Into The Woods

Chapter 8

     Vanessa ran over to the limb sticking out from the front of the tree and saw a person leaning with their back against the trunk and eyes closed. But it wasn't Charlie. His silky blonde hair fell over his tan forehead covering some of the dirt on his face.
     "Hello? W-who are you? Can you hear me? I'm Vanessa" she said trying not to cry even harder.
     He didn't reply but one of his eyes twitched as he tried to open them. The sun was far too bright for his eyes to open right away. The boy's eyelids moved up slightly to allow just a big enough opening for him to see Vanessa. He rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth in a confused way when he saw her.
     "Am I dead?" He questioned.
     "No, you're pretty alive. I'm Vanessa this is Irene, Uriah, Serena, and that's Malachi" she said while pointing to them.
     "I thought you were an angel" he said with a smile and wink then waved to the others.
     "Oh. Do you have a name?" Vanessa laughed nervously.
     "I sure do. Vincent is the name" he informed.
     "We're looking for two of our friends. Charlie and Tatum. Have you seen anyone else in here lately?" Malachi asked.
     "I haven't seen anyone. I've been sitting against this tree for who knows how long. I rented a cabin near this property and I accidentally lost an important letter in these woods, so I went after it. I don't know how to get out and I think there's something inhuman in here." Vincent said sadly.
     "You can come with us. We'll find our way out together." Irene suggested.
     "Why not" he nodded happily.
     Vanessa reached for his hand to help him up.  Vincent dusted off his pants and looked down at her since he was quite tall.
     "Thanks" he smiled.
     Vanessa was frozen by his beauty. She was stuck staring into his ice blue eyes.
     "Helloo?" Vincent exclaimed while waving his hand in front of her face.
     "Oh, sorry" Vanessa chuckled.
     Uriah rolled her eyes at Vanessa's embarrassing actions and started walking.
     "Come on guys! We have to at least find Charlie or Tatum before it gets dark again" Uriah instructed.
     Serena walked past Vanessa and whispered into her ear with a smirk on her face.
     "Nice one" she giggled.
     Vanessa looked down at her feet and gently rolled her eyes trying not to blush. The six of them started walking. Irene, Uriah and Serena in the front, Malachi walking all alone in the middle and Vanessa and Vincent walking closely side by side in the back. The sun was already starting to go down which meant that they didn't have much daylight left.
     "The sun's almost down and we're just as close to finding them as we were an hour ago" Uriah said grumpily.
     "Obviously the forest has a lot of ground to cover and we know that in a panic the boys won't stay put" Irene added.
     "How about we take a rest to regain our energy?" Vincent suggested.
     "Sounds good to me!" Vanessa agreed.
     "Okay, but not for long. We have work to do" Uriah said in an annoyed tone.
     Uriah wasn't very fond of him. She thought that he was a bit stuck up and too cocky. As the sun went down Uriah's mood only seemed to be getting worse.
     "I suppose we should start searching again" Malachi announced.
     "Uriah, I think you need a break. No offence but your mood is not your best right now" Serena mentioned.
     "Fine! We'll rest until tomorrow, but as soon as there is daylight we're moving" Uriah yelled viciously.
     They all looked shocked that Uriah raised her voice at them. She was usually a patient person and she never yelled at anyone. Uriah had a furious look on her face and her glasses were sliding down the bridge of her nose. For the whole night no one spoke except for Vanessa and Vincent who were sharing secrets and giggling. There was no sign of any glowing dots yet and no strange noises. Until a loud crashing sound came from behind them. Everyone shook awake and looked around at each other with the expression missing from their faces.
     "I've never heard that before" Vincent said with a shaky tone.