Chapter 16- Meet me or not?
It's barely 7 as I rise from my spot on the ground to fix my appearance before Kate wakes up. I didn't sleep at all last night, I doubt anyone would've after they've witnessed what I witnessed last night. I wipe my face with a make up remover wipe for the third time, then wipe my face with a dry rag then apply foundation. I make sure to put on dark eyeliner to try and cover up my puffy swollen eyes and hopefully the foundation covers the redness on my cheeks. I could really use a good shower right about now, I haven't had one in three days.
''Hey'' Kate turns to me rubbing her eyes.
''Hey'' I say back.
''You do know it's now seven right?'' she asks.
''Yeah, I just woke up extra early this morning'' I lie. I usually wake up around 8 or 9 in the morning and sometimes even earlier but I just didn't sleep last night.
''What are you doing up this early?'' I ask her. It's not like her to get up this early.
''Who said I was up'' she says then pulls the covers over her face.
I change my clothes and put on joggers and a top and lie back down. My phone vibrates next to me, it's my mother.
''Hey'' she chirps.
''Hey''
''Oh... it's so great to hear your voice, I feel like I haven't heard it in so long''
''You too mom''
''How's it going so far? I hope that you're safe and everything in that creepy place. Also, make sure and stay with the group and don't go anywhere by yourself who knows what's lurking out there. Remember if you're scared and you wanna come back home, call me immediately and I will be over as fast as I can and take you back home''
''Relax mom I'm fine'' I tell her.
''How's the hike so far? Have you talked to Nelson?''
''It's good, very interesting''
''Have you talked to Nelson?''
''Yes mom we talked last night''
''That's good, he's really worried about you''
''Okay mom I gotta go, the leaders are calling us outside the tents to have a meeting'' I cut her off.
''Okay but call me tonight, love you''
''Will do, love you too'' I hang up.
I close my eyes for a while and decide to try and sleep for an hour or so. I'm gonna be so tired and miserable today, I haven't gotten any sleep last night and I have a long day ahead of me today. I set my alarm for another two hours from now and close my eyes.
''Hey, I think this is the first time you've slept in later than me'' Kate laughs as I slowly rub my eyes.
''Yeah I think so too''
''I think everyone's eating breakfast outside, are you hungry? because I am'' she rubs her hand on her stomach in a circular motion stressing how hungry she is.
''Yeah''
Everyone is outside sitting on the benches eating, talking and laughing as we make our way outside. We make our way to the table and fill our plates with eggs, hashbrowns, and toast.
''Hey, thought you guys were gonna sleep in the whole day'' Easton smiles.
''Hey, I was really tired this morning'' I reply.
We both sit down on the opposite side of Easton and Easton begins to tell us about the crazy dream he had last night but as soon as he begins he's interrupted by Mr. Mayor.
''Good morning everyone, so today we've decided that we're all gonna stay here and relax for the day. Today will be our day off, we will not be hiking today, we will continue our hike from tomorrow, today we will just stay here and relax but we have a small assignment for you, well it's more of an investigation than an assignment'' he announces.
''So everyone, you remember the headstone that we passed yesterday right? the one that had the letters SEP on it. So we told you a brief history of that headstone and the story behind it involving the masked men'' Ms. Wilber pauses. As soon as the words masked men leave her lips it sends a shiver down my entire body and now last night's events are playing in my head again for the tenth time today.
''So the assignment is that you all will work in groups of three or four, your choice and come up with theories of your own on what you think S.E.P. stands for and try to find anything you can that relates to the mystery of these two masked men. Try and find clues like artifacts, footprints or practically anything on them, try and look for carvings on rocks or trees that you think relates to them. So today we will not be hiking but today you'll be looking for clues on these mysterious men. We will not be going too far but right around this area. Let's see if we can discover more on these men than Alfonso Augustine.'' Mr. Miller broadcasts to the group.
Discover more than Alfonso Augustine, I've discovered more on these men than anyone else has ever discovered before. What if they found my flashlight that I dropped last night? If they did they'll know that I was there and I was watching them and then they'll come for me. Everyone seems to believe that it's two of them but no it's not it's seven of them, no wait there were also three girls too, which makes it ten of them. What if there's more of them? Oh god, I hope not. I have so many questions for them, well mostly for him.
