Author's Rant: Wow, so many reviews! Thank you, everyone! To answer a couple of questions, no this will not be femslash, although it will focus a bit on Brooke and Peyton's deteriorated friendship. I have no problem with homosexuality, but I just don't swing that way myself. And I will be keeping this story Leyton. I'm not a Leyton or Brucas fan because personally, I don't think Lucas deserves either of them, but since this season is a Leyton season, that's how this story is going to go. Sorry, Brucas fans! Keep on reviewing guys, because it makes me right a lot faster!
"Rachel?" said Brooke gently. "Rachel, breathe honey, just breathe."
The redhead was in full panic mode; hyperventilation, shortness of breath, the whole deal. After telling them about the black inky substance coming out of their deceased friends' mouths, she was thrown into fits of hysteria.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded Nathan angrily. "Who the hell would poison teenagers?"
Something struck in the back of Lucas' head.
"Guys," he started. "Listen up. I don't know for sure if this is connected, but last night I was watching the news with my mom. Anyways, there was this story on how some murderer broke out of the New Hanover prison. He was convicted of killing two teenagers and he had a life term there."
Lucas' words hung in the air. An eerie silence came upon them where they all realized that this must be true.
"Oh, God," breathed Haley. "We have to get out of here."
"We need a plan," stated Peyton. They all turned to stare at her. "Well, I don't know any plans myself."
"Okay, first of all, we're going to put out this fire. That way this stupid maniac won't be able to trace us. Then, we'll get the hell out of here. But we have to stick together, guys." Nathan said.
"Whoa, when did you become an expert on this?" asked Brooke, digging through her purse anxiously.
"Boy Scouts, third grade."
"Oh," responded Brooke. "Shit, my cell phone is out of range!"
Everybody immediately scrambled to their cellular phones. Everybody groaned.
"My cell phone works…but it's almost out of battery." Lucas told them.
"Quick! Call the police!" insisted Rachel. Lucas dialed and held the phone up to his ear. It rang two times until the battery failed and automatically shut off.
"Where's your recharger?" asked Peyton anxiously.
"I kind of…lost it."
"Lost it?!" boomed Nathan angrily. "How do you lose a cell phone recharger? God, Lucas. We were counting on you."
"Well, he's never been a reliable guy, has he?" snarled Brooke. There was no way she was going to be eaten by a crazy psycho because of her cheating ex-boyfriend's carelessness.
"You suck," said Rachel, staring straight at Lucas. Peyton glared at Brooke and Rachel hatefully. No one, besides her, was going to be mean to her boyfriend. Then she turned to Lucas and punched him in the arm.
"What? It's not my fault, guys!" he defended.
"Whatever," said Nathan. "We need to get out of here now. C'mon guys, let's stick together."
So they set off walking in Nathan's choice of direction. It was an unspoken understanding that Nathan was the leader. After twenty minutes of trudging through the damp forest, Peyton broke the silence.
"Lucas? Would you please stop stepping on twigs? It's freaking me out."
"Peyt, that's not me. Maybe it's you, Haley."
"What? Why would you say that? Oh, it's because I'm fat now, isn't it?"
"It's not me." Rachel spoke up in her high-pitched voice.
"Not me either, Elmo."
"Well, if it's not me either, then one of you is lying." Nathan said angrily.
Suddenly Brooke stopped in her tracks.
"Okay, whoever's hand is creeping up my arm, needs to stop."
"Hello? I said stop, guys!" She paused for a minute before whining. "Stop, guys! It's not funny."
"Brooke? None of us is touching you," said Peyton slowly into the pitch black. Brooke hyperventilated a bit before shrieking madly. Her yells caused the rest of the girls to start screaming and running around like cluttered chickens. Blindly, Brooke latched on to a random person and dragged him along as she ran wildly into the forest.
Frightened and cold, Haley found herself walking by herself through the woods. Too scared to scream for her friends, she remained completely silent, right down to her feet. Suddenly, she heard a low, throaty grumble.
"Nathan?" she called out softly. "Is that you?" The deep voice groaned affirmative.
"Oh, my goodness, Nathan, what a mess we're in! I cannot believe that this is happening. It's right out of a scary movie, you know? Gosh, I'm so scared that my knees are literally shaking."
She paused for a few minutes, scratching dead leaves away from her cheerleading uniform. Sighing, she picked up where she left off.
"I'm so worried for the baby, though. Nathan, what if something happens? Oh, Nathan, I couldn't bear it. I just couldn't bear it if I lost you or the baby!" she sobbed, reaching out to Nathan. But Nathan didn't physically respond. Instead of instinctively caressing his wife, he remained stiff and still. It didn't take Haley long to figure out what was happening.
"Oh, shit," she whispered, turning to run. At first she ran straight into a tree, though, and fell to the floor. Clutching her swollen belly, she crawled through bushes, spiking, dry leaves and sharp, thin branches. Her face and arms were cut and bleeding in several different areas. She screamed and sobbed loudly and painfully as she felt a very large, cold hand clutching the back of her neck tightly, pulling her long hair towards him. She kicked and fussed until she realized that there was nothing she could do without risking the life of her precious, unborn baby. And she let herself be dragged through the forest roughly, holding on to a little piece of hope.
Author's Rant: Okay, everyone. I'm going to let you guys in on a part of my story. Who do you think should lose their life? Lucas? Rachel? Haley? Brooke? Nathan? Peyton? Vote for the character you want to see die a horrible, gory death, and it may just come through. So don't forget to review!