There is a noteworthy change in the air once Andrew enters the Wood residence after his companion, Alice, and their newly acquainted host, Sarah Wood. Not only can he smell it—the perfumed oak fragrance—but he can almost taste its cushioning warmth with the hair of his moist skin. But as mentioned before, it’s due to his blindness that his imagination can only grasp what Alice can absorb with her own two eyes.
The walls of this house, all painted in ivory, display a collection of frames that each share a piece of this small family’s history, many containing photos of a peculiar young woman who once lived here with her mother—Savannah Wood, the same girl whose face had been plastered on all those missing posters forever ago. It chills Alice to the bone seeing the life she once had, making it all the more personal.
“Would you two like anything?” asks the lady. “Some tea, perhaps?”
“Um…” Alice hesitates for a second, “… sure.”
“And you?”
Andrew nods along. “Anything will do,” he answers. “Thank you.”
With careful consideration, Sarah leads them into the living room where she sits them down on one of her sofas encompassing her coffee table before heading off into her kitchen to begin her hospitable duties.
“So far so good,” prattles Andrew from the corner of his mouth.
His friend concurs with a smirk. “I guess I owe you for that.”
This earns her a snort. “Maybe…” he murmurs with a light shrug before turning his attention upwards; there’s something jingling faintly above. “Hey, Alice…”
“Yeah?”
“… you mind telling me what this chandelier looks like, if I’m guessing correctly?”
Puzzled at first, the goth-looking woman follows where his finger is pointing to indeed see a chandelier hanging from that ceiling, which amazes her. “How can you tell what’s where?” she questions him eagerly.
With comical steadiness, the blind man pivots his head towards Alice, a cheeky grin stretching across his face, dimpling his cheeks. “Because I’m Daredevil.”
Alice scoffs while rolling her eyes. “I’m serious.”
“Well… it’s got something to do with dead reckoning,” Andrew finally answers. “Basically, it’s like when your eyes adjust to the darkness long enough, and you start to see everything.” He gestures to one of his ears. “Except in my case, it’s hearing.”
“Okay…” Alice nods slowly, half-understanding.
“That’s also how I’ve been taking my photos as of late,” he elaborates while gazing around the room again, his eyes functioning like a useless magnet, “even if it ain’t the most efficient method.”
“No, that’s…” the girl stammers, “… that’s awesome, actually.”
Andrew raises an eyebrow curiously. “You think so?”
“Yeah.” She nods again, this time with genuine enthusiasm.
“Well…” he lets out a sigh while patting his lap, “… you’re one of the few.” Afterwards, he returns his attention to the ceiling. “You still haven’t told me what it looks like, though,” he smugly reminds her. “The chandelier, I mean.”
“Okay, okay…” leaning in, she examines the hanging décor thoroughly, “… well, it’s made mostly of glass, if that helps.” It was her best try…
“Good enough.”
“And it’s reasonably small for this room… so there’s also that,” she adds.
Andrew hums in acknowledgement before adding himself, “I’ll also assume that there’s a small TV sitting across the coffee table in front of us…?”
“Not as small or antique as you might be picturing right now…” Alice resolves for him, “… but yes.” She glances away shortly, taken aback by their animated exchange about a simple chandelier and an older model flatscreen—this ‘introvert’ is a better conversationalist than he realizes, she feels.
Suddenly, a roll of thunder brews from outside—something akin to a low growl. Following this, rain starts pelting the roof, starting off as light trickles before crescendoing into a full-blown shower in no time—the storm had finally materialized.
“Looks like you two will be in here for a while,” states Sarah with an audible sigh from the kitchen. “May as well make yourselves at home.”
Thanks to the rain, its ceaseless rattling makes it difficult for Andrew to hear anything within his immediate surroundings now… though not impossible, as he finds soon enough. He can still make out the subtle movements of his peers at the very least, but not much more.
Just then, a cheery, high-pitched voice squeals from that same kitchen. “Helloooo, Capa!” coos the lady to an unseen visitor. “Are you finally back to take shelter from the rain?” Her tone is dainty and childlike, like she’s talking to a pet.
Andrew guesses the animal: “You have a cat?”
“I do,” she answers proudly before bringing the tray out to them, carefully measuring each step to avoid tripping over her friendly feline. “Now, you be nice to our guests… okay?”
The cat meows before wagging itself dry.
“Sharp one, aren’t you?” she says to Andrew.
He shrugs half-heartedly.
“Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite,” she quickly reassures, setting the tray on their table before lowering herself onto an adjacent couch with her own steaming cup in hand, blowing it gently. “Please,” she urges, “help yourselves.”
Alice, picking up her own saucer, begins sipping out of her tea with no problem.
Andrew, however, ends up having to bend forward with his hand outstretched, his fingers fluttering like insect antennae, as he tries warily to reach for his cup; the last thing he wants is to knock it over and spill its hot contents all over the fine carpet.
“Oh, how thoughtless of—”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” He motions to Sarah, pausing the lady before she can stand up to assist him. “I got this…” He returns his concentration, his tongue sticking out, until his fingertips, assisted by the steam, meet the rim of his teacup before feeling their way down to grab its handle finally. “There we go!”
“Well done,” she commends. “I suppose you’ve gotten used to this?”
“Only starting to…” Andrew clarifies, “… at least until my surgery soon.”
“That’s good.”
After getting a good sip of his own tea, Andrew sets the drink back on the coffee table, relieved—but right after, Capa, for whatever reason, hops up next to the young man, startling him, before she nestles in his lap comfortably, as evidenced by her loud, rhythmic purring.
“She seems to like you,” giggles Sarah. “That doesn’t happen often.”
Alice, while witnessing this display of affection next to her, crosses her arms with a visibly jealous pout. “Lucky you,” she drones with a roll of her eyes.
Once everyone is settled, the storm eases a little, allowing for better listening as the lady begins their heavy discussion. “I’ll be very frank…” she starts off, “… I could just be wasting your time since I may not have any useful information about the Black Forest that your friend went missing in.”
“It’s fine,” Alice assures, her tone softening. “You can just tell us anything.”
“Anything, huh?” With a long pause, Sarah finishes her tea before tabling it. “I suppose…” she inhales shakily, eyes glistening, “… I’ll start with the day that my daughter, Savannah, vanished from our lives.”
Her guests stiffen attentively, both holding their breaths.
“Eight years ago, she had her whole life mapped ahead of her. She wanted to be an entrepreneur.” She chuckles silently, lowering her gaze. “Then one day, a couple of weeks before she was set to move out, Savannah wanted to take me out for a hike… just like we used to when she was a kid.” Her eyes turn pink, twitching now, while a lump in her throat bounces feverishly. “We weren’t aware…”
Alice, along with Andrew, understands right away as she tries withholding her own tears—the rest of her story writes itself. Andrew, noticing this, floats his hand towards her, wanting to comfort his friend, only to recoil it prematurely.
“She really wanted to bring me along, but… me being the old crone I was, I made the excuse that I was too ‘old and tired’ to go with her. And since I didn’t want to spoil her trip, I…” Sarah hitches, wet streams cascading down her cheeks, “… I t-told her she could… g-go on her own.” At long last… she breaks into a hefty sob. “I s-spent… eight years… wishing I could g-go back…”
“Hey, it’s okay!” Alice leaps out to embrace her, sharing this older woman’s grief while caressing her smoothly. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers in her ear.
Andrew remains seated, observing them wordlessly—his mind too wants to offer condolences that his mouth can’t seem to articulate at this moment.
“It’s okay,” replies Sarah, releasing the girl to wipe her own face. “I needed this.” With a trembling smile, she composes herself. “Thank you, dear.”
Alice returns to Andrew’s side, allowing the woman to continue.
“After she went missing, the local authorities got involved until her case ran cold after several months.” Her mouth narrows into a thin line, the rain punctuating her lengthy silence. “And after that, the world just… moved on callously.”
This last statement triggers an arctic discomfort in Alice’s chest, which swirls into a deep sickness in the pit of her stomach—this isn’t what she had hoped to hear.
“Every anniversary since, I’ve visited that same site just to pray for her. Sometimes, I would even try talking to her…” Sarah’s soft expression, right then and there, sours into a scowl, “… but other times… I could swear I even heard back from her once.”
Alice, as well as Andrew, perks to that detail. “How so?” she demands.
“Yeah, I mean…” the young man stutters before adding, “… what do you mean by that exactly?” he tries to sound polite while hiding his bubbling agitation.
Sarah ponders, squinting. “I don’t know how to explain it, but…” she winces hard, “… it sounds like her voice but isn’t, if that makes any sense.”
Alice contorts with confusion while Andrew bites his tongue, stone-faced-he vividly recalls that time in the forest himself, cornered helplessly as he heard the agonized moans of his best friend, Edge, right after that creature… did whatever it did to him.
