Thank you again to Iminika for reviewing :D *nuzzle luffs*

and thank you to everyone else who read the story so far, just seeing that i have some views, favorties, and alerts brings joy to my heart. And Nicole's!

Nicole[still7]: Yeah it does! *hands out flower bouquets to everyone who read*

?_: I was so Naive at that age...

Jeff: Yeah, you were... It's a shame that when we met you just didn't... go to sleep.

?_: and yet if i did, I wouldn't be here now would I~...

jeff: True, but you're a huge annoyance right now.

?_: too bad~ *skips away smirking*

Nicole: I... what just happened...?

*pets Nicole* Don't worry... That's only a small glimpse of your future~

Jeff: Oi! Faolin stop spoiling dammit! You've already given spoiler's to Iminika!

Oops...?

Nicole: Uhum, while everyone is distracted, i would like to say that Faolin doesn't own any of the creepy pasta's, she just own's me and ?_.

?_: Technically I'm owned by Slen- *mouth is quickly covered by Faolin*

Hush now little character~

Jeff: Yeah, just hush and... GO TO SLEEP!

Chapter Three: The first taste of Insanity.

By the time I had finally gotten some sleep it was only an hour away from dawn. I was afraid for Collin, afraid that the Rake was still outside, waiting for me to shut my eyes and greet sleep's warm embrace. I was terrified that it would claw its way into the tent and kill Collin. Not only did my fear keep me awake, but i could hear it... I could hear the rake Feasting on Derrick's corpse, every crunch of bones, every squish and slurp of an organ or muscle tissue being devoured. It was sickening, but i stayed awake, even for the two hours after the Rake had left. I didn't look to see if it was gone, I only knew because the cicada's began chirping again. But even then i kept myself from falling asleep, just in case it was lying in wait.

Once the sun had risen enough for the birds to start their morning songs, Collin woke up and silently shook me awake. Being alert, despite being asleep, i jolted up; our foreheads collided and we both backed away from each other with a wince. I rubbed my abused forehead and mumbled an soft ouch before standing up and stretching. Collin was silent, a slightly empty look was in his eyes and I gently shook his shoulder.

"Hey..."

"Mm?"

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Alright... but, i'm always here for you Collin, you know that. Now, lets get dressed, eat some breakfast and try to get out of here. we don't know how to unpack the tent, so we can leave it up... Maybe the monster will think we're still inside of it?"

He numbly nodded at that and i sighed, going over to my bag i pulled out some clothes for myself, a pair of durable brown capri's; which were emblazoned with butterflies on the pockets, standard for girl pants. and a mild green colored sleeveless tank top which had a small turtleneck-like collar. i pulled my hair into a pony tail, tying the ribbon that had a bell around the hair tie. I turned to see Collin getting dressed in a pair of dark gray cargo pants, which had many pockets, which he had his game boy in one leg pocket and extra batteries and a his other pokemon games in there. He had Silver, gold, and crystal. Crystal was mine, but he was helping me catch to catch Suicune in it, which i didn't mind; i loved Suicune. His shirt was a long sleeved blue shirt with the three original starter pokemon on it, along with Ash and Pikachu.

I moved over to Derrick's bag, staring at it before pulling out his compass, map, and flashlight. We would have to leave our bags, take only a few things with us so we can move faster. Derrick knew these woods better than us so we had to be quick to try and reach a safe place before nightfall. I looked at the provisions Derrick had packed. There wasn't much, just snacks and a few bottles of water. It seems they were for the trip back down. I didn't know how to start a fire, so i couldn't cook the food meant for breakfast, or for the quick lunch. so I packed as much as i could take with us, stuff that didn't need to be cooked, or prepared at all. Jerky, mainly for me since Collin was a vegetarian, dried fruit, trail snacks, and different kinds of nuts.

Collin went to the tent entrance slowly opening it, I held my breath, unsure if the Rake was waiting for us. I still heard birds chirping, that was a good sign. I stood behind him as he looked out of the tent, in his eyes I watched an internal battle fight between looking at Derrick's body, and totally ignoring his brothers lifeless corpse. I placed a hand on his shoulder and we both exited the tent, he kept his back Derrick's corpse the entire time.

That's when curiosity got the best of me, I turned and my stomach clenched while a cold sweat formed upon my brow. His corpse was mangled, his arms twisted in unnatural angles, one of his legs was ripped off, thrown about five feet from his body. His stomach, chest, and neck was ripped open; major organs missing, stomach acid was slowly eating at his bones and fatty tissue giving off a horrid stench. I would have vomited If I had any food in my system. The grass was dyed a deep, dark red. Pieces of flesh, fat, and scraps of his organs were scattered at least two feet around the body.

Holding down the dry heaving sensation I had, I slowly walked closer, before bending down and picking up his discarded hunting knife, a yellowish ichor-like substance coated the serrated edge of the blade; most likely the Rake's blood from when Derrick slashed at its arms. Clutching the knife I looked to Collin, who still hadn't turned around, and walked over to him and put the hunting knife in the small protective sheath that Collin was holding.

"Let's go... Don't look back, okay?" He numbly nodded as we walked away from the campsite. I could tell he was trying hard not to cry, but alas, his tear ducts dried up when he cried last night.

