Chapter 16: A Night To Remember, Part I

Theme: "Inside The Fire" by Disturbed

Sure enough, time flies by, and suddenly it's tomorrow, 7:30.

I shuffled my feet nervously as I waited for everyone to finish getting ready. I wasn't wearing much: a red plaid flannel shirt in which I had rolled the sleeves up halfway to my forearms, some green grey jeans, my sneakers, and a white loosing fitting T-shirt underneath. I had my hair up in a ponytail, and put on my glasses. Doubt was racking my mind, and there was a few times where I considered backing out about it. But what choice did I have? If I didn't go, I'd be alone in the house. Which really creeps me out, if I may point out.

Taking a deep breath, I walked back to my room. Lizzie was on the floor, going through her things. "Lose anything?" I asked as I squatted next to her. "No," she answered, "Just an old habit of mine." She ran a hand through her hair, further screwing up her already messy bun. She frowned and yanked the ponytail holder out, gathering her hair in her hands and kneeling down in front of the mirror to do it again. For a moment, nothing was said. I put my hands on my hips and glanced around the room. It was still as plain as it was when we moved here, but now...there was some sort of sense there. Like it offered some sort of protection. If only it were that easy, hiding away in the room and waiting for the horrors of reality to go away.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I heard Lizzie ask. Her reflection stared at me with those big eyes of hers as she stood up, turning around to face me. I shrugged, glancing at the window into the inky blackness of the night. Out on an impulse, it came out. "You ready for this?"

"No. But when have we ever been?"

I just nodded. I heard her walk up to me and put her arm on my shoulder. I turned my head. Lizzie was dressed in a dark pink fleece, some pants, and a pair of black boots. For a moment, all that we had been through passed through my mind. When we first met in the woods, her talking to me in the library, what happened at the sleepover, and her finally telling me that she had enough and was running away, which I then agreed to go with her. Amazing when you look back on your life and realize just how much shit you got yourself into when you were young and naive and stupid, isn't it?

Probably after fifteen minutes of just all of us sitting in silence, the sound of a car pulling into the driveway brought us all to the window. A Mustang parked next to our car, the little light inside revealing three people. One of them in the backseat got out. It was Yale, dressed in a corduroy jacket and jeans. He poked his head through the door one time before slamming it shut. The other two people- a man and woman- also got out, and after a moment of the woman going to the back and getting something- they knocked on the door.

Axel let them in, and Yale came in. "About time you got here," Jason crossly commented as he crossed his arms. Yale shot him a look, "Be lucky I even bothered to show up at all. And for quick introduction, Doc, Harper, these are Axel, Jason, Paige, Jasmin, Lizzie, and Joanne. Axel, Jason, Paige, Jasmin, Lizzie, Joanne, this is Doctor Candall, his wife Harper, and their daughter Millie."

"Nice to meet you, and please, call me Rowan," Doctor Candall explained as he shook Axel's hand. He looked to be about a decade older than Yale, with curly strawberry blonde hair and light blue eyes. He had a bag of some sort over his shoulder, and Axel motioned him and his wife towards the couch, where we made room for them to sit down. Harper looked like she was of Lebanese descent, with a slight tan, jet black hair and hazel eyes that were almost golden. "Do...you guys need anything?" Lizzie offered, motioning her hand towards the kitchen. Rowan shook his head, while Harper juggled the baby in her arms and began to feed her a bottle.

Jasmin craned her neck, "What's in the box?" Yale didn't answer her, but he dug in the box and pulled out a black object, handing one to Axel and the other to Rowan. "Walkie talkies?" Axel asked. Yale nodded and went back in, pulling out three flashlights and handing them to Axel, Jason, and keeping the other for himself. We looked at each other before Paige spoke up, "Wouldn't it be better if there was one for each of us?" Yale shot an eyebrow at her. "Why? That'd be a waste of energy. It's not like we're gonna be splitting up, are we?" I think Paige blushed, because she looked away and shook her head.

Yale looked at all of us, licking his lips- I'd be lying if I said I didn't blush- and started heading for the back. "Well, let's get going." "Already?" I asked. No, tomorrow when your head's out of your ass, a voice in the back of my head told me. Yale nodded, "Sooner we go and do what we need, the faster we can get out of there." I just nodded, feeling a bit stupid that I even bothered to ask. As we all started for the door, Yale went back to Rowan, kneeling a bit before. "Doctor?" Rowan looked at him, standing up. "What is it, Yale?"

"Promise me that if anything happens, you'll get Harper and Millie away from here as fast as you can."

Rowan looked a bit surprised. Harper looked up from the baby, a look of worry crossing her delicate features. "Yale-"

"Promise me." He turned to Axel, "You guys have locks, right?" Axel, looking a bit confused, nodded. Yale turned back to Rowan, his eyes widened, "Please, Doctor. There's enough sickos around here anyway. Just please, if anything, even the slightest thing, seems off, promise me you'll get the girls away from here." Rowan bit his lip, but nodded. Harper stood up, "I'm still a bit wary of this whole shebang, but please, Yale...be careful." Yale nodded to her, giving her a hug and laying a kiss on the baby's forehead.

My heart fluttered in my chest. He was so sweet. Looking out for them like that.

He turned back to us, nodding and pointing to the door. "Okay, gang, let's move out. Doc here will keep the other walkie talkie. If anything happens, we'll tell the other, okay?" He looked back and forth between them and us, and we all nodded. Jason opened the door and we headed out through the backyard, back into the forest-or, as I like to call it now, the Gates of Hell. I looked back at the house, where Rowan and Harper were looking out the window at us. I forced myself to calm down as Yale turned on his flashlight and we trudged deeper into the inky blackness.

