Title: The Woods Of Sleepy River

Autor: Blixa

Date: 02/07/00

Rating: PG-13

WARNING: Death story

Spoiler: Definitely "the Blair witch project". Same story. Different characters.

Disclaimer: Not mine , no money is made no copyright infringment intended

This story is dedicated to all my friend especially to Elisa (I miss you sweetie, watch for me), Sabina, Claudia (the mighty witch), Killash and to my wonderful beta-reader Nakira. Thanks girls! And now on with the story…

THE WOODS OF SLEEPY RIVER

By Blixa

"Great day for a picnic"

(Twin Peaks)

"I'm so sorry, because it is my fault. Because that was my project. I'm so scared."

(Heather- The Blair Witch Project)

*****

DAY 4 - 2:30 pm

The woods were utterly silent, no birds chirping amongst the branches, no signs of life from the thick undergrowth. Not even a breath of wind that rustled the leaves. Everything was as still as a painting, dead. There were none of the noises that had accompained the campers during the previous nights. Suggestion, they'd told themselves more than once, some wild animal looking for adventure, any explanation was better that the uncertainty, the idea that there was something out there too scary to even name. The witch. The one who'd decimated the population of an entire village in 1653, who had caused diseases among the livestock for centuries, the one who during the seventies had possessed a man turning him into a murderer, forcing him to kill six innocent children.

The witch of Sleepy River.

Horror and local boast. A subject that wise people preferred to avoid, shifting the conversation toward a safer topic. The campers would have never known about it if they hadn't met one of the weirdest people in the village: Libby St.Clair, fortune-teller by profession. A bit crazy, people said although they never repeated the remark when she was around, she'd lost her youngest child who'd been killed by the psycho twenty-five years before. While the happy campers were getting ready to go, she had approached them, a basket under her right arm, and she told, talking to one of them in particular: "There's a malevonent presence out there.

Something strange in the woods. Something dark and mean", then she'd added "Can you feel it?"

Right there, he couldn't but now he was starting to change his mind.

DAY 1 - 9:30 am

The road-sign stated still 10 miles to go before they'd finally arrived to Sleepy River, last village before the Black Hills Forest. It was some kind of frontier outpost where people left their cars before continuing on foot their trip in the woods that stretched around as far as the eye could see. Jim had already been there, even if more than five years had passed since his last excursion in the area, he had always considered the place as a perfect spot to relax and forget the chaotic life of the city. Not that he hoped to relax with his hyper roommate planning Lord only knows what torture in that little head of his. He only hoped to divert his attention toward something else, but from the quantity of notes Blair was writing on his always present notepad, the detective understood it was more like a desperate attempt. Moreover there was always Simon, Daryl and Megan, and that was the other problem. Since when the Australian had arrived, three months before, they had done nothing but fight and not even the mission that saw them as a happily married couple could change the things. They would all meet in front of the only store in the village, just in case someone forgot something that they really needed before entering the forest. It was still very hot despite being the end of September, in spite of the generous summer there shouldn't be many tourists in the vicinity. Normally the ideal period for a holiday in the area was until the end of august, no more, because then the rains would take over and the sudden changes of the temperature'd inevitably make people wish they'd stayed at home playing Risiko for the entire week-end.

"Eh Chief?"

"Uh?" was the answer he got from his roommate too taken up by reading something he'd just written.

"You with me?"

"Yeah…"

"How come Megan wants to go with us anyway? She doesn't exactly strike me as someone who likes camping in the woods…"

"What do you mean?" the anthropologist asked, trying to keep the tone of his voice as neutral as he could.

"Nothing but…"

"But?"

"Maybe someone…"

Blair cocked his head on one side trying to process what Jim was casually saying, not failing to remark the glances his partner threw him and the half smile.

"I'm sure it's for your great company."

"You think?"

"Positive."

"Oh well, all right then."

A couple of miles after this exchange, the young man focused his attention on the first wooden houses of a little village and cheerfully asked:

"Sleepy River?"

"Right."

"It's nice…looks like a peaceful place. Do you think the others have already arrived?"

"I suppose. Simon left an hour before us…as for Megan I don't know when she left" and again he put the accent on the Australian's name.

"Oh…"

Jim was right, Daryl and Simon were already waiting for them at the large square, camping gear tidyly stacked beside the car. The young man was heartyly waving an hand to draw their attention.

"Eh, finally! I was starting to think you got lost!"

"It would have happened if Sandburg were driving."

The captain burst out laughing at the face Blair pulled at the detective while he stretched his back.

"I like this place." the tall man exclaimed looking around "It's so quiet compared to Cascade."

"Too quiet maybe" Jim returned "But with our trouble-magnet here, you never know."

"Trouble-magnet?" Daryl looked puzzled.

"You've heard about Murphy's law, haven't you son?"

The young man nodded.

"Well, then it's simple: change the name Murphy with Sandburg and you'll understand"

"Hey!"

"Yes, Sandburg?"

"It's not true, I'm not so unlucky!" he weakly protested.

