Saturday afternoon, Andrew, having arrived at their rendezvous point with his packed and fully charged camera, follows Edge into Albie’s Health & Fitness recreational area. He had distantly passed this place many times in the past but had never set foot inside here until now; it’s bigger and more expansive than he imagined, with all its indoor pools and gymnasiums, as well as the intimidatingly athletic students occupying each station.
“Come on, this way.”
Motioning with a sharp turn, Edge leads him two floors up a flight of stairs to the yoga studio, or in this case, the yoga hallway. Even here, he’s got plenty of admirers showering him with a hero’s welcome – Andrew smiles along, biting back his own envy, wishing that he too can make the same impression on others like his friend.
Passing room after room, they stop in front of the fourth and peek through the door’s window to see a class of mostly girls performing their exercises on their mats.
“There.” Edge points, his finger pressing the glass. “See the goth-looking one? That’s Alice.”
Andrew frowns confusedly. “I thought her name was Raven?”
“Well, that’s her nickname.” clarifies his older friend. “It’s one of a few things that we have in common.”
“Oh, okay.”
Following his finger, he scans through the students until he spots her in the far corner, the one dressed in all black down to her sports bra, yoga pants, lipstick, and mascara. The edge of her dark hair, which is parted from the middle, hangs straight around her choker.
“Wait…” the sight of her jogs his memory, “… I’ve seen her before.”
“Have you now?”
“Yeah,” he confirms, “I see her passing by in my art building sometimes.”
“Ah, well… she’s into drama.”
“That makes a lot of sense.” Andrew turns to Edge curiously. “Is she your girl?”
“That, she is.” Holding his hips proudly, he cheekily tilts his head. “Hot, isn’t she?”
Realizing what he’s been asked, Andrew backs away from the window with his lips pursed. Edge widens his smirk, his visible teeth holding back laughter. This question feels like a trap where no answer will be the right one.
“It’s alright,” the older one encourages, “you can say it.”
“Well…” glancing at Alice through the window again, he pauses for a moment before shrugging, “… at my own risk, how can I deny it?” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he throws his head down in a chuckle, the awkwardness melting away.
“See?” Edge raises his hands delightedly. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”
“Anyway…” Andrew clears his throat while pointing over his shoulder, “… I don’t think we should stand here.”
“Yeah, I’m with you on that.”
Stepping away, the two snickering friends move to the opposite side of this room’s entrance to wait in silence, which they both know isn’t for much longer now. Andrew stands like a pillar, bouncing on his toes while drumming his bag unrhythmically. Edge, in contrast, has his back leaned against their occupied wall, his shoulders confidently sagged without a care in the world.
“Hello, boys.”
Surely enough, Alice steps out of her studio after her classmates have all shuffled away, first to seal her lips against her boyfriend’s while on her tippytoes, her arms looped tightly around his neck.
“Easy, babe,” he jokingly points to Andrew, “you’ll make him feel lonely.”
Next, she turns to his younger friend with a curious smile. “Is this, uh…?” she clicks her fingers, struggling to remember his name by the looks… then with a final snap, it hits her. “Andrew! It’s Andrew… right?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” With a smile of his own, he extends his hand, then retracts it; he isn’t sure how to really greet her, so he settles for a curt wave. “So, you’re Alice, huh?”
“Most times, it’s Raven, but yeah.” Narrowing her gaze, she raises her finger at him; even her nails are painted black. “Have I seen you before?”
Shifting his eyes between her and Edge, he answers with a raised eyebrow, “You may have… or it could have been someone who just looked similar, you never know.” He shrugs.
“Well,” she bares her pearly teeth, “it’s nice to meet you too… Andrew.”
To his surprise, Alice reaches her own hand out, eagerly awaiting his handshake. When he accepts it, her deceptive excitement nearly yanks his arm off.
“Don’t worry,” she says, “I’ll make sure you’re never left out of a conversation.”
