HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER SIXTEEN !

            AS THE SUN FADED out, the bright lights melting away to be replaced with the black of night, and their legs grew weary, the decision to set up camp and rest for the night was made. Spirits were high for the group of girls. They were riding on the hope that help was just days away. All they needed to do was stick it out, brave the distance for just a while longer until they found civilisation. Though many of them did consider turning back, they persevered.

            Stevie had taken to latching herself on to the Rilke girl, remaining by her side ever since they had left the cabin. When they'd begun to set up camp, she'd almost instantly settled in next to Nola, laying out her sleeping bag before the others could. She wasn't sure what it was or why she was so determined to stick with the brunette, but some part of her, some part of her brain that nagged of Nola's ability to keep her safe.

Plus she could sense the gloominess that seemed to seep from every one of Nola's pores. All of them had noticed this, in fact. Many chalked it up to her missing her two best friends. That was the very reason as to why Van had begun telling everyone the plot of the movie 'While you were sleeping' that she had gone to see in theatres the year prior.

"So get this. After Bill Pullman falls in love with Sandra, his fucking brother wakes up, it's a whole ass mess, I mean, this dude actually thinks that Sandy is his fiancée, but she's not but—"

            The redhead's wagging tongue suddenly became trapped within the confines of her tightly shut mouth. Nobody moved a muscle as the unmistakable sound of wolves howling far off into the forest echoed through the night. A wave of fear rushed over the girls and goosebumps rose atop their skin as they sat there, surrounded by the eerie darkness of the forest, their only source of light stemming from a small fire.

            Taissa, the unofficial leader of the group, who despite being severely unnerved by the known predator's presence, she swallowed her fear and matter of factly stated, "We'll be fine. Wolves are scared of humans. Besides it didn't sound like they're very close."

Mari glanced around herself uncomfortable, the young girl clearly on edge. "Are you sure? What if it's a whole pack of 'em?"

            Nola shook her head at this. As she tightened her hold on the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders she retorted. "No, Tai's right. They typically avoid people. There's a reason wolf sightings on roads are so rare."

Whether this was actually true or not, Nola didn't know. Telling a potential lie to appease the group was something she was more than willing to do. They didn't need to be consumed with terror as they sat surrounded by shadows. The mind was known to play its tricks and with a long trek still to be made, they needed to get a good night sleep.

A small chuckle fell from Akilah's lips as she weakly smiled and said, "It's so bizarre hearing you say that."

            Nola's brows furrowed. "Say what?"

Akilah tilted her head in Taissa's direction. "That Tai's right. The only good thing from being out here is that you two have stopped bickering as much." She jokingly responded, her words garnering a mix of laughs and nods from the other girls who agreed with her.

Taissa allowed a small smile to tug at her lips as she continued to play off the nearby animals. "We can take turns keeping watch, just to be extra safe. But I really don't think we have anything to worry about."

When the group had begun to concur, Van dramatically sighed. "You know who does need to worry?" She rhetorically questioned, the redhead prepared to begin retelling the movie plot. "Our girl Sandy. Because she does not know this man and he's never seen her before. He's like, 'who is this girl?' And his doctor is like, 'well, you must have amnesia because you don't remember your wife to be!'"

            Later on in the night, after Van's retelling had concluded and fatigue had taken a hit on the girls, they had all laid down in their sleeping bags and allowed sleep to take over. All of them except Stevie and Nola, both of whom had found themselves unable to get some shut eye.

            "Do you think we'll find help?" The McClane girl quietly questioned. Her eyes were wide open, peering curiously over at Nola, who had been attempting to sleep. "The voice you've been hearing. Has it told you anything about this trip? Is that why you decided to go?"

            Nola sighed. She nestled deeper into her sleeping bag as she whispered back, "The voice is in French, Stevie. Even if it had told me something, it's not as if I'd be able to understand it."

            Stevie stayed quiet for a moment, subconsciously chewing on her bottom lip as she ventured deep into her thoughts. The crackling of the still burning fire filled the silence until Stevie spoke up once again. "Well, you knew not to go up in the attic. That's gotta count for something."

            She had a point, Nola knew that. But she didn't want her to have a point, she didn't want Stevie to be making sense. "Maybe Taissa's right. You know, maybe Lottie and I are just going crazy."

            "I don't think that." Stevie responded earnestly. Her gaze spoke nothing but pure sincerity. "Some of the others don't think that either. You and Lottie have been leading us. Protecting us."

           Unbeknownst to Nola, Stevie had bore witness to the terror that briefly graced her face thanks in large part to the glow of the fires burning embers that cascading across her features. Nola didn't need to be afraid, not when Stevie was around. No, Stevie knew that Nola was capable of great things. She just needed a little push in the right direction, a helping hand.

            Stevie could be that hand.

            "For some reason, whatever is going on is affecting you two the most but maybe it's a good thing. Maybe you two were chosen for a reason?" Stevie suggested with a small smile at the brunette that lay opposite her.

            A somewhat bitter chuckle trickled from Nola's lips. Her brows knitted together in contempt at the situation. "Chosen? You think some other worldly entity is pulling the strings or something?" She questioned, reaching up to clasp tightly to Jackie's necklace that still decorated around her neck.

            The McClane girl just shrugged. "How else would you explain the things that have been happening?"

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            THE MORNING ROLLED ABOUT faster than any of them had expected. Before they knew it, they were up and moving once again, trekking further into the forest as the chill of the morning air brushed over their skin and the bright sun shone down, effectively waking them up.

           Their collective attention was captured while they moved forward by the faint found of trickling water from somewhere. Without a word, the group headed in the direction of the sound only to be disturbed by the sight of a crimson tinted stream. It looked as though every inched had been infiltrated by the blood of hundreds, tainted by the taste of metal with each sip.