"Really? What do you say about the episode at the Wilkinson Tower, there are at least fifteen lifts in that place, but you had to be on the one held hostage by a psycho with a bombs' fetish? And we shouldn't forget the…"

"Okay…okay! I got it. But it's not always my fault"

The tone he said that only served to make Daryl giggle harder. A slight breeze from the trees came whirling around them and Blair shivered.

"What's wrong Chief? Cold?"

"No. I don't know…maybe. Do you mind if I take a walk while we wait for Megan? I'm curious to visit the village…I want to see if there's a library"

"All right…we'll see you here in half an hour"

Nodding, the young man headed toward the store, stopping briefly to take a look in the shop-windows bathed in the morning sunlight, before lazyly turning round the corner to reach the small wooden church in the middle of the village.

~~~

(Sleepy River…Sleepy River…why can't I place this name? Yet I'm sure I've already heard it somewhere)

~~~

There weren't many people around, only two men intent upon smoking their pipes and playing cards in a tavern and a blond little girl in a blue dress watched by a young lady with a basket under her arm. Peaceful scenes of ordinary life. The bliss of small villages in the countryside, he thought. Also Grant Wood's painting with the couple in front of the white barn came to his mind, so sinister. Mixed sensations. Another shiver shook him while he stopped looking at the half-opened doors of the small library by the church.

"Is there anybody here?" he shyly asked while he entered the dusty little room.

DAY 1 - 11:15 am

"Creepy lady, don't you think?" Megan asked him.

Not really listening Blair, just nodded in aggreement while he let his gaze wander among the tall trees surrounding the sunny path.

"Well, she looked totally crazy to me" Daryl said behind them.

"I agree" his father accepted as he kept pressing his cell-phone's keys.

"Hey, Jim?"

When the detectived turned his head he continued, "Check if your phone works…I don't understand if it's my battery or if there's simply no signal"

Fishing his phone from his backpack Jim took a good look at it for a moment before shaking his head.

"It must be the area…mine isn't working either and I charged the battery yesterday evening"

"Who cares?! Shouldn't this be an holiday far from everything and everyone?!"

Megan cried out, with a bright smile to ease the growing tension "Don't you think?"

They all nodded, the fact of being totally isolated in the middle of the woods soon forgotten. After all they had a map, a compass and if they didn't go off the main road they would always have an idea of thier position. There were signs every half a mile clearly pointing out the right direction.

DAY 1 - 5:45 pm

"Okay, I think we'd better stop here for today"

There was sun at least for another hour and a half, but Jim wanted to have all the time to set the camp before nightfall.

"Where are we exactly?" Daryl asked observing the map without, actually, understanding it much.

"Here" and the father showed him a point not far from where the road split, taking two different directions.

"Tomorrow we'll take the path turning left for a couple of miles. It's slightly more inaccessible so it will probably take more time, but then we will be in the middle of the woods. From there we head north for other four or five miles, until here." Jim added pointing a precise spot on the map.

"That's the ideal place to camp for a couple of days, not very far from water and with a good observation point on the forest. If we're lucky enough we should spot some wild animals in the vicinity"

"Um, what kind of wild animals are we talking about here?" Daryl asked feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Deer, elk, squirrels…relax, nothing dangerous. I'm sorry Megan, but no kangaroos or dingoes in the neighborhood."

"Too bad" muttered the Australian with a sarcastic smile.

"Are there wolves in the area?" The question came from Blair, who sat under a big tree, head up, watching something among the branches.

"Usually not…during winter maybe, when they're hungry they tend to get closer to living areas. But if they can hunt then be sure they'll keep away from men."

"Oh." he looked disappointed.

DAY 1 - 10:14 pm

"What do you say we turn in, I don't know you, but I'm starting to feel tired…"

"Good idea…goodnight everybody." Simon concluded entering the tent and in a few minutes they all mirrored his gesture. All except for Blair who had remained sat in his corner beside the dying fire, intent upon throwing small branches in the last flames.

"Hey Chief?" Jim called from the tent.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful if you plan to stay out there to meditate for a long time. When the fire dies out, it'll start to get cold."

"Just a few minutes."

"All right. G'night then."

"Night"

~~~

(There's something dark in the wood. Something mean out there) Blair's mind muttered.

"If there is, then I don't want to know"

And he went to sleep, just when an owl took possession of a branch, stopping his night wandering for a minute to observe him.

DAY 2 - 4:30 am

A single puff of wind. That must be the reason why Megan's tent had moved so suddendly, waking her up with a start. Only there was no wind at all, and it had been more like there was someone outside vigorously shaking the cloth. Yet she was sure there was no one around them for miles and she doubted one of the other had gotten up so early only to play this childish trick. A puff of wind, she muttered again as she fell back to sleep.

DAY 2 - 7:35 am

Coffee was boiling on the fire, Jim was sitting by the flames studying the map and, at the same time, trying his damn cell phone again. Still no signal, it must be a totally isolated area. Blair flapped the tent open, yawning, and crouched in front of the fire to gain some heat in the damp morning.

When the cop raised his head he saw the young man was observing him. It didn't seem like Blair had done anything else since they'd arrived, Jim thought. Always observing, it was his nature. He hadn't talked much, he looked upset by something, it was like he was constantly trying to find something amidst the vegetation. He could be wrong, but it had all started with Libby StClair's remark about the woods and what seemed to inhabit them. Later, the shop's owner had lively denied what she said, proclaiming it was only a fantasy good to scare little children, but it didn't seem it was working. Blair had smiled at the woman's statement. He'd shaken his head and laughed when the man in the shop had called her crazy, but something had clearly impressed him anyway.

When he'd headed back from the library he'd brought a small book with a battered red cover: it was some kind of diary written by one of the local guides at the beginning of the century. It probably talked about all the strange legends around the woods of Sleepy River too, everything seemed strangely connected.

(Come on) he told himself (It's just a coincidence…Blair borrowed the book before we met Ms StClair. You're being influenced by this entire situation)

