don’t.’
Alex jolted and jumped away from Scarlett, pointing behind her. ‘Shit, what’s that?’
‘What?’ Scarlett threw herself into his arms and buried her head in his chest. ‘What is it? Alex, what is it?’ she screamed.
‘Babe, I’m joking. Relax.’
‘I hate you,’ she whined and slapped his chest. ‘I hate you so much. Why did you do that?’
Scarlett was trembling as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his hands up and down her back.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he laughed. ‘I couldn’t help myself.’ He kissed the top of her head and nestled his chin in her hair.
‘That wasn’t funny,’ she pouted.
Scarlett’s heartbeat and heavy breathing eventually slowed and she pulled away from the hug. Almost instantly, the light on her phone flashed and flickered. Seconds later, the pair were in total darkness. Her phone screen was black.
‘Wait, what? What’s going on? My phone shouldn’t be dead.’
She repeatedly pressed the on and off button. The phone briefly came to life, showing a white screen for a few seconds before going black again.
‘It’s dead,’ Alex stated.
‘It shouldn’t be. I know it had almost full charge.’
‘Phones are a load of crap. Mine always dies. Let’s just head back before we get lost. I can’t see shit. It’s so dark.’
Above the branches and leaves on the trees, the clouds had turned grey. The silence of the woods was shattered by a loud crackle of thunder. The rumble startled the couple and as they both looked up, the sky began to pour. Rain showered over the trees. Within seconds, the soaked leaves sent droplets down to the ground. A large blob splashed onto Scarlett’s forehead, ran down her nose and finally dripped off the tip.
‘Seriously?’ she sighed. ‘Let’s get out of here and get home before we end up drenched.’
She went to grab Alex’s hand but as her fingertips brushed his, a low rumble echoed around them and a flash of lightning lit up the entire woods. Scarlett was staring at Alex and almost chocked on air when she saw the sight in front of her. She only got a glimpse, literally a second, but she knew what she saw. A figure was stood behind Alex. Someone else was there. Black hair and grey skin.
‘Run.’
‘What?’
‘Alex, run,’ she screamed.
He didn’t need to ask again. He heard the fear in her voice. Both of them dashed between the trunks of the trees. It was almost impossible to see what was in front of them but the frequent flashes of lightning allowed Scarlett to swerve and duck through the maze of branches around her. Her legs never stopped moving until she made it back to the field.
She bent over, hands on her thighs. Her body moved up and down with every pant. Her heart pounded against her chest and her head felt dizzy.
‘Scarlett, are you alright? What happened?’ Rachel was concerned.
‘Someone is in there,’ she said, between breaths.
‘What?’
After gaining some composure, she turned around, expecting to see Alex stood behind her. ‘Where’s Alex?’
‘What do you mean?’ Rachel placed her hand on Scarlett’s shoulder and tried to understand what had happened. ‘What do you mean, someone is in there?’
‘Alex was right behind me. Where is he?’
‘We didn’t see him. You’re the only one who came running out,’ Rachel explained as the group of friends crowded around Scarlett.
‘What? No, he was with me. He was right next to me.’
‘Scarlett, what’s going on? Who did you see?’
Scarlett put her hands to her face and swiped across her eyes, pushing away her soaked hair. She tried to stop the panic from taking over her, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘She’s seen the witch,’ Ben said, calmly.
‘Don’t be stupid, Ben,’ snapped Rachel.
Thunder boomed across the sky and the rain came pelting down. The fire was out and everyone had packed everything away. They were ready to leave.
‘There was someone,’ Scarlett nodded. ‘I definitely saw someone.’ She was shaken up.
‘I told you.’ Ben was smug.
‘Shut up, Ben.’ Scarlett threw herself at him and forcibly smashed her hands into his chest, which caught him off guard. He stumbled back a few feet. ‘This is all your fault. We need to go back. You have to come help me find him.’
‘I’m not going anywhere but home. We’re all soaking wet. He’ll show up at some point, but for now, I’m out of here.’
Ben picked up a bag of drinks and began to walk away. The rest of the group stood silently for several seconds. They all looked at one another and made a mutual agreement between their eyes, they were going home. One by one they picked up their bags and made their way to the cars at the edge of the field.
‘You can’t be serious? Are you all leaving? Alex is in the woods with some creep following him and you lot are just going home?’ Scarlett shouted, angrily.
‘Forget them, Scarlett. I’ll help you find him. Let’s go.’
Rachel grabbed her by the hand and yanked her body towards the woods. Their shoes squeaked as they moved across the slippery grass.
