CHAPTER SEVEN: DARKNESS

"There's no way in hell I'm going back inside that creepy forest" Zara quarreled

"No one asked you to go back in" Lucas said, definitely annoyed by her sudden outburst

"Like I said, it's a voluntary expedition" Emma repeated

Eyes trailing across everyone in the group, looking for the first person to volunteer to go spend an unknown amount of time inside the forest, exposing themselves to whatever creature, bugs and insects that took residence inside the thick enclosure of trees and shrubs

"I've been in there before, so I don't see why not" Owen said, lifting a hand

"That's the first volunteer" Lucas said before tossing his hand in the air as well "I'll go too"

"That makes two" Emma said looking over at the rest "I'll be going in as well" She said lifting her hand up

Max's hand was in the air before Emma finished talking "If you're going in then I'm right behind you"

"Guess I'm going in as well" Avery said, her hand in the air

"Let's do this" Owen said, his right hand raised high above his head

"We can't have the entire male population going into the woods, leaving the ladies behind though" Elijah said looking at the amount of guys who had their hands up

"And what are you implying, that we need men to protect us?" Zara shot him a look

Elijah moved to speak but kept his mouth shut instead before lifting his hand in the air "You can count me in. I fear Zara might kill me in my sleep"

Natalie said nothing as she raised her hand up after Elijah. Their eyes met and he smiled as her earlier declaration played through his mind

"Okay that's enough people I guess" Lucas said, looking over those that volunteered and those that would be left behind. Max quickly stepped aside, picking up a backpack before heading back to the new group

Evan raised his hand before receiving a questioning look from Lucas followed by a weak defeated sigh

"I guess you guys would need to hold on to this" Owen tossed his cell phone over to Mia who fumbled with the phone, trying to catch it, letting it fall into the sand.

"I'd make a very horrible goalie" She laughed at herself as she bent down to pick the phone up. She clicked on the power button, looking at the battery percentage "57%"

"Just don't let it die" He said to her "Switch it off and keep it safe"

"Aye aye captain" Mia saluted before tucking the phone into her back pocket

"How long are we spending inside the forest?" Elijah said looking at the dark forest in front of him, swallowing hard

"Three days" Lucas exhaled hard "Give or take"

"Be careful in there" Mia said to the group as they turned on their heels to face the woods

They said nothing, taking in synchronized breaths before stepping into the forest. The further down they walked, the light from the beach seemed to disappear until it was no longer there. At this moment, they were deep within the woods, with very little light escaping through the trees above.

"Light" Lucas said

Max reached over his backpack, pulling out one of the three branches sticking out, before wrapping it with a piece of cloth

"Here" Caleb said handing over a gas lighter to him

Eyes trailed over to Caleb "How long have you had that in your pocket?" Evan asked

"Since we left Lemon County" He said looking at the group "It belonged to my dad. It's the last thing he gave me before he… well before he took a leave from life"

"I'm sorry" Natalie said placing a hand on his shoulder

"I don't smoke but he did" Caleb said, a pained smile on his face "anyways it's as good as new so it should work"

Max grabbed the lighter, flipped the cover open and sparked it. A blue flame burned over the burner before Max placed it under the cloth wrapped around the stick.

A few seconds later, the piece of material burned and there was light around the group "Thanks" Max said, handing over the lighter back to Caleb who pocketed it back.

"Okay, so what exactly is the plan here?" Avery asked from behind Owen as his eyes trailed over the path in front of them. His breathing shaky as he recounted the dream in his mind

"You good Owen?" Lucas asked trying to read his expression

"Huh oh uhm yeah" Owen cleared his throat "my chest just kind of felt pretty tight"

"Okay" Lucas said before turning to face Avery "We need to be sure how fast or how much time passes in here.

"Do you think time would move differently if we're conscious of the fact that time moves differently?" Natalie asked, standing beside Elijah

"Well there's only one way to find out" Lucas said looking over at Emma who was lost staring deep into the darkness

"Anything over there?" Max tapped her shoulder

Her gaze broken, she turned her head to stare at Max who had a wooden torch in his hand "Yeah uhm no" She said shaking her head "This place just rubs me the wrong way"

"How much time has passed?" Lucas said from beside Owen

"We entered the forest about fifteen minutes after 3pm and we've been in here for at least 15 minutes. Right now it's-" Emma looked down at her wrist, clicking on the button at the side of her wristwatch as the light flashed on "It's 5pm"

"That's almost three hours" Elijah exclaimed looking behind him "I can almost still see the entrance we came in from"

"That doesn't make any sense" Avery said

"I think we've established that nothing on this island makes sense" Lucas said, looking around him

"It's starting to get pretty dark already" Owen stated, noticing the only light around them was the one in Max's hand

"Let's move further down and set up camp" Lucas said to the group

"As if it wasn't bad enough coming this deep, you want us to go even further down" Natalie said to Lucas who paid her no attention

"There's still time for you to head back to the beach" Lucas said over his shoulder as he began his walk up heading deeper into the woods

Natalie turned to look at Elijah who had his attention fixed on Lucas before he turned to face her "It'll be fine" He said to her with half a smile spread on his face

She held his hand as they began to move alongside the rest of the group. They walked for an extra five minutes which in reality was half an hour, given how fast time moves within the woods. Lucas raised his hand signaling the group behind him as they all came to a stop

"We'll set up camp here" He said turning to face them "Max can you get a campfire going here?" He said to Max

"Sure thing boss" Max said, handing the wooden torch over to Emma.