~~~

"Jim?" the young man called.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"How far is the clearing you told us about yesterday?"

"Five or six miles, but it'll take time to get there because the ground is

not in the best condition."

"Maybe we'd better awake the others. So we'll have part of the daylight when we get there"

"Okay…I take care of Daryl and Simon. YOU take care of Megan."

And he stood up, trying to hide the smile spreading of his face.

DAY 2 - 2:50 pm

The clearing Jim had told them about was indeed a beautiful place. It was on the top of a small hill and this allowed them an interesting view of the trees stretching in every direction. Everything was quiet, still, no noise came to disturb the sun climbing his path except for the lazy bees buzzing around some wild flower. That strange shiver run across Blair's body again while he laid on the grass staring at the light blue sky above. He was thinking about a song, trying to connect the lyrics with Sleepy River…maybe it hadn't nothing to do with that. Maybe.

~~~

(You must have heard about the curse of Millhaven How last Christmas Billy Blake's little boy didn't come home…)

~~~~

"Why does the name Sleepy River sounds so familiar?" he asked no one in particular, maybe only to himself as he closed his eyes.

"Because twenty-five years ago it has been a famous national case. Even if you were too small to remember." Captain's Banks words had made him jerk "A psycho killed six children claiming he'd been possed by a witch. He was executed four years later."

~~~

There. Now he understood. It wasn't the psycho, but the legend behind him. He remembered he read about the curse of the witch of Sleepy River in an old anthropology book on the american folklore. It told the story of an entire village mysteriously decimated and distroyed by flames many centuries ago and a chain of accidents that from that moment on had plagued the area. The witch of Sleepy River. Something dark in the heart of the woods. The witch…and before he could finish his thought he fell in a light slumber.

DAY 3 - 3:00 am

A noise outside the tent. He was sure. Still drowsy Blair went out only to meet Simon and Megan.

"What's wrong?" The young woman asked.

"Shh…"the captain hushed them placing a finger on his lips.

Jim emerged behind them.

"There's someone around here…I'm sure."

Almost confirming his words a small branch suddenly cracked, somewhere in the pitch-black night, as if invisible shoes had carelessly stepped on it.

"You heard?" Blair asked, clearly uncomfortable, eyes staring at the dark.

They all nodded.

"Do you think we are in any danger?"

"It's probably just an animal."

"I don't know…it seems too close to the tents to be a simple animal. Aren't there any bears in the vicinity, are they?"

Jim had to smile at Megan's question. "Relax Connor…there's no danger. It had probably been just a too enterprising deer."

But he didn't add that usually animals preferred to sleep safe in their dens at night. It was useless to create alarmisms. His senses, in fact, couldn't detect anything strange. If there had been another person stalking them, he would have surely known it but there weren't any other human heartbeats or other signs of human presence around.

"Okay, look…I think it's useless to stay out here to freeze because of an insomniac deer. I'd say we're in no immediate danger so we can head back to sleep."

But none of them actually could rest before dawn brought the first rays of sunlight and, with them, another disconcerting surprise.

DAY 3 - 8:25 am

"What's that thing?" Daryl asked while he got out the tent, gently stretching his back, eyes still half-closed.

"That thing, what?" his father asked back.

"This one…" and he pointed at a ring of white rocks just in the middle of the clearing. It wasn't the rocks they had placed the day before to protect the area destined to the campfire, they were all white stones, perfectly polished and in the middle of them there were three broken sticks, arranged in a very strange way.

"But what the Hell…Jim?"

"What's happening now?" the detective muttered as he emerged from his tent.

"Look"

"What's this stuff?"

"It looks like a symbol…but I don't know. I'm not the expert about this kind of things"

"Blair…wake up."

A few second then a sleepy: "Um, why…we aren't going anywhere, are we?"

"No, but come take a look at what we found"

His puzzled expression turned into a mask of horror when his eyes rested on the aligned rocks. "Oh my God!"

"What?!"

"Oh my God." he said again, without paying any attention to the worried faces that surrounded him, someway it was like they weren't even there with him.

"Sandburg, dammit! What's wrong?!"

"The mark…the rocks, don't you get it?"

"No! What do they mean?" Jim was quickly loosing his cool.

"The witch."

"What's with the witch?" Megan asked as she joined them "Oh, but who put the rocks this way?"

"That's what we're trying to discover. If Blair could enlighted us?"

"The symbol…it's the one they put on the witches' doors when they brought them to the stake. It's a mark of culpability…with no appeal"

They were all looking at him, but there really wasn't anything more to say, no other explanation to give, if it were a joke it wasn't funny at all, if

it wasn't…well then it was definitely worse.

"What do we do now?" he asked, his face still ashen.

"What do you say?"

"I don't know…maybe we'd better go back."

"Do you think we are in danger?"

"No…I mean, we heard some noise tonight, all right, but I'm almost positive there wasn't any one in the vicinity."

"And this would be a positive thing, wouldn't it?" Blair asked as he crouched next the rocks always very careful not to touch them.