“Okay…”
Letting him go, she fixes her bag on her shoulder. “I’ll get changed now.” And off she goes to the changing rooms while singing aloud, “See you guys in a bit!”
As soon as she’s gone, Andrew stands in amazement at how this bubbly personality contrasted with her dark and gothic appearance until his friend giddily nudges him.
“What’d I tell ya?” Edge whispers.
Having changed into something more casual, light jeans, boots, and a leather jacket, she joins hands with Edge while following the two boys out to the front entrance of their campus where the public transports, buses and taxis, would often stop. Andrew notes how her Burton-esque style juxtaposes with her boyfriend’s colourful punk-rock image while also complimenting it; they truly are a match for each other.
Further down the sidewalk, a car sits ahead of them near the curb. The front doors swing open, almost like spread wings, as two other people, a third guy and another girl, step out from their seats to greet them.
“Hey, Klaus!” Edge claps his friend’s hand before pulling him into a firm hug. “You guys got here quick, what happened?”
“Who knows or cares?” The other girl shrugs before hugging him too.
“Hey, Mariah.” Alice waves to her.
Mariah arches her eyebrows. “Wow! You actually showed up too!”
“Well…” Alice motions to Edge subtly, reminding her of their somewhat long-distance relationship, “… it’s a special occasion.”
Andrew stands apart, watching the two girls embrace, before everyone shifts their attention to him.
“This the new guy?” asks Klaus, stepping past Edge towards him.
Suddenly, the ‘new guy’ feels like he’s being put on the spot; he isn’t used to having this much interaction in a group. But with a shrug, he manages to answer, “I guess you can say that.” before shaking his hand, then Mariah’s. “Nice to meet you.”
God, that’s so lame!
No… stop overthinking it!
With all eyes on him, the introverted film student tries his damned hardest not to let his insecurities get the better of him – he’s already feeling like a late bloomer compared to these peers that he just met.
Edge must have sensed his discomfort as he ushers everyone to get in the car. “Come on, we’ll have time for this later.”
And so, everyone takes their seats in the carpool before Mariah, the one behind the wheel, drives them all out of town for their big adventure.
The drive had taken this group a few hours along a highway that winds through the wilderness like a river. Since they’re in Mariah’s car and Klaus is riding shotgun, Alice had to sit between Edge and Andrew in the back, being the smallest of the three; luckily, the car has plenty of space to avoid a tight squeeze.
Andrew faces his window, watching the trees whoosh by between his faint reflection and the distant hills in this remote area. Right now, there aren’t many cars around here. With not much else to see, he faces front for a moment, then veers left to a pair of observing eyes.
“Hey…”
“Hey.” Alice echoes him, smiling kindly. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” he answers, straightening himself. “What’s up?”
“So… filmmaking, huh?”
Shifting his eyes, Andrew nods. “Yeah.”
“Any favourite movies or shows?”
“Hmm…” Thumbing his mouth, he thinks hard, “… Breaking Bad.”
“Nice!” Klaus swivels to him with an open smile. “How far are you?”
“I’ve finished.” he says enthusiastically. “You?”
He does the Eh gesture. “I’m kind of midway, but I’m hooked as fuck!”
Andrew, in turn, puts a finger to his lips. “I won’t spoil it then.”
“Breaking Bad?” Alice interjects. “Is that the one about the meth dealing?”
“Yep!” He nods again confidently.
With her interest piqued, Andrew goes on to explain the basic summary of that show to her, careful to avoid spoiling certain parts while vaguely highlighting others.
“Sounds interesting…” says Alice, “… I’ll put it on my watchlist.”
“So, yeah… Breaking Bad is pretty much the reason I wanted to do filmmaking in the first place.” he concludes before adding, “I do a bit of sound mixing too.”
“I didn’t know that.” chimes Edge. “How often?”
“Well, whenever I have free time.” Andrew winces at his answer. “I mainly do experiments with synths, so I haven’t done any beats.” Quickly, he shifts the subject back to Alice. “But enough about me. What about you? What’s your favourite show?”
