The Small French man ran about in the forest, trying to keep up. From the look of his stomach, he hadn't eaten in quite some time. Days. And from the look on his face, something was wrong. He kept glancing over to the other side of the river, and then ahead to see where he was going.
"How did we ever lose them?" Pierre-Louis roared. He spoke with a brilliant FrencH accent that didn't quite match his face.
Pierre-Louis.
That was his name; wasn't it?
No; no, his name was Scotte.
Scotte? It had to be Aadyn.
Aadyn- now that was his name. Yes, it had to be.
Witness.
That word was always ringing through his mind. He knew this word. Oh, yes, he lived by this word. All of him. He had his mind settlEd now. He was Witness. A crazy, deluded man, on his way across the river, accompanied by three others. But the confusion still swarmed him at times. How where these other three in his mind all of the time? And why?
"We'll reach Fall Pass soon," exclaimed Witness, suddenly excited. "When we do, we will finally meet Ken and his girl. And show them something they will want."
"It's still a bit away. And even so, we may have lost them by the time we reach Fall Pass. If we were to reach them now, there's no guarantee we should find them." Aadyn argued, in his soft Australian accent. "And should we come to them, who's to say that they should want what we have?"
Getting impulsively angry, he shouted in order to settle himself down, "I am!"
Pierre-Louis- usually more cowardly- began, "I think we should find them and speak with caution. They're from The Outside. For that matter of fact, we should even approach them with some care; it would be good to watch for any-"
A deep pit in the ground abruptly cut off his cautions and cares. Witness was now in a hole. But more than just a hole. It was a tunnel. Whether a tunnel with purpose or without purpose, few coulD now; but, nonetheless, a tunnel.
Witness was gone.
..."And that's why I don't like any liberals," Ken finished with a smirk.
Their talk had been somewhat dragged on for the time being, but Ken thought that her company made it worth the while-- just being here alone in the forest with her. And she thought the same also.
The bright sun's rays poured through the half-canopy that the forest provided. Lily squinted. "And that's why I do like you," she added with a wInk.
For a while, they just walked in perfect silence, hand in hand, enjoying each other; this was why they came here. With Lily being busy at college in the meantime, and Ken with the same and a part-time job, they couldn't do anything very often. They were here over the weekend, just for kicks, so to speak.
Thud!
"What was that?" Lily asked.
"I'm not sure. Probably a deer or something; no worries. Why?"
"But it sounded like it came from below us. And if it was a deer, it must have either fallen, or it's stomping." She looked inquisitive, not scared. But Ken could swear that he saw a little fear in her eyes. Why? He didn't even know-- nor did she. Not yet.
"Hey, it's okay. We're fine," he was trying to comfort her without really knowing why.
She smiled and tightened her grasp on his hand. "I know, I'm fine."
"You want to head back soon? It's getting dark."
"It's only evening; we can stay a bit longer, can't we?"
"Well, I don't have anything to do today," he answEred. "But we should get back before night."
"Okay. We still have--" she broke of suddenly and was looking at something in the distance. "What is that?"
He hesitated. "I don't see anything."
"It's almost right ahead of us," she released his hand and slowly walked forward.
"Where?"
"I said over there," she pointed at a rise in the earth that some trees and rocks were around. "It's under the top of that hill. Behind the rocks."
"I just See a cave," he said, now worried by the look upon her face.
She kept going forward. The cave, looming in darkness, was fifty feet away from her, and fifty-five away from him. She turned back and waved him on. He lingered for a second, and then moved on. Fifty-two feet away from the engulfing darkness now. And then he was right next to her again.
She seemed aNxious to arrive there. Yet she was sweating and her feet were shuffling with fear. They were now ten feet away and she slowed to less than a walk and peered through a large gap in the rocks. She stopped, staring at something.
"What is it?" He asked, now curious.
She stood there staring. Sweat came in streams nOw. Any anxiety was now gone. Her face was troubled, and he saw that. "Come on, what's wrong?"
"Let's leave now, her words were dripping with fear. Now she seemed eager to leave, yet she stood there, staring into the unknown.
"Okay, but--"
"Let's leave."
"Alright, come--"
"Please. Please, please, please. I just want to leave," she was crying now. But not moving.
He took her by the elbow and led her away, looking into her eyes, trying to uncover what terror lay hidden behind them. His pace gradually quickened. "Now what was it?"
"It--" she faltered. "There was something in the cave. I can't really describe it."
"Was it moving? Alive?"
"No. I'm sure it wasn't alive," she gave a backwards glance.
Ken subconsciously pondered the possibilities. How could one small thing strike such fear? But actually, he didn't know what to think; did he? How did he know it was small? Or was she even in fear? All of the thoughts barraged his mind in a quick, smooth flow.
Her feet shuffled faster.
Witness reached the exit, with a dull pain from his fall. His scrawny head lifted up and searched for them. He would go after them soon enough, he would- there they were.
Witness's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "A house," Pierre-Louis said softly.
"That won't stop us now," replied Witness. "We go after them."
Scotte was nervous. Yet excited. "Let's go now," he urged. "Right now. We may not get another chance."
With that, Witness began running silently.
She looked back, and ran forward, as if from something. "Run!"
"It will only be another five minutes," Ken said, thinking she was still simply eager to leave from this fear. He caught up to her. "We can cut through-" His ears suddenly rang with a scream that came from Lily right beside him. He turned, and she was a few feet behind him, her face hidden with a grimace. And something on her leg.
"Please! Help!" She yelled, feeling like her leg was burning. But when she looked at it, it was burning! A small creature had given her leg a flesh-ripping grab and under his fingers, her skin turned black as she felt a burning sensation.
"Here!" Ken exclaimed fiercely, and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from it. Pulling all of her away from it- except her leg. The creature threw the leg doWn, in its own pool of blood- still slightly steaming from heat- and sprinted for them.
Ken pulled out a handgun that he had always brought with him when he went into the woods. Especially when going with Lily. Eager to defend her, he quickly fired off all of its ammo. Only one hit the creature- and it hit right in the chest. The creature faltered, but then stood back up.
Ken lifted her and aimed for the distant house.
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