The Betrayal

Woods

   Kim led them to a bush she always used to hide in when her sister came looking for her during hide and seek. Macy was constantly staring at her stained hands and trying to pick shards of shingles from them. They entered the old droopy bush in time to spy on the two men who were studying the gutter on the ground. The one man cussed under his breath and adventured out back to the clearing in the woods behind Kim's old playset.

   Chelsea looked up in the bush and began staring at a raggedy bird's nest. There was red feathers throughout the bush and Chelsea knew it was home to a Robin. She kneeled down so she was eye level to the top of the nest and she saw three eggs within the straw and twigs of the nest. Chelsea reached her hand forward to touch her discovery, but the mama bird flew into the bush just in time to stand her ground. Chelsea put her hands up to show that she was backing off and the bird went back to whatever she was doing before Chelsea's disturbance.

   "I think they're gone," Kim said. "It sounded like they ran into the woods." All three friends looked out the opening of the bush into the woods where the one man ran into. They didn't know it was only one man who left and the other one was still lurking around. 

   "Uhh... Chelsea," Macy softly said. "What's on your legs?" At that very moment, Chelsea looked down and gasped. On her legs were splotches of red and they looked very painful.

   "It looks like a rash," Kim replied. "Are you allergic to anything?" Chelsea shook her head. Macy looked intently at her friend's legs and her eyes lit up with an explanation.

   "Poison ivy," Macy exclaimed. "You have poison ivy rashes." This explained it all, the fact they were in the woods surrounded with unknown species of plants made perfect sense to the explanation. Chelsea's legs began to expand out from her reaction to the plant till her legs were slightly bigger than before. "You're having an allergic reaction," Macy remarked. "We need to get you to the doctor before it spreads." Chelsea disagreed for the first time today.

   "I'll be fine." The girls didn't looked convinced that she would be fine, but they didn't want to argue.

Crunch! Snap!

   "What was that?" Kim managed to say after they all heard the random noise to their right. Macy put a finger to her mouth to indicate to be silent. They all listened intently.

   "Where the f*** did they go?" One man's voice say to the other man. "I can't find them anywhere." 

   "Well keep looking, they couldn't have gone far," the other man ordered the one who was in the woods. The three girls shutter at the sound of their voices and what they were saying. So, they really were looking for them...