With a grin, she answers straight away, “Wednesday and Stranger Things.”
“Oh, I’ve seen those too!”
“How far?” she prods.
“I’m up to season two of Stranger Things, but I haven’t yet finished Wednesday.”
“Why not??” she frowns in mock-protest.
Now, he’s lost for words – should he tell her the truth or lie to avoid offending her?
With a light swallow, Andrew goes for honesty. “I like the characters, especially Wednesday… it’s just the story that didn’t sit with me.”
“Booo!” Alice crosses her arms, exaggerating her scowl. “You didn’t even finish, so how can you judge?”
“Fair enough.” He raises his hands defensively. “I’ll give it another try.”
“Oh, you better.” she jokingly warns. “Otherwise, we’re not friends.”
Andrew goes silent with a half-smile; he isn’t sure whether to take this joke as just a joke or read it between the lines as a veiled warning.
Alice, quickly realizing this, lays her hand on his shoulder to rectify her mistake. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
“I know, I know.” He waves reassuringly, then smirks coyly. “I was messing with you too.”
“Aw, you son of a—” She punches his arm, causing the normally quiet man to laugh heartily, the rest of the car joining in.
“Where did that come from?” Edge remarks while pointing to Andrew. “Who’s this guy?”
In truth, he’s just about wondering the same thing himself.
Why didn’t I do this a long time ago??
Once the laughter dies down, Edge changes the topic with a new question. “So, what really changed your mind about coming along?”
“Well…” Andrew stares at him, thinking carefully about his answer, then lies, “… I was morbidly curious about the forest disappearances, and since I had nothing else going on, I figured… what the hell.” He shrugs. “Nothing to lose, right?”
“Nothing except maybe our lives.” states Alice in a light matter-of-fact tone.
Edge sighs, rolling his eyes. “You’re not about to go on about that ‘Gazer’ again, are you?”
“Wait,” Andrew turns back to Alice, “you read about that too?”
“Sure, I mean…” she cocks her head with unease, “… I thought I’d do a little background research of the place we’re going to as well.”
“What do you know?” he prods.
Inhaling through her nose, she elaborates. “Apparently, the Black Forest that we’re headed to houses this ethereal creature that kills trespassers with its gaze, much like Medusa from the Greek myths.”
“Yeah, I know those.”
She continues. “It also preys on its victims by wearing their faces.”
“Shit… does anyone know what it looks like?”
“Nope,” she shakes, “because no one’s ever lived to tell the tale.” Leaning back in her seat, she then hurries to correct any assumptions. “But it’s just a story, so…” not knowing how to finish that last sentence, she trails off into awkward silence.
“I guess the UFO’s more believable, then?” suggests Andrew.
With a slight smirk, Alice nods.
“I guess…” he repeats, “… we’ll believe it when we see it.”
The group had spared a few more pit stops until they eventually reached their destination. They find what appears to be an abandoned parking lot near the edge of the Black Forest. The signs here are scratched, crooked, and tainted with rust. The arrows painted on the concrete are faded, as well as the parking squares. There are also tall patches of grass seeping through the cracks, which are riddled almost everywhere on the uneven hard surface.
Once parked, the group exits the car with their instruments, Andrew with his camera equipment, Edge with his selfie stick, Klaus with his map, and all with their backpacks, phones, and flashlights. As they stare into the wilderness, they can’t help but feel its shadows staring back through them, even in this broad daylight, which will steadily turn into dusk within a few hours.
“Are we really going in there?” The tone in Alice’s voice gives away her trepidation as she clings to her boyfriend’s arm, anchoring him from taking a step further.
The trees, much like the ones around Andrew’s home, are bundled and towering, except they’re all slanted in different directions at once, almost like they had been tampered with. Their crowns leave little room for much light to pass through, especially further in… an early passage into night that leaves the rest to their imagination.
“I’m kind of with Alice here.” Klaus waves his folded paper. “Even with my map, it’s still very easy to get lost in there.”
