Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Into the Woods

Daniel arrives at school. Fear is all over his face. He cannot believe that Nathan would do something like this. He looks around for him. He runs from class to the playing field, from there to the cafeteria and from there to the men's loo, but no one has seen him, "No wonder he doesn't make any friends, so he can disappear after killing someone, and no one will notice.” He murmurs under his low tone.

Daniel keeps on looking for Nathan in the hall. Emily sees Daniel walking by, she looks at him, and Daniel walks by her without

even noticing. “Hey, dreamer!” she says and grabs him from the

shoulder.

Daniel stops and looks at Emily and laughs, “Hey, Em! Sorry I

didn’t see ya.” he continues laughing.

“Yeah, Thank God I was not standing in the middle,” she says in

a sarcastic tone with open arms.

“Sorry, Em. I am just in a hurry.” Daniels apologises.

Emily can see all the worry on Daniel’s face. She rubs his shoulder and asks, “Anything I can help you with, Honey?”

"No, you can't," Daniel replies immediately.

Emily hesitates, “alright, alright, I won’t.” she replies.

Daniel hugs her and says, “I am sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t want you to worry, okay. I shall handle it.”

Emily nods, and Daniel leaves.

He is still looking for Nathan, he passes by the principal's office and sees the principal talking to a tall man wearing a suit. He

ignores and walks by, but then he listens to the man mentioning Nathan's name. He immediately stops and listens.

The tall man says, “Nathan won’t be able to come to school today. His grandmother has passed away, and he has to go to Florida for a few days for her funeral, I hope you understand.”

Daniel sees the principal nodding. “His grandmother died?”

Daniel thought to himself.

Emily walked to her class after Daniel left. She entered the class and found herself in a seat. She sat and took out her book and started reading. Suddenly the door closed. Emily looked around, but she could see no one. She calls out, "Who is there?"

Nobody replies, and then she feels an arm coming on her back. Sliding onto her belly and holds her. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Ethan pulls her next to his chest and kisses her cheek. Emily laughs and turns to face Ethan. "Hey!" she says with a smile.

“Hey to you too!” Ethan replies while looking into her eyes.

They were about to share a kiss when the door opened, and they both immediately let go of each other. Emily turns and picks up her book, and Ethan finds a chair for himself. Soon the class is filled with students. A boy tries to sit next to Emily, but Ethan blocks the seat with his hand. The class goes on. Emily and Ethan are sitting next to each other, holding hands. The bell rings, and they both head outside.

They are having lunch outside on the lawn. Sitting next to each other when Margaret comes walking and sits next to them. She put down her bag and takes out a bag of chips. She offers the bag to both Emily and Ethan. They both deny the offer, and she continues munching. “Did you guys hear about the guy who died last night?” Ethan asks to start the conversation.

“Yeah, they are saying an animal killed him,” Margaret replies.

“This is the first time we have heard of such killing.”

“True, maybe my mum can tell me more about what happened,” Emily says.

The three are discussing the event as Claire walks in. “What do we have here? Three mini cops discussing a man’s death. Do we have any lead chief?” she says while looking at Ethan.

Ethan laughs, and Claire sits down. "You guys are joking about it?" Margaret says.

“Relax, Honey, the guy died, we can’t do much about it can we?”

says Claire.

“I have heard the guy was a dealer,” Ethan says with excitement. “What are you proposing?” asks Emily.

“Nothing off the chart, just that we stop by his trailer and see what our friend has left for us. What do you say?” Ethan says.

The girls look at each other, and Claire says, "I’m in."

Margaret looks at Claire with shock and exclaims, “CLAIRE! A guy

died there last night. It is not safe.”

“Margaret, we’ll be all right. Relax. The guy was alone we are going to be a group of five people.” Claire says, “and that raises the question, where is Daniel?”

"I saw him this morning; he was in a hurry, didn't even talk," Emily says while taking a chip from Margaret’s bag.

"I'll find him and tell him about the plan," Claire says and then

turns to Ethan. “What is the plan, by the way?”

“We shall all meet at Rob’s after 8:00, and then we can go from there. All of you bring your flashlights, okay." Ethan says. He gets

up, grabs his bag, and kisses Emily. "Okay, people, See you all tonight then." and leaves.

Margaret and Claire wave at him as he leaves.

Daniel arrives at La' Cruise Mansion. He stops at the gate for a moment. "What would I say to him? His grandma just died." he thinks to himself. He walks in sees the same man he saw at school coming out of the mansion. Daniel runs to him, "Sir, excuse me. I need to talk to you."

The man stops and faces Daniel, “Who are you, and what are

you doing here?” he asks.

“I saw you at school, talking to the principal. Are you Nathan’s dad?” asks Daniel.

“No, I am his guardian. How do you know Nathan again?” the

man asks.

