Readers vote on where this story goes next! Welcome to Briarwich. A sleepy coastal town with a dark history. You are Morgan, a college student on a boating trip with your four best friends. When you and your friends become stranded in Briarwich, you...
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Downtown Briarwich
This was supposed to be your vacation; a relaxing getaway with your best friends. How did it all go pear-shaped so fast?
With Natalie by your side, the two of you maintain a brisk jog out of the orchard. It takes every ounce of willpower in you not to take off at a dead run - the sooner you are out of the trees, the better, in your opinion - but you cannot risk tiring yourself out before you have even had the chance to look for the others. For all you know, they could be in danger. They could be dying at the hands of some otherworldly entity residing inside an old tree, waiting patiently to rip their minds apart like tissue paper, or worse. You shudder, not wanting to think about what new horrors lie ahead.
Your heart sings when you realize you can make out the rust coloured barn through the gaps in the trees. The finish line is so tantalizingly close! You don't even care about the grisly scene you know awaits you when you break through the brush. It does not matter one little bit that you left behind at least a dozen dead bodies when you took off after Natalie. You are still alive, and you sure as hell are not going to be able to eat an apple for as long as you live.
The air beyond the barricade of trees is cool and fresh, like taking a sip of ice water with lemon on a hot summer day. The way it courses through your blood, lifting the fog from your brain, makes you feel giddy, as though you are experiencing an oxygen high. You did not realize before just how oppressive the aura of the forest was until you are released from its grasp.
"Did we miss something?" Natalie says incredulously.
Euphoria muddles your thoughts. You glance stupidly from side to side seeking what Natalie is talking about. Then you notice it too. It is not what she is seeing that is causing her confusion, it is what she is not seeing.
You stand with your friend on the edge of an empty lawn. The overgrown grass, untouched and untrampled, is swaying in the late afternoon breeze like waves across an emerald sea. The picnic tables - once piled high with deadly delights - are conspicuously absent, along with all other signs of festivities. There is not a soul to be seen, living or dead. The farm stands alone and seemingly abandoned against the blood red sky.
"How long do you figure we were in there?" you ask.
Natalie shakes her head in disbelief, "I don't know. Not more than an hour or two I'd say. We rushed the whole way back here."
You point toward the direction of the sun, which is already well past its zenith, and now descending toward the western horizon. Natalie blanches as she realizes that the sun is in the wrong place. Not believing her eyes, she scrambles to pull out her phone. She needs a piece of modern technology to confirm her suspicions, dying battery be damned.
"7:00 PM," she confirms. "There is no way we were in there that long! How did we lose almost the entire day?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Nothing here makes any sense." You motion for Natalie to follow as you push onward, "Come on, we still need to look in town for the others. They're probably worried sick."