“Like the missing hikers.” she adds, much to their leader’s veiled annoyance.
Edge turns to his friend, a slight frown on his face. “You made sure to trace our path correctly, right? Or… whatever you call it.”
“Yes, I did,” he affirms, “but there’s so much even I can do for a location such as this.”
“You guys didn’t plan this properly, did you?” Mariah’s arms were now crossed.
“I did!” Klaus argues before aggressively opening his map to show them. “Look! I made sure to find the best official one online, trace our best path to where our UFO supposedly landed, then quadruple-checked it before printing it out, which cost me a bit of ink.”
“Fine.” she sighs with an eyeroll. “I’ll go with whatever you guys decide.”
“Come on…” Edge turns to face everyone, “… we’ll follow Klaus’ plan and stick together like glue, okay?”
They answer him with silence.
Any moment now, Andrew knows that Edge will turn to him for support. In truth, he’s just as torn as the others, but for reasons probably different to theirs. There’s a part of him that wants to turn back as well, but another side is more than eager to see this through.
Do I stick up for my friend and risk danger?
Or do I turn back to the safety of my status quo?
“Okay.” he answers, much to the surprise of his peers. “I say we go in.”
“What?” Edge has his mouth open, a slight smile forming. “You sure, mate?”
Andrew nods profusely while waving his camera bag. “We’re already here, so what the hell. I mean, do we really want to waste our trip?”
Klaus responds first. “I did spend all that ink, so… I’m pretty much owed this trek.”
This leaves only Alice.
Now the singled one out, the goth can feel all eyes on her. Biting her lip, she hangs her head for a moment, folding her arms protectively, while letting her mind do a dice roll. She exchanges glances first with Edge, then Klaus, then Mariah, then Andrew, then rounds back to Edge in a full circle before a large sigh escapes through her lips.
“I just hope you’re right about this, babe.”
Relief and understanding washes over the punk alumnus. “Alright, then!”
“Before we go…” everyone pauses to Andrew unbagging his camera, along with his mini tripod, “… why don’t we take a picture first?” He flashes them all a toothy smirk.
Edge mirrors his expression. “I’m down with that!”
As is everyone else.
And so, setting up his camera stand with a timer, Andrew makes sure to frame the group in front of the forest before rushing over to his best friend’s side for the shot. Edge hooks his arm around Andrew’s neck while his girlfriend seized his own neck on her tippytoes affectionately.
After another few seconds, the shutter clicks.
An hour had flown by since they had entered this forbidden forest. By now, the sky had relinquished its glow, leaving this group to their own devices with their flashlights. Edge, like always, leads at the front whilst documenting their journey from his selfie stick.
“So… how much further do you think this UFO is?” questions Alice while following beside him closely, her tone demanding. “Please, tell me it’s right around the corner.”
“Shouldn’t be much further now.” Klaus responds, checking his map for perhaps the hundredth time now.
She rolls her eyes. “I think you said that half an hour ago.”
“Well, excuse me.”
“Guys, come on…” Mariah intervenes to try and deescalate their brewing frustration.
Sighing impatiently, Alice falls to the back to find Andrew lagging a little behind everyone else while busily scanning the environment with his open lens for a captivating subject, as he stated prior; so far, judging by his slight scowl, he doesn’t appear to be having much success.
For Andrew, this should be the perfect setting for him, but no matter how many photographs he captures of this mysterious and fantastical environment, especially with the bluish moonlight reaching through the surrounding mist, highlighting the silhouetted trees… he still can’t find his story, no matter how creatively and efficiently he frames his shots. Giving up again, he closes the lid on his camera and drops it to his side.
“Not having much luck, huh?” Alice intrudes, finding her opening.
He huffs in annoyance, “None at all.”
“Just try not to lag behind too much, or you may end up lost.”
“Gotcha.” He nods with a half-salute.