“We have talked once a while. Is he in there? I wanna pay my

condolences.” says Daniel as he steps forward.

The man steps in front of him, blocking his path. "No, Nathan is off to Florida, so you better leave," he says.

“Okay, Sir, I am leaving. Tell Nathan I am sorry for his loss.”

Daniel says as he steps back and turns to head out.

The man stays until Daniel is out of sight. After that, he takes his phone out and dials a call. The person on the other side of the phone answers, and the man says, "Someone is looking for you."

Daniel is heading back home when he runs into Claire. “There he is—our missing friend. Where have you been the whole day?” she asks with her eyebrows raised.

Daniel flinches and coughs, “Stop scaring me like that, will you?”

he says while coughing.

“You deserve the suffocation, my friend.” She replies with her

arms crossed.

Daniel walks by her, and she follows. "Why were you looking for me again?" he asks.

“WHY? because you are our friend, and we see you every day, that’s why,” she replies and stares at Daniel. She continues, “Well doesn’t matter because we are all going to the woods, and you are coming with us.”

"Thanks, but I am not going to any woods," Daniel says as he starts walking faster.

“Why?” she asks and grunts, “and can you stop running like someone is chasing you.” She grabs Daniel from the shoulder and turns him. She points the finger at him and says with anger, “Listen to me, Daniel Reid, we are all going to woods tonight, and you are coming with us, no questions asked. I get that you might have seen a ghost, but that gives you no right to ghost

your friends. Get it? Now be a man and show up at Rob’s by 8:00 tonight.” She lets go of Daniel's jacket.

Daniel stands still for a moment, “OKAY?” she raises her eyebrow.

Daniel raises his hands in the air and nods, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll… be there. Okay.” he replies.

“Good,” Clair says and leaves.

The night falls, and Daniel arrives at Rob's. Outside he sees Ethan's and Claire’s car in the parking lot. He does not want to go to the trailer as he is afraid that they might find something regarding his activities, but he is scared of Claire more.

Somewhere deep down, he wants to go as well to see if the man has left his money in the trailer somewhere. He sighs deeply.

The bell on the top of the door rings, and Daniel enters. He sees

that everyone is already there. "You finally showed up," Margaret says as she takes a sip of her Robby's special.

"Come over here mate, I ordered a Robby's special for you too," Ethan says and gives Daniel a gesture to come.

Daniel walks over to them and sits down. Rob gives him a glass of Robby’s unique and heads back in. Daniel takes a sip. Emily moves up to let Daniel sit, “Hey, you okay?” she asks.

Daniel nods and takes another sip. “Dan! You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” she whispers as the rest of the group discusses their plan.

Daniel looks up at Emily and says, “Em, I am perfectly fine. I swear. Thanks anyway.” And smiles.

They both hug each other. "Hey! No group hugs without us," says Claire and hugs them both.

Margaret follows and joins them. Ethan stays where he is. Emily looks at him and gestures him to join, and he comes running.

Rob walks out, "Did someone die?" he asks, and the group bursts into laughter.

The group walks out of Rob’s. Ethan opens the trunk of his car and takes out two flashlights and a baseball bat. “What the hell are these for?” Claire asks while looking at the bat.

“Protection,” he replies.

“From who again?” Emily asks.

“The beast which killed the man,” says Margaret. “We don’t know if he is still in there or not, so I asked Ethan to get something for our protection.”

“And this is what he got?” says Claire in a sarcastic tone. “I mean

no offence, but if there is a beast in the forest, which there

isn’t,” she says with an emphasis on her last words. “You think it’s gonna wait for you to swing your bat?”

“At least it is something,” says Emily standing in a corner with

her hands in her pocket.

“Yeah, sure it is. When your boyfriend is holding it.” Claire replies with a giggle.

Emily and Ethan both flinch and look at each other first and then at Claire. “Boyfriend? I am not her boyfriend,” says Ethan as he laughs confusingly.

“Yeah. We are not dating Claire.” Emily backs him up.

Claire crosses her arm, “Darling, I am not blind, and this curly

vulture here saw you both holding hands today.” she says while

putting her arm around Margaret.

“You told us that you guys almost kissed, remember,” says

Daniel.

Ethan and Emily laugh, "Oh yeah, that, I forgot." says Ethan as he rubs the back of his head.

"Well, now that it is out in the open, we don't have to pretend anymore," says Emily. "Shall we head to the forest now?" she asks.

“Yeah, Let’s go, guys." Says Ethan, and they all head to the woods.

The group walks through the deep dark forest. Claire and Margaret are in front, and Daniel is right behind them. Ethan and Emily are following the three. "Hey, love birds, catch up," Claire says as she walks.

As they walk deeper, the group realises that the leaves have started to turn brown and dry. Daniel shivers, but he cannot let the fear out in front of his friends, so he keeps on walking with

them through the pile of dry, brown leaves. “How far is this trailer?” Margaret asks.

