I stepped into the darkness and began my journey to imminent peril. My sole source of light was my flashlight, and I didn't even know how much battery life I had left. Regardless, I would search the entire forest if I had to. I was determined to find my friend. I walked for what seemed like hours. Have I been here before? Have I been walking in circles? I no longer knew at this point. Everything looked familiar. I was completely lost.
Just as despair began to sink in, I noticed something pinned to a nearby tree. I walked over and saw that it was a note. I tore it from the trunk. It read, "ALWAYS WATCHES. NO EYES." What did this mean? Was it a note from Leslie, or was it leading me to something more sinister? I only had one way to find out.
I continued walking for a while and came across a large pipe, one like you might find in old sewers. What was this doing in the middle of the woods? I slowly made my way into it. I didn't see anything in there, anything life threatening. It was just a huge, random pipe. I got towards the middle and noticed another note taped to the side. I tore this one down as well. The word "no" was written all over the page. But why?
I left the pipe and made my way deeper through the woods. I came across other strange things. On most of them there was a note taped to them. I even came across an abandoned pool house. Why were these landmarks here? What purpose did they serve? And why was I finding all of these notes?
The more notes I found, the worse I began to feel. With the first two, it started off as a light headache. I dismissed it as exhaustion and fear. Then with the next two, I started feeling worse. My stomach began to churn, and my eyes couldn't focus. It didn't help that my flashlight began to dim. I found two more, and my light headache turned into a migraine. My eyes teared up and I could barely breathe. The only thing that kept me moving was my desperate need to find Leslie. I found a seventh one and nearly collapsed from dizziness. I forced myself forward. I found the eighth and final one on some oil tankers. I howled in pain and collapsed to the ground. I couldn't keep moving. I was exhausted. My head felt as if it was splitting open. I couldn't breathe right. I was hardly conscious.
I pulled myself up with a low hanging tree limb. I had to keep moving. I couldn't desert Leslie. I wouldn't leave her for dead. I tried to get to my feet, but I fell to my knees, dizzier than before. My eyes tried to droop shut. It took all my effort not to fall unconscious. I collapsed on the ground, nowhere to go and no energy to defend myself or my friend.
Vision blurred, I looked up from the ground and groaned at what I saw. The man was standing a few feet away. With every blink he came closer and closer. Soon, he was inches from my face.
"Why...?" I forced through my lips. No response. "Please... don't...," I begged.
Then, blackout.