The Silent Forest

Summary: A field trip becomes a nightmare when the gang is separated from the rest of the group in the middle of a vast forest. Things go from bad to worse when they discover that they are not alone.

Pairings: Chaylor, Troyella and some mild Zekepay. Ryan will also feature but with no pairing.

Disclaimer: Yep, I own it. *Keeps dreaming*

Warnings: Possible character death(s). Rated T for some language and quite a bit of violence/blood. Probable spelling and grammar mistakes due to my lack of beta.

13. Quiet Before the Storm

Silence.

So instant. As if someone had suddenly muted the world. All the sounds that had terrorised them. Gone. In a second. Just gone.

Troy halted without warning, causing the others to collide with his back. They stood for a second, in silence.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked him, still desperate to keep moving. Sure, the noises had stopped, but maybe it was the quiet before the storm. And, right now, the quiet seemed somehow scarier than all the commotion.

"Shh." He replied, raising a hand to quiet her.

The others hovered behind him anxiously. What was he playing at? They weren't safe standing still in one spot. They weren't safe.

Oblivious to their concerns, Troy squinted in the darkness. In this light, they could barely see anything but black. But the moon was peeking through a gap in the dense leaves above them, its rays shining down and illuminating a small area of the forest floor.

"Do you see that?" He pointed over to the light area where the ground seemed somewhat different. Unlike its surrounding forest floor, this area was smooth and leaf and mud-free. And it was moving. Slowly. Moving.

"We should go back." Taylor suggested, already taking a few retreating steps.

To the dismay of the others, Troy did the exact opposite. He stepped forward, closer to the mystery floor. Gabriella's hand closed quickly around his arm. Even in the dim light, he could see her fiercely shaking her head.

Troy gently pulled his arm from her grip. "You guys wait here." He directed cautiously. He didn't want them in danger because of his curiosity. If he was going to take a closer look, he would do it alone.

Gabriella was about to protest but Troy put a finger to her lips. "Stay quiet." He whispered. He removed his finger from her lips and kissed her tenderly where it had been pressed.

Then he turned and took two steps in the direction of the patch of light. He was closer to it, but the object was still unclear. He took another step forward. And another. And another. And one final step. Until he was right above it. It was right at his feet. And it was alive. He could hear it breathing.

He wanted to turn around. Run in the opposite direction. But something was pulling him to this creature. Like a magnetic force. Like the ray of moonlight that had guided them straight to it. There was something about it. He just couldn't tear his eyes away.

His gaze poured over what was in front of him; the shredded material of a torn t-shirt, the smooth skin underneath. The unruly curls of hair. Even in the darkness, he knew what he was looking at. Who he was looking at.

Troy fell to his knees beside his fallen friend. Chad lay motionless but for his breathing, face in the ground.

Relief? Confusion? Anguish? Troy didn't know what to feel. It all seemed unreal. Like an obscure dream. He put a hand on Chad's back and shook him gently. His fingers traced Chad's skin through a tear in his clothing. He could briefly feel Chad's pulse at his fingertips.

"Chad?" He said timidly.

There was no response.

In a single, effortless movement, Troy rolled Chad onto his back. What he saw shocked him to the core. What he saw was what he had least expected.

Chad's wide eyes stared right back into his. His body was stiff. His face was frozen into a terrified expression that mirrored Troy's. Troy noticed that, through a tear in the front of Chad's shirt, his skin was scratched and raw. Even in the darkness, he could see the odd glisten of sweat and blood in the moonlight.

Only one thought was running through his mind. Not that he had found his friend. Not that Chad was bleeding. Not that the others were still waiting worriedly behind him, unaware of his discovery. All he wanted to know was what had happened to make his best-friend so afraid that he couldn't even move. To be frozen with fear was the stuff of movies and books. Troy had never seen it happen in real life.

"Chad?" Troy whispered again.

A touch of recognition flashed across Chad's face. His lips stopped their incessant trembling and opened slightly. But his petrified gaze remained unchanged.

Troy waved his hand in front of Chad's face. "Can you hear me?"

Chad surprised Troy by suddenly thrashing his head from side to side in a desperate and violent frenzy. He shut his eyes and, for a second, Troy thought his friend was having a fit. "Get away from me." He begged. He opened his eyes again and yelped at the sight of the others approaching behind Troy. He clambered backwards until he was backed up against a tree with nowhere else to go. Cornered. "Please…." He snivelled, shielding himself with his arms. He continued to shake his head in frantic plea. "Don't hurt me."

The others exchanged worried glances but, not wanting to distress Chad any further, they backed off slightly.

