way

/weɪ/

noun

a route, direction, or path

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It felt like eternity as you all were running down the dark pathway in front of you. The noises were beginning to fade away in the distance until they were fully gone, only panting being heard and soft whimpers coming from the blonde next to you. She looked extremely pale and you noticed that tears freely ran down her red cheeks, it seemed like she didn't notice as she only repeatedly glanced around her.

Eventually the pace was changed to a slight jog as everybody ended up being exhausted from the sudden exercise. Nobody dared to say a word and kept to themselves, only occasionally locking eyes with somebody else. You could make out mostly fear and sorrow in your friends eyes.

You eyed the forest surrounding you and the path left behind. What was that thing you just met a few minutes ago? It barked something about 'trials' as well, just like the notes have stated.

'It either is the one who's been after us or belongs to some group.' You pondered, trying to think of possible and logical answers to this strange situation. 'But why would it go after us in the first place?'

Gritting your teeth, your mind wandered off and you weren't paying attention. You began to slow down a little bit, until you bumped into a figure right in front of you.

You let out a gasp as you luckily kept your balance, noticing it was only Judy, who managed to get in front of you. She was shaking uncontrollably and let out a loud shriek as you accidently touched her, her eyes going wide.

''They're coming for us all!'' She cried out, tears streaming down even faster than before. She kept shaking her head, holding tightly onto her hair. ''They know our plans, they know we're walking down this path, they know everything!''

''Judy, please calm down!'' You tried to reason with her, trying to put your own shaking hand on her shoulder. But she simply slapped it away and jumped forward, a few meters away from you all. She kept staring towards your right, deep into the woods.

''They're right there, watching us! I can't do this anymore, they're going to kill us all!'' Were her last words as she sprinted into the opposite direction and into the dark woods, you reacted immediately and began following her, adrenaline pumping through your veins in an instant. You couldn't lose her in those woods; she wouldn't stand a chance on her own. Nobody would.

It didn't take long for the others to snap out of their trance either as they hurried after you both, shouting for Judy to stop. But she ignored everything and went even faster, nearly making you lose sight of her due to you tripping on roots a few times. You managed to go in the right direction however, finding her sitting on the ground near a tree. She was sobbing into her knees, holding onto them tightly.

''Judy!'' You called towards her, relief washing over you as you rushed to her side. ''Are you okay?''

She shook her head, not even sparing you a glance. She had leaves stuck in her hair and unfortunately, you spotted lots of cuts and a wound on her legs, which was bleeding profusely.

''Can you stand?'' Your eyes reflected your worries as you saw her shrug; she didn't even make an attempt.

Suddenly, you heard footsteps behind you and turned around in alarm. You couldn't make out anything at first due to the darkness as your heart began speeding up with fear, until Faye appeared from behind a dark oak tree. She let out a gasp, looking relieved to see the both of you.

''I'm so happy I found you! I thought I lost everybody.'' She whispered softly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and hugged you tightly, holding onto you. You put your arms around her as well and stayed like that for a few seconds, Faye eventually letting go. ''Sorry, I needed that.''

You simply smiled at her, but then turned your attention back to Judy, who stared into the distance. She stopped sobbing at this point.

''Oh my god, Judy, we need to treat those wounds right away!'' Faye kneeled in front of her, inspecting the bigger wound. You saw Judy flinch a few times as Faye tried to get any dirt out of the cuts. ''I doubt you can walk normally with this!''

''I-It's fine.'' Judy looked away, her voice raspy from all the crying. She tried to stand up on her own, holding onto the tree behind her for support, but had a hard time staying up due to the wound. She hissed and nearly fell back if it weren't for you and Faye helping her.

''Thanks.'' She mumbled softly, holding onto both of you. She breathed in deeply and let it out a few seconds later, trying to calm down and forget the pain. ''Can I try again?''

You were unsure, but nodded anyway. She sounded so heartbroken and hollow though, it must have been because of what happened to Andrew, if he was even still alive at this point.

