Into The Woods

Chapter 6

     Charlie's scream echoed from the deep, dense forest all the way to the other members of the group back at the cabin grounds. The 6 of them stopped what they were doing and turned to one another in fear.
     "Was that Charlie?" Vanessa questioned hopefully.
     "I-I hope. I hope nothing bad happened. Maybe he's just trying to get our attention?" Irene stated.
     "you're right. Let's think positively and maybe it will help us find him" Vanessa said hopefully.
     They came up with a plan to split into two groups and go opposite directions, calling him name. Irene, Uriah and Vanessa set off to the right and Tatum, Serena and Malachi to the left. They took turns calling Charlie's name until they were finally close enough to hear a whimper. The two groups met in the middle of the forest where the big boulder was sitting. But there was no sign of Charlie. They could all hear the faint whimpering but saw nothing.
     "Where is the noise coming from if Charlie isn't here..." Uriah said in a frightened voice.
     "Maybe it's just our imaginations?" Suggested Serena.
     "It sounds way to real to be our imaginations. Plus, if we're all hearing the same noises it HAS to be real" Malachi said sternly.
     "As long as we stick together we'll be fine" Irene mentioned.
     "G-guys...where's Tatum?" Vanessa questioned as she searched through the darkness.
     "He was just here a minute ago, wasn't he?" Malachi said refusing to believe that Tatum was now also missing.
     Their strongest member seemed to have vanished into thin air. He was standing right beside Malachi a second ago and disappeared the next. A sharp crackling sound came from behind them making them jump in fear. Vanessa and Serena put their hand over each others mouths helping to muffle their screams. Two glowing dots appeared in the distance leaving them shocked to the core. They moved closer to one another in case the two dots were the eyes of a bear in order to appear larger and more intimidating.
     "Malachi, grab my hand" Irene insisted.
     Malachi got a hold of her hand with no hesitation and started aggressive biting his nails nervously on his other hand.
     "Stay calm. Follow my lead and slowly and steadily start walking backwards" Uriah instructed.
     Malachi anxiously gulped and grasped Irene's hand tighter than ever.
      "One step...two step...three step...four step-ouch" Uriah exclaimed.
     They had backed into a large object and rotated their heads slightly behind them. Malachi had kept his eyes facing forwards stuck on the sight of the glowing dots which seemed to appear closer than before. They were moving faster and faster by the second. Then stopped.
     "Look. Ahead." Malachi whispered.