Following beside her now, Andrew trudges in silence for nearly a minute. Moments like these, especially with a girl, would normally be awkward for him. In this case, however, it’s more serene since they had already broken the ice. Even so, he can tell that there is something on her mind and debates whether he should risk overstepping his boundaries to ask her about it or not.
For now, he settles for a safer topic. “So… do I call you Alice or Raven?”
She side-glances him with a raised eyebrow.
“I just want to know where we are,” he shrugs defensively, “that’s all.”
“You can call me whichever,” she smirks, “I don’t really care.”
“Okay… Alice, then.” Another thought crosses his mind. “Raven just reminds me too much of a certain cartoon.”
Her jaw flies open. “You mean Teen Titans!?”
“Yeah,” Andrew nods rapidly, “but in a good way!”
“Oh, my God!” Alice doubles over, wheezing. “My friends say that all the time!”
“Well, you ought to take it as a compliment. Lotta guys crush on her.”
“Oh…” she grins boldly, “… does that include you?”
He turns away biting his lip, realizing what he had set himself up for, until he decides to just shrug it off. “Guilty as charged.” he admits light-heartedly, then hurries to change the subject. “So, Edge tells me that you’re into theatrics.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah.” He pauses to clear his throat. “Drama, especially.”
“Yeah, well… I hope to make it in the entertainment industry.” She beams at him. “What I want to be is either an actor or a model.”
“A model?”
“As a means to get to acting.” she clarifies with a meek gesture.
“Nice.” is all he utters before sighing.
Another pause follows this exchange until Alice shifts the conversation back to their initial topic.
“So,” she points to his dangling camera, “what is it that you’re looking for?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.” Andrew bows his head in frustration.
“Maybe you’re just thinking too hard.” she lightly suggests.
“Yeah, maybe…”
Just then, the owls make their presence known with their distant hooting and flapping of wings, the crickets here chirping louder in response.
“Here…” with a sudden spring in her step, Alice poses her silhouette in front of a steamy bluish backlight, “… maybe this’ll help a little.”
“What are you guys doing?” Edge calls to her, pausing the group in their tracks.
“Just an impromptu photoshoot.” she answers gracefully. “What does it look like?”
“She’s just doing me a favour.” Andrew assures with haste.
Squinting into his viewfinder, he centres his ‘model’ in a full body wide shot, making sure that the higher ground she is standing on covers the first bottom-third of his frame entirely.
“This good?” she asks.
“Just a little more to the left.”
She follows his hand motion until he is satisfied.
“That’s good.” He flashes her a thumbs up. “Now… do one of your yoga poses.”
“Which one?”
“Whichever one,” he shrugs, “it doesn’t matter.”
Steadying her breaths… she gets into her first stance… then her second… then her third… then her fourth… and so on.
Andrew, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth, captures each shot of her crisp outline with finesse. Just like before, he can feel everyone’s eyes studying him, only this time, he’s more than fine with it… for once, he can feel a true sense of belonging now.
But on the last shot… something is off… he doesn’t know which part of his body senses it until his ears pick up on a sound… something slithering through grass far ahead of where he’s facing.
His finger on the shutter, acting independently, captures the image anyway.
“Okay, I think we’re done here.” the words roll out of his tongue. “I think we should—”
“May I see?” Alice inquires, skipping towards him.
“Yeah, yeah…” he speedily motions everyone over.
The group huddles behind Andrew to see his pictures.
“Shit,” he curses at his last shot, “I tilted it… and it’s off-centre too.”
“What about your other ones?” Edge prompts.
Andrew shuffles through the rest of his other pictures, all of which are better. “Clean as a whistle,” he remarks, though his scowl remains, “but that last shot would have been perfect.”
“We can try agai—”
“Hold up…” Mariah interrupts Alice, reaching over, “… can you go back to the last picture?”
“Okay…” he follows her request.
“Can you zoom in on the right?” She points to the corner of his screen. “There, behind the tree.”
“What is it?”
“J-Just… do it, okay?” Her voice is dead serious now.
It takes only a few button presses… and everyone recoils, understanding now.
