Who knew that a field trip could go so horribly wrong? No one in Animal Science knew. Except the one who did it.

I’m Sarah, Sarah Lennon, and I have no idea how in the world this happened.

The January sun was shining through the classroom, it was close, but the cold was still present.

"As you all know,” Mr. Lowe said to the class, “today is the field trip to the woods. We’ll have a wonderful hike, I know that for sure.” Mr. Lowe was bundled up in a puffy coat, and so were the rest of the class. The heated classroom made the students sweat a whole lot, and it was getting to be quite annoying.

"Can you turn the heat down?” a student asked, raising his hand, “I’m dying.”

"Not now, Chase,” Mr. Lowe responded, looking at Chase Hall, “we’ll be leaving soon.”

It was true. The mittens were starting to overwhelm my temperature and I really needed to go outside soon.

It took quite some time before I realized that people were getting up, ready to leave. I nearly jumped out of my seat and tried to catch up to the class.

Everyone was getting onto the cramped school buses, taking seats next to friends. I of course, sat next to Raven Garcia, a pretty close friend of mine.

“Can you believe we’re going on a field trip during the winter?” Raven asked, clearly as confused as I was. I nodded. I didn’t really want to talk about the trip that much, it was just too much to think about. All I wanted to do was just to get the heck done with it.

The bus ride didn’t take that long. Before I knew it, I could hear the ear-throbbing screech of the bus stopping. Very painful to the ears. Eventually, I became aware that the bus had stopped and the students started filing out of the bus. It was like a swarm, people were just getting out of the bus in a snap. 30 kids in the class, and I was caught in the mess.

Mr. Lowe trotted down the stairs and took out his map. Couldn't he use a smartphone or something?

“This way, guys,” Mr. Lowe called over to us. We flocked towards him like little ducklings. He gave us these worksheets about making “observations” during our walk through the forest.

He walked to the forest, map in hands and looked behind him to make sure we were following.

“Feel free to look around as we hike all together,” Mr. Lowe said, smiling, “After all, you all need to fill out those sheets.”

Of course, we needed to be reminded. I rolled my eyes. Couldn't we go on a field trip without having to fill out a sheet? Please?

As we walked through the woods, observing nature, we were all unaware of the gathering clouds up above us.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
I hardly saw a thing in the forest. Not a squirrel, not a deer. I didn’t see anything. Eventually, a classmate raised his hand. It was Chase again.

"Where are all the animals?” Chase asked, looking around him, “I don’t see anything.”

“Of course, you know that animals hibernate, but I’m concerned too,” Mr. Lowe replied, “There should be winter birds around such as the cardinal and the finch, but I don’t see any either.”

Why did I ever sign up for Animal Science?

The area started to grow dark. Some kids were starting to murmur a little bit. Even Mr. Lowe started to slow down a little bit.

"Looks pretty dark right now, doesn’t it?” Someone asked.

"That explains why the animals are missing,” Mr. Lowe thought aloud, looking at the sky. He looked at the students quickly. “We're leaving. Now.”

Wind started to blow through the area. Students continued murmuring. So much for our field trip.

"Go the other direction!” Mr. Lowe started shouting, “We’re heading back!”

But it was too late. Just like someone flipped a switch, snow blasted onto the ground, with the wind picking up.

Some of my classmates screamed. I could hardly see a thing, and I had no idea which way was “back” anymore. Nobody had any idea.

"Raven?!” I immediately called out. The pounding snow made my voice muffle a lot.

Great, what a field trip this turned out to be.

"Guys, stay calm!” I heard Mr. Lowe shout, “We need to find shelter!”

I could faintly see Mr. Lowe in the blizzard. He was calling us over. I tried to run, but it was hard to, with the ever-increasing amount of snow.

I called out for Raven again. There wasn’t any response. I started to worry. Did the snow get her?

"Come on!” Mr. Lowe called out for the class, “This way!”

The problem: I had no idea where Raven was. I called out for her again. There was still no response. Worry grew as I continued calling out for her, heading in a direction away from the group.

"Sarah! Where are you going?” I heard someone shout.

It was Chase. He was running toward me. We never really talked, so it felt pretty weird.

"You need to stay with the group! We can’t risk losing you in the snow!” Chase shouted, trying to pull me over to where Mr. Lowe was.

"Raven's missing,” I told Chase, “She’s not answering me.”

"Raven Garcia? You mean the girl with the magenta-colored streak in her hair?” Chase asked.

"Yeah, that’s her,” I responded, “I’m getting worried. We need to find her.”

"Excuse me, we?” Chase asked me, confused, “Since when was it we?”

“Please, Chase!” I begged, “I need your help! I can use all the help I can get!”

 “We can’t afford to lose both of us, either,” Chase sighed, “Forget about Raven.”

“Listen, Chase,” I firmly stated, “Raven may not be your friend, but she’s mine. I care about her like a sister. Come on, Chase.”

“Looks like I have no other choice,” Chase said, looking over his shoulder, “Mr. Lowe is already gone.”

