Don't Go in the Woods

I made my way back home after working over time. My boss was grateful and gave me a bit more money that I normally got. I was walking back from the store, buying milk and pop-tarts for Hazel and Cliff. Hazel loved pop-tarts and since I was in a good mood, I thought it would be a good idea to surprise her with them. Of course, Cliff enjoyed pop-tarts as well--but my thoughts were on Hazel when I bought them.

The days were getting shorter and the nights colder, Halloween was coming up and walking in the dark wasn't one of my favorite past times. With the woods backing to our home, I never did like walking so close to it. That's something all of our family feared--the woods. So Hazel made sure we never entered them, she was the only one who would the go closest to them. As I approached our warmly lit home, I noticed that the front door was swung open. I paused in mid stride, finding it odd that the door was not close on a cold night such as this. Then, fear began to creep into me on the wind, I dropped the bag I was carrying and bolted for the door, running inside. Cliff and Hazel were gone. The place was a wreck, the table and on it's side, the chairs scattered about, sleeping bags torn to shreds and--the climax of my terror made me feel dizzy. I sunk to my knees at seeing it, a small pool of blood next to Hazel's sleeping bag.

"OH MY GOD! What' happened?"

I whirled around to see Cliff standing in the doorway, fear in his eyes. I stood and walked over to him, pulling him into a strong embrace. "You're safe! Is Hazel with you?" I asked, pulling away, praying the answer was yes.

Cliff gulped and his brown eyes widened at the sight of blood on the ground, "Oh my god, is that blood?" He asked, not hearing my question.

"Stay focused, Cliff." I said, placing myself between his line of sight of the puddle of crimson. "Is Hazel with you?"

"No, no she told me she was going to be doing chores around the house." Cliff said, shaking his head, whispering "oh my god." over and over again.

I slammed my hand on the door frame, feeling anger rise up in my throat. I was about to lose it when I heard a single howl from the forest. Cliff and I slowly turned our heads towards the dark woods, it's gaping mouth trying to suck us in. My eyes widened, and Cliff and I both understood was what going on, but we both refused to believe it.

So instead we cleaned up the house, waiting for Hazel to return home. I picked up the groceries and placed the pop-tarts on the table, so Hazel could see them when she returned. The sleeping bags, the ones that were destroyed, where thrown away and everything was back to normal, except--for our missing family member.

Hours passed, and we no longer heard the howl from the wolf. The woods stared at us, waiting for us to enter their confines. I finally stood, no longer able to wait, "Damn it, Hazel. Where are you?" I asked, walking through the door and to the edge of the dark wood.

Cliff was trailing me, "Wait, Gage, you're not honestly thinking of going in there are you? It's the biggest rule we have. No one breaks it. Don't Go Into The Woods."

"But Hazel's in there. We both know it." I snapped, my body and mind fighting my heart. I knew I had to go into the woods to find Hazel. She was in there, something had kidnapped her and dragged her in. Now that I was looking more closely at the tree line, I could see signs of something dragging her through the thick brush, twigs were snapped, and grass disturbed. Blood. I saw a bit of blood on one of the bushes. Images of Hazel's broken, bloody body filled my mind. I shivered and closed my eyes and entered the woods, feeling my body shake and evil eyes watching my ever move. I crept forward, Cliff still at the tree line. He let out a slight whimper and followed, we were leaving our home and entering the last place we'd ever want to go. "Hazel is in here somewhere." I repeated to myself over and over again in my mind.

The last thing I remember from that day was the call of the wolf.