Chapter 14:
"Haunted?" Darren scoffed. "I somehow doubt this place is haunted."
"Yeah, it's just a dark, creepy forest which we're exploring AT NIGHT."
"Technically, its still evening," Kyle said.
"Oh, shut up," I snorted. "As I was saying, there's no way it could be haunted," Note the sarcasm.
Little recap: Erika had gone missing in the forest at the edge of the school. So we were looking for her in said forest. Also, according to Julia, the Twilight-crazy office lady with a crush on my brother (*pukes*), Erika did not go to this school. I'm thinking their records are messed up.
"Hey, the full moon's coming up," Kyle said. "Mikhael, please don't turn into a werewolf and eat us,"
"Firstly, that's not a full moon, douche bag," Mikhael said. "And secondly, guys, if I do turn into a werewolf, then you just need to outrun Kyle 'cause he's the one I'll eat first."
"Wow, you're such a great friend," Kyle muttered sarcastically.
Carly shuddered. "This feels so Blair-Witch-Project-y," she said.
"Yeah, all we need is a video camera," Kyle said.
"What's the Blair Witch Project?" Darren made the mistake of asking.
"This freaky horror movie about these three people trying to make a documentary about the Blair Witch, who lives in a forest like this one, and then the Blair Witch kills them all. In the scariest way possible."
"Lovely," I muttered.
"Sorry I asked," Darren said.
As we walked deeper into the forest, the shadows became darker, the echoes were louder and I had the creepiest feeling we ere being watched.
"Do you guys get the feeling we're being watched?" I said.
"It's probably just your imagination," Kyle said.
"Dude, you shouldn't say that!" Darren said. "What if something really was there? You've lulled us into a false sense of security, making it easier for the evil thing to attack us. Jeez man!"
Kyle glared at him. "Slenderman's behind you."
Darren let out a huge scream and leapt behind Mikhael.
"Who's Slenderman?" I asked.
"Another time, another place." Carly said. "You really don't want to know right now."
"Hey, Erika's scent!" Darren and Mikhael said in unison. "It just got really strong!"
"Look!" Kyle said, pointing. "Snapped twigs."
"And her scarf," I said, untangling it from a bush.
"So she was running from something…" Carly said.
"There's something over there!" Mikhael cried suddenly, pointing to some bushes behind us. Darren, Kyle, Carly and I jumped with fright and clutched each other. When we looked at where Mikhael was pointing, there was nothing there.
"M-maybe it was an owl?" Kyle stammered.
"No way," Mikhael said. "It was big and wore a hooded cape."
"Maybe it was a flying owl wearing a hooded cape?" Carly said.
"Why would an owl wear a hooded cape?" Darren asked.
"Would you rather I said a ghost or witch or something of that sort, Mr Rational?" Carly snapped.
"You make a good point," Darren said.
"Maybe we should just keep walking and pretend we didn't see anything," I suggested.
"Sure, until it come back and eats us," Mikhael said. We all stared at him. "What? I'm just sayin'."
"You are not helping!" I hissed.
"Maybe we should just follow Mikhael and Darren who are following Erika's scent. Does that sound good?" Kyle said. Our agreement was murmured.
And so, we went deeper and deeper into the forest. NowDarren and Mikhael said there was something fishy about Erika's scent. Apparently it just smelt wrong.
"Um, quick question," Kyle said as it started to snow. "We do know the way back, right?"
Mikhael gave him a dirty look. "Do you doubt my sense of smell?"
"No," Kyle replied. "It's just that it's snowing again. Meaning our footprints and scent will be hidden under a blanket of snow."
Mikhael thought about it for a minute. "No, I'll still smell it," he said. "If worst comes to worst, Levi can fly up and tell us where to go."
"Hey!" I said indignantly just as Darren and Carly froze.
"Guys, shut up, I thought I heard something," Darren said, holding up his hand. We were silent for a moment, and then we heard a twig snap. Then another one. And another.
"They're getting closer," Carly muttered. All of us assumed some sort of fighting/running stance, just in case. Then a twig snapped in the bushes right in front of us and out tumbled…Sebastian?
Huh?
On seeing us staring at him, Sebastian immediately assumed a casual stance and an air of nonchalance. "Fancy seeing you guys here," he said.
"What are you doing here?' Kyle said.
"I could ask you the same thing," Sebastian said.
"We're looking for Erika. You?"
"Just wandering around. Aimlessly. I wander aimlessly around supposedly haunted forests at night. Cause I'm badass like that. Kthanxbai!" he ran off.We stared at each other, confused.
"Did he just talk to us in text language?" Carly asked, looking confused.
"We told you he was crazy," Kyle tutted.
"Oh my gosh, he really is!" I gasped.
"All joking aside, there was something really odd about that," Mikhael said.
"What, Sebastian randomly appearing out of nowhere and leaving just as quickly as he appeared? Naw, 'cause that's not odd at all." Kyle said, "Sarcsm hand."
"Very funny," Mikhael snorted. "I meant, it was odd because of how he smelled."
"Cut the suspense crap and spill," Carly ordered.
"Ok, ok. Calm down. It's kinda weird and suspicious, but I'm almost 100% sure that Erika's scent was on his jacket."