Why is he in America, in the forest doing witchcraft? he's British. Why does he always target me and only me? Why do they do the things that they do? Why was he so quick to let me see him, well not his face or anything but why did he threaten me, if they don't allow anyone to know of their existence? What does SEP stand for? I refuse to tell anyone about what I saw last night or the past couple nights but if any of them come around me again I will spill everything I know about them.
''Helloooo, earth to Sia'' Kate says waving her hand in my face, I didn't realize she was talking to me the whole time.
''Yeah sorry''
''So, the three of us are in a group right?'' she asks gesturing her hand to the three of us.
''Yeah okay'' I quickly respond and continue eating.
Easton continues to tell us about his dream last night but my mind drifts off to those masked men well mostly him. I'm so confused by everything I just wish I could get some answers but I know that's not possible. I nod along at Easton as he tells us about his crazy dream but I really am not listening, Kate laughs a few times and I smile to keep up with the conversation.
''Okay everyone so there are bathrooms around here, it's just about a 10-minute walk along the trail. We will go there and freshen up, the bathrooms are built for us, the hikers. The girls will come with me and Mr. Brown and the boys will go with Mr. Miller and Mr. Mayor. We are looking to leave to head to the bathrooms around noon so prepare all the things you need for the shower.'' Ms. Wilber announces.
After we clear our plates Kate, Easton and I begin our investigation on anything we can find on the masked men. We walk for almost an hour and we look around for clues or footprints or any carvings on the trees but there's no such luck. They begin walking in the same direction that I headed last night following that noise in the bushes which turned out to be a rabbit. They walk right by the cliff and now they're walking behind the cliff by the trees where I was standing last night. Oh my god, why don't they just give up already and head back to the tents? As soon as they walk by the tree I interrupt.
''Okay it's almost 11 now and we should be heading back now''
''Yeah you're right but I just wanted to see if we can find anything on them but it's impossible'' Kate frowns.
''Yeah they cover up their tracks so well'' Easton says.
''Yeah they do we should head back now''
They both listen to me and turn around. Thank god I couldn't have them walk past the tree then they would've seen remains of last nights events. I keep wondering if they found my flashlight and I wanna go by the tree and see if it's still there but I can't because Kate and Easton will follow me and if my flashlight is there they will wanna know how it got there so I just continue walking. On our walk back, we all come up with some hypothesis on what SEP means all of us to join in but none of our hypothesis makes sense, the only hypothesis that makes sense that we've come up with is the S stands for spirits, E stands for Eventful and the P means Practices. It's the best one we've come up with but then again no one knows what SEP really stands for but the masked men themselves. It's now 11:50 as we make it back to the tents and everyone is getting ready to go to the bathrooms. It's a good thing I packed my bag before we went on our investigation because it would've been way too late to pack it now.
''Alright girls come with me and Mr. Brown and boys go with Mr. Miller and Mr. Mayor'' Ms. Wilber announces.
We both tell Easton see you later and we head off with our small group of 5. We walk up the trail and I feel a bit tired. I stop from the group and Kate walks back to me.
''Are you okay?'' she asks.
''Yeah, I think I'll just sit here for a while and catch up with you guys after''
''Okay but if you're not there in the next 10 minutes I'll come back down and find you'' she threatens.
''Okay, I'll be there soon'' I smile and she walks up to the trail with the rest of the group.
The group disappears around the bend and I sit on a rock and drink some water. Last night's events are now replaying through my head, they are always in my head but whenever I'm alone I seem to think about them even more. After about 5 minutes of sitting on a large rock on the grass, I begin to feel a bit scared as I'm alone now and I rise from my spot, grab my bag from off the floor and begin to head back up the trail. The walk from here to the bathroom is not far probably about 5 minutes or so. I walk up but instead I don't walk on the trail I walk on the grass near the trees. I walk up slowly but I turn around multiple times as I feel as though I'm not alone. I get the feeling something's following me.
''Sshh shh!'' he slams me into a tree. My bag drops to the ground and he covers my mouth with his hand. My arms try to fight him off but he pins my hands against the tree and intertwines his fingers into mine like last time.
