HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER SEVENTEEN !

            TENSION HAD CONSUMED THE atmosphere that followed the group for the rest of the day as they trekked further into the forest. It lingered thickly in the air, felt by each and every girl as many of them observed the distance that now existed between Taissa and Van, who had barely spoken a word to one another since earlier that morning at the red river.

            Van clearly felt much annoyance at being shut down so unapologetically by Taissa, who had belittled her fears without an ounce of hesitation. That had most certainly driven a wedge between the pair as the group moved on. Soon enough the sun began to set and the group had no choice but to set up camp once again, none of them wanting to get lost in the dark which would have inevitably happened if they'd carried on.

            A sigh filled with reluctance left the lips of Taissa as her hands naturally fell to her hips. "I know it doesn't feel like it, but we're one step closer to home." She spoke up, attempting to qualm the fears that surely still lingered amongst the group as she watched them get into their sleeping bags. "I promise this will all be over soon."

            "We don't need another speech, Taissa. We need to sleep." Van sharply stated, the young redhead refusing to even glance the Turner girl's way. She finished getting herself into her sleep bag with ease, all the while her skin burned from the heat of Taissa's stare.

The mood that had already been low got even lower as the two girls quarrelled, leaving the rest of the group stuck in the middle.

A heavy sigh filled the air as Mari began to stand up, rubbing her hands together to keep them warm as she did. "I'll take the first watch tonight."

"Let me do it. You should all rest." Taissa offered with an affirmative nod, telling the girls she didn't mind taking the first watch if it meant they get some sleep.

As the rest of the girls moved about, attempting to get comfortable in their sleeping bags, a small, tight-lipped smile of appreciation from Nola was sent Taissa's direction. "Thanks, Tai." The Rilke girl softly said before wrapping the fabric of her team jacket tightly around her body and rolling over to face the glow of the fire.

            Her eyes suddenly shot back open with a gasp. The crackling of the fire had gone silent, the bright burning embers extinguished and everyone was gone. Not a single soul to be seen. All of the girls had vanished. Her voice had become caught in her throat as she struggled to seem even five feet in front of her. Terror began to consume her as the idea of being left behind became all she could think about.

            As she stumbled to her feet, the scared Rilke girl wondered if perhaps they had had enough of her. Had her weird experiences with the wilderness unsettled them so much that they simply couldn't carry on with her beside them? Maybe they thought she'd be able to hike it back to the cabin alone.

            Not wanting to lay back down in the dark and not having the equipment to relight the fire, with not much thought about it, Nola chose a random direction and began to trek forward. The forest around her was silent as she went. The familiar, gentle sound of cicadas chirping had been replaced by total silence. There didn't appear to be any wind, not even a small breeze rustling through the leaves. The entire forest was eerily silent and the only sound to be heard was her frightened breaths.

            After only a couple of minutes of walking slowly in the dark, as if the world was granting her a reprieve from the fear, she happened upon a dark, desolate little cabin in the distance. Without hesitation she continued forward, her steps now with more confidence as she moved towards the rundown cabin. Twigs and leaves crunched loudly beneath her feet as she quickly came to a stop as the cabin's entirely came into view.

            A churning of nausea overwhelmed the young girl almost instantly. She knew this cabin. It was their cabin. The very cabin that she and the rest of the girls had been living in since the crash. But that didn't make sense. How on earth could she have made her way back to this place so quickly? Nothing was adding up. This place should have been a two day walk back not a couple of minutes.

            With only the moonlight to guide her and against her better judgement, against the screaming voice in her head to walk away, Nola hesitantly moved towards the cabin, the wood of three steps creaking obnoxiously beneath her weight as she approached the door. Slowly she turned the doorknob and pushed open the door, only to be greeted by nothing.

            Everyone was gone.

            Not Shauna, not Jackie or Lottie. Travis, Natalie and everyone else, they all were gone. Their belongings had completely vanished and the cabin looked totally deserted, almost as if a group of teenagers hadn't been living in it for the better part of five months.

            Without realising, tears had begun to leak from her eyes, trickling down her cheeks as small, sharp sounding sobs left her lips. She didn't know what was going on, why everyone had just upped and left her behind. She feebly continued to move inside the cabin, subconsciously veering towards the ladder that led to the attic. Her arms and legs were weary as she climbed up, her sniffs being the only sound inside the abandoned cabin. As her head peeled up into the attic, the young girl was greeted by the awful sight of red.

The moonlight that poured in through the windows was cloaked in crimson, decorating the small room with a reddish glow. The windows were painted with some sort of thick liquid, droplets falling down the windowpane. It was blood, Nola guessed.

Before she could really react, her attention was captured by the sound a creaking from the darkened corner of the room. An inaudible scream escaped her lips as she hurriedly shifted her gaze to the corner, trying her best not to stumble back and fall back down the ladder.

There he was.

The dead cabin guy, alive and well, rocking in the very chair he was found dead in. The crimson light cascaded across his face, lighting him up only ever so slightly, only allowing Nola a small glimpse of his face though that's all she needed. As though feeling her gaze upon him, the chairs creaking suddenly came to a stop as the man planted his feet firmly upon the floor.

"It's time, Nola." The shadowed shrouded man calmly uttered, not wasting any time. An almost welcoming smile adorned his lips as stood from the chair, his arms held out as though offering the young girl a hug. "It's time you accept this. Embrace the Wilderness."