Little did we know just what we were getting ourselves into.

Fifteen minutes had passed, and already we were deep into the woods. I rubbed my arms, wishing I had been smarter to bring my jacket. We climbed the fence a while ago, and I was getting nervous at the thought of coming across the giant pink rock again, where I had that piece of paper. I felt Lizzie grab my hand and squeeze, and I looked over to smile at her.

Only, it wasn't Lizzie. It was Yale. He didn't smile and continued to look ahead, but his hand-which was surprisingly warm- was laced in mine, and it didn't seem like he was letting go anytime soon. I bit the inside of my lip, looking down as a smile made its way across my face. Several seconds passed before I realized someone had their eyes on me. I craned my neck to the side and saw Lizzie smiling at me, nodding her head. She had her arms wrapped around Axel's, and she was nodding as she looked at my hand. I just stuck out my tongue at her.

The moment of fun and games was quickly over, however, when a blob of bubblegum pink came into the light. I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling like the temperature just dropped below zero. I felt a twitch in my hand, and out of the corner of my eye, I realized Yale was tense, his jaw set. "Hold on a second," he commanded as he let go of my hand, walking around the rock a few times. "What are you doing?" Jasmin asked as he came across from the other end. "There has to be something here," he explained, "Something that made whoever the hell is helping this son of a bitch post those ever so lovely notes. But nothing." He made his way back to us. "M-maybe it's just coincidence," Lizzie spoke up, "Maybe they were just put there because it's what stuck out the most."

Yale wriggled his lips a bit before shrugging and continuing on. I hurried to stay next to him. We continued on. Even if we didn't find anything, my heart refused to slow down. "This is bullshit," I heard Jason from behind, "What if we don't find anything? Then we're just putting ourselves into the line of fire for no fucking reason." Yale glared at him before shining the light in his face, "If you don't want it, leave." Jason grit his teeth, and Paige protectively wrapped her arms around one of his, but he just shook his head, pushing past the both of us. "Let's just hurry the hell up, it's Planet Hoth out here." Yale looked at me, shaking his head with a smirk on. I smiled at him, and we continued on.

That is, until a high pitch screamed from behind interrupted the silence.

The flashlight whipped around, landing straight on Jasmin. She was standing in the middle of the grass, her eyes widened and her face drained of all blood; she looked like a dead person. And she was staring off into the distance. Her chest was heaving, and she looked like she was crying. "Jasmin, what's wrong?" Axel asked, slowly walking towards her with his hand raised out.

Jasmin, however, didn't seem to notice, because the next minute, she was darting off onto the side, faster than a speeding bullet. "Jasmin!" Lizzie yelled, taking off after her. We were soon to follow, Yale trying to keep the flashlight on her figure. But when you're running after a fifteen year old who has legs like Road Runner, it's not quite an easy task. And though we pounded after her as fast as we can, it was a fruitless effort, and soon we realized that she was nowhere in sight. I panted, leaning down and looking around, trying to catch my breath.

"Doctor, are you there?" Yale questioned to the walkie talkie.

"Yale, is everything all right?"

"No, we just lost Jasmin. Keep on the lookout for her, she may be on her way back to the house," Yale stated.

"Oh, uh, okay! Will do!"

Yale shut off the walkie talkie. "Lizzie, come with me. Jason, Paige, stay together. Joanne, go with Yale, "Axel ordered as he grabbed Lizzie by her tricep and they dashed off into the darkness. Jason and Paige nodded at his back before Jason turned on his flashlight and they headed north, leaving Yale and I standing in the darkness. It then occurred to me that we had traveled even deeper into the forest- and that we probably had no idea where we were.

I glanced at Yale. He blew out a breath as he walked over, grabbing my hand and starting towards southeast. "Come on," he ordered. A chill ran up my spine at the thought us going even farther. We walked in silence, nothing but the bob of the flashlight lighting our path. By this point, I was shivering enough to be a massage tool; my fingers were numb, and my thumbs were constantly rubbing them as they lost all heat. "Jasmin!" I called out, putting them up towards my mouth to form an O-shape. "JASMIN! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Yale yelled out, his voice loud enough to wake the dead. We called out to her to the point our voices were hoarse, and we just continued walking.

When it seemed that twenty minutes had passed and still no sign of her, Yale stopped and looked at the stars. "Yale, Yale, are you there?" Rowan's voice came over the walkie talkie. "What is it?" He answered.

"Have you guys found this girl yet? I opened the door for any sign, but no such luck."

"Neither have we. Girl's probably halfway past the state line by now," Yale responded. As he talked to Rowan, I started to wander off a few feet, trying to keep blood circulating in my feet. My breath was coming out in small clouds of mist, and I wanted nothing but to find Jasmin and head back to where it was nice and warm.

Like that was ever gonna happen. Instead, I was stuck out with a really cute guy in the middle of the woods at night when it was freezing outside, with the rest of my gang separated from us. Hell, we didn't even agree on a meeting place! This was probably one of the worst nights of my life. I walked over to a tree and leaned on it. Yale finished talking and put the walkie talkie in his pocket. "Where we gonna go now?" I asked. He looked down as he banged on the flashlight. "I was thinking of heading in a diagonal direction. If we do, then there may be a chance that...she...would," Yale trailed off all of a sudden when he raised his head, his eyes widening as he began to step back. "Yale? What's wrong?" I asked, walking towards him. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him, now pointing the flashlight in a menacing way.

"Joanne...on my count...run like Hell..."

What was he going on about? I looked up to where I had just been standing. And...

Oh.

The tree looked perfectly normal, save for two extra long branches that jutted out at the sides. With a horrifying realization, it became clear that they weren't just any branches.

They were arms.

Slender arms.