He went down on his knees, gathering twigs and dried leaves, making a hole in the ground just like he did with the campfire on the beach before arranging the sticks and leaves. He stretched his hand, grabbing the torch from Emma before setting the new campfire ablaze.

The group settled around the campfire trying their best to ignore the echoing owl sounds and cricket noises. Going to bed that night was more or less an Olympic event as bugs and insects like mosquitoes danced over their ears, making full course meals out of their bloods

The only thing louder than the owls of the night was Avery's hand slamming on her skin as she tried to kill the mosquitoes trying to reduce her blood count.

"Take it easy on your poor skin" Emma chuckled as she smacked her neck for the 15th time

"If I knew it'll be this bad, I would've stayed on the beach" Avery sniffled as she sat up

Emma pushed herself up from the ground, moving over the bodies of her fellow explorers, before taking a seat beside Avery who had multiple bumps on her arms

"Seems like you're the only one getting bit" Emma chuckled as she sat down

"I think I was a mosquito in my past life and I staged a coup within the colony and now they're taking vengeance after passing the history through generations" Avery sighed

"Must've been a pretty badass coup for them to hold such a grudge" Emma nudged her shoulder as she laughed "Are you doing okay?"

"Asides the fact that my blood has literally been sacrificed on an altar by these pesky bugs" She sighed "I'm trying to be okay. I miss my mom. If I was home right now, I'd have my head on her laps and she'd stroke my hair and tell me that everything would be okay" A faint smile appeared on her face as she spoke

"You and your mom are that close?" Emma asked, studying Avery's expression

"We're so close. My dad gets so jealous sometimes whenever I spend time with her. According to him, I don't go on father daughter dates anymore because my mom babies me more than he does" She chuckled as she wiped at the tears gathering in her eyes

"I envy your folks" Emma started to speak as she looked into the flames burning in front of her "If I even tried to lay my head on my mom's laps she'd pinch my cheeks and remind me that I'm not a baby anymore"

"Sounds like a tough mom" Avery said turning to look at Emma

"Oddly enough, my mom is the sweetest soul you'd ever meet. One moment she's strict and stern but then the very next day she'd take me and Evan out for ice cream" Emma said as she turned to face Avery

"Are we talking about the same mom or do you have another mom stashed away somewhere?" Evan groaned as he pushed himself up from the ground "Cause I can't even remember the last time mom and I sat down to have a conversation"

"Didn't think you were awake" Emma said turning to look at Evan as he stretched his arms over his head, with a few bones snapping around their joints

"It's hard to sleep when the forest is out for blood" Evan said slapping hard against his neck "literally" He turned his hand to show the girls his bloody palm and the dead mosquito plastered in the middle

"Eww" Avery exclaimed

"Seems like I'm not the only one who can't sleep" Natalie said, pushing herself up "Wake up E" She smacked his side and he groaned

"It's bad enough I can't sleep but do you have to cause me physical pain as well" Elijah said as he sat down beside Natalie

"Seems like none of us can sleep tonight" Lucas said lifting himself from the ground with a hand on his injured shoulder

"How's your hand?" Owen said sitting upright beside him

"Doesn't hurt as much but it has its moments" Lucas said rolling his injured shoulder "Bad idea" He winced at the pain that erupted from it

"That's what you get for messing with an injury" Natalie teased as Lucas held his shoulder tight

"You're lucky you didn't survive the crash with a broken hip or something else" Lucas sighed before he chuckled

"The fact that we all survived the crash itself is something to be thankful for" Emma said looking across the group around the campfire "I mean, with the way the plane crashed, you'd think half of us would be dead or come out gravely wounded, but the only serious wound we can attest to is that" She said pointing to Lucas's shoulder

"Not everyone survived though" Elijah said, bringing the attention to him shortly after

"We don't know if Ava is dead or not. No news is good news. She might be somewhere inside this large forest" Natalie said to him looking around their environment "I'd like to believe that she's still out there. Maybe in the worst condition but alive"

"It's been a week or three days and considering the information we're working with, lord knows how long she has been in here" Elijah sighed

"Should we try looking for her while we're here?" Max suggested "I mean, while we're already here trying to "waste time ", how about we actually spend the time doing something productive. Who knows what else we might discover while we're here?"

"Sounds like a good idea" Emma said smiling at the suggestion

"What do you think Evan?" Lucas asked turning to look at him

"I don't see anything wrong with it" Evan said "We are in here for answers, why not find out as much as we can"

"Avery, Natalie? What do you say?" Lucas asked

"I'm not against it" Avery said

Lucas turned to look at Natalie who gave an approving nod to Avery's statement "Elijah you up for it?"

"Well to fulfill all righteousness, let's do it" He said looking over Lucas's shoulder, his eyes went wide

"What is it?" Lucas asked snapping his head around to look behind him

"I thought I saw someone watching us" Elijah said, his eyes fixed in the direction he was staring at

All eyes darted to the direction, trying to find or see what Elijah saw

"Are you sure you saw something out there?" Max asked

"Not something, someone" Elijah corrected