Elvenverse: Conflicted Worlds

Chapter 5

Kali's POV:

Leaning against the locker I looked down the corridor, waiting for my friend's class to finally end. I skipped English in hopes of some entertainment, but all my friends are in their classes and now I'm just as bored as before. Tapping my foot I started searching through my bag, finding my last lollipop. I sat down on the ground, looking through my phone to pass the time. After a boring hour of scrolling through various social media the school bell finally indicated the end of this hell parents call 'school'. I stood up just as all the classroom doors opened and Students spilled into the hallways to get out of here as fast as possible. Looking around I tried to find any of my friends. 

"Boo" 

I spun around startled, to stand face to face with my friend Bree. 

"Hey Bree, what's up?" I asked laughing, watching as Bree threw her bag into her locker next to me. 

"Mr. Brown sucks. He gave me a D- on my Biology test" she growled annoyed, leaning on the locker. I chuckled amused and my friend scoffed. 

"C'mon Bree, how about you let Eryl help you next time?" I suggested. She gave me her famous death glare and I grinned, knowing that she will never accept help. We watched as the crowd of students dissolved and the halls slowly emptied. I looked around again. 

"Where are the others?" I questioned Bree, who just answered with an uninterested shrug. I sighed, rolling my eyes. She can be so apathetic sometimes.

"Very helpful" I replied with an irritated tone in my voice. Bree side-eyed me with a smug smirk. She finds amusement in the weirdest things. Finally I spotted Clovis and his buddy Asher coming towards us. 

"Sup Clovis!" I greeted him eagerly. He gave me a bright smile and waved, but when Asher whispered something in his ear he stopped abruptly and his face became as red as a tomato. 

"Hey Kali" Asher replied instead of Clovis, a big smirk in his face while Clovis tried to hide his face in his hands. Asher gave me a fist bump and looked down the hall. 

"Anyone else coming today?" He asked curiously. 

"Ethan said he wanted to go with us. Hunter, and Eryl are in the cafeteria to study" I answered him. Asher nodded and glanced back at Clovis who had regained his composure and was now joining us. 

"Kali, are you sure you wanna do that dare?" Clovis asked cautiously. I giggled with a confident smile. Tyler and his "gang" came up to us the other day for another of their intimidation attempt. He hates that I'm more popular than he is, though it shouldn't surprise him that a notorious bully would be less popular than the one's defending the students that get bullied. So when the "clash of gangs part 12", as Asher referred to our fights, happened on Wednesday, Tyler dared me to go into the woods near Sester City in the middle of the night, to make a picture of the most popular Cave entrance around here. To prove that I'm not a coward. Which I'm definitely not.

"Of course I'll do it. Going to the Sester cave at 3 am is nothing" I answered Clovis optimistically. "It's not like ghosts are real"

"Just make sure you don't get caught in any of the animal traps" Clovis advised, still looking concerned. 

I smiled, finding his concern endearing. "I'll be fine Clov'. I'll bring my phone and a knife with me. I'm not stupid." Clovis seems to calm down a little at my reassurance. My phone vibrated. A text from Ethan. "I'm outside the school. Where are you?"  I grabbed my bag. 

"C'mon guys, Ethan's waiting outside" I told my friends, heading to the exit.

"What took you so long?" Ethan asked impatiently just as we walked through the exit. 

"We waited at the lockers" replied Bree defensively. I gave a nod to Ethan, tho the mischievous grin on my face probably indicated the opposite of 'respectful'. Ethan rolled his eyes. 

"I heard about Tyler's dare. Will you actually go to the Sester Cave?" Ethan questioned me with a curious shine in his eyes. One blue, one hazel. 

"Of course I'll do it" I replied, self-assured. He nodded thoughtfully.

"Make sure Tyler and his idiots don't try to prank you" he advised, looking me dead in the eyes. I looked back at him. I didn't think about that possibility. A hint of concern impaled my confidence. What if Tyler tries something illegal? I wouldn't pit it past that bastard, he was already suspended once for bringing a knife to school.

I shook my head yo stop myself from overthinking. I know how to protect myself and there's cell reception in the forest. I'll be fine. Asher brought  me back to the present, as he reminded us all of the plans that we made for today and we went to spend our Friday afternoon in the arcade.

1:35 am.
I took my jacket and helmet and left the shed, a small house at the outskirts of the city that my parents bought for me. Taking the handle of my bike I remembered Ethan's advice and Clovis' concern and quickly went back inside to get my box cutter, before hopping on to my bike and cycling through the fields towards the large forest.

The October night is cold and windy, but at least it's not raining. Though even if it had rained tonight I wouldn't have backed out of this dare. I have to prove Tyler and his idiot gang of bullies that they can't mess with me and my friends. Cycling along the uneven grass path between two fields I smiled at the feeling of freedom as the forest got closer and closer. There are many rumors about mythical creatures living in this forest and many people claim to have seen things like fairies and elves. But nobody ever has had any proof, even though almost every person has a phone nowadays. I stopped to look at my phone. 

2:11 am.
I should be at the cave just before 3 am if I'm fast. I stood in front of the forest. Looking into the darkness I turned on the flashlight of my phone before continuing my way to the Sester Cave. The pathway gets smaller and more uneven by the minute and after a while I wasn't able to go by bike anymore. I leaned it against a tree, hoping that I'll find it later again. I shined the flashlight of my phone around to look where the path continues. Only that there wasn't a path forward anymore. I turned around, but the path that I've been following wasn't the one I'm familiar with. I got a flashback to a school field trip from when I was 12. We hiked through this forest and our teacher told us about small paths that animals like deers make. I exhaled slowly. Panicking won't help. I can still go back since the path I accidentally followed is fairly noticeable. I looked back at my phone. 

2:34 am.
Looking at an online map of the forest I saw that I was just 10 minutes of walking away from the cave. I facepalmed and laughed out loud at how quickly I lost my nerves. I'm just a little to the west of the actual path. Now I just had to find out where the hell west is. I slowly turned in a circle to find anything that might tell me in which direction I had to go, when I suddenly saw a dim light between the trees. Paranoia shot right back into my mind at the sight of the faintly flickering light. Could it be Tyler or one of his friends trying to play a prank on me? Or could someone be lost in the forest? I slowly approached the light, taking out my box cutter just in case.