(I feel tonight I'll lose my way again in the woods)

Shivering he drew back some steps away from the rocky pattern.

(I don't like this story. I don't like it a bit)

The sky was covered with thick black clouds. It looked like a storm was heading for their area. And that wasn't a good thing, because in areas like that one, close to the mountains, rain often brought a considerable change in temperature. A lightening stretched in the sky followed by the uproar of the thunder.

"Come on! Let's find a shelter!"

"What do we do with the tents and the other stuff?"

"Someone take what is really necessary…map, compass, the things that we can easely carry without being slowed down. We'll be back to take the rest later.

Let's get going!"

DAY 3 - 3:15 pm

The storm was finally over, the sun shone again on top of the trees, but the temperature had drastically dropped. Yet this wasn't their main concern: there was infact another problem, a very serious one. They had lost the map and the compass. In the confusion of the falling rain no one had taken them, probably thinking someone else already did, and when they were back to the camp they simply couldn't find them anymore. Now they couldn't but go back to the village as soon as possible, always hoping to find the main road soon. The much wished holiday had started to transform in some kind of hell.

Since there were just a few hours before sunset it was better to spent the night at the camp and pack everything first thing in the morning. Only that Blair didn't want to sleep too close to the ominous symbol. While Jim and Simon decided how they should proceed. Although there didn't seem to be so many solutions, he'd sat on a rock reading the diary written by Colin McGrath, the guide who accompained the tourists during their trips in the area, a long time ago. After a few pages all his desire to read had left him as he'd started to notice all the similarities between their trip and the one the man had headed almost a century before. Strange signs, items that disappeared, mysterious noises during the night.

(I need to go for a walk. Maybe I could go down to the stream)

And after informing the others, he descended the slight slope, heading toward the singing water.

DAY 3 - 6:15 pm

"Where the Hell is Blair?"

"He'll still be at the river…I bet he fell asleep."

"Probably. I'll take a look. I don't like this situation Simon. I don't like it at all."

Blair was indeed asleep not too far from the small stream. He hadn't even noticed it and he was dreaming of being awake, observing the fishes darting in and out the creeks. A scrunch of steps behind him caught his attention. Turning he saw it wasn't a person but a wolf. A huge black wolf. Not knowing exactly how to act he decided that remain seated perfectly still could be the best solution.

"Hello." the wolf said.

The young man opened his mouth wide but no sound came out.

"Hello." repeated the wolf "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you deaf or what?"

"Ehm, no…hello."

"How are you?"

"Fine thanks, and you?"

"Not bad."

(Oh God, I'm chatting with a wolf!)

"You know you haven't chosen a nice place to camp?"

"I'm starting to realize that, yeah."

"Then you should go back…as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow, now it's nearly sunset…it would be dangerous to traipse around. We'd only risk loosing our way."

"I'm warning you…be careful."

"Of what?"

"What do you say?"

And the big animal turned to leave.

"Hey?!" when the wolf looked at him again, Blair asked "It is the witch, isn't it?"

"Again, be careful…don't let the fire die out tonight and for no reason leave the tents."

"The mark…what should I do with that?"

"Don't touch it, no one should touch it!"

"Is it dangerous?"

"Very…now wake up!"

The young man jumped to his feet, his eyes wide open, almost knocking Jim to the ground in the process.

"Jesus, Chief! What do you think you were doing?! Did you want to give me an heart attack?!"

"Sorry." he muttered slowly massaging his temples, then he shyly added

"Haven't you seen…wasn't there a…a, uhm. No nothing…"

"A what, Sandburg?"

"No, nothing…nothing. I guess I just dreamed about it"

"If you say so…let's head back to the camp, dinner is almost ready."

DAY 4 - 2:00 am

The tent was shaken with violence. Once, twice.

"My God, what's happening?!" Blair sat up, startled.

"Nothing…sleep Sandburg" v Another jolt and this time Jim too had to

acknowledge there was something wrong outside.

"But who's there?!"

"Jim…can you feel someone?"

"No…no heartbeats except for ours, but then…"

"Then why do the tents move as if someone is shaking them? Yet, there's no wind."

"I don't like it."

"Maybe we should go head back now."

"We can't…we have to wait untill dawn, it's dangerous to move about in

the dark, even my enhanced vision couldn't prevent an accident."

"I seriously start to feel like a character stuck in a cheap horror movie. Do you think we'll have problem to reach the village…after all we don't have a map."

"No, I don't think so…we just have to avoid sudden detours"

"Okay. What do we do? We go back to sleep? Because, to tell you the truth, I don't think I'll be able to…"

"Me neither. Since we're awake we should start packing our gear."

"Good idea…I really need to get moving. This place give me the creeps."

DAY 4 - 2:30 pm

They'd stopped for a break after five hours of continuous walking. The direction seemed to be the good one, but Jim had started to have some doubts. The fact was that he expected to see the path at any minute, yet there was still no trace of it. The woods were big, okay, but his senses should have allowed him to have some small advantage, for example, to hear if there were other campers in the vicinity.

