CHAPTER 4: Hunting Horrors and Jiggling Things

I knew I was always saying I was going to murder someone, but this time I was serious.

My screams were muffled beneath a large hand as I wriggled around like a snake under my potential victim. Technically, they had me pinned to my own bed, were squashing me half to death, and were possibly blocking my airflow, but that was beside the point. I had them exactly where I wanted them. Completely in control. Totally calm. Not at all about to bite someone’s fingers off.

“Shut up!” a voice hissed through the darkness.

I stopped wriggling, not because I recognised the voice, though I did, but because I was trying to process the fact that I had not even been talking. How was anyone supposed to get words out with a giant hand clamped over their mouth? Here I thought “shut up” was reserved for when someone was speaking and you wanted to rudely tell them to stop. Apparently, it could also be used as a midnight greeting. Delightful. I would be testing that out in the near future.

Xeine.

This stupid idiot was going to taste the bottom of my shoe.

I tried to shout his name in anger, but it came out sounding like a tragic elephant impersonation. Between my muffled threats and his constant shushing, I managed to free one hand and shoved it so far up his... chin. I mean, what else could I shove it up?

My right fist connected with his chin in a powerful uppercut. There was a frantic shuffle of sheets, followed by another body-dropping sound that echoed through my room. I scrambled out of bed, rushed to the door and flicked on the light. For a moment, I was blinded by the sudden brightness, but after a few rapid blinks, the scene came into focus.

Xeine lay half-conscious beside my bed. At least, he was pretending to. His head of curly brown hair was tilted at an awkward angle, and the sunglasses sitting on his face were somehow still intact. Not spectacles. Sunglasses. In the middle of the night. Only Xeine would break into someone’s bedroom dressed like a burglar and still accessorise. He wore the typical breaking-into-someone’s-house outfit: black hoodie, black jeans, black shoes and the confidence of someone who had never once considered consequences a personal problem.

What the heck was he doing?

Because of the unnecessary eyewear, I couldn’t tell whether his eyes were open, but I knew he was awake. His body movements were too controlled, too dramatic. Xeine was excellent at playing dead, which was why I had told him several times to join Drama Class. He never listened. When we were younger, he used to lie in the middle of the road pretending to be a corpse like some kind of human possum. We were all worried that one day he wouldn’t be pretending. Now that he was older, his head was screwed on a little better. Not straight, exactly, but closer than before.

“Get up before I come over there and make sure you’re really dead,” I said.

I didn’t bother whispering at first. The police hadn’t come barging through my door, which was a fantastic indication that Mum and Kyle were still asleep. Waggles hadn’t burst into the room either, which was less impressive. He knew Xeine too well to treat him like danger. The last time Xeine climbed through the window, Waggles had followed him upstairs and licked his ear while he tried to look mysterious. Some guard dog. If you considered smothering intruders with love a threat, then please seek immediate help. I could recommend someone near my imaginary therapist.

Xeine suddenly sat up, then rose to his full height with the calmness of someone who had not just been punched in the face. Sadly, he was related to Chris and Tommy, their cousin, which meant killing him would make future social gatherings awkward.

“Explain yourself,” I whisper-shouted, finally remembering that sound could travel through a house even when the dog had no standards.

Xeine smiled, showing a perfect row of white teeth that would make anyone jealous. Apparently, not even my right hook could damage them. “I’m here to collect you, my lady.”

He finished with a ridiculous bow.

See what I mean? Dramatic.

I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to knock his head. A cold rush of air brushed against my skin, and I turned to the left. My window, the one I had locked tightly before going to bed, was now wide open, inviting any other creep in Zarp City to climb inside and join the party.

“What the heck? How did you even get in?”

“Same way I always do.”

“That is not comforting.”

He shrugged. “You should really stop leaving the old side latch loose.”

“I don’t leave it loose. You people keep breaking into my room.”

“Details.”

I rushed over to shut the window, but Xeine raised a hand. “Wait. We’ll need that open to exit.”

I slowly turned back to him.

Exit?

The clock beside my bed read 12:09.

You had to be kidding me.

Realisation crept in, tired and annoyed. “Tommy sent you, didn’t he?”

For his sake, I hoped he said yes. It wouldn’t be wise to disagree with me when I was tired and somehow still had enough energy to plan out how I would dispose of his body.

“Of course,” Xeine said, as if that explained everything. “Why else would I be here? I’m no creep.”

My eyes narrowed. Yes, because non-creeps commonly sneaked into people’s bedrooms at midnight and covered their mouths as a greeting. Still, if Tommy had sent him, that meant I had been invited on another one of their stupid adventures, the kind that could result in injury, arrest, loss of brain cells and, lastly, death.

Yes.