"What's happened to him?" Taylor asked in a choked whisper. In the day that he had been gone from them, something had clearly affected Chad enough to make him display such an indescribable fear that none of them had ever witnessed before. He'd only been away from them a day. And yet, he seemed broken. He seemed like a different person.

"It's okay." Troy tried to explain softly.

Chad wrapped his arms around himself and groaned. "No." He said quietly.

"You're safe now." He continued. It didn't even seem like Chad was listening. He was too busy rocking himself in some sort of daze.

Troy reached out to touch Chad's shoulder but Chad was quick and lashed out at his friend's outstretched hand. Troy reeled back, shocked and physically hurt by Chad's aggressive reflexes. He nursed his stinging hand and tried again to get through to Chad. This time, he opted for the less dangerous verbal approach.

"We won't hurt you." He insisted, as pleasantly as he could. "We're your friends. Remember?" Chad showed no signs of change. "It's me." Troy continued. "It's Troy."

The panic in Chad's eyes subsided a little at the sound of a familiar name. "T-Troy?"

Troy nodded slowly. He was finally impacting Chad's defensive shield of fear. "Yeah, man. We found you."

Chad narrowed his eyes and look sceptically at the threateningly large silhouette in front of him. He wasn't about to let his guard down. He couldn't do that again. Not out here. He knew to trust nothing in this forest. He'd learned that the hard way.

He began to savagely bite his nails. His nerves were grating his sanity. He didn't know what was real and what wasn't. All he knew was that he wasn't safe.

Troy didn't think Chad was going to respond when suddenly, he spoke. His words were quiet and unexpected so Troy didn't quite catch them.

"What did you say?" He asked. He leaned closer for a better chance of hearing.

Out of nowhere, Chad's hands grasped Troy's upper arms. Troy winced at the firm, tight grip that Chad had on him. Chad's actions jarred his previous shoulder injury and Troy couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Chad didn't even seem to notice. He pulled Troy towards him so Troy could see nothing but his eyes. His intense, powerful, venomous gaze sent a shiver down Troy's spine and he found himself fearing for his life. He actually thought that Chad might hurt him.

"Troy." Chad said, almost questioning the word as it left his mouth.

Troy nodded, pursing his lips to contain any more agonised outbursts.

"Get out." Chad growled. "You have to get out of here!" His grip on Troy tightened and he shook his friend slightly as if to get his point across.

Then, something in him seemed to snap. Troy saw an instant visible change in him. No more fury. No more passion or power. Anguish. Just pure anguish. He released his hold on Troy. Troy stumbled backwards onto his backside and watched in silence as Chad gazed wistfully up at the sky, tears brimming in his eyes.

"We're not safe." He uttered in an almost imperceptible whisper. His gaze flicked back down to Troy. For a moment, Troy thought he was going to get grabbed again, and subconsciously backed away slightly.

Chad noticed. Troy, his best-friend, was afraid of him. Then again, he had been rambling like a nutcase. Considering what he'd been through though, his behaviour was acceptable. He was lucky he hadn't lost his mind completely. He finally came to terms with the situation, realising now that, he had been found. He was no longer alone. Troy and the others had found him. The others, who had stood and watched him in silence as he practically attacked Troy.

"I-…I'm sorry." Chad said finally. Troy heaved an outward sigh of relief. Chad was back. "I didn't mean to…" He tried to explain. Everything was a mess. His head was all jumbled up. He was hurt. Confused. Afraid. He'd lashed out at the ones who had come to help him. He had lost control.

Troy reached out to his friend again, this time, more reluctant. When Chad did nothing to stop him, he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You cool?" He asked. Obviously, Chad wasn't 'cool'. He'd just had a near-mental-breakdown. He'd been through god-knows-what within the last twenty-four hours or so. But what Troy really wanted to know was if Chad was back to normal now. He wanted to be sure that there'd be no more eruptions.

Chad nodded. "Cool." He answered. He looked up at the group in front of him. "But we're not safe." He reminded them. "We're….We're not the only ones out here."

His friends reeled at the news.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked, finally finding his voice after what seemed like hours of stunned silence.

"We're not alone in this forest." Chad reiterated. "I s-saw…." He trailed off as his night of hell came flooding back into his memories. "I saw…" He tried again but found that his voice failed him.

Troy squeezed Chad's shoulder supportively where his hand already lay. "What, Chad?" He asked quietly. "What did you see?"

A/N: That one was pretty short but the next one won't be. In the next chapter, we'll be finding out just what exactly happened to little Danforth on his 'night of hell'. I'm excited to find out. Are you?

xX M Xx