Hunting Season

Deep in the Forest

Adira lied to everyone.

She knew they wouldn't believe her when she could barely believe it herself. When asked what had happened, she claimed a bear was chasing her. They all said she was extremely lucky to still be alive and prohibited her from going out by herself for the remainder of the day.

"That must have been scary," Devon piped in with a bowl of berries she  picked from the forest. She offered them to Adira, who took one and shoved it into her mouth. The thing had scarred her memory for life. What she didn't understand was why it let her go.

Devon slid a bag of ice towards Adira, who silently placed it on her bruised ankle. It wasn't anything serious, but even so the frustration of it pulsing every time she stepped on it was annoying.

"Miriam isn't living next to you anymore, so I'm moving next door if that's okay." Devon tried to cheer the quiet woman up, who only responded with a small nod.

"Um...I'll move my things now. We can maybe have a sleep over later? Get our minds off of all this?" she motioned to the entire forest surrounding them.

Adira knew Devon was only trying to be nice, but before she could deny the sleepover, she stopped herself.

Everyone was having a hard time, even Devon was always trying to be nice to the people there. The least she could do was give herself a moments distraction from the chaos Whispering Winds was proving to be.

"Hey, Devon?" Adira turned to stop the woman from walking back to her cabin, "I'll like that sleepover tonight if you want."

Devon beamed, and for a moment she truly seemed happy, "Sounds good! I'll see you later then?" Adira agreed, focusing back on the scene in front of her.

Strange how a peaceful place could hold so much darkness. She wondered if the people around there knew it also, or at least sensed it?

Chills ran down Adira's back as she felt an uncomfortable sensation- like she was being watched. She carefully glanced around her, and at the other people eating their dinner. No eyes were on her. Perhaps it was just her nerves.

Without another thought, she got up from her seat and picked up her ice packet before heading back to her room. Maybe tonight, things would calm down and whatever was out there would never cross paths with her again. She could only hope she was that lucky.

xxx

Adira hadn't had a sleepover in ages. Devon didn't seem to mind, bringing snacks and a little laptop she had brought with her to camp.

"I've been here for a couple weeks now. Heard about it from someone and went to look for it on my own. The only thing that isn't so great is the Wi-Fi. It sort of fades every now and then, but I have some movies saved on my laptop." Devon laid out her purple sleeping bag, pulling up her light blonde hair into a bun. If people were to see her and Adira together they would have thought they were sisters. Both were young, had similar hair color, and a somewhat identical nose.

"I'm guessing not a lot of women here like sleep overs?" Adira asked, noticing the excitement in Devon. It was a welcome difference from her previous sad looking face.

"Well," Devon sighed, smoothing the ends of her blanket, "I always try and help people cheer up. Every one is so gloomy. It's a little scary thinking what they'll do to themselves...what they have done."

"What do you mean?" Adira asked, noticing the hesitation in Devon. "Come on you can tell me."

"I just...it's just not appropriate."

"You can tell me. I mean, we have to make sure everyone is okay right?"

Devon nodded slowly, and her once tired complexion began to reappear, "People not only disappear here. They come to die. Miriam...when we found that body...I saw the resolution in her eyes."

Adira's eyes widened, and she squeezed her pajama bottoms, "You don't mean-?"

"I'm in charge of leading people out of here when they want to leave. I know the way back out by heart. She was behind me one moment, and the next she wasn't. It's not the first time. One man shot himself in front of me. Others show up later, eaten by-." Devon stopped, covering her mouth like she was going to throw up.

Adira grabbed her companion's shoulder and squeezed it, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that...but Devon look at me." She had to tell someone. They had to know the danger in the forest. "We have to find Miriam. I-." She breathed in deeply, "There's something out there that isn't what you think it is. It's not human, it's not an animal...I don't even want to describe how it looks. But trust me when I tell you, nobody can be alone in this forest. We have to find her before its too late." If they could save one life from that thing...

Devon snatched Adira's arm, looking intensely into her companion's eyes. "We can't do that. There's a reason we don't go out at night like Jane says. We don't know what's out there."

"But I do. And I'm not going to let someone else go missing because of it."

"I don't know what you saw, but I respect Miriam's wishes to do what she does. It's...horrible...but we did everything we could for her. You can't stop someone who wants to die. If something gets to her first, it's what she wanted."

Adira yanked her arm away, shaking her head in disbelief, "Nobody wants to be brutally ripped to pieces." Her thoughts went back to Conrad, and she wondered if the creature who had attacked her killed him. "I'm going out there with or without you. Tell me where you last saw her."

Devon looked away, ashamed by what she had said. She knew there was no changing the mind of the other. With a slight nod she gave in.

"Alright. Let's go."