It then begs the question: could he still be… ‘alive’?
And if so… what kind of grotesque shape could he possibly be in?
Shuddering tightly, he banishes the thought to avoid getting nauseous—it’s unlikely anyway.
This subtle motion, however, doesn’t go unnoticed, especially by his goth friend. “You alright?” she asks worriedly.
“Huh? Oh, yeah… uh, I’m fine.”
But as usual, she persists. “You sure?”
He latches for an excuse. “Yeah, it’s just… your cat’s getting awfully comfortable with me.” He snickers to Sarah, trying to sound convincing. “Not that I’m complaining!”
The grieving mother manages a sad smile. “Capa here spends most of her time away from the house, probably looking for Savannah too,” she explains. “We’ve had her for about nine years now. She would just come in, eat, then sleep on her ‘mom’s’ old bed for a few hours.” Her voice becomes dry as she spares a glance at one of her family photos, particularly of one that has her daughter posing with Capa. “It’s probably her own way of grieving.”
Absorbing all this, Andrew slouches against the cushion behind him, secretly hoping that this meeting will soon end—he can only take so much of this woman’s grief before it deflates him entirely. He can only imagine what kind of turmoil would have shaped his father had he not made it out of the Black Forest himself.
“There’s… something else I’d like to share,” continues Sarah with great consideration. “It’s… going to sound crazy…”
“We’re in the same boat,” Alice points out, “so I’ll take anything.”
“Okay, then.” Straightening herself, the lady inhales while seizing her knees. “A while back, I… decided to do a little research of my own… about the Black Forest’s history.”
“What did you find?” Alice leans in eagerly.
The older woman hesitates before she declares, “Something that sounds like folklore.” She pauses to take another steady breath. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it.”
“What?”
“The Gazer…” she finally answers.
A stomach-churning pulse—it hits the young visitors like a freight train, or even a tidal wave. The mere utterance of that cursed creature especially causes Andrew to short-circuit momentarily—even in its absence, its terrifying presence still looms.
“Yeah, I read about it too,” states Alice before asking, “You think it’s real?”
Again, Sarah struggles to find the right words. “I believe… that there is a connection to all these disappearances that anyone has yet to consider.”
By now, Andrew begins tuning out the conversation while getting pestered and screamed at by his traumatic memories and mental manifestations of that very night—they are practically begging to be let out.
Should I tell them…?
There is a part of him that wants to, against his better judgement. First, there’s his confidentiality with the PRSD, despite their growing tensions recently. But this grieving woman, Sarah Wood—doesn’t she deserve the truth, or at least some form of closure? And then there is Alice—can he trust her with this kind of information?
Sure, he might be getting along well with her…
… but then again, he also got along with Klaus and Mariah before they let him down easy—is it worth the risk? What can—
“OW!!”
Out of the blue, a stabbing, scraping pain shoots through the young man’s arm, causing him to shriek and thrash uncontrollably—something is attacking him…
… the cat.
Capa—this same cat who had supposedly been adoring him—now has her claws and fangs bared at him, hissing carnivorously as she continuously swipes at him, drawing fresh cuts from his clothes and exposed skin.
“CAPA!!” screams her owner, shooting out of her chair furiously. “NO!! GET OFF HIM, RIGHT NOW!!” Sarah, along with a shellshocked Alice, rush over to wrestle the crazed feline away from the poor man. “W-WHAT HAS… GOTTEN INTO YOU!?!?”
Andrew’s hands, with all their strength, feel useless against this feral animal—one careless move, and she could either claw out his eyes or sever his jugular.
Alice, amidst the struggle, catches a quick glimpse of the cat’s eyes—they have turned a shade redder than blood, its pupils thinner than slits.
But wait… weren’t they just hazel before…??
“The f-fuck…??” she cusses mutely.
In a matter of seconds, Sarah manages to peel her cat off of Andrew, holding her by the scruff of her neck with scandalized fury. “BAD GIRL!!” scolds the lady. “YOU DO NOT TREAT OUR GUESTS LIKE THA—!”
She halts mid-sentence, seeing it too for herself—the crimson eyes.
With mad haste, Sarah hurries off to toss her now-unrecognizable pet into a separate room— Savannah’s room—before yanking the door shut, sealing her inside.
“I am so, so sorry!” she cries before stumbling back over to check on Andrew’s injuries. “Come here, let me— oh, my goodness!”
His face and neck are now vandalized with intertwining claw marks.
