Into The Woods

Chapter 23

     Malachi attempted to face Tatum on his left, but was unable to look away from this demon that was staring back at them from Phil's soulless body.
     "What's going on with him? We. Can't. Be. Here," Malachi whispered through the side of his mouth.
     Tatum sat rather upright on his seat, also unable to peer away from Phil's vacant body. Charlie and
Vanessa sat fearfully in the back of the van, holding each others hand for a slight feeling of comfort, while Serena still slouched unconsciously on the window. Vincent squirmed farther away from who he thought was his father, and tried his hardest to avoid eye contact.
     The old, creaky van started swerving ever so lightly off of the road, and began to vanish into the murkiness of the dry, dead, and what used to be, a corn field. The air grew colder and the skies darker, while the adolescents had never felt so hopeless in their lives on this planet.
     Phil was no longer looking in the mirror, but straight ahead into the dead field. It was like he had a destination, knowing exactly where he had to bring them. Suddenly, in the distance appeared the outline of large trees that were full of all kinds of leaves and needles.
     "Phil...where are we going? We need to turn around. Please!" Malachi begged from behind Vincent.
     "I don't know why I expected an answer from you. That's right. You have a plan to kill us, don't you? All because of what? Because we stayed in a cabin? I know what you are! You aren't Phil! SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE US ALONE?!" Malachi yelled rather angrily.
     Malachi had never raised his voice at anyone. Ever. In his eighteen years of life, he had not once shown that he was angry with someone or something. But this time was much different.
     It seemed as if anger was setting in on Phil's face. Not just your average anger, like a murderous anger His grip tightened around the steering wheel so tightly that you could hear the squishing of the liquid on his hand against the tearing leather.
     "Oh boy," Malachi quietly announced to himself, rather regretting his decision to even speak.
     The van started to slow down. It's old parts creaked loudly and the engine roared. Phil slowly moves his hand to take out the key, somehow he managed to turn the key and remove it from the car while still facing the mysterious forest that lied ahead.
     With his black eyes still glued upon the forest, Phil gingerly removed himself from the car and slammed the door shut.
     The kids watched him strut farther and farther into the fog, and suddenly Phil vanished into the nothingness.
     "W-what now? We need to get out of here! Where did he go! This must be a dream! This must be all fake!" Vanessa muttered while tugging on her ratted black hair.
     "Let's try to stay positive. First we have to try waking up Serena," Tatum explained calmly.
     "Have you seen what staying positive has done, Tate?! Look where we are! Some random field in the middle of where?! That's right! WE DON'T KNOW! AND WE ARE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE, LETS FACE IT!" Charlie exclaimed on edge.
     "Well maybe if you didn't need to go to the hospital, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Tatum yelled back.
     "Could you all just shut up and get a hold of yourselves!" Vincent joined in.
     "Oh please! If we hadn't of met you, none of this would've happened!" Charlie growled.
     "Please just stop! Just stop! We can't turn on each other! It's all we have left," Vanessa sorrowfully spoke.
     "Sorry Ness, you're right," Charlie agreed.
     "Oh of course you agree," Vincent said coldly while leaning his head against his fist.
     "What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie questioned.
     "You know what it means," Vincent brutally suggested.
     "Obviously he doesn't," Tatum chirped.
     "You'll obviously agree to anything she says. If Ness mentioned that we should sacrifice one of us, you would agree," Vincent explained aggressively.
     "And why is that?" Vanessa questioned softly.
     "Well aren't you two, you know..." Vincent chuckled.
     "Come on man! Just spit it out!" Charlie spat.
     "I'll let you figure it out," Vincent said while leaving the van.
      "Where do you think you're going?" Malachi chimed in.
     Vincent paused and then proceeded to slam the door with no response.