The last one had happened about a week ago, and I had been craving another adventure. Oh, sorry, let me clarify. By the last one, I meant the last adventure. Not the death thing.

“Tommy said you were sulking because you missed the last one,” Xeine added. “And Chris said if we didn’t come get you, you’d complain for the next three weeks.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Unfortunately, that sounded exactly like me.

“Fine,” I said, already moving towards my wardrobe. “Just let me change.”

Xeine looked me up and down. “No need. Everyone’s wearing pyjamas.”

I should have questioned why I was taking clothing advice from someone dressed head to toe like a burglar. I also should have questioned why everyone was apparently wearing pyjamas for an adventure that required someone to break into my room after midnight. Unfortunately, my brain was still half asleep, and the adventure part of it had already packed a bag.

A few minutes later, I was outside, barefoot, cold and deeply betrayed by my own choices.

“Why did I agree to this?” I whispered into the silent night as I followed the fast-moving dark figure ahead of me. Running wasn’t my thing, so when I realised this little adventure required a lot of it, I was deeply disappointed. Then there was the weather. Chills ran up and down my spine every two seconds, and the streets were so dark I could barely make out where the road ended and the shadows began. Streetlights were either broken, off or missing entirely. Don’t ask how. Thieves in this city were running out of things to steal. At this point, not even your fingernails were safe.

The rough road scraped against my bare feet. The thought of wearing shoes when leaving the house had not once occurred to me, mostly because one idiot had convinced me changing wasn’t necessary. My loose pyjamas, blue knee-length shorts and a black top, were one strong gust away from being gone with the wind. My hair was in two French braids that hung down my back, swinging whenever the breeze decided to slap me for stupidity.

“Hurry up,” Xeine whispered over his shoulder.

I glared sharp, imaginary daggers at his back. “I can’t, you dumbbottom. You convinced me not to change and somehow forgot to mention we would be running.”

He didn’t even slow down, looking annoyingly tireless while I panted like a hyena on drugs. We had been jogging for at least ten minutes, which felt less like exercise and more like attempted murder.

“And why can’t you run?” he asked.

Now how was I supposed to explain this awkward situation? “Well... you see. I’m not wearing a jiggler control.”

That made him stop. Unfortunately, when I tried to stop, my feet and the rest of my body failed to communicate. I went tumbling forward, but through pure luck and practice, I threw my hands out in front of me before my face could get scraped by the road. The power of inertia sucked. Breathing out in relief from my accidental push-up position, I rolled onto my back and tried to catch my breath.

I really needed to exercise. It remained an enigma how I could participate in sports and still be so out of shape. Then again, exercising felt pointless when I ate like a vacuum.

A dark figure loomed over me creepily. Xeine’s head tilted to the side, which I assumed meant he was looking at me expectantly.

I gathered what little dignity remained. “Thanks to you, I’m not wearing a bosom assister.”

“What the hell are you saying?” he asked, waving his hands around.

I should have recorded him one day so he could understand how ridiculous he looked most of the time.

“A bra!” I shouted, exasperated. “I’m not wearing a bra!”

Silence followed. Then more silence.

Only then did I realise that was probably not something a person should scream in the middle of the night, especially in a neighbourhood located in Zarp City. Creeps could interpret that as an invitation. I cringed at the awkwardness while still lying on the dirty road. The potholes were kind of giving me a massage, to be honest, though I couldn’t begin to imagine how homeless I was going to look once I stood up.

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Xeine finally asked, using a tone that suggested I was the strange one.

Before I could respond, he scooped me up and flung me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. The air left my body when I landed against him, his sharp shoulder digging into my stomach.

“Hey! Put me down!” I shouted, punching his back.

It was pointless. He had always been like this, constantly forcing me into exercise despite knowing full well I would fail it.

“Keep quiet before people think I’m kidnapping you.”

Right, because the people of Zarp City would suddenly abandon their proud tradition of minding their own business to help. I trusted Waggles to save me more than I trusted the inhabitants of this crime-filled city. It was also extremely stupid and unsafe to be wandering dark streets at midnight, but not to worry, there was only a rare chance of being mugged. Even criminals were afraid of being attacked after dark, so the streets were usually empty.

Eventually, after enough threats involving my elbow and his kidneys, Xeine put me down. By then, the city had thinned around us. Houses became spaced farther apart, the pavement cracked in larger pieces, and the air smelled like damp leaves and old smoke. Somewhere in the distance, a siren rose, then faded into nothing. Nobody opened a door. Nobody looked out a window. In Zarp City, people learned early that curiosity could get you robbed, stabbed or invited to something you really should have ignored.

“There’s just something about being under the moon that calms me,” I said, staring up at the full moon glowing above us. The night was still dark, but the moon offered enough light to make the edges of the world visible. I wanted to stay mad at Xeine, but it was hard to be angry at someone childish with an adorable smile. Plus, I knew he meant well, though he was quite annoying.