"Good,” I said, firmly holding onto his shoulder, “Come on!”

Chase and I ran off into the snowy, thickening woods.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
It was hard to see anything in the snow. Both Chase and I tried calling Raven's name, but with no luck.

“We need to keep looking!” I shouted, refusing to give into the snow.

“It’s going to be dark soon!” Chase said. “We need to get out of here!”

“I’m going to find my friend!” I shouted, “No matter what!”

I called out Raven's name again, and there was still nothing.

Chase was right. The area did seem to get darker, and eventually, it was going to be night. I was freezing, and I couldn’t see a thing, but I needed to find Raven.

“Look!” Chase shouted out, pointing somewhere.

I ran towards the direction, and I halted at the sight. Blue hair with a magenta streak. Raven.

“Holy shit!” I gasped. “Chase! Help me dig her out!”

Chase ran over to me and looked at the small amount of hair that is visible in the snow. Then, he started digging the snow. It seemed impossible, for the snow kept on pounding on us. When I got her out, I screamed and jumped back.

This whole time, Raven had  painting the cotton-white snow red. And her paintbrush was right smack in the middle of her chest.

"She was dead long before the snow buried her." Chase observed.

Meanwhile, I kept on thinking: My best friend is dead, my best friend is dead, my best friend is dead….

I blacked out.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
I woke up in the last place I expected to be: a cave.

“Oh, thank goodness,” I could hear Chase say.

“Sarah! Are you okay?” Megan shouted.

Wait… Megan Parrott? I shot up when I heard her voice. Where am I?

Mr. Lowe was standing right in front of me. Chase… he brought me? But then that thought came back to my head.

“Raven is dead!” I shouted like an idiot. The other kids in the cave stared at me like I suddenly grew three heads and a pair of wings. Of course, they wouldn’t believe a girl like me.

Megan, however, believed me. “Dead?” she asked, looking into my eyes, “She probably got hypothermia.”

“No, it’s not hypothermia, Meg,” I gasped out. “it can’t be hypothermia. There was blood…”

“Blood?” Someone asked.

"The right way to say dead for this is killed.” I restated.

"She’s right,” Chase joined in, “I saw it with my own eyes.”

That was when the students started freaking out. Because Chase confirmed my words. Of course. Everybody believes Chase, but not me.

“Oh my goodness…” Mr. Lowe gasped. “Now, guys, we may be caught in a dangerous path right now…”

But the students were ignoring Mr. Lowe. They were screaming and hugging friends, shouting “We’re going to die!” and stuff like that.

Mr. Lowe kept on trying to talk to the riot, but they kept on ignoring him. Finally, Lesli Brooklyn, annoyed with the riot, shouted,"DO YOU WANT THE KILLER TO HEAR YOU?!"

Well, that shut them up. But killer… I never really thought of that. Who in the world would want to kill Raven? She was well-liked in school. She’s hasn’t disappointed anyone. But still… why her?

It felt so scary. There were twenty-eight kids here instead of thirty… wait.

“There are twenty-eight kids here,” I said aloud.

“What?!” Amamda Sanchez asked, looking at me, “But there should be twenty-ninr!”

The students turned quickly towards me. Then, they started counting people, including themselves.

"She’s right…” John Hanks whispered.

"Where’s Molly?!” Mr. Lowe shouted/asked, shooting up. He's right. Molly Holmes wasn’t here.

“I think I saw her scurry out of here while everyone was having that riot…” a boy standing next to John said.

Everyone turned quickly to the cave opening. The snow wasn’t as bad as it was when the storm started, but it was still pretty bad.

"Molly!” Mr. Lowe called out.

“Fluffy!” some of her friends called out.

The murmurs started up again. This was clearly an odd series of events. First, Raven disappeared and turns up dead, now Molly’s missing. Come on.

“Now, everybody, we need to stick together,” Mr. Lowe said softly, “We already lost Raven and Molly. We can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

"But maybe Molly’s not dead…” I said, “Look, just because she’s disappeared doesn’t mean she’s gone like Raven is.”

“Sarah's right,” Chase sighed, “you guys shouldn’t think things too quickly.”

The other students nodded. They were responding to him, not me.

Mr. Lowe stood up. “If we go out there….we’ll have to stick together.”

“We will,” the students said.

“Besides, who knows? We could find a way out of here…” Mr. Lowe said, smiling hopefully.

The students got up and Mr. Lowe lit one of those emergency lanterns. He led the way, and the students were huddled behind him. They were seriously frightened. But we had to find a way out of the forest and find Molly- if she’s alive.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
People started calling out Molly’s name, but Mr. Lowe shushed them, because he didn't want to be heard by the killer.

All of a sudden, everyone heard a scream. We ran in the direction of the scream, and the phenomena let us to Molly, painting the snow red, like Raven was. But this time, her paintbrush was coming from her throat. I could tell, although she was face down. All of Molly’s friends screamed and bawled on each other’s shoulders like babies. The classmates who have never seen a dead body before were stunned and shocked by the sight.