Judy was able to keep standing without any help and glanced at you and Faye afterwards, a single tear slipping again.

''I-I'm sorry.'' Her lip began shivering as she stared at her now-ruined and dirty shoes. You patted her shoulder as she threw herself at Faye soon after, crying silently into her shoulder. It was silent between the three of you as Judy was being comforted.

''I saw them.'' She suddenly stated, letting go of the blue haired girl and stepping back.

You dared to ask what exactly she meant, really wanting to know, if she saw the same figures you were able to catch sight of a few times already. You kept that part to yourself however.

''I saw three figures in the woods, simply staring at us and moving in our direction. They kept coming closer, so I panicked and ran; I was in too much shock to explain. I saw all of them holding weapons, but i couldn't identify them. It was clear they desired to hurt us, just like the previous monster wanted to. If we would have stayed on the path, we would have died. They most likely knew the path as well as we did.''

You stayed silent, processing what you just heard. From what you could tell, there were four to five figures in total so far. You hoped dearly, there wouldn't be more, since the chance of survival is obviously slimmer when there are more murderers around.

''I know for a fact that Dan saw them too, '' Judy interrupted your thought process, making you raise one of your eyebrows. You stayed silent. ''Since he stopped walking and stared at them.''

Mentioning one of your friends sparked something in Faye as she gasped. ''The others got separated from us; we need to look for them!''

''You're right. We shouldn't stay in one place either as something else could find us easier.'' You agreed to her statement, proceeding to examine everything around you and find a direction to go to that hopefully will lead to a busy street or at least another cabin with electricity. ''Can you walk Judy?''

She bit down on her lip, but nodded.

The three of you chose a random direction, besides the one you came from, and began to travel there. Sadly, Judy was only able to limp, that's why you had to be slow. At least that gave you the chance to observe the area carefully: Currently, you were literally in the middle of the woods, no path anywhere. Everything was eerily dark and your sight in front of you was extremely limited, to make matters worse, it was really quiet as well. It was as if not a single wild animal lived here at all. The only ones to make a sound was your group, stepping on twigs and leaves. It made you a bit paranoid to be honest; making you think somebody was following you. The feeling of being watched haven't left you either.

It felt like hours have passed and the only thing you saw were a huge amount of trees. On one hand you were glad; your group didn't run in any of those murderers yet. On the other hand it made you anxious, what about the others? Were they alright and together or was somebody all alone right now?

Just the thought alone made shivers run down your spine. You didn't want to imagine how it felt like being completely lost.

''Do you hear that?'' Faye's voice was so quiet, you barely heard her. You stopped dead in your tracks, along with Judy and simply listened. You were about to ask what she meant, when you heard the sound of water flowing nearby.

You didn't waste any more time and made your way towards the sound, being followed by the other two. You couldn't believe what you found.

It was a small stream, simply going through the woods. It sparkled slightly in the moon light and you smiled. ''We can clean your wounds now.''

Faye nodded in agreement and forced the blonde to sit down on a big enough stone near the water and proceeded to clean the cuts carefully. Judy let out a gasp at the cold water, but didn't move away.

''We need to wrap it as well, otherwise more dirt could get in and you'll end up with an infection.''

Judy stared into your direction and gave you a skeptical look. ''How? We don't have any bandages around.''

You didn't reply back and got out your Swiss pocket knife, choosing the sharpest blade and sat down on the damp forest ground. You surprisingly were the only one with actual long jeans; both of the girls had either shorts or a skirt on. Letting out a soft sigh, those were your favorite jeans sadly; you steadily began to cut off the ends of both legs and created big stripes to cover Judy's whole wound.

''Here.'' You handed Faye the two stripes after finishing and put away your weapon. She thanked you and tied the cloths around the wound.

''There, all done! I think the smaller cuts shouldn't be a problem.''

Judy stood up with no problem and moved a little bit, her walking improved for sure. You crossed your arms and glanced around. Should you risk staying near the stream or keep moving? After all it was drinkable water and could be useful for survival.