Instead everything was extremely silent, too silent.

Megan was sitting somewhere, chatting with Daryl, but he didn't need to eavesdrop to know it wasn't a relaxed conversation.

Inevitably, as the situation kept getting worse, the first signs of nervousness had appeared, and with them the first veiled accusations on who should've taken the damn map and who was heading them in the wrong direction.

Simon was watching the area, while Blair seemed the only one calm enough to relax under a tree, reading a book. But Jim wasn't deceived, he knew his Guide too well not to perceive that something was troubling him. When they were back at the camp the previous evening he'd ordered no one touched the rocks placed in circle, that everyone not to get too close to them even by mistake. Maybe the young anthropologist was the person most scared by the entire situation.

DAY 4 - 6:00 pm

It now appeared crystal clear to everyone: they were lost! Irreparably lost and without a map to guide them toward any sign of civilization. If they could at least reach a river everything would be easier…they would follow the water. The other matter was the food…sure they brought stuff for a week, but the little mishap had changed all their plans. At nightfall, the trees had assumed ominous shapes, their shadows like monsters creeping on the muddy ground. It had started to get really cold and the sky threatened rain again during the night. Although it wasn't the rain that distressed them so much, maybe not even the fact they were hoplessly lost. What cut into the nerves was the prospect of other noises in the dark, other steps somewhere outside, branches that suddenly cracked, the tents shaken by invisible hands. It was what they couldn't see that scared them. No one talked about it during the day, it seemed silly but maybe they simply hoped to exorcize the problem. Don't talk about it and the problem doesn't exist. Simple! Yeah…simple.

DAY 5 - 2:45 am

This time noises were stronger, more defined and there were really steps in the dark, but once again even stretching his senses to the limit Jim couldn't perceive anything "human" except for their five presences. Rain was pouring hard and the wind crawling among the trees seemed to take a phsycal form, some kind of howling entity who made leaves rustle in fear. No one was sleeping. How could you think about sleeping in a situation like this?

Blair suddenly got up, opening the tent.

"Sandburg! Dammit, come back here!"

The young anthropologist turned and in the darkness Jim could easily see the line of tension on his face.

"Stay there…don't come outside!"

"Damn, Blair!" v "Stay there. Don't move."

And he flapped the entrance close in a swift gesture.

Everything went silent around him, in the darkness he would have never been able to see if there were something prowling. Rain was falling hard and thick, and in less than a minute he was soaked to the skin. It was when he was going to go back inside that something caught his attention. A quick movement somewhere behind him, the air that shifted cut by a body.

Suddenly spinning he found himself staring at the dark…nothing more.

Yet. Yet he could swear the thing was moving around, in circle. Frozen, his fingers already numb, teeth chattering, he closed his eyes.

(Wait…wait…now!)

When he watched again he finally caught a glimpse of the movement of something yellow and bright: eyes! And more than one pair.

"Out!!!" he screamed "Out of the tents!"

Jim suddendly appeared by his side.

"What's up Chief?! What did you see?!"

"What's happening?!" Megan shouted, she seemed terrorized, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Run!!!"

"Sandy, what did you see?!"

"There's someone! We must leave…now!"

And everybody listened to him however it was basically a foolish thing to run in the woods at night, in the total darkness if you excluded a small torch. Jim had grabbed him by the arm dragging him along…no need to ask where they were going. There wasn't a where anymore in that haunted place…their situation couldn't get more entangled than it already was.

After ten minutes, when everything seemed to be quiet again, they stopped, panting, in a small clearing trying to catch their breath.

"Well, what do we do now?" Simon asked to no one in particular.

"Shh!" Blair hissed, listening again. Satisfied there were no sign of the creepy presence, he whispered: "We wait daylight, we go back to the tents and we keep walking…we can't stay in the same place for too long."

"But what did you see?" Daryl asked, somewhere in the darkness.

"I don't know…I mean, I heard something moving near the tents…and when I turned I saw like something yellow…something very quick. I think there were eyes"

"Eyes?! You made us leave the tents for this?! It could have been just a wild animal!"

Blair stared at the captain for a moment, although in the darkness he couldn't see anything but a shape, then he said, shaking his head: "It wasn't an animal…no animal moves that way. No animal shakes tents or leaves rings of rocks near the fire!"

"What the Hell was that, then?!" Megan shouted.

"Calm down…oh God what a headache." Blair let himself slip down in the mud, damp hair covering his face in a veil.

"Is everything all right, Chief?"

Snorting, the young man answered with a sarcastic wry smile: "No…you know, I think nothing is all right, right now. We're in trouble here. Big trouble."

But he didn't add more to his comment. All they could do was waiting for dawn, praying nothing more happened before the sunrise.

DAY 5 - 6:45 am