I just look at him with fear plastered across my face and we both stare at each other for a moment and he finally breaks the silence and of course, he's wearing that stupid creepy sheep mask so of course I know it's him, is it? He brings his face so close to mine that we are only centimeters apart like last time. He moves his entire body closer to me and bends down so that his mouth is near my neck just a little below my ear.
His breathing is slow and soft and I feel his breath down my neck as he speaks, I've been wanting to feel his breath down my neck again ever since the first time he spoke to me. I smelt the alcohol on his tongue the first time but now all I smell is mint and his natural scent. They both make a heavenly combination and I wish it was the only scent I would ever be able to smell.
Snap out of it Sia! he's a psychopath masked serial killer, I remind myself over and over but god does he smell good.
''Meet me tonight in the cave near the cliff. Walk 10 minutes to the left of the cliff and you will see a cave covered with grass on the top, walk 10 minutes inside until you see pillers, stop there and wait for me. Meet me there at 10 tonight, come alone.'' he demands. He stresses the last part to make himself clear that I have to come alone.
He unpins me quickly from the tree and disappears behind some trees in the opposite direction leaving me with my mouth hanging open a bit in even more confusion and most of all more fright. Was he following us this whole time on our walk to the bathroom? of course, he was how else would he know that I was sitting here alone for the last 5 minutes. I take a moment to think about what just happened then grab my bag off the ground and begin to make my way up the trail. I rush up the trail hastily with all these thoughts streaming through my mind.
So what is he a stalker now? great so now I have another word to add to my list of names that I call him. Who the hell does he think he is? He can't just come here and demand for me to meet him there tonight. I will not, I refuse too. He said to meet him by the cliff so he knows that I know where the cliff is because he knows that I was there last night.
It's a trap, I know it is, if I go there I know that all of them will be there waiting for me. They'll be waiting for me in there and they're gonna hurt me or something or maybe they'll do the same thing they did to Alfonso and erase my memory of them and what I saw last night. I actually wouldn't mind too much if they erase my memory of what I saw last night because I really don't wanna have last night's horrifying events playing in my head again but what if they hurt me while doing it? No, I'm not going there tonight to meet him, it's a trap I know it. After walking 5 minutes up the trail I finally spot Mr. Brown at the side of the trail waiting by the sign saying 'Bathrooms'.
''Finally Sia, I thought for a while there that you got lost'' he turns to me with relief washed across his face.
''Oh no, I was just taking a water break by the rocks'' I say and make my way to an empty bathroom stall.
The bathroom is actually quite nice, it's roomy and a bit clean. I place my bag on the sink and take out clothes and hang them on a hook on the wall. The water is warm and feels so good, I haven't showered in almost three days so this shower feels amazing. I wash my hair with my lavender shampoo and conditioner and use my cucumber scented body wash. After my shower, I just stand under the warm water enjoying the feeling as it travels from my hair all the way down to my toes. I've never felt so refreshed in days. I wrap myself in my towel and blow dry my hair, my hair feels so soft and smells like heaven. I change into jeans and a top and walk out with face free of makeup and my hair down my shoulders. Everyone is out of the showers and we begin to make our way back.
''That shower felt great'' Kate tells me.
''Yeah it did'' I agree.
We make our way back down the trail to our tents and as we pass the tree that I was pinned too about 30 minutes ago I gulp and step back then continue to walk with the group. During our walk back Kate tells me about her trip to Minnesota last year for Christmas, I love listening to her and she's such a good friend to me and always listens to me too but I can't right now, all I keep thinking about is his demand to meet him in the cave tonight.
*Author's note: Hey everyone, how's the story so far? I have so many good ideas and they're coming up very soon so stay tuned, I'm trying to write two chapters tomorrow because it's Saturday and I don't have any plans also Happy Friday, hope you all are enjoying your Friday. It's my favorite day of the week. Maybe when I get older I can go to parties and clubs with my friends on Fridays, but I'm too young now, but when I get older I'll definitely do that, it looks like a lot of fun. Please vote, comment and follow only if you want too, bye, love you and see you in the next chapter.*
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