“I don’t know what happened…” stammers the lady, “… she’s never done that before in her life!” she insists.
Alice, while holding her friend steady, decides to interject, “I don’t think that was her…”
“Come on,” Sarah ushers the nervous young man along. “Let’s patch you up.”
Meanwhile, the muffled growling persists from inside the room, sounding like a revving buzzsaw—a protest… or a threat?
After leading Andrew into her kitchen, Sarah retrieves a first aid kit from one of her cabinets while Alice guides him to the sink, helping him wash his injuries thoroughly, before sitting him down at the dining table.
“Good thing she didn’t claw out my eyes,” quips Andrew in a meek attempt to lighten the mood… except he receives no laughter… not even a slight smile.
Shutting up, he allows the lady to begin treatment, first by disinfecting all his wounds—which stings just as painfully, if not more—then by patching him up with band-aids and bandages. He thankfully required no stitches.
“All better now?” she asks warmly.
Andrew nods to their host, smiling gratefully.
Despite this, there is a coldness that lingers in the air… and it has nothing to do with the drab weather outside. For Alice in particular, there is a clear elephant in the room that has to be addressed—she knows they both saw it.
“What’s wrong with your cat’s eyes?” she begins while eyeballing her.
“What do you mean?” Sarah responds, shaking her head while gazing down.
“We both saw it, Sarah… they turned red.”
“Wait!” Andrew flinches, his spider-senses going off. “R-Red…?”
“I don’t know what I saw…” she interjects nervously, her eyes shifting.
Alice glares doubtfully, reading her body language too well. “Are you sure about that?” the girl questions daringly, readying for a reaction.
With a jolt, Sarah snaps an alarmed glare at the younger woman, her lips parting but no words coming out. She blinks fast, one time too many. “Yes,” she grumbles.
But even Andrew can ‘see’ through this demeanour—she’s hiding something.
He decides right then to join the interrogation. “Is there anything else you know about the Gazer?” he asks calmly. “Just anything else you’ve researched?”
With a deep sigh, she leans back, glancing away while pondering for maybe a minute until she gives in. “There is one thing…” she suggests solemnly, “… according to some sources, it can possess animals remotely.”
Alice frowns incredulously. “Like… a bird… or a cat or…?”
“An owl…”
A paling realization triggers the back of Andrew’s hair to stand like wires.
The owl at his house…
… the crimson eyes…
… it had been watching him all along.
“It’s still after me…” he whispers involuntarily— is it because I got away?
“What was that?” questions Sarah, arching the most crooked eyebrow at him.
“Huh?” Andrew flinches before realizing what he unwittingly said aloud. “Uh, nothing…” he lies through his teeth, clearing his throat awkwardly.
But this fools no one.
“What is still after you, Andrew?” demands Alice, turning the tables on him now.
Oh, shit…
“Wait a damn second…” almost mechanically, Sarah rises out of her chair, her gaze locked and shadow looming over the now-timid blind man, “… you saw it, didn’t you?” she deduces. “When you were in the forest…”
Oh, fuck…
Again, he tries to act dumb. “I d-don’t know what you—”
But Sarah wags a finger, wanting none of it. “Andrew… if there is something, anything you know about that creature in the forest… you need to tell me!”
“I-I…” he stammers anxiously, “… I can’t.”
“Why the hell not!?”
“I j-just… I just can’t, I’m sorry.”
Feeling cornered now, Andrew leaps up from his chair, grasping his cane tightly as he attempts to make a hurried exit— I shouldn’t have come here, he concludes. He knows that if he says anything more to this woman, especially in front of Alice, he’ll truly risk breaching his confidentiality with the Port Rhapsody Sheriff’s Department… which isn’t to say that he hasn’t done critical damage already with that Freudian slip.
But Sarah, desperate as ever now, chases after him… even going as far as to snatch his camera bag before he can grab it from one of the living room sofas where he left it, and each time he or Alice tries to reach for it, she wrestles it further away.
“Can you please give me my camera, Miss?” demands Andrew before adding, “It’s not even mine. It was lent to me.”
“No!” she asserts, her voice quivering again. “Not until you tell me everything!”
“There is NOTHING ELSE I know of!” Andrew insists, still trying to retrieve his bag without knocking or tripping over anything. “I swear!”
“Oh, please!” The lady, still relentless, shakes her head. “Anyone who says, ‘I swear’ is usually lying!” Despite her age and smaller stature, her strength while using just her forearm to blockade Andrew is quite considerable.