We set off down the trail, trying to remember the way back, I gave Collin some of the snacks, since none of us could start a fire to make some simple eggs. He munched on Almonds as we walked, taking a small sip of water every now and then, this was partially due to the almonds being the roasted kind and seasoned with salt, drying them out more. I decided to have a strip of beef Jerky and a small sip of water, just enough to give a bit of energy. I tried to read the map with Collin's help, but we didn't know where we were, we knew we were heading west, due to the placement of the sun and with some help from the compass. I was already missing Derrick, and my eyes wagered thinking about him, stomach churning when I remembered the loving look he gave us, hiding the fear of death and pain, when he died. I shivered and Collin turned to look at me.

"Cold...?"

"No... Just... Trying not to remember what happened... Back there at the campsite." I looked down, the bells in my hair jingled slightly with my movement. Collin sadly sighed and wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry... Okay Nico? We'll get out of here, get mom and dad,and then they'll kill the Rake." his voice sounded so confident, I almost believed him, that is until I looked at his eyes. His eyes held such... Uncertainty and fear. My heart dropped like a stone in a basin of water and I swallowed hard.

"Y-yeah, you're right. We'll make it out of here..." 'I hope...' I mentally added, so i didn't scare him even further.

After maybe an hour or more of walking around, we reached a small clearing in the forest and stopped to have a little bit more to eat. I counted out how much food their was, there wasn't much of the non-meat foods, and since Derrick was a vegetarian he needed the food more than me to keep his body going. I munched on beef Jerky, handing a back if trail mix to Collin, he looked at my Jerky in distaste.
"how can you eat that, knowing that it came from a cow?"
"Mm... Like this?" I simply took another bite and giggled when he rolled his eyes, popping a piece of dried banana into his mouth, slowly chewing it as he let his saliva soften the piece of fruit.

"How much longer will it take until we're out of here?"

I shrugged, unsure how to answer him at first. "It took us a long time to get out here, and that was with Derrick's help. Now we're on our own, trying to get back."
I wiped a small bead of sweat from my forehead, the sun was crawling higher into the sky, and with it came the heat it often brings, not a cloud in the sky or a gentle breeze to cool us either. Taking a large gulp of water, I wiped my hands on my pants and closed up my Jerky, i didn't have much of that either.

"Alright, ready to go?" I stood up and stretched my tired limbs, smiling at a wild flowers by my foot, remembering my new friend 'that's it... Maybe he can help us! I hope he does. But...' I frowned, 'I have no clue where he is...' my frown deepened and i was pulled out my thoughts by Collin touching my shoulder.

"You okay? You spaced out."

"Oh, yeah I'm a-okay!" i smiled childishly at him before searching for the map and compass. I easily found the compass, but i could not find the map, i was practically tearing my bag apart looking for it. "No... No, no, no, no..." I mumbled that word over and over again.

"N-Nicole...?"

"It's gone!" i cried out at him, voice panicked.

"What's gone?"

"The map! The only thing that can show us the way home, and its gone!" i was frantically searching for it, tears brimming at my eyes.

"What?! How is that possible! U thought you had it!"

That's the problem, I did have it, I remember putting it in my bag... Did I? Even to this day in can't remember where it went. After giving up, I looked at the compass and tried to remember which way it was to home. Completely unsure I began with us going south west, hoping to escape these woods, and the Rake. Unknown to me, time was flying by as i tried to get us out.

The sun was moving closer to the horizon when I stopped using for dinner, we had lunch earlier, by a stream and my Jerky was almost all gone at that point, I had no idea what I was going to do. Luckily, Collin was okay on food, he was eating his nuts and fruit sparingly, taking enough for energy, and not pigging out like we normally do at home. I finished off the rest of my Jerky, but i still felt tired, and hungry. Collin was nibbling on some cashews and raisins when I saw it.

It was a Gray squirrel, bushy tail flicking slightly as it looked for a spot to hide the acorn currently stuffed in its tiny cheeks. I felt something in me whisper what I should do. That I should use the squirrel to give me energy. I slowly pulled out my knife and quietly stood up, Collin was playing his game while eating his cashews so i wasn't worried about him watching me. The squirrel didn't notice me as it buried its acorn in the soft moss-coated ground, and that's when I struck, stabbing the knife into the small creature. It's cry of pain stopped my from hearing the psychotic whisper in my head and I suddenly backed away from the writhing squirrel body, stuck between the blade, and dirt as it slowly bled out.

Collin looked up at me when I fell, he had earbuds in, so he could listen to the catchy tune of Pokemon, he mumbled something about girls and bugs, before going back to battling the 5th gym leader. I looked at him, slightly surprised he didn't notice the squirrel before I looked back at the now-dead gray squirrel, my belly let out a grumble of need as the whispering started up again. I slowly crawled over to the squirrels body and pulled out the knife with a soft squelch sound. The whispering grew stronger as i slowly sliced the blade into the fur and flesh of the squirrel, releasing a small flood of still-warm blood, and revealed the precious meaty muscle below the skin and fur. My eyes gained a slightly crazed look as i dug my knife into the muscle, cutting off a piece before slowly bringing it to my mouth, placing into my mouth.

A slight hum escaped me at the first taste of raw meat, a part of me was sickened at this, and the other part relished in this first dive into what I am now. I dug into the squirrel after that, only eating the muscle before I quickly cleaned off my fingers and lips with a t-shirt I planned to wear during the trip. Now, using the hunting knife i dug a small hole and pushed the squirrels corpse and the bloodied dirt into it before covering the hole. I cleaned off the knife with t-shirt before putting the shirt away, and sitting back next to Collin, who just smiled at me before we began walking again.