The first rays of sun enlightened a spectral company, five people sitting close, too terrorized to do more than look at the awakening forest looming over them. Blair rose to his feet arching his back to relieve his muscles stiff from the cold motionless night.

His head still throbbed painfully and being soaked didn't help to improve his mood. There was something wicked in those woods…something as dark and creaky as the old stairs that lead to the mansard of an old abandoned house. Libby StClair's words were something with real meaning right there. As he headed toward a bush he caught a glimpse of a slight movement on his right and he bent to observe better. The thorny branches parted and a big black wolf jumped out, growling, snarling at him. With a yelp the young men took a step backward, losing his balance and stumbling to the ground. The animal leapt at him but when it touched his body, it vanished. As he had never been there at all.

(An omen?)

It was the same wolf he had dreamed only two days before, the one that had told him to leave quickly. A hiss of icy wind caressed his body, making his skin crawl.

"Blair, hey man, are you fine?" Daryl was gently shaking him, trying not to hurt him.

The anthropologist focalized his eyes on the young man and nodded with a wry smile that never got past his lips. "We must go."

"One moment Chief…" Jim put an hand on his chest, stopping him.

"What?"

"What did you see?"

"When?"

"Sandburg, quit your little games!"

"I'm not playing at all…"

"Sandburg!" Simon growled "Would you answer?!"

"Nothing."

"You're lying, Chief."

The remark came out rough, terribly sharp and Blair jerked as if Jim had physically slapped him. Deeply saddened, the young man turned and headed toward the direction he thought to remember they had left the tents. "Let's go." But he didn't wait to see if the others were behind him.

DAY 5 - 2:00 pm

Well, at least it was a sunny day, but it was starting to get colder, fall had suddenly arrived, totally unexpected. Megan had started to feel all the muscles in her body aching, as she'd run ten marathons. At the beginning she'd simply thought it was the fact of been worn out from their endless march in the damp forest, but little by little she'd realized it was more likely a fucking cold, possibly pnumonia. Breath had seemed to get harder and harder, and she'd started to cough. Just great! In a situation like that one, even a trivial cold could become a deadly risk, for herself and for the others. She didn't want to slow them down, forcing them to stop too often would probably mean to increase the possibility to get caught by the thing lurking among the trees. No one was talking since a long time, conversation had been so strained and tense that it was better to say nothing at all before getting into a harsh fight. The only noises around them were the sporadic calls from birds and their steps on the first dead leaves crackling under their feet.

Simon constantly kept an hand on his son's back, as if he wanted to be sure he was still there. And Daryl looked too scared to even notice.

Finally they stopped for a pause, just a few minutes, it was necessary to keep walking until the darkness wasn't too thick to see and probably even after that.

Blair had picked up the book he'd carried with him again and was taking some notes on it while his eyes nervously darted around, searching for something hidden in the vegetation.

From Colin McGraph's diary

"She's calling me, somewhere in the woods. Last night I had a strange dream, but I can't remember it very well. Only that there was a big black wolf by my side and the moon shone just above the horizon, as white as a diamond. I felt the wind blowing around me and the grass was my pillow as I watched the sky. It was full of stars. And it was then that I heard her, she had a sweet voice…she said she was a messenger. But as I started to walk among those big trees, I started to tremble with fear. Then I saw her. God help me! It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. Even the monsters in the legends, the Indians tell near the fire aren't nothing but harmless creatures compared to her."

A couple of white lines, then, just in the middle of the page the sentence

"I feel tonight I'll lose my way in the woods."

Blair closed the diary with a sigh, it was the last page, the last note left by the guide who the night after had disappeared forever.

(There's something dark in the wood and this is a great day for a picnic, oh yeah)

The young man had noted below…only to add: oh God, I'm losing it.

DAY 6 - 6:00 am

"Daryl!"

A desperate scream ripped the silence. The night had been peaceful unlikely the previous ones, nothing had disturbed the light exhausted sleep of the campers. But that scream was enough to make Blair jumped out the tent in a single motion, even before Jim was totally awake.

"Simon, what's wrong?!"

"Blair…it's Daryl! Daryl has gone!"

"Oh God…oh no. No, no, no. This can't be happening."

Then he saw it. There was another one of those stone rings, this time directly in front of the tent the young Banks had occupied with his father. And inside, there was some kind of puppet made of bleached branches held together by a rough rope. He didn't say anything, what was left to say?

(I made a mistake…I was totally wrong. It was me who had to get lost in the woods!)

It took only a few minutes to fully organize the search: Megan would stay at the camp while Jim, Blair and Simon started to patrol the environs, everyone in a different direction. For the entire day and a good part of the night, the three men kept calling the boy, but there wasn't a trace of him.