“Witchcraft,” he said.

I glared at his back.

“You’re either a witch or something much worse.”

I sped up until I was walking beside him on his left, then looked up, resisting the urge to admire his face. My eyes traced the fading bruise along his sharp jawline. Mine, on my hand, was refusing to fade. I bruised easily, which sucked when you were accident-prone and had a strong tendency to get into fights. If you pissed me off, you couldn’t expect me to smile and move on. I simply scowled and moved over you. Literally.

Xeine turned his head, his blue eyes meeting my green ones in a silent battle. I was glad he had removed the sunglasses. “Definitely something much worse.”

I smirked. He raised one perfectly shaped brow before turning forward and stopping.

“Ladies first.”

He gestured ahead.

I followed his hand and froze.

In front of us stood the Forest.

Not a forest. The Forest. The one no one in their right mind dared enter unless they had a death wish or an IQ low enough to qualify as a medical concern. Nothing good ever happened there, which was convenient considering it sat right inside the city like Zarp City had looked at crime, gangs, robberies and snakes and thought, You know what this place needs? A cursed patch of trees. Stories about wild animals and criminals living inside it were enough to keep most people away. The cliché half included ghosts, ghouls and spirits swinging from branches like Tarzan. I had never really believed those stories. They were probably made up by silly children with even sillier imaginations.

Right?

Even if I didn’t believe them, wandering into a dark, dense forest at midnight didn’t strike me as the intelligent choice.

I turned to glare at Xeine, only now realising I had no idea what tonight’s adventure actually was. Usually death wasn’t the top priority, but maybe I should have confirmed before happily leaving my house in the middle of the night and walking for about thirty minutes, even if I had been carried for twenty of those minutes.

“What exactly are we doing here?”

“Having a bonfire,” he said. “My conniving cousins decided it would be a smart idea to have a bonfire in the Forest.”

I slowly nodded, trying to process his words.

“They’ve been planning it all week,” he added. “They said it was going to be legendary. I told them legendary usually means someone dies and gets talked about afterwards, but they took that as encouragement.”

Of course they did.

“I’m not sure if they’re still alive in there,” he continued, “but I think it’s a pretty cool idea.”

Laughter bubbled inside me, and I fought to keep it in. I knew my friends were crazy, but the extent of their stupidity always managed to surprise me. “You can’t be serious. I don’t believe they’re really in there right now.”

I crossed my arms and attempted to look intimidating, though the effect was probably weakened by the fact that I had to crane my neck to glare at him. I was surrounded by giraffes.

Xeine sighed and pulled his phone from his pocket. A bright light flashed in my face, and I squinted. You know that awful feeling of being in the dark for so long that sudden light makes you hiss like a vampire? Yeah. That feeling sucked. After a moment, I could make out what he was showing me: a map app with a location pin sitting deep inside the Forest.

Chris’s location.

This was crazy.

“Why didn’t you tell me your cousins were feeling more idiotic than usual?”

He shrugged. “Where’s the fun in that?” Then he nodded towards the trees. “Come on. They’re waiting.”

This did not seem like a smart idea. What if I was being led into a sacrificial ritual or something? Zarp City had taught me never to dismiss strange possibilities. Last year a man got arrested for trying to rob a bank dressed as a toaster. A sacrifice in the woods suddenly didn’t feel that unlikely.

“I’m not going in there,” I said.

Xeine stared at me for a moment, then lifted his phone again. “Tommy also said you’d say that.”

“Tommy needs a hobby.”

“He said to tell you that you’re officially uninvited from future adventures if you chicken out.”

My mouth fell open. “He did not.”

“He did.”

“He wouldn’t dare.”

“He absolutely would.”

I narrowed my eyes at the dark trees. There were many reasons not to enter the Forest. Sensible reasons. Survival-based reasons. Reasons involving animals, criminals, ghosts and the fact that I was barefoot in pyjamas. Unfortunately, there was also one reason to enter: I refused to be called a chicken by Tommy.

“Fine,” I muttered. “But if we die, I’m haunting him first.”

I went in there because apparently my survival instincts had taken the night off.

“Ouch! Watch it.”

“Sorry.”

I rubbed my side where an elbow had recently jabbed me, though the injury did not stop me from sticking to Xeine like glue. Again, he had convinced me to follow through with their crazy plan, and against my better judgment, I had agreed. We were now buried between tall trees, barely able to see the sky. The Forest swallowed sound differently from the city. Outside, Zarp never truly went quiet. In here, the silence pressed close, broken only by our footsteps, distant owl hoots and the occasional crack of a branch that made me reconsider every decision I had ever made.

