─────── 𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑    𝟐𝟓 ───────

[7:28pm]

Hari slowly turned to everyone behind her, holding open the curtains. Gulping, she said, "G-guys? The sun's almost set."

It was like she jinxed it from the very beginning. Nothing bad happened in the light but when the darkness emerged through the luminescence all monsters were unleashed.

Their phones pinged, another message from unknown.

tick-tock , the clock isnt going to stop

3 minutes and counting

"What the fuck? We have to get out of here!" Hari panicked, pacing around everywhere.

"Will you be quiet for a second?" Heeseung shouted at her. "Your loud mouth is going to get us caught in a minute."

"Shut the-"

"Hari," Yeram clamped her hands on the girl's mouth. She looked in Hari's crazed eyes, "Stop. He's right. W-we have to be quiet if we don't want to get caught."

One thing about Hari is that she knew if Yeram was being serious about something that she should comply- it was the safest option. And so she nodded without a word and waited for someone else to speak.

"First things first, we need to get the hell out of here," Jungwon initiated their plan, ushering everyone to begin making their way to the door.

Heeseung, who was thinking of other things, held onto the gun and put it in his puffer coat pocket.

He might need it for future purposes.

The wooden stairs cracked under their feet as they tried to get down while making minimal noise.

"Uhm," Jungwon looked around both his sides, trying to decide which route to take. "Left or right?"

"Left," Jongseong said without hesitation.

They all nodded, beginning their journey east-ward.

The adrenaline-rush was keeping them high on edge, every little sound making them stop in their tracks and look around in all directions.

A couple of minutes in and they received another message.

time's up
better be hiding real good because
as soon as i find you ur 😵
ahahah cant wait to get my hands dirty
i'm coming for u all 🔪🩸

Aera's breath became erratic as she shakily put her phone back in her pocket. "They're gonna kill us."

Riki put his hand on her shoulder, "No, no. Aera don't say that. We can make it out of here alive- all of us."

Truth untold is that everyone was terrified... actually even more than that.

This person, whoever it may be, is no joke. If they say they're going to kill they mean it. And they don't just stab you once or twice or shoot a couple of shots and then done. No, they violate even your dead corpse.

And that's the scariest part, you don't even get a break after you're gone.

"Riki's right, if we really try we can make it out of here," Jungwon insisted. "We just have to play it smart."

"I'm scared guys, like seriously," Ahyeun looked around, fidgeting with her sleeves. "He.. she.. Or whatever.. Th- they're not going to stop until they find us."

"Exactly why we have to get out of the woods before they do," Jake tried making them feel better. "The shortcut to the exit is not that far and I'm sure we can make it out of here within 10 minutes, and after that we're technically safe."

"Well, then let's hurry," Yeram begged, trying not to cripple under the pressure. "We're wasting too much time."

"Jungwon lead the way," Sunghoon whispered.

Everyone followed him, carefully treading on the dried up leaves and dirt.

Their course was running smooth until someone near the back of the line accidentally tripped, yelping as they fell to the ground.

Everyone crooned their necks, seeing Sunoo's face contorted in pain.

Yeram, Hari and Sunghoon who were the nearest to him, bent down beside him.

"Omg, are you ok?" Yeram looked at Sunoo's hand that was clutching his ankle.

"No, I don't think so. It hurts," Sunoo hissed when he tried releasing the pressure from his leg.

Heeseung and Jungwon rushed over. "Can you try and get up?" Heeseung asked.

Sunoo tried, he really did. But could barely lift himself.

Jungwon had seen enough. "Fuck it," he mumbled but quickly came uo with a solution. He looked at Yeram, Sunghoon and Hari. "You three help him walk, that way it'll be quicker."

They nodded, each going to one side of Sunoo and holding him up. With their extra support, he was able to get up with one leg; the other still raised from the ground.

"You got it?" Heeseung questioned.

Sunoo nodded, "Yeah, I think I can take it from here guys.."

"You sure?" Sunghoon asked him.

Sunoo was sure, he just needed a little guidance getting up from the ground, that's all. "100%."

Not wanting to waste any more time they continued as if nothing happened.

They got as far as the lake, meaning they were at least a good 5 minutes walk from where they began.

Now this is where things got difficult. The road split into two ways, one that led to a dead end and the other to their escape.

But the thing was that they hadn't taken the shortcut out in years and no one could remember.