When it was really too dark to see and searches would have been too dangerous, they all met around the campfire, defeated. Simon was clearly in a state of shock, shivering, his eyes wet: "It's all your fault Ellison…you and your fucking holiday! If we hadn't listened to you we now would all be in Cascade and my son would still be with me!"

"Simon…" Megan tried to make him reason.

"No, dammit…what good is it to be a sentinel if you can't even find a missing boy?!"

Jim wasn't even shocked at what his captain had so carelessly revealed, he knew he wasn't really thinking at the moment and that it was better to let him talk, even giving him a scapegoat who could momentarily make him feel better.

"A what?" the woman asked interested in spite of her.

"A freak…a circus freak. Tell me Ellison, what for?"

But Jim shook his head, lowering his gaze, what could he retort?

"It's your fault…you should have taken care of the map…your super senses should have led us out of this mess, but…" before he could end his tirade, Blair bluntly stopped him, exclaiming:

"Enough Simon…quit it!" Tre strain was evident in the flat sound of his voice.

"What?!" the interruption had only managed to irritate the captain even more. "How dare you to give me orders?! It's your fault as well…" he lashed out.

"Mine?!" Blair didn't even notice he too was yelling. "We're all in the same situation here, there's no one to blame more than the other! There's no one to blame at all! Our only hope is to find a way to survive and quickly get out of these fucking woods!"

"I won't leave my boy here."

"There's nothing more we can do for him…it's too late"

"How can you be so heartless?! It's not true! It's not too late!"

But the young anthropologist only lowered his gaze, sadly shaking his head. What happened then was very sudden, Simon flung at him and even before Blair had the time to react, he hit it with a punch in the face, dashing him to the ground.

"It's not too late, you understand?! You're a coward! He's my son and I won't leave him here!"

Jim grabbed the enraged captain trying to drag him backward: "Simon! Enough!"

Megan burst into sobs, huddled as she was near the fire, head lowered on the bended knees, she looked like a terrorized little girl. "Stop it…please. Please. Please."

Blair gingerly got up, wincing as he touched his split and bleeding lips and went to sit beside her. Placing an arm around her shoulders he pulled her toward him, holding her tight. He didn't even notice he was sobbing with her.

"Sandburg I…" Simon started, but his words trailed in an uncorfortable silence.

DAY 7 - 3:00 am

There was someone screaming. A gut wrenching scream, rather far from them and not well defined, but almost surely belonging to a boy. Simon immediately got out of the tent followed by Jim. "You heard?! Oh my God, you heard?!"

"Yeah…"

"Daryl!!!"

No answer, for a moment silence was deafening, then again that striking scream, so high it could have broken a glass.

"It's Daryl, Jim! We have to go and look for him!"

For a minute the detective was tempted to say no, but the hope he saw in his captain's eyes made him doubt that was the right solution. "Okay." he finally consented "But we have to wake the other before we go…"

And he headed toward the other tent. Delicately opening it, he found Blair and Megan sleeping, holding each other, at least the young man was sleeping, the australian, infact, rose fever-clouded eyes on him, muttering: "What's up?"

"We heard some screams…"

"A person?"

"Simon thinks it's Daryl."

"Daryl is dead…" whispered the anthropologist, still deeply asleep, his arms tightly wrapped around Megan's body.

"And I guess you want to go and check…" the woman asked, even if more than a question it sounded like a statement.

"Yeah…but I want you two to stay here and wait."

"But…"

"Megan, you're too sick and Blair simply doesn't seem in the ideal condition to go for a walk. Trust me, we'll be back soon."

"Good luck then."

"Thanks, I feel we're going to need it."

DAY 7 - 7:34 am

The search had proved to be vain and the two men were heading back to the camp, when just from that direction came a wild scream. Jim's skin crawled, he didn't think he'd ever heard so much desperation in human voice. It was Megan and she was still screaming. What they found when they arrived there left them breathless. There was another of those strange puppets, but wrapped up in the sticks there was a tatter of the flannel shirt Daryl was wearing when he vanished.

Megan had opened the bundle and she had found what seemed to be a lump of meat.

"No Simon!" Blair had cried out when he saw the big man approaching.

And oddly, the captain had listened to him, but yet asking: "What is it Sandburg…tell me, please!"

"It's a-a…" its voice faltered, then cracked in a broken whisper "It's a human heart."

It was enough to make the big man collapse on the ground, senseless.

Megan was shaking like a leaf, her hands still red with blood, Blair just behind her kept staring at some distant point lost in the middle of the trees.

(One by one…she'll take us one by one, unless we find a solution)

DAY 7 - Midday

There wasn't much more they could do, the situation was hopeless: Megan's condition was getting worse, Simon was almost catatonic, only Jim and himself remained. Maybe he should let the witch catch them, but the thought that some kind of evil entity could reserve the same destiny Daryl had faced, to his friends made him sick.

(I'd like to know what I have to do…)

A stealthy motion in front of him caught his attention, it was the wolf that spied him, hidden in the bushes.

"Jim…we have to go"

"It's useless Sandburg"

Astonished, the young man turned to face him: "Excuse me?"

"The thing that's stalking us, whatever it is, it's going to find us no matter where we run…"