“What… the fuck??” Klaus grabs the back of his standing hair.
Both girls fly their hands over their mouths, their eyes nearly bulging into hemispheres.
Edge, who remains unfazed, cranes over Andrew’s shoulder to inspect just what this thing in the picture is supposed to be. He frowns, not yet sure of what to make of it.
“Looks like… a tail.” states Andrew, squinting harder. “It’s scaly too.”
“Like… reptilian scaly?” Alice carefully loops herself around her boyfriend’s arm.
Looking even closer, he confirms with a nod. “Yeah… it does look like the tip of a serpent’s tail moving behind that tree…” he peers over his camera to the actual location, “… which is gone now.” Only now can he taste the dryness in his throat.
“Or…” Edge chimes in, “… it could just be a strewn canvas being blown across by the wind.”
“What wind, Edge??” Klaus wags a wet finger. “The air is still as glass.”
“Okay, so…”
“Chord,” Alice tugs his arm pleadingly, “I think we should turn back now.”
“Babe…” turning fully to his girlfriend now, his hand cups her cheek, “… come on, we’ll be okay.”
But she shakes from his warm touch. “I want to get out of here now!” she insists, raising her voice now. “I HATE this fucking place! I should never have agreed to come here!”
“What? Because of something you read online!?” Edge, throwing his arms wide open, begins matching her energy in annoyance.
“Don’t do that!” She waves her finger at him, pacing aggressively now.
“Don’t do what!?”
“Don’t you fucking do that!”
“Don’t fucking do what!?”
“Make me the insane one!” she screeches.
“When did I ever do that??” Turning back away, the man pinches the bridge of his nose with a loud sigh – he is in no mood for an argument.
In the meantime, Andrew exchanges an awkward glance with Klaus before they, in almost a pantomime effect, shift away from this bickering couple.
“Chord…” Alice calls him again by his real name, only a little calmer now, “… there is something wrong with this place.” She scans around herself frantically. “It’s like… it’s like we’re being watched.” Her arms, like earlier, are crossed protectively over her chest, then she gazes down solemnly.
Edge, lowering his own frustration, inches towards the girl. He places a hand on her shoulder, holding it tenderly. “Babe…” he waits for her softened glance to meet his, “… I’m sorry.” He pauses for an extra second, then continues. “I know I’m not the smartest bloke when it comes to planning everything, but…” he scrambles over what to say next, “… I wanted this to be a special occasion for us too since we rarely ever get to see each other in person.”
For a while, Alice stares at him, reading carefully into his words; she genuinely wants to trust him, but she finds it impossible to ignore her gut feeling any longer. She bats an eye to Andrew, who has his back turned while pretending to be a fly on the wall, then back to her boyfriend with a mouthless sigh.
Andrew, for once, doesn’t envy his friend having to possibly choose between his girlfriend or his group – at least that’s what it feels like this conversation is getting to. One thing he can never truly fathom is how sharp his ears become when listening in on a conversation that he has no business with, as opposed to ones that do require his focus oftentimes.
“We’ll be fine as long as we stick together…” Edge kindly lifts her chin, “… okay?”
“Promise?”
He blinks before answering, “Yeah.”
Again, Alice stares at her boyfriend with an almost blank expression, which makes everyone, especially the latter, all the more nervous.
Suddenly, there’s movement… Andrew, feeling it right beneath his feet, flinches then stumbles, almost tripping over.
“What’s up with you?” questions Klaus.
Andrew turns to him, and then to the others worriedly. “You guys didn’t feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“I don’t know… it…” he trails off, unsure himself of what that was, until he finds his words again, “… feels like… the ground shook or something.” His immediate memory recalls the rumbling sensation.
“Like an earthquake?”
“I don’t know!” he raises his voice, growing frustrated. “I just know I felt somethi—”
It happens again… this time, everyone jerks, experiencing it now for themselves.
“That!” Andrew points to the ground, feeling validated now.