''I know what you're thinking (Y/N). I'm not staying near here.'' Judy exclaimed, making your eyes widen a little bit. How did she know?

You were about to argue with another argument, but were stopped by Faye, who tried to find a fitting compromise. ''Why don't we walk by the stream? It should lead us to a lake and I'm sure there will be a path we can walk on from there. If we're lucky, we'll even meet the others.''

''Fine, but if we die, it's your fault!'' Judy turned to the right, beginning to walk by the stream. She stopped limping, but still hissed painfully from time to time. You shrugged and started trudging forward with Faye close by.

The soft splashing and flowing of the water engulfed you, making you relax slightly as you walked. At the moment it was actually enjoyable. If it weren't for the fact that psycho- or sociopaths were in those woods with you, you could perhaps fall asleep around here. But the atmosphere didn't change and kept your body and soul on edge all the way, if you had to, you would bolt or, in emergencies, fight.

You let out a low curse under your breath as you noticed where the water had lead you, instead of a lake near any cabins around here you were standing by a small pond, which was surrounded by more trees. No exit in sight at all.

''I...I really thought it would lead us to a lake.'' Faye said breathlessly, sounding defeated. She looked away, not daring to look into your eyes. She clearly felt hopeless.

''Faye, don't worry about it. We'll find an exit soon enough.'' You tried to encourage her, patting her on the back and looking around. To your surprise you spotted something in the depth of the darkness. It wasn't a figure, that's for sure.

Your curiosity got the better of you and you made your way towards it, gradually beginning to see an outline of a really small, but old looking cabin. It was clear that nobody lived here and that it has seen better days, since nature already started spreading on it. The outside walls, which were made out of wood, were covered in moss and other plants. But it still looked steady enough to go inside, from what you could make out.

You called your friends over, being sure that this small cabin could provide you cover for the time being. ''We should check it out.''

They hesitated, simply staring at it, but finally were convinced enough to look at the inside. It didn't take long to reach the old door, which creaked as you opened it, making all of you cringe. You weren't really astonished when the interior looked really similar to what you already saw outside. Nature took over the whole building, the only things that weren't heavily coated was a small bed in the corner and a few chairs standing around.

''Want to relax for a little bit until we have to keep going?'' You dared to ask. You really wanted to have a small break, without feeling like stopping was going to get you killed for good.

''We should, for a little while. I think we all need it.'' Faye nodded in your direction, smiling a little. Judy didn't have much of a choice, so she simply agreed as well, already claiming the small bed as hers. She rested her injured leg on it. You sat down on one of the chairs and let out a soft breath, leaning back against the backrest.

Faye soon joined you at the table, sitting down in the other seat. You closed your eyes for a short while, letting your arms hang down at the side. You didn't want to admit it, but you were exhausted. You noticed as soon as you sat down to be honest.

You really wished you could take a nap, but there wasn't any time for that.

After a short silence, you heard soft snoring and glanced behind you. Judy actually fell asleep on the bed, you weren't sure how to react and turned to Faye, who simply smiled and told you to let her sleep.

''You can sleep too, if you want to. I can keep watch.''

You stared at her, being a bit speechless. ''Are you sure?'' She simply chuckled softly and nodded, telling you to go ahead. She even promised you to wake the both of you as soon as she heard something.

You didn't want to argue and risk anybody hearing you, so you placed your arms on the table and laid your head on it. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but you'd have to manage for now. It didn't take long for you to drift off and fall asleep completely.

Until a sudden bang interrupted the calm atmosphere your group managed to create. You let out a yelp and heard Judy whimper in the corner, she clearly got woken up as well but held back her scream.

You stared intensely at the wooden door, slowly reaching for your pocket knife and getting up. The noises continued and a few grunts were heard as well, it sounded like a man for sure. That's when the door creaked open in an agonizingly slow pace.

You didn't dare move even a single muscle, until you saw what has caused the noise just seconds ago. You heard another groan and your eyes widened.

''No way.'' You breathed out.