Where Fires Dare to Burn

Chapter 09 - If You Go Down to the Woods

Luke wished there could have been some kind of ambiguity in the sound that came tearing through woods around them, but there was no mistaking it. A high-pitched, bone-chilling shriek of anguish, it echoed out through the night for several seconds before deadening to nothing. He froze, his head snapping in the direction it had come from. Just behind, Kenny and Kyan halted just as abruptly.

They waited.

Another scream came scything through the trees, shorter and tighter than the first, but no less terrifying. Luke's nerves rattled in every limb and he swallowed hard.

"What the hell was that?" Kenny blurted, eyes wide

Kyan gave him a mystified glance. "Well, what did it sound like, man?"

Luke didn't have anything to say. He just stood here trying to think.

"It sounded like somebody getting strapped to a freakin' torture rack," Kenny shot back. "What ... what do we do?"

"We call the cops, that's what we do."

"Alright, and say what? Where the hell do we even tell them that we are?" He twisted left and right, looking around desperately for some kind of landmark. "I don't think they'll find us if we just say, 'the woods'."

Luke swallowed hard. "Then we'll have to go look."

"You- wait, what?!"

"Who else is going to do anything?" he demanded, rounding on his room mate. "What if someone's hurt?"

Kyan let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, I'm pretty sure someone's hurt."

"I'd sooner stay unhurt," Kenny persisted.

"Guys?!" Luke looked from one to the other in disbelief. "No-one else is out here. We've got to do something!" He pointed back over his shoulder into the dark of the woodland. "It can't be that far."

"We should still call the cops," Kyan repeated. "If someone's really hurt out there they might need someone who can do some actual first aid. Last I checked, none of us are doctors."

"Shit." Kenny dug a hand into his hair, looking around. Then he stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, okay, just gimme a second." His movements seemed to calm as he took a moment, orienting himself. Slowly he started to nod. "Right, right, this route, it's shorter as the crow flies, but it does still run mostly parallel with the main road into Lasquette. If we can get down there-," he pointed to the woods sloping down away from them into the dark in the opposite direction from the screams, "We'll hit the road in, I dunno, five minutes. We can call from there; flag the cops down when they get here."

Luke nodded. "Alright, good. That's good. But we're not all going – we should still find whoever that is. At least if we can do that we can save the cops some time getting to them all the way out here. If they're hurt every second could count."

"Awesome. I'll be back before you know it."

"Noooo, no-no-no-no," Luke interrupted, catching him by the arm as he started to turn. "You're coming with me. Kyan, you head down – call the police and bring them up here when they meet you."

Kenny looked at him aghast. "What?! How come he's going?"

"Because, firstly, you're the one who wanted to take the shortcut and had us trekking out here. Second, he's the fastest runner." He looked to Kyan. "Maybe we'll get lucky and someone's just fallen out of a tree, but if it's something-,"

"Yeah," Kyan nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket and activating its torch. "I'll be back soon. You guys be careful, alright?"

Then he spun around and took off, long, powerful limbs launching him off in the direction. Kenny had indicated. He vanished into the dark, his phone light just visible for a brief moment, branches crunching and echoing underfoot.