“What the fuck!?” the girls shriek in unison.
As quick as it came… it went.
“What was that…?” Edge mutters, his hands floating outwards like everyone else’s – to him, it felt more like a rippling current… a shockwave.
Slowly, he begins his creep towards Andrew when an echoey rattle spins the group one-eighty degrees to its designated origin… yet nothing is there, as far as their eyes can see.
Over where they’re facing, the trees are nestled tighter than ever, their overlapping foliage obscuring the moonlight and shadowing their view of whatever presence is lurking there… somehow, they can feel its unseen gaze piercing through their bodies all at once… and despite their numbers, they feel like ants.
“Edge…” whispers Andrew into his ear, his eyes fixed to the pitch-blackness, “… what do we do?”
Edge turns his head slightly, his mouth twitching ajar – he doesn’t yet want to say the obvious. His sweaty palms tighten around his flashlight as he points it low to the ground, his knuckles bone-white, the back of his hair standing like pins and needles.
Alice is almost too petrified to move now. It’s like her entire body had crystalized, her nerves short-circuiting, her blood pulsing through her temples and eardrums ferociously.
Klaus and Mariah can feel their faces whitening, their teeth clenched behind their vacuumed lips. Their skin feels dry enough to rip like paper if they so much as twitch, move a finger joint… or even blink.
Andrew, through his own shallowing breaths, remembers his camera and raises it steadily, making sure to focus his eyes only on the screen. It doesn’t yet cross his mind to video this encounter as he resolves to take a snapshot instead; there’s just too much tension to think straight right now. With a few setting adjustments, the flash pops open. He focuses his frame on their blank point of interest, inhaling shakily, then exhaling through his flaring nostrils.
This is a bad idea…
He does it again… slower… through his creased lips this time.
Maybe so… but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Why let it go to waste?
Andrew decides, right then and now, that he is done letting opportunities slip through his fingers.
No more.
Never again.
And so, in his blind fortitude… he takes the picture.
The light from his camera, which would normally be tame, flashes with the startling intensity of a close-proximity lightning bolt – it jumps his friends out of their skin.
“The fuck are you doin—!?”
A ghoulish moan thunders out – it sounds neither animalistic nor human.
“Let’s get out of here!” Edge finally declares.
But before the group can heave a unanimous sigh of relief and turn tail, there’s a sudden whoosh from all sides of the surrounding foliage, and then a school of wings beating forcefully towards them – with little to no time to react, everyone drops to their knees to shield themselves from the forthcoming onslaught of feathers, beaks, and talons.
Andrew can see, even between his fingers, that they are being ambushed by a flock of crazed owls. Their hooting and screeching creates such a cacophony that he can’t even hear his own voice anymore, even while screaming at the top of his lungs – he can only wonder how the others, especially Edge and Alice, are faring.
His back and arms take most of the punishment, every lick, every claw, and every bite; he is only thankful for the protection provided by his thinly layered clothing.
But soon enough, the owls cease in their attack. He hears them all flying away, one after another, but dares not to open his eyes again, not until he hears the last beating of wings fade into the nightly ambience.
Carefully unfolding, he stands up from his fetal position and checks around himself, swivelling his whole body left and right – the birds are gone… but so are his friends.
Cupping his mouth, he cries out, “Edge!?”
Nothing…
“Alice!?”
No answer…
“Klaus! Mariah!”
All that echoes back to him is his own stifled voice.
“No… no, no, no, no! It can’t be.”
It’s like they had disappeared into thin air, and right then, a horrid realization dawns on the increasingly distressed young man, but he doesn’t yet want to accept it.
Ripping his phone out of his pocket, Andrew swipes through his contacts to find Edge and call him. Pressing the screen against his ear, he waits for his best friend to pick up as he did on the jetty… but of course, with little to no reception out here in the forest, his efforts and prayers are in vain. His second attempt doesn’t fare any better, nor his third.
He drops his phone, idling defeatedly – he is lost and entirely on his own now.
