Chapter 007: Monsters In The Woods...

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"BEN!"

Ben dropped to the floor, avoiding the claws aimed for his head. He scrambled away from the monster, still holding the flashlight and camcorder by some miracle, eyes large and wide and frightened. And at seeing her best friend, without a single scratch, relief filled Emmy—but it was dampened by the need to get out, to survive, to make sure they all got out of this alive.

Sasha...

Emmy shook her head and refocused on getting the door open. She couldn't think about Sasha. Not now. Not when she had to get Quinn, Ben and herself out of here with their lives intact.

"Ben!" Quinn shouted, and Ben was there, pressing his weight against the door as it groaned and screeched but it actually seemed to be budging.

A monstrous shriek sounded, grating against Emmy's eardrums and turning her blood to ice. Her heart thumped loudly against her chest, loud with fear, with desperation, and she ground her teeth as the monster lurched toward them, the whispers and howls in her ears growing louder, and the door had to open—

Finally, with a screech, it opened.

"OUT!" Emmy screamed as they all rushed out. Turning, Emmy saw the monster lunge forward, arm out, claws ready to tear them apart, the mouth in its featureless face open and exposing those sharp fangs as it gave out a bone-rattling shriek—

And Quinn slammed the door closed. It gave a loud BANG!, but the monster didn't break it down. The door had stopped it.

They had escaped.

Quinn doubled over, hands on her knees, panting heavily. "Oh God. Holy shit. We got out of there. Holy shit."

Emmy stared at the house, feeling herself be consumed by relief they'd gotten out—that she'd gotten Ben and Quinn out. They'd all survived the monster and whatever those other things were, even as her heart ached because of Sasha, because she was still in there and she wanted to go back in there, to save her, but... what if there was nothing left to save?

They'd survived.

And yet... why hadn't the prickling feeling faded? Why could she still hear the whispers?

"Uh, guys... are we sure we actually did get out of there?"

Emmy and Quinn turned to Ben as he pointed with the flashlight up at the sky—a sky that was blood-red, with no moon or stars. Something flew across it, giving out a shriek.

"What the fuck?" Quinn breathed as they looked back down to see what was supposed to be the backyard and the other houses on Ashwood Drive—except there were no houses, but woods, endless and long, stretching out for miles, the trees looking twisted and strange. And the darkness in the woods seemed... blacker. Sharper. Hungrier.

A bang rattled the door as a muffled shriek came. Reminding the three teens of the monsters inside the house.

"Come on. There has to be a way out through the woods, right? Maybe we might be able to get out of here and back to home," Emmy said as she walked toward the woods.

"Yeah, and what if we can't? What if there's more of those things in the woods?" Ben argued.

"You guys have any better ideas?" Emmy shot back.

Ben and Quinn were quiet before they followed after Emmy into the woods.

The minute they crossed into the woods, it felt like they closed behind them, the darkness swallowing them up whole. It had Emmy's skin crawl as she eyed her surroundings, seeing woods that almost looked like the woods back home, but not—the trees were more twisted, more sharper, and seemed to be dripping the same blackness that the monster had. Shadows lurked amongst the trees, thick and heavy and watchful, like they might grow fangs and claws and reveal the same monster that had chased her, Quinn and Ben. Their flashlights lit up the darkness, but not much—like the shadows were slowly devouring the light.

And no matter how far they walked, there didn't seem to be an end.

"How far do these woods go?" Quinn grumbled, kicking at the ground. Her face shifted from irritation to disgust. "Ew!"

Emmy and Ben turned to see Quinn holding her foot, the white tip of her Converse shoe covered in dirt and black ooze that smelled like rotting meat, spoiled fruit, and something sharper, something not right yet just as rotting. Underneath Quinn, the spot where she kicked revealed soil leaking that same black, rotting ooze, like some sick treacle.

"God, what is this place?" Quinn muttered as she flicked off as much of the ooze as possible off her shoe before setting it down.

"I think that's something we'd all like to know," Ben said.

Quinn arched a brow. "Wow, even Mr. Scientist is lost for answers."

"Hey, I'm just as confused and scared as you are. And weren't you skeptical as well, Quinn?" Ben fired back.

Quinn's face screwed up. "Yeah, maybe, but—"

"Can you guys stop arguing like an old married couple? We need to focus on getting the hell out of here... wherever here is," Emmy interjected, giving her friends a sharp look.

Ben and Quinn eyed each other, before they turned and focused on walking.