"Was it left or right?" Jungwon's eyebrows furrowed.

Jake looked around a couple of times but to no avail because both ways looked the same and there was just no way you could decipher which was correct.

Snap.

Something nearby then fell to the floor. Probably a tree branch.

Jungwon put his index ginger to his lips, telling everyone to remain in utter silence.

They waited for a bit but nothing else followed.

Once it was safe to say nothing was there and it was 'just the passing winds' they all turned back to the puzzle in front of them.

"Someone just quickly choose."

"We did left last time so right," Jongseon quickly answered Jungwon just like before.

"Ok, this better be right," Jungwon prayed, hoping that the luck of the universe was on their side today.

The first couple of steps were on some wet mud which did them no good because it was dirty and it made walking faster more difficult.

"I really, really hope that you picked the ri-"

"ARGHHHHH!!!"

The scream rippled through the air, stopping Aera's sentence midway.

Everyone's eyes widened and they were stopped yet again in their tracks.

"Fuck," Heeseung gritted through his teeth.

They heard some more shuffling and rustling of trees.

Someone was there.

Footsteps, that's what they heard next. And it wasn't even theirs- they weren't walking anymore.

Waited- they all waited and braced themselves for what was to come.

Crack.

"Run," Heeseung turned to them, whispering in urgency.

And that's exactly what they did- run as fast as their legs could take them.

Sunoo was having the most difficulty as he felt like he was going to collapse from his already weakened leg wanting to give in.

But he didn't want to die.

Selfishly that was the only reason he sucked up the pain and carried on.

There were more noises behind them and they were getting louder.

Something was coming towards them. Or should I say someone.

The group became rather dispersed after a few seconds, everyone was flocking everywhere from the lack of direction and guidance.

They just wanted to get away.

And they were doing a great job of it but as if someone had planned this all along, a thick tree branch fell from a tree in front of them catching them so off guard that the couple at the front all tripped and fell face first onto the grimy earth. And that did no justice to the ones at the back because they too ended up falling over the others and ending in the same position.

"Ahhh!!" Everyone screamed, bracing their heads down to the floor. They couldn't really get up; they were all going to die. This was it- the end.

They waited for that painful blow, and even after they heard a bang they still waited for some pain to excruciate throughout their body.

But it never came.

Instead they just heard one really loud crackle followed by a soft thump of something falling and then silence.

They all lifted their heads, looking at each other before anything else.

Jake turned around first, preparing himself to see someone else looming over them with a knife or gun.

But he didn't. In fact he didn't see anything but the dark shadows of the trees and bushes.

"J-Jake?" Yeram shook his side, not daring to look back herself. "What's there?"

"Nothing.."

His response made everyone frown, nothing. How can that be when they heard something?

Jake looked at his friend's uncertain expressions, "No seriously... there's no one."

Feeling relieved, Jungwon got up, dusting the dirt from his pants. "I really thought that- uhh."

"What is it?" Jongseong stood up next to Jungwon.

Just meters away from their feet lay a limp body.

"Isn-Isn't that Doyoung??!" Hari's mouth gaped open.

"Oh my! Oh my God!!" Aera grabbed onto Riki's sleeve, hiding herself behind his frame

Cho Doyoung was flat on his back with his eyes rolling back and a gaping hole, leaking with blood, drilled into the part of his chest where his heart was imprisoned behind.

"Oh please, not this again," Ahyeun harshly brushed her hair back from her face.

"What's that next to him?" Sunghoon pointed.

Heeseung scowled, patting his pockets frantically. "What the-'' he mumbled, rushing to where the gun was. He picked it up, examining it. "This is the same one from our treehouse."

"How do you know?" Riki gawked at him.

"I took it with me but I don't know what happened... It must've fallen out or something."

Awkwards silence as no one wanted to say anything wrong. No one wanted to judge... but it was just a bit peculiar.

"Hmm, bury it."

Heeseung turned to Jungwon in shock. "W-what?"

"You heard me.... bury it."

"But-"

"No buts, I said fucking bury it."

Jungwon was deadly serious, and Heeseung wasn't one to argue. "Ok?" he murmured.

"Make sure to do it far away!" Jungwon called out to Heeseung who was already trotting away. He then turned to the rest, "Now... who wants to call them this time?" 

———

oop-😶
whos sus🌝

maybe its not obvious in this chapter but remember details even from the beginning is important. everything is written eh way it is for a reason😉