Mysterious Forces

Attack of the Blue Moss

Evening everyone! I've been waiting to write this chapter after taking a while to brainstorm and come up with a plot line, and I think I finally have an idea!! Candace has sort of a 'Living with Monkeys' type of storyline here, so I hope you enjoy! 

Disclaimer: This chapter talks about injury and mentions blood, so just be prepared for that when it comes up.

Candace ran off into the distance, not wanting to face the reality of life. She was tired of being thought of last, of being the one that was disregarded all the time. She wasn't ready to deal with the fact that she and Jeremy might not last forever. 

She wiped a few hot tears from her face and ran away from her problems, her family, her friends, everything. She was tired of all the pressures of society. Her brain raced between solutions. 

'Should I go back? Do they even care? No... I think I need some time alone.' she thought, and then an idea popped into her head. She hated the woods, but sometimes the tranquility was what she needed to get away and think. The green beam's pull on her mind loosened and she was inspired to send a text to let someone know some of how she was feeling. 

Candace: Don't worry about me, I'm the worst friend ever. I'll be out of town by the time you see this.

She shut off the phone so nobody could see her location, and continued her run to freedom. She reached the edge of the woods and stopped, looking up at the daunting figures of the huge trees overhead. It was dark in there, and every once in a while, she could hear the taunting hoots of a hunting owl. She took a shaky breath and entered the woods, looking around her to make sure nothing was about to kill her. 

A noise came from the forest floor, and she gasped and stopped in time to find a twig she had just stepped on. She let out her breath and continued walking until her legs couldn't carry her anymore. 

After walking for what seemed like an hour; she didn't know what time it was because her phone had died a while ago and her watch was broken; she stopped and placed her hand on a tree to rest for a minute, but she felt something fuzzy on her hand. 

"Oh no..." she groaned, looking at her hand to find blue tint all over her hand. "Not this again!" she grumbled and collapsed on the forest floor, sobbing her eyes out. She cried herself to sleep, but the sleepy state couldn't overcome her intoxicated by blue moss state. 

Let's just say it was a bad idea for her to run off while she was hungry.

"Whoa! Everything's so colorful!" she gasped, standing up and looking around with a big grin. "Oh, I wonder what powers this will give me!" she giggled and picked up a caterpillar from a small bush. She placed it in her mouth and bit down. "Ooh, juicy!" 

Candace winced at the bitter taste of the bug and spit it out. "That was a nasty piece of candy! Blech!" she wiped her hands on her tongue, getting the blue moss in her mouth. "EWWW!" 

She ran around willy nilly, making a commotion in the forest, dancing around and picking up random animals to inspect them. 

Next, she found a wild strawberry bush, and grinned as she stuffed her face with strawberries. A few of them held some unsuspecting bugs, being thrown into the melting pot that was Candace's stomach. 

She saw a porcupine that was trying to mind it's business, but of course, Candace had to interrupt that. "Ooh, prickle baby!" she giggled and knelt down behind the porcupine, which looked back at her warily before running off into the forest. 

A skunk was next on Candace's path. She gasped and picked up the skunk, causing it to squeal, and when she didn't put it down... you can guess what happened. 

"Oh, my, you need a bath, my friend! PEE YEW!" she fanned her nose and put the skunk down, running the other way.

Unfortunately, just as it seemed things could not get worse, they did. Candace found a dark cave and decided it would be a good idea to enter. 

"Helloooo..?" she called, and heard the small squeal of an animal. As her eyes adjusted to the dark and the world stopped spinning, she saw a small baby bear. "Aww, look at you! Where's your mama?" Candace asked, leaning down to pet the cub. That question was answered by a loud roar at the entrance of the cave. 

"Oh,  hello, Mama Bear! I was just taking care of little... what should I call you... Oh! I'll call you Baloo. Ya know, like the bear from-" she was cut off by another roar and a 2 ton mother bear charging at her. "Whoa, mama! I wasn't trying to-" she said, before getting thrown against the cave wall behind her. 

All of a sudden, the blue moss wore off, and Candace tried to understand how she got into this situation, but her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sharp pain in her right leg. She looked down to find a stalactite from the top of the cave that had fallen and scraped her leg horribly, leaving a stinging from the leg. She gasped and screamed, but it didn't last long before she felt jaws wrap around her arm, leaving huge bite marks. The bear dragged her out of her cave and left her there, laying unconsciously next to a large tree, with blood draining from her left arm and right leg, not to mention the many scrapes left by the sharp cave wall on her back, head, and face.

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Isabella led Stacy and Emma into the forest, lighting the way with a couple of flashlights. It was dark, and they couldn't see anything because of a fog that had come down upon them, and it didn't help that Emma was scared of the dark. 

"G-g-guys... can't we wait... till it's daytime?" she asked, her voice cracking as she walked slowly behind Isabella while holding Stacy's hand.

"Candace is out here somewhere! How do you think she's feeling? We have to help her, Emma. It's our duty as Fireside Girls! Besides, now we can get our 'Forest Rescue' patches! Come on, you're brave!" Isabella smiled and tried comforting her best friend. 

"F-fine... but I'm not gonna like it one bit." she whispered. 

The girls crept their way through the forest, Stacy and Emma jumped at any sounds they heard, but Isabella bravely led them through. They came to a part of the forest with a ton of vines, and Isabella pulled out her pocketknife. 

"What's that for?" Stacy asked. 

"Uh, to cut the vines, duh." Emma replied as Isabella sliced off vines and they walked the rest of the way through. 

"Have you seen any signs of Candace?" Isabella asked, looking around. 

"Wait! What's that?" Emma asked, looking at a bush that looked like the strawberries had been smashed and thrown on the ground. "And do you smell that? Blech!" she plugged her nose. 

"Looks like Candace has been here. Let's find more clues!" Stacy said and continued following the trail of stink, even though it made them all gag.

"I wonder where she-" Isabella started. 

"Um... Izzy... I think I found her." Emma said, her eyes plastered to a horrid image in front of her. The other girls saw the sight and gasped loudly.

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Leaving you guys on a cliffhanger here!! This one's more of a short chapter but I'm just extending the storyline! What do you think will happen to the girls, and how will they keep Candace from dying?