Even the teacher looked like he was going to throw up.

Molly’s red hair was showing through her jacket, and stuff. It kind of freaked me out.

Wait. Red. I looked at my hair. It was red. I was the only other student in her class that had red hair. Raven was near me when she was abducted and slaughtered. But… why?

Am I the killer’s target all along?

Okay, I had a pretty hard time thinking about reasons why someone would kill me. I never did anything wrong. I swear.

Except for that time I forgot to return a library book.

"Molly had red hair, like me,” I said, stepping forward, “Raven was near me the last time I saw her alive. Maybe… I don’t know… the killer was after me all along.”

The students gasped and stared at me. They all took a step back. The snow seemed to pick up a little… it was gentler while we were searching for Molly…

Mr. Lowe said to me, “I’m so sorry, Sarah, but we can’t exactly be with each other in the same group. Because… I’m worried about the class… I don’t want anybody else to die.”

“I understand,” I sighed, looking at my classmates, “I guess it’s the better for everyone.”

“I won’t let you go alone, though,” Mr. Lowe said, looking at me, “Chase, how about you go with her to find the exit?”

“Sure thing, Lowe,” Chase said, “This whole thing is starting to freak me out, anyways.”

Chase looked at me and called me over. I turned around and started heading in the other direction. I looked back and saw Mr. Lowe giving an “I’m so sorry” look, and my friends also looked at me apologetically.

Why me?
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
Chase and I were walking through the forest, although we were stuck in the snow. It was another calm phase, and I was closing my eyes, waiting for the moment the snow would strike upon us again. However, I opened them when Chase told me that I kept on walking into trees.

"We’re almost there!” Chase said, smiling. Thank fuck!"

That was when we heard the rustle.

Both Chase and I quickly turned around.

“Someone there?” I asked, facing the direction of the rustle. I started walking towards the sound, but I was interrupted by another sound.

It was the soft whoosh of a knife thrust. My goodness.

I turned around and saw a boy in a blue jacket. A knife was placed firmly in his hands. Then I looked at his face in fear of recognizing him.

My fears were true. It was Chase.

“What makes you think you could trust me, Sarah Lennon?” Chase scoffed at me, holding the blade right in front of me.

“Chase, why would you want to kill me of all people?!” I asked.

“You see, Sarah, it’s always why. Why why why. You always want to know the answer. You have friends. You are popular while somewhat untrustworthy. Me? I’m just a freaky teacher’s pet. A nerd, people would call me. I was pushed around all the time and what did you do? Just watch. Heck, you’ve even gossiped about me to your friends. Gossiped.”

It was true. I used called Chase the nerd, and apparently, he didn't forgive me for that. “If you wanted me dead, then why didn’t you kill me when I fainted?”

“When you fainted, Mr. Lowe discovered us. That was how we ended up back with his class.”

Chase tried to thrust for my chest again, this time, I stepped back. I wanted to run, but the snow churned up again, making it seem impossible to do so.

I tried running, but Chase pinned me against a tree.

“Listen, Sarah, I would rather do this quickly,” Chase said, putting a knife against my throat, “this is what you deserved this whole time…”

Huh?

“Now, goodbye…” Chase whispered into my ear.

I closed my eyes, preparing for the slice.

But it never came.

I opened my eyes and saw Chase, lying unconscious on the ground. Um… what?

"Sarah!” a voice called out for me.

It was Megan. She treaded the snow and approached me.

"Meg!” I responded, “Oh thank fuck.”

“That black belt in karate did turn out to be useful,” she said, smiling.

 “I’m still lost on why he wanted to kill me…” I sighed, looking at him.

“Well, let’s get out of here. He’ll probably eventually get hypothermia or something,” Megan said.

“Good idea,” I responded.

Megan and I walked towards the close-by exit. I’m so grateful; I have no clue how to make it up for her.

Thank goodness we were able to get out of the woods.
•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•
“That was… quite an experience at the woods, the other day,” Mr. Lowe said awkwardly.

It was one day later and also my last day in Animal Science. Well, it’s the last day for most of us. I guess so many parents freaked out about the class’s near-death experience back in the woods.

Mr. Lowe said that he felt “betrayed” by Chase being the killer and all, and, well, you can’t always judge a boy by his cover, Mr. Lowe. He also apologized to me for letting me go with him, but hey, he didn’t know that the class nerd can be a dark killer.
   
As for Chase… I had no clue what happened to him. Was he sent to juvie or something? Was he arrested? Did he die from hypothermia back in the woods? Nobody had a clue.

Today, the principal, held a memorial service for Raven and Molly, and also over the loudspeaker, he asked for a moment of silence for the two girls.

That moment of silence was a little too hard to handle. It seemed to last forever, and I looked around. Molly’s friends were tearing up a lot, and stuff. Raven was pretty well-liked too… my goodness I miss her.

Chase Hall, wherever you are, here’s my message to you: good riddance.