It was the middle of the night, the 21st of September 2017. My family was sleeping. I was awoken by our cat, mushroom, jumping on my bed.

"hey little guy, are you hungry? " I ask him.

"miaow" he says urgently.

"tough, you need to go outside." I tell him.

I pick the cat up, and start to walk downstairs with him in my arms. I get into the kitchen and place him down for a second while I open the door. I then put some shoes on and pick him up while walking outside. I them place him down by the bush and wait for him to pee. He doesn't and suddenly a smell hits my face.

Smoke.

*Luke's P.O.V*
I am awoken to the sound of a door closing. The first thing I hear is.
"Luke! You've been asleep for ages you missed breakfast!" Liam exclaim
"Hmm?" I mumbles sleepily.
"I said, you've missed breakfast. That's how long you where asleep"
"Aww. But I'm hungry." I reply sleepily.
"Here, have some toast I brought up for you.
I mumble a thanks before eating the toast. I tell Liam that I'm going to get changed, before grabbing some clothes and a towel and matching into the bathroom. I take a quick shower and get changed into a black hoodie and some jeans, before brushing my hair and teeth and exiting the bathroom. I see Liam placing his phone on the table.
"Sleep well?" He asks me.
"Not really" I reply.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asks.
"Nope" I say.
"Ok"
"Well I'm gonna take a walk." I say before walking out the door.

I walk down the hall and into the school grounds. I see that there is a woods in the distance, and decide to go over there. Once I get there I realise that this must be a regular hangout place for the other kids, as I see that people have started small fires in the trees, creating blackened edges as I walk past, I see litter and stuff covering the floor.

I sigh to myself. People these days have absolutely no respect for the environment.

I walk deeper into the woods, and realise that the further in I go, the less used it looks. The trees haven't been burnt anymore, and the rubbish is next to nothing.

I wonder to myself if there is a reason other than the fact that most people are afraid of woods because of the amount of horror stories based around them.

I wander further into the woods, and suddenly a putrid stench hits my nose. I double over in shock at the smell. I follow the smell, until it becomes unbearable. I pinpoint the source to be coming from under a bush, I lift the dark green leaves up, and clasp a hand over my mouth to prevent me from screaming.

There, in the bush, was a rotten decaying hand.

I turn around and run. I run as fast as my legs will carry me. Past students giving me weird looks as I scramble out of the woods, a hand clasped over my mouth and a hand clenching my stomach. I wonder if I should tell Liam about this. I haven't know him long, but I think he would like the idea of a mystery. But first, to alert the teachers.

I run straight past the door and into the main reception, ignoring the shouts I get from passing students.

I slam open the door.

"Excuse me? Why are you here?" Th reception lady asked.

"Hand.... rotten.... in woods.... decaying..." I wheezed.

"I beg your pardon?" She asks me.

"I saw.... A hand.... In woods. T'was putrid." I say in between pants. 

"Calm down. I still don't know what your saying. Calm down first and then tell me" she said politely 

About a minute later of catching my breath, I tell her what happened. 

"I was exploring the school grounds, when I came across this woods. I went inside of it and walked until I was quite deep into it. I then smelt this really horrible smell and followed it to a bush. I looked inside the bush and found a rotten decaying hand!" I told her, barley taking any breaths.

"Wait, are you sure it was a hand?" She asked questionably. 

"Positive" I reply. 

"Take me there now, and If this is some sort of prank there will be serious trouble young man!"

I then take the reception lady into the woods and retrace my steps. Past the burnt treed and the litter, until suddenly I'm in the same clearing again. I smell the same smell I smelt before, and can tell that she can also smell it, by the way her fave scrunched up. 

We follow the smell to the same bush. 

"In there" I state simply. 

The lady then goes over to the bush. 

"Is this some kind of joke?" I hear her ask

"Pardon?" I say, thinking I misheard. 

"There is nothing here. I'll let you off the hook this time, but anymore shenanigans like this, and I won't hesitate to give you detention!"

I look over to where she is looking, and see nothing. The hand had been moved. 

"I think your overly tired. Go back to your dorm and get some sleep " 

"OK..." I say, still dazed from the previous events. 

I start to slowly walk back to my dorm, the receptionist following me most of the way. 

I walk up the stairs, and stand outside the door. I contemplate telling Liam or not. I haven't even known him that long, but I guess I should tell him. After all, he considers us friends now, and I really can't afford to keep anymore secrets from him.

I slowly open the dorm door, just to hear the bathroom door slam shut. 

"Liam?" I ask slowly.

"I'm in the bathroom!" I hear him reply.

"Can I come in?" I ask urgently.

"NO! - I mean no, not at the moment." I hear him say.

"Ok?" I ask, before heading over to my bed and flopping down on it, waiting for Liam to come out the bathroom so i could tell him about my latest discovery.