"So, who cares then?! Oh yeah! Let's stay here and get ourselves killed as lambs to the slaughter! Is that what you want?"

"Dammir Blair! Look at us! What do you suggest?!"

"To go on…we can't stop hoping. Because if we stop Jim, then we may as well admit we're already dead! But if we go on, we can at least say we'd tried, maybe one of us will come out alive of this nightmare"

"And what would be the use of it?" the detective bitterly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"If someone came out alive of this wood…he wouldn't be alive anymore. I mean…" he paused, not knowing exactly how to explain "See four people die…see them vanish in the thin air without a trace, hear the screams all night long for Lord only knows how many nights. Honestly, how do you think you'll come out? I think I'd probably blow my head off."

"Then why don't you do it?!" Blair was yelling, his voice dangerously close to hysteria.

(Get a grip Sandburg) he told himself, shaking with barely controlled fury.

"Take the gun and shoot, dammit! Why don't you do it?! We're all scared Jim! I'm so fucking scared! But I don't intend to surrender to her because I know…there must be something we can do!"

"So you want to go on?" Jim sighed, defeated.

"Yes…we haven't anything more to lose."

"All right, let's go then."

DAY 7 - 4:00 pm

Blair was sitting beside the river, he'd found it then. Although he couldn't remember why he has searched so hard for it. The water was fresh and some fishes darted in the stream. The sun reflecting on the surface created a myriad of small rainbows. The grass near the bank was thick and tall with a reassuring smell, sweet as summer. The young man let himself fell back to contemplate the clouds quickly running through the sky. Ivy grew near his feet, a small formless bush whose branches crawled on the ground like tentacles. Wait, he thought, astonished, ivy doesn't grow here. A voice called his name…somewhere amidst the trees. He closed his eyes trying to resist, but when he opened them again, a girl with long blond hair was leaning on him.

"Who are you?" he said

"A messenger."

"From who?"

"You know what you have to do, don't you?"

"No. What?"

"Look, look at your hands."

And Blair saw it, just above his right wrist: the mark! The witch mark.

"She's looking for you, but you don't have to go…not now."

"No, this isn't happening…"

"You're like her!"

The young woman screamed quickly stepping backward.

"No! Wait!"

He tried to get up, but it was like he was nailed to the grass, his arms open. Then he felt the ivy writhing, lenghtening to excess, creeping on him, twisting around his forearms and wrists, covering his fingers.

Slightly turning his head he noticed that where just a second before stood the girl, now there was a long dagger thrust in the ground. And the ground was bleeding. It was getting dark and the moon had climbed in the sky, the shapes who'd haunted their past nights restlessly prowled around him. Someone far away was calling his name, again that sinuous sweet voice. The wolf appeared in front of him, teeth bared in a mute growl.

"You know what you have to do" The messenger murmured somewhere around him "The mark condemns you, but it also frees you."

"I feel tonight I'll lose my way in the woods." Blair said and shuddered because now he knew, that was the truth. His lot was marked, the wolf had arrived to him, but maybe there was still enough time to save the others. Then the animal leapt on him and when his teeth tore at his chest he couldn't but scream in horror.

DAY 7 - 5:00 pm

Jim had heard the scream coming from Blair. Shaking him vigorously, the cop exclaimed, concern evident in his voice: "Chief…come on, wake up! For God's sake, wake up!"

Blair kept struggling for awhile, then finally his eyes popped open and he tried to sit up.

"Easy, easy Blair…it's all right"

The young man was heavily panting and he seemed on the verge of a collapse. "Oh God…Jim…oh God. The witch"

"Shh…there's no witch here, you're safe."

"No. I'm not safe. I'm not safe anymore."

"Don't speak like this, everything is going to be all right."

"Yes, I know." Blair said with a forced smile. "Tomorrow you'll find the road and you'll go, tomorrow everything will be over."

Jim didn't seem to notice that Blair had excluded himself, had said you'll find the road, without including himself, Jim probably thought it must be the confusion of the moment, something due to the bad dream he'd just had.

I FEEL TONIGHT I'LL LOSE MY WAY AGAIN IN THE WOODS

Midnight, the witching hour, the hour of ghosts and the dead leaving their coffins to scare good little children. The hour of nightmares and vampires. Could there be a better hour, Blair asked himself as he watched the other sleep. I'm sorry, he whispered, I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I'm forced…I have to go.

Delicately placing an hand on Jim's forehead, careful not to wake him, the young man whispered again: "Sleep well Jim. Be strong, please…I'm so sorry"

Blair smiled, while hot tears slowly trailed down his cheeks. He went off the tent and he stood there for awhile, observing. The woods were calling him, the witch was out there, somewhere…don't keep her waiting. You never keep your destiny waiting. So he simply started walking, loosing himself among the trees while the cry of an owl echoed in the lonely night.

(I feel tonight I'll get lost in the damn woods again)

These were the words Jim found in the morning written on a sheet of paper when he awoke. Running outside I couldn't help but discover two things: Blair was no longer there and the road was a few steps from them.

FINE

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