Xeine used a flashlight he had conveniently brought for this occasion, though it barely did enough. There was no clear path, so he forged one by pushing through branches and gigantic leaves while I tried not to become permanently attached to his sleeve. Walking barefoot on the road had been uncomfortable. Walking barefoot over twigs, thorns and damp leaves was another level of disrespect. I kept tiptoeing, hoping to lessen the damage, but it was obvious my feet would be red after this. Luckily, the trees blocked most of the wind. They also possibly blocked our chance of escaping.

Never would I have pictured myself walking through the Forest at such an odd hour. I really hoped I lived to tell the tale. Then I remembered I had school tomorrow and reconsidered my hopes just a little bit.

“How much longer?” I whispered, clinging harder to his clothing as if he might disappear any second.

“We’re almost there,” Xeine said, not even bothering to whisper.

I was surprised we hadn’t been ambushed by some serial killer yet.

The sound of footsteps behind us caught my attention.

I think I spoke too soon.

Fear crawled up my spine. I grabbed onto Xeine harder. We were going to die. I just knew it. A serial killer would slaughter us, and no one would find our bodies because no one in their right mind entered this forest.

Xeine kept walking calmly, completely unaware of our impending doom.

“Xeine,” I whispered anxiously.

The footsteps were louder now. There was no way he still couldn’t hear them. I was tempted to ditch him and run, but I couldn’t leave him. He was on the wrestling team, and it would not be wise to separate from the one person who could actually save me. Oh, and because we were friends. Ish.

“Yeah?” he asked, still oblivious.

Was he dumb?

I opened my mouth to inform him of our potential demise, but the loud rustling of bushes did all the talking for me. We both jumped in sync and clutched onto each other. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he was just as scared as I was. Maybe even more. There was no way.

“What was that?” he whispered quickly, eyes wide behind those stupid sunglasses he had put back on despite my objections.

We both turned towards the sound, but saw nothing. The idiot was pointing the flashlight down. I roughly grabbed his wrist to aim the beam at the bushes. Unfortunately, the flashlight had other ideas. It chose that exact moment to stop working.

I was pretty sure my heart would follow it soon.

“What?” I snapped, continuously hitting the flashlight against my palm like a TV remote in the hope it would turn back on. It refused. I frantically looked around, trying to make out anything, but it was pitch black.

Doomed.

Utterly doomed.

“My phone has a flashlight,” Xeine whispered in relief.

Hope returned.

Briefly.

Just as he switched on the light, the phone decided to follow in the footsteps of our dear trusty flashlight. The logo appeared as it shut down in our faces, having the audacity to play a cheerful little tune while doing so.

The phone died.

I didn’t like the subtle messages I was getting. First the flashlight died, then the phone died? Anyone else getting a little spooked? Nope. Nothing to worry about. Just an abnormal coincidence that resembled a poorly made horror movie.

The owner of the useless device gave a meek, “Oops.”

“Why didn’t you charge your phone?” I hissed, glaring into the darkness and hoping I was facing him. I had completely forgotten about the potential killer waiting to attack. At this point, I was on the verge of doing the killing instead.

Xeine didn’t get the chance to respond. The sound of running crashed through the trees.

“I’m scared!” a girly scream rang out.

And it wasn’t mine.

“Shut up!” I snapped automatically.

I started grabbing around me, trying to reach Xeine so I could possibly use him as a shield when the killer arrived.

“I’m outta here,” Xeine said.

Then he abandoned me.

I heard his retreating footsteps rush somewhere into the dark. Was this what they taught in the school wrestling team? I wondered where he planned to run when he couldn’t see anything either. If I was blind in this darkness, he was a blind bat with sunglasses decorating his face. Did cowardice run in the family?

You must be wondering why I wasn’t running too. Well, there was nowhere to run. All that was left was to hold my ground and face it like a man. Sadly, I was no man, so I did what any stupid girl in a horror movie would do.

I screamed bloody murder.

Something hard, or someone, slammed into me, and I knew it was over. I felt something sharp graze my side as I fell onto my back in shock.

They had a knife.

I couldn’t see anything. I had to rely on my other senses as I crawled across the dirty ground. All I could hear were footsteps running around near me, no voices. I guessed the killer was just as blind as I was.

“Oof!” I groaned as a kick landed in my stomach. Then another.

Seems like the killer could see pretty well after all.

I crawled faster, silently coughing in pain. He or she, because crime did not discriminate, was going to beat me up and then stab me. The twigs and dry leaves scraped against my skin as I moved aimlessly through the dark. I was on the verge of tears. No one would save me. My good-for-nothing death partner had abandoned me.

This was it.

The end.

I couldn’t even say I had never been in a situation like this before, because that would be a lie. My luck wasn’t exactly the best, as you could probably tell.

I was losing all hope.

That was when I saw it.

I saw the light.