But alas, during this distraction, Alice manages to circle behind the grief-stricken woman and snatch back Andrew’s camera before slinging it around her own shoulder. “Let’s go,” she declares to her friend.
As soon as she has her other arm looped around Andrew’s, she rushes him towards the door while Sarah Wood, at her wits end, screams after them. “RUN OFF, THEN!” Her face reddens with anguish. “I GUESS YOU TWO GOT WHAT YOU WANTED OUT OF ME, SO GO!”
Alice tries with all her might to ignore the nagging guilt in her heart… but she finds the words of this grieving woman all too true.
“DO EITHER OF YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THOSE YEARS WERE LIKE!?!? YEARS SPENT SCRAPING EVERY BOTTOM OF THE BARREL FOR ANSW—”
Ding-dong.
“—oh, what now!?”
All heads whip to the front of the house—someone else is out there, just visible through the partially obscuring blinds. Andrew, however, can’t listen for any clues due to the lingering storm—all he can do is guess.
“Who is it?” he asks one of the women.
Sarah, with a huff, brushes between her two ‘guests’ to answer her door. When she opens it, a familiar voice greets the young man, which puts his heart in a suffocating chokehold…
“Good afternoon, Andrew.”
… it’s Carol.
His breath hitches. “O-Officer Carol…?”
Without pause, she motions him with her finger. “Outside, now!”
“Wait a sec…” Alice, who is confused, scans this blonde woman before recognizing her as well—she’s in her civilian clothes today: a raincoat, jeans, and turtleneck sweater. “That car… were you following us??”
Carol ignores the girl while marching out with her terrified friend.
“Officer,” he stutters frantically, “I can explain—”
“No need,” she cuts him off. “I heard everything I needed to hear through the door.”
“If you can just—”
At the gate, she spins him around, gripping both his arms firmly. “Do you have any idea what happens when you breach a confidentiality agreement with us??”
“I didn’t tell her anything!” he argues… half-believing himself.
“Oh, reeeally??” The officer leans back, comically flabbergasted, without giving the boy a second to breathe. “Then explain to me what you were doing here.” She holds her hips, arching forward. “Go on…”
Andrew stands tongue-tied until Alice trudges up beside him. “Trying to do your job!” she states to the woman boldly. “Or is that illegal too?”
The officer, now irate, points her finger to the girl. “This does NOT concern you! And you…” she seizes Andrew again, “… get in my car, now!”
“No!” His courage returns as he pulls away from her. “What for?”
Carol eyes him incredulously. “What for??”
“Am I being arrested… ‘Officer’?” he inquires, crossing his arms now.
Her mouth hangs agape as she hesitates to answer, “No, but—”
“Then why should I get into your car?”
“Because you were supposed to keep your mouth shut!” She grabs him again by the wrist, only to be met with more resistance. “You agreed to a non-disclosure agreement until further notice… remember!?”
But with his father’s words echoing through his head, “Remember your rights, son,” the young man remains steadfast in defending himself. “Did I sign anything?” he questions bluntly, silencing her now.
With a grimacing inhale, Carol inches closer to him. “Listen here, ‘Sunshine’…” she glares into his clouded eyes intensely, “… despite what you might think, I am on your side, but your decisions as of late are making it very difficult for me.”
“How?” Andrew challenges, annoying her even further.
While giving Alice a side-glance, she shifts him further from earshot before whispering into his ear, “Because your actions can have unintended consequences. This investigation is hard enough as it is without outside interference.”
“But—”
“Shut up for a second,” she commands before softening her tone. “I know you’re dealing with a lot, Andrew… but for us, you need to play it smart. I know what Edge means to you, which is why I don’t ask for anything more than your patience.”
Her stern words succeed in subduing the young man as he relaxes shortly. “I just want this shit to be over,” he comments wearily.
“I know,” acknowledges the Officer, patting him now.
“With that said…” he turns his head to her, “… I’m still not getting into your car. Not unless you arrest me.”
With a heavy sigh, she releases him. While it’s true that this young man may have broken their non-disclosure agreement, it was only a verbal non-disclosure agreement that he agreed to—without any legal papers signed, she isn’t liable to detain him anyway. Smart little shit.
“I’ll still make sure you get back to town, though,” she asserts finally. “You and your friend here.” She points back to Alice. “So, no more funny games… alright?”
“Fine,” he exhales before realizing how soaked he is. “Do you at least have a towel?” he requests idly.
To this, the woman shrugs with a vain, “Sorry.”
