The Queen's Red Lake

VII

Rain falls like it means to wash us away. I can hear Javier and the others screaming behind me. But, the rain is so strong that I cannot make out what they are saying. I choose to ignore them and approach the unconscious boy. My feet gets stuck into the mud that I trip and fall onto his body. "Shit."

He is still unconscious and laying on the ground as the rain pours onto him, soaking his clothes. Javier finally reaches me. "We need to help him." I scream over the heavy rain.

"I'll get him." Javier says. He then bends down and pulls the unconscious boy into his arms. We reach the others and head back towards town. The rain seems to fall harder and it becomes difficult to see. The mud makes it hard to walk, branches fall from the trees, and the wind soars aggressive like a hurricane.

"We need to find shelter." I shout. "We won't make it."

"No." Sakiya scream. Her clothes are sticking to her body the same as her hair. "We're heading back."

"We won't make it." I say.

Iris runs her fingers through her wet and tangled dark grey curls. "Hal is right." She says her voice soft and patient. "I know a place close by."

Sakiya looks around in confusion. "Seriously? Where!"

Iris start hiking on another trail and I look to Javier and he nod before walking forward. "Come on." I tell Sakiya and Zaria. The hike only takes ten minutes but it feels like an eternity. I shiver from the cold and we finally approach the shelter.

It's a cabin, surrounded by trees, old, and creepy. It wasn't the best option but it was the only option.

We kick the door open and hurry inside slamming it behind us. We all shudder and greedily take in the warmth. Iris disappears for a few minutes behind one of the doors. I look around the cabin walls that are painted a dark brown that matches the wooden floors.

I continue to shiver that my teeth begin to clatter. I notice the stairs to the second floor in the corner and the open kitchen. The living room has two old dusty couches and a outdated television on a table stand. "I found some stuff." Iris say while coming from the other room. She tosses a pile of clothes and towels on the floor. She shifts from foot to foot and runs her fingers through her hair nervously. "I'll start a fire."

We all begin to dry minus the boy with white hair who was still unconscious. I grab the first shirt and oversized jeans and put them on before throwing a blanket over my shoulders. I take in the warmth.

"What is this place?" Sakiya is the first to speak. The rain is still pounding hard onto the small cabin. I instantly knew we would have to stay until the storm passed. The firelight the entire cabin. It cackles lowly in the distant.

Iris dusts her hand off and explain, "It was my grandfathers. He used to come here to hunt."

Sakiya nod and look around in confusion. "Did he not like to display his kill?" She asks curiously. "I expected a deer head or something."

"He didn't hunt deers." Iris replies lowly.

Thunderclaps outside and the cabin rumbles. The boy with white hair sits up instantly in fright. He screams and looks around frantically. I hurry to his side. "Where—where am I?" He questions.

"A local cabin." I explain. "We couldn't make it back from the cemetery because of the storm."

"Storm?" He questions in confusion. "Cemetery?"

"Do you not remember anything." Sakiya blurts impatiently. She was standing by the window and looking out into the trees. She closes the curtains and walk back into the living room and closer to the fire. "We found you at the cemetery doing some questionable shit."