A strange feeling of relief washed over the girl despite the fear that the man managed to make her feel. Nola found herself wanting to accept him offer, to do what he said and embrace the wilderness. Though before a single word could fall from her lips, her attention was yet again grabbed by the violent screaming of terror from her friends.

"Wolves!"

Her eyes suddenly shot open with a gasp. She found herself back at the campsite, the fire still burning away and her friends still by her side. The dead cabin guy was gone but he was replaced by something much more dangerous. A pack of wolves surrounded them, snarling ferociously. Immediately she jumped to her feet, alongside the rest of the girls. Just like them, Nola grabbed a log from the fire and held it up to defend herself from the predatory beasts.

Fear laced through Taissa's words as she desperately cried out, "Where's Van?" Her dark eyes had become pools of terror, pure unadulterated fright.

In her desperation to live, Nola had failed to notice that neither Van nor Taissa were stood alongside them.

Misty continued to violently swing the burning log of wood at the snarling wolves with one hand while motioning over towards the left. "She's over there! Go!"

Whimpers of fear left the group of girls as they attempted to remain strong against the violent, snapping wolves that were only inches away from tearing at their flesh, ripping them limb from limb.

"Try to burn them!" Nola suddenly yelled out. Her voice was wildly hoarse as it seemingly clawed its way up her throat. Her burning piece of wood continued to be thrusted towards the beasts before her. "It's better to get bit than to be ripped apart!"

The other girls were quick to follow along with Nola's command as none of them had any fucking clue on what to do and her words were true. They would rather be bit than be overrun and torn limb from limb by sharp, flesh piercing teeth. The fiery log tips were jutted aggressively at the predatory animals, singeing their fur and pressing against their muzzles causing the wolves to yelp in pain.

Just as quickly as they had begun to attack, the animals almost instantly turned around and made a dash for the depths of the darkened forests, their tails between their legs. A mix of laughs of disbelief and exhaustion filled sighs emerged from the girls as proud grins formed upon their lips. "We did it."

            The surge of happiness they felt didn't last long. The reality of their situation practically slapped them in the face as they suddenly remembered that both Van and Taissa were still missing.

            A sadness washed over Misty as she remembered that just before the wolves had begun to surround them, the Palmer girl had been ripped from her sleeping bag. It had been her screams of agony that had awoken them. "Van..." she quietly muttered.

Without another word, they all headed in the direction they'd last seen Taissa go. Their heads hung low as they trudged through the dark becoming to a stop mere feet away from a sobbing, blood splattered Taissa clutching desperately to a now deceased Van. The wolves had gotten to her, had torn apart the right side of her face. Blood dripped from her face and completely layered the flesh of her neck.

A choked back cry from Stevie caused the rest to begin tearing up, unable to stop themselves. For the briefest of moments, the girls allowed themselves to mourn their fallen friend that had been taken from them far too soon.

It was decided almost instantly that they needed to 'take care' of her body. None of them were willing to simply leave her behind for the wolves to feast upon but they also didn't have to tools necessary to bury her. Their next best option, a makeshift funeral pyre. The only they all saw as the best fit to properly take care of Van.

           A large collection of logs and small sticks were gathered by the group, minus Taissa who hadn't been able to part from her best friends body. Once the logs were placed atop each other and the small twigs surrounded it, acting as kindling for the fire that would soon be set, it was finally time to move the redhead upon the logs surface. Sniffs and clearings of the throat could be heard as every girl there attempted to remain strong in the face of such a loss.

            Taissa bravely stood alongside the funeral pyre, sombrely staring down at her best friend who would never again feel the warmth of the sun upon her skin of welcome a deep breath of air into her lungs. She would never be able to tell another joke again and would never incite laughter amongst the group again.

           Everyone silently observed the grieving Turner girl as she extended a burning log towards the sticks, holding it in place until it finally caught fire. The orange and red hues grew quickly, speedily overwhelming the wood and climbing towards Van's body. After being sure that her body would continue to burn, Taissa took a step back and made a move back towards their campsite. The rest of the girls wordlessly followed behind her.

            Mari, who had been lingered behind only for a moment as the rest began to move away, suddenly cried out, "Oh my god! She's alive!" Her frantic sounding voice captured everyone's attention instantly as they all rushed back to the pyre. "She's alive!"

            She was right. Van, who had previously been entirely still and hadn't even so much as twitched, was now suddenly fidgeting on the pyre as the fire began to engulf her body. Her eyelids struggled to peel back and groans of pain from the sensation of burning rumbled within her chest.

            Regardless of the burns she would suffer, Taissa rushed forward and grasped onto the redhead, aggressively ripping her body from the flames. Her knees gave out due to the combination of both hers and Van's weight, sending the pair to the forest floor. "I got you. I got you, okay?" Taissa comfortingly proclaimed, the girl cradling her friend closely, afraid to let her go ever again.

A hacking cough scratching up Van's throat. Her eyes were barely able to open as she strained to look up at the group. Despite everything that had happened, the Palmer girl was able to maintain her usual sense of humour and sarcastically mumbled, "R-really? Fire?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

jamielee's thoughts.
chapter seventeen. not proofread.
poor van! that girl is literally always nearly burning to death. I have a theory that adult van will die by fire after probably believing the wilderness will save her like it did in her youth. anyway i hope you enjoyed :)