Stevie let out a deep sigh at the sight. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she questioned, "Think it's safe?" Her question not really aimed at anyone in particular due to her mind already racing with the afflictions they'd gain by daring to take even a single drink.

"Let me take a look." Misty volunteered. The curly haired blonde rushed forward and dropped to her knees, pressing them deep into the dirt, bringing her nose close to the water to get a sniff and properly assess their chances. After a moment, she pulled back and announced, "Definitely shouldn't drink it."

Mari scoffed. "No shit. It smells weird."

A tone of hesitation filled Akilah's words as they left her lips. "What did Lottie say was in her dream? A river of blood?" The young girl nervously uttered, glancing around at the other girls, fear creeping its way upon the features of her face.

"And a cloud of red smoke." Mari added, staring down intently at the river of red.

Taissa rolled her eyes. Her arms folded across her chest in annoyance. "Yeah, and last night I had a dream I went waterskiing with Princess Diana, so." She sarcastically quipped, attempting to sow reality into the heads of the freaked out girls.

She couldn't understand why they were listening to Lottie and her dreams, as if dreams suddenly meant anything in the grand scheme of things. Dreams wouldn't lead them to safety, dreams wouldn't help them find salvation.

Dreams wouldn't save them.

Misty attempted to find some plausible explanation for the change of the waters colour. As she racked her brain for an answer, she stuttered out, "I think that mineral deposits can change the waters colour. Like iron, maybe?"

Taissa nodded her head. "I'm sure that's what it is, then." She said with a tone of finality. She just wanted to get going again, knowing that they couldn't afford to get sidetracked for too long. "Come on, this has been a fun detour, but we should keep moving."

            As the now short haired Turner girl spun on her heel and took only a single step forward, the rest of the girls ready to follow behind only to be stopped by the freaked voice of Mari, who had stopped to observe the compass. "Um, guys?"

            Nola moved back towards the girl as did the others. All of their eyes landed upon her outstretched hand that brandished the compass, that was suddenly spinning erratically as if it couldn't decide which was what anymore. Confusion turned to unease really fast.

             Taissa sighed as her grip on her bag tightened. "The iron must be messing with the compass, right?" She proclaimed, not really leaving room for the rest to argue. "It'll probably work again when we get away from this water."

And with that taissa had turned back around to begin walking away once again. Nary an inch was budged by the other girls, all of them in a continued state of discomfort as their gazes remained locked upon the compass.

Taissa heavily sighed. She was practically glaring at the group as she turned back to face them yet again. Her hands flew up in the air as she exasperatedly snapped, "Seriously? What?"

            "Should we..." Mari started though she trailed off. Her pupils were shaking, her bottom lip trembling. "I don't know, maybe think about going back?"

            Taissa shook her head. "We just need to get away from here."

            "Wait, let's think about this." Van suddenly exclaimed. In her hand she clutched tightly to a sharp piece of bone. She'd been given this yesterday by Lottie.

            The leaves and stray twigs beneath her feet crunched as Taissa stepped forward, the girl huffing and puffing in now completely obvious annoyance. "Think about what?"

           "I don't know. This stream..." the redhead's eyes bounced around as her chest heaved due to her trepidation. "It is a pretty big coincidence that Lottie dreamed about it. And now the compass is acting weird."

            Mari decided to add on to Van's explanation. "What did Lottie say when we found the plane?" As she asked this, she stared over at Taissa, hoping that the Turner girl would remember and understand their fear.

            "It didn't want him to leave."

            "You have to be fucking kidding me." The Turner girl sneered. A look of utter disbelief painted itself across her face. She couldn't believe that the girls were actually suggesting that something was stopping them from escaping.

            Van didn't want to let it go. Her hand, not holding the bone, swung up and gestured towards Nola who had been resting against the trunk of a nearby tree. "Nola's agreed with her, okay? I'm just saying that—"

            Taissa took a single, almost intimidating step towards her. "What? What are you just saying? That the fucking woods don't want us to leave? Do you know how insane that sounds? The woods don't give a shit." She sharply stated. "And all of this nonsense with Lottie's dreams and omens and the fact that Nola's been hearing things and whatever the fuck that is..."

            Her eyes suddenly scrunched shut as she breathed in and out to calm herself down. Her eyes peeled back open while she began to speak once again. "We can survive without a compass. We'll use the sun to travel south, and we can place Cairn stones or something under trees. There is a solution for everything. An explanation for everything."

            "Now that's said, nobody forced you to come with me. Anybody that wants to go back, by all means but I'm losing daylight." Each word left her lips filled with acid.

            Not wanting to wait for them anymore, Taissa turned around and stomped off, leaving them behind. She had far too much relying on this trek. Stopping and freaking out wasn't something she could afford to do. Not of them could. If they didn't find help before their supplies ran out, they were fucked.

            Several heads fell in defeat as everyone began to follow behind the Turner girl, none of them wanting to be left behind. A deep sigh fell from Nola's lips as she pushed herself away from the tree trunk. She ventured over towards Van, who had yet to move and was instead just trapped in her own thoughts, her thumb caressing long the sharp end of the gifted bone.

            "Come on, Van." She uttered, slipping her arm beside the redheads, intertwining them. A small tug was all that was needed to pull Van from her thoughts as she quickly plastered a small, fake smile upon her lips and allowed herself to be pulled in the direction the rest of the girls had headed.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter sixteen. not proofread.
I'm starting to run into some serious writers block so this was quite hard to get written despite how simple of events that actually take place in this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be easier. I hope you enjoyed :)