As they walked through the woods, Emmy noticed how... silent it was. The woods at home were always full of life, even at night, so to hear no noise was... disconcerting. Maybe it was better—if a monster grew out of the darkness, they'd have some warning. If she didn't sense it coming first.

And that was another question... how the hell could she sense those things? Why did she know where they were were always going to pop up? And... was that because of what she heard as a kid? All the voices she tried to explain were not real, that she buried away? That she was hearing again along with knowing where those monsters were?

What was wrong with her?

Silence permeated the trio before Quinn said, "Emmy, back in the house... how the hell did you know wh—"

Emmy froze, arm out to stop her friends. The prickling feeling had intensified, sending goosebumps racing across her skin.

"Hide. Now," she hissed, before pulling Quinn by the arm behind a bush, Ben following them.

They'd hidden just in time as something crashed into the woods.

It was taller than the thing in the house, and just as thin, with no features except for void-black eyes with pinpricks of red and a gaping mouth of fangs, and its body dripped darkness. But unlike the thing in the house, it didn't have any spikes or quills—instead it had horns, and stretched membrane between its arms and body that might be wings. It prowled through the woods, a clicking noise coming out of its mouth that had Emmy's skin shiver. Its head swivelled around on an elongated neck, baring its fangs in a snarl, as if it was searching for them.

Emmy's skin prickled again as another monster crashed through. It didn't have any spikes, horns, quills or wings as it turned to the other monster, exposing only eyes in its featureless face.

The horned monster let out that clicking noise again, and the second responded—as its entire body split down the middle, revealing a gaping, fang-filled mouth as it gave a shriek. The monsters clicked and shrieked before the monster's body closed up and they disappeared into the darkness, the noises they made growing fainter with every second.

Heartbeat thundering in her chest, Emmy counted out the minutes to five before she whispered, "Okay, let's move."

But before she could, she heard Quinn say in a strangled whisper, "Emmy."

That's when Emmy felt the prickling—and the cold dripping onto her.

Lifting a trembling hand, she pressed it to her neck before pulling away, seeing dark ooze on her fingers.

Fear drumming through her system, Emmy looked up.

And saw, in the tree above, a monster, the shadowy ooze dripping down onto her as its neck stretched out, long and thin, its fanged mouth growing unnaturally wide as it let out a bone-chilling shriek and its clawed hand swung down to grab her.

"Emmy, duck!" Ben yelled as he slammed the flashlight against the hand. Black ooze spurted out onto the flashlight as the thing gave a shriek, and responding noises were made.

"RUN!" Quinn yelled as they bolted out from behind the bush and into the woods, the long-necked monster following them as from the woods, Emmy saw the winged and split-bodied monsters coming through along with more, shrieking, howling and roaring. But Emmy refused to look back as they ran out of the woods, as they grew thinner...

... And revealed Morrow House.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Quinn shouted.

"Who cares?! Get inside!" Emmy yelled as they ran up the stairs and she and Ben grabbed the door, the monsters screeching and chittering behind them.

The door opened almost instantly and they rushed inside, slamming the door closed.

It gave a bang, so loud it might cave in, hinges groaning, but it held, the muffled noises of the monsters chilling Emmy.

The trio stepped away, trying to catch their breath after running away from monsters—and back into a house full of them.

To know there was no escape.

Emmy wanted to scream, to cry, to let out all her frustration and terror, but she kept it inside—there had to be a way to get out. There had to be. If they could just survive and find it...

That was when Emmy realised the house was silent—and she couldn't feel the prickling that told her the monsters were close.

"Guys, we need to move—the monster could come any second," she whispered, and at the looks on Ben's and Quinn's faces, they'd forgotten the house wasn't safe. That it was just as full of monsters as outside was.

Turning away from the door, Emmy crept toward the dining room, Ben and Quinn right behind her. Every sense of hers was on high alert, waiting for the prickling, to see the shadows move and hear the shrieking.

When she stepped into the dining room without hearing or feeling anything, Emmy wondered if maybe the monster had given up.

Her delusional hope was proven wrong when her skin shuddered with prickling—and she heard heavy footsteps and a low growling.

"Hide!" she hissed, ducking under the dining table. Ben was right behind her, huddling underneath the table, the chairs and moth-eaten tablecloth hiding them.

Quinn stood there, frozen in the kitchen, before she turned and ran to the pantry, hiding inside—just as the monster appeared in sight, growling.

And leaving the teens unable to escape without attracting its attention and being killed.

***

>:)

Yep, there's truly no escape for the Scooby Gang! And I had so much fun describing outside and the other monsters (also took some inspo from the Upside Down for what's going on outside)

But yeah, they're now trapped! >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!