For forty straight minutes, the drive back had been nothing short of an awkward crawl with the sky getting darker, the storm prolonging its welcome, and a deputy sheriff gleaming her headlights in their rear-view mirrors, following them closely as she had so stubbornly promised.
Worse… Andrew hadn’t said much of anything to Alice after what had transpired, nor her to him, during that whole stretch of time, which persists even now with their damp clothes stinking the air—this pregnant silence, he finds more deafening than the rain pelting the girl’s windscreen.
“Sorry for not bringing an umbrella,” says Alice dolefully, breaking the silence.
He waves her off. “Nah, you’re good.”
But this brief exchange does little to ease their tension—there are just too many questions hanging over their heads now.
Any moment now, Andrew feels that his friend could pull over to squeeze every ounce of information out of him, just like that poor woman tried to earlier—then again, why would she need to stop the car for that? She’s either restraining herself or biding her time, maybe gathering her thoughts first.
From Alice’s end, she tries hard to keep her focus lasered ahead… but this slippery road feels like an endless loop, especially with the limited visibility and enclosing forest tightening its grip around them.
Suddenly, Andrew’s hearing detects an alarming noise from farther ahead… a timbering creak, followed by an earth-shattering thud.
“Stop the car!” he shouts to Alice, grabbing her shoulder.
“W-Wha— why!?”
“Just do it!” his voice cracks out.
Alice, reacting to this sharp command, floors the brake while screaming. Her tires screech against the wet concrete, swaying their hunk of metal left and right before skidding it to a consummate stop… just mere inches from a fallen tree in the middle of the road, barricading them.
“Ho-Holy sh-shit…” she blurts out, her heart pumping into overdrive.
“Wh-What… is it?” asks Andrew, equally breathless.
“A tree,” she confirms for him, steadier now.
While waiting to regain control of his own lungs, he faintly hears the other car pull up behind them before its ignition shuts off, its lingering headlights cutting through the rainy darkness.
Carol emerges, carrying a flashlight of her own, her boots squelching raucously, as she approaches Andrew’s side to gently tap his window until he winds it open a little.
“Just wait here while I deal with this!” instructs the officer loudly.
“Okay,” he responds, flailing his hands casually.
As she heads off to inspect the obstruction, Andrew finds the lever that bends his seat and leans it back into a reclined position—since they’ll be here for a while, he may as well take this time to relax. Alice, inspired by this idea, sets her car to park before laying back herself to match him.
“Rough day, huh?” she says modestly.
Andrew nods in agreement, smiling at last. “You must have a lot of questions,” he points out.
“Is it that obvious?”
He nods once more. “Your silence was deafening, as they say.”
“I suppose… but it’s not like you can answer them, can you?”
“True,” he answers while bouncing his thumbs together, then changes the subject. “What’s Officer Carol doing?”
Alice raises her head to check over her dashboard before lowering it again. “Calling for road safety, by the looks—”
Faster than anyone can blink, Andrew shoots upright, swivelling his head one-eighty when he hears another tumbling crash… this time from a fair distance behind them.
“What is it now!?” cries Alice, nervous yet again from his kneejerk reaction.
“Just heard anoth—”
And then, there is a moan… neither human nor animalistic—the kind of sound that puts his skeleton in a refrigerating chokehold.
“No…” his throat clenches—there is no mistaking that sound…
“What is it!?”
As his friend tries anxiously to shake a response out of him, she checks the front of her car again to see the female officer unholstering a handgun, the whites of her eyes boldened on her visibly paling face—with no way forward nor back, all three of them are now trapped.
Carol’s muffled voice screams, “STAY INSIDE THE CAR!!”
A dizzying, suffocating sensation, right then and there, begins to overcome Andrew. For whatever reason now, he finds himself unable to control his own breathing—it’s like his lungs are getting strangled... or worked against their will. The world feels as if it’s spinning like a propeller, trying to throw him off balance, while simultaneously closing in on him.
It’s getting closer… its hulking mass slithering through the wilderness towards them.
Alice, witnessing her friend hyperventilating, wraps both her arms around the shivering man in an attempt to soothe him—it’s like trying to contain an energy ball.
“H-Hey… hey, hey, hey! Come on…” she tries brushing him while softening her voice as much as she can, but it does little to help. “Come on, Andrew… what’s the matter? Talk to me…”
He answers dimly… but too quietly for the girl to hear.
“What?” she prompts him, waiting patiently for him to repeat what he said.
“It’s here…”