They entered between the trees and Scarlett held onto Rachel’s hand as tight as she could. She wasn’t going to lose her too.
‘Thank you.’
‘You don’t need to thank me. Let’s just find him. You should try calling him.’
‘I can’t, my phone isn’t working.’
Rachel pulled out her phone and placed it into Scarlett’s shaky hand. The screen lit up and Scarlett’s eyes drifted to the top right corner.
‘You don’t have signal.’
‘Brilliant. I guess we’ll just have to yell and hope he hears us.’
Scarlett flicked on the torch and stretched her arm in front of her, swaying it side to side, lighting up all around them.
‘Alex, it’s Rachel and Scarlett. Say something back if you can hear us.’
Silence.
‘Rach, what if,’ she paused. ‘What if it find’s us?’
‘It?’
‘The person.’
‘Are you sure you saw someone?’
‘Yes, I know I did. I promise you,’ she paused. ‘I think it was a woman.’
‘Scarlett, don’t let Ben scare you. His story was just a rumour. It’s just a story, that’s all it is. Alex is fine. You just lost each other. He may have even found his own way out. He could be back at the field by now.’
‘Whether the story is true or not, I saw someone.’
‘I believe you. It was probably just some random person walking their dog or something. Relax.’
The friends ventured further and further into the woods, but saw no signs of Alex. The storm raged on and the girl’s teeth began to chatter, both of their clothes were completely soaked through. Scarlett began sneezing and her lips faded from a perfect rouge to a faint blush. She was freezing.
‘Alex, please,’ she begged, so quietly that even Rachel barely heard the whisper.
‘I know you are going to hate me for saying this, but do you think we should go back?’
‘What? No.’
‘I know you don’t want to, but he may have already left. You’re going to get sick. If we can’t contact him, we can always call the police, but I’m sure he’s probably back at the field and wondering where we all went.’
Just as Scarlett contemplated leaving, her torch lit up a clearing. Up ahead in the trees, there was an opening. It was a small meadow.
‘Rach, follow me.’
They both powered forward but as soon as Scarlett past the last tree, she gasped and froze.
The ground in front of them was scattered with what looked like animal bones. Various sizes had been used to make a marking on the floor, a pentagram. In the centre of the star sat a pool of blood. It was fresh. As the rain splashed on the muddy ground, the blood began spreading across the star and soon filled it. The two girls stood there, stunned.
‘What the fuck?’ Rachel breathed.
The two of them looked at each other.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Scarlett started to tear up. ‘We need to find Alex. Now.’
A tree to their left rustled and both girls held their breath. The leaves shook and seconds later, a bird burst out and flew directly towards them. Scarlett screamed as its wings frantically flapped around her head. The jet-black crow cawed loudly in her ears as it circled around her.
‘Rach, help me, please.’
Rachel swatted at the bird until suddenly, it fell to the floor. Their eyes stared at the lifeless crow beneath them.
‘What did you do to it?’ Scarlett questioned.
‘Nothing. I barely touched it.’ She swung her foot forward and gently poked the creature with her shoe. ‘What the hell? It’s actually dead.’ Rachel stood there shocked and confused.
Scarlett shone their torch towards the tree that it had flown from and her heart almost stopped beating. The phone slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move.
‘Scarlett?’ Rachel reached down to pick up her phone and shine the light in the direction Scarlett was looking. Then she saw it.
Scarlett’s eyes instantly filled with tears and she fell to her knees.
Rachel’s hand flung up and covered her open mouth.
There, in the tree beside them, hung Alex, lifeless and cold. His clothes had been stripped and his forehead had been marked with the anti-Christ symbol.
‘No,’ Scarlett choked. ‘No. No. No. No,’ she screamed, her hands clawed the dirt beneath her while her head rested on the soaked ground.
‘Scarlett, I’m so sorry.’ Rachel began to cry and bent down beside her best friend, placing her hand on Scarlett’s back.
Scarlett sobbed into the mud. She felt as though she couldn’t breathe. She was so caught up in the moment, the shock, the grief and the pain, that she didn’t notice when her best friends hand left her back. She only lifted her head when a flash of lightning struck, and it was then, that she saw Rachel, being dragged into the darkness…
‘Justin, stop,’ a small girl shout’s. ‘I don’t want to hear any more.’
The young girl’s older brother laughs to himself as he tucks his terrified sister into bed.
‘Hey, you’re the one who asked for a bedtime story,’ he smirks. ‘I thought I’d give you a little history as to why this house was abandoned before we moved in.’