“Not much further; I guess we are almost there,” Ethan replies. “It better be because if that beast attacked us, I don’t think I’ll

be even able to run anymore,” says Margaret.

Ethan holds Emily and whispers, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you if the beast comes out for us.” and kisses her forehead.

The five friends reach the trailer. "Yes! We are here at last." Margaret exclaims. "Daniel, come on." She says as she runs to the trailer.

All Daniel wants is to find his money and leave. He follows everyone as they all stand at the door of the trailer. Ethan holds the knob and pulls it. "It’s locked!" he says.

He tries pulling it again, but the door is completely stuck. Daniel walks in front, "Let me try." he says.

He takes holds of the knob, pushes the door, and then pulls the knob. "Voila!" Ethan exclaims. "Way to go, Daniel," he says

Daniels opens the door, and they see a shadow standing right in front. They all scream their guts out and head back. The shadow steps outside the trailer, and they know that it is no one but Nathan. “Nathan! You scared the crap out of us.” Claire yells.

Nathan laughs, “I am sorry, babe,” he replies.

“What are you doing here?” asks Ethan with his eyes locked

onto Nathan.

He looks Ethan back into his eyes and raises his hand, which has a cigarette in it. "Smoking out. What else." He takes a puff and exhales the smoke out.

He looks at Emily and offers her the cigarette. Ethan walks in front to back Nathan off. Nathan turns and walks away, "Try your luck, children. The trailer is empty. The old guy had nothing but bed bugs."

Ethan walks into the trailer, and the girls follow him. Daniel looks at his friends and then goes after Nathan, "Hey! Stop." He yells.

Nathan stops and turns. Daniel walks to him and says, "I told you to stay out of it, but you didn't listen, and you…" he whispers, "You killed the guy?"

“Dude, have you lost it? I didn’t kill anyone.” Nathan replies. “That guy was torn into pieces, and you think I killed him? What do you think I am, a beast or something?” Nathan says.

Daniel backs off and apologises for blaming Nathan, “It’s okay. You stopped by my house today?” Nathan asks.

“Oh yeah. I heard about your Grandma, but the guy at your

place said that you left for Florida.” Daniel says.

Nathan laughs out, “What happened?” asks Daniel

“My Grandma? She died a long time ago. I just wanted to skip school today, and Mark, well, he doesn’t like my attitude, so he went to the principal and gave him an excuse instead.” Nathan replies.

Nathan takes out a package from his pocket and gives it to Daniel. “Here. I found this inside the trailer. Thought you might need it back.”

Daniel takes the package and unwraps it. "It's my money!" he exclaims. "Thanks, Nathan," he says and puts the package in his bag.

Suddenly they hear people screaming. They both run to the trailer and find a werewolf standing in front of the trailer, growling and hitting it. Ethan and the girls are inside. They are trying to escape the trailer, but the wolf is blocking the way. Its ferocious teeth waiting for the prey to walk out of the trailer. ”We gotta help them.” says Daniel.

“Really? I was planning to pass by, let them be wolf snack. I know we have to help them, Daniel.” Nathan replies sarcastically.

Nathan sees the baseball bat Ethan had. He picks it up, tears a piece of his shirt, wraps it around the bat, and lights a fire. "I'll distract the beast. You got to help them escape." Nathan says and runs out.

"Hey!" Nathan yells, and the wolf turns to him. "Pick on someone of your size." He swings the torch he is holding.

The wolf charges at him with full speed, its mouth open wide to dig his teeth into Nathan. It jumps up high and gets close to Nathan to attack. He dodges the paw and hits the wolf in the face with the torch—the wolf slams on the ground and flees.

Daniel opens the door from the outside, and everyone comes out running.

Nathan comes running, "Dude, You are He-man," says Claire.

Nathan winks at her, and they hear the wolf howling. "We gotta go. NOW!" Nathan yells, and they all start running back.

The group is running through the forest. The wolf is chasing them. They all reach the road. "We are not doing that again, that's for sure," says Margaret as she catches her breath.

“Where is Emily?” Claire yells.

Emily is running through the forest, and a growl is chasing her. She twists her leg and falls to the ground. She tries to stand up, but the pain is too much to handle. She can hear the growl getting closer to her. Soon she sees the wolf appearing from the leaves. The wolf growls at her. Emily can see her life-ending. The wolf charges at her, and she closes her eyes, preparing herself to die, but nothing hits her. She opens her eyes and sees Nathan standing in front of her. All bleeding, holding a stake through the wolf's chest. The wolf falls to the ground, Emily turns to looks at Nathan. He is seeping through his chest. “Nathan! Are you…” Emily utters.

“I am fine, and so are you,” Nathan says as he walks to Emily.

Emily feels her vision getting blurry, and soon she was unconscious.