The forest spoke its own language ancient and warning. In a language I would never understand. The singing of birds ebbed and flowed crescendoing with the wind in the leaves just to die out a moment later. The trees were densely packed letting little light filter through the green canopy leaving the thin path dark and eerie. Twigs and branches snapped under my footing like the crushing of old dry bones. The lake should not be too far. This path was closed to the public since two girls went missing 8 years ago. From the look of the path, most people followed the ban. The path was overgrown and unkept making the trek tumultuous at best. Why this was the swimming hole for my friends I had no idea must be the privacy.
The forest abruptly ended at the edge of the beach. The lake was smooth and clear twinkling with early afternoon light. My friends were by a small campfire. Something was very wrong. Not only did they not say hi when I began to make my way over but none of them were moving slumped forward in their camping chairs not moving. Panic began to rise in me as I rushed through the unsupportive sand towards them.
I made it to Thomas first. I could feel my weight shifting the sand with my last steps closing the gap between us. The sand fell away and I had no control over my body as I tripped falling into him. Thomas made no sound as he fell with dead weight from his chair. The full weight of my body fell on him as I landed pressing him deep into the send. His body was cold unmoving and stiff.
Burning acid filled my throat as I looked down at his pale grey skin lips void of colour. Dried maroon blood flaked and cracked on his neck and chest. A smooth slit crossed one side of his throat to the other. I could feel a scream threatening to rip through my throat but I forced it down. Whoever had done this could still be here. I needed to get help. I scrambled to my feet standing in the middle of a circle of my friends. My now dead friends.
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks and blurred my vision. Turning on my heels I ran for the woods body shaking heart pounding in my ears. My feet pounded on the ground as I pulled out my cell phone. I managed to control the shaking long enough to type in 91. As my finger was about to hit the last number the last digit standing between me and hope a loud crack rang in my ears. An all-consuming pain exploded in the back of my head. Black bloomed in my vision as the ground came up to catch me.
I had never had a headache like this before when I woke up. I tried to remember what had happened where I was. Reaching up to touch my head I found I could move my hands. I pulled on this but they felt bound behind my back. My eyes flew open light assuming the pain behind my eyes. I looked around trying to get my bearings and not bring attention to myself. People in cloaks moved silently around the beach. Large poles had been installed into the sand. My friends were now tied to the poles like children propping up their stuffed animals for a torturous party. They had been changed into red cloaks matching those of the strangers.
The new people silently brought wood out of the forest while others built some sort of large effigy. One person walked in a white cloak talking quietly to people while pointing. They were in charge. While trying to keep unnoticed I tested the ropes restraining my wrists and ankles. I could feel the rough rope tearing at my skin as I moved. It did not take long before I could feel warm blood trickling down from my wrists making my hands wet and sticky. I tried to swallow down my terror closing my eyes quickly as the person in white turned to me.
After what felt like forever I could feel the heat and see the light of the sun disappear behind the shadow of the persons standing above me. You came at the perfect time you will be our last sacrifice a high sweet voice spoke down to me calming and steady like a mom reassuring a small scared child. Strong hands grabbed under my arms roughly pulling me up. The bondage on my ankles prevented me from walking as they dragged me like lumber to the middle of a large circle. The effigy now began to take shape a large wooden monster with antlers and a reptilian body. The poles holding my friends encircled us like lifeless bodyguards.
Pain rocked my body as they shoved me to my knees facing the lake. The juxtaposition of the perfectly calm lake and the hammering of my heart was jarring. I struggled against my binds hard praying for this to be a horrible prank but knowing it was not that this was real this was happening and I was going to die.
Chanting filled my ears folding my senses. I froze as the lake began to ripple. The nearby birds stopped singing. The air grew heavy. The sun disappeared behind the clouds like it was shielding its eyes from what was to come. Large antlers cut the surface of the water. My breathing got heavy as I struggled for air the fear crushing down on me. The creature began to crawl out of the water on six spindly legs ending in huge claws. The chanting grew louder and more fierce.
A scream was echoing in my ears. It took a moment to realize that the screams were coming from me. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. The creature reached out wrapping its slimy strong claws around me trapping me in a cage of cartilage. Its black wet skin hung from ancient bones. Long patchy fur clung to the skin. Something ripped from inside me and I was outside my body. Watching it slump in the creature's death grip. The last thing I saw before the world went black was watching my body get dragged into the water. The surface again went still as if nothing had been there. The sun came back and the birds sang.
this is dark! I love it! Great scene setting and tension building here. I think my fav line was "The sun disappeared behind the clouds like it was shielding its eyes from what was to come." and then matched with the last line, "The sun came back and the birds sang."