CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
I don't wanna die.

              JUNIPER.

The hill that had collapsed beneath Lennon and Ivy was gone. All that remained was a huge ledge, in a 20 foot drop. The mudslide remains were still there, leaving a wake in its path in the otherwise clear forest. It made the ground below wet and dangerous and there was no way we were making it down there. So, we had to find another route that could take us in the same direction. That earned some complaints, since we would essentially be wandering off to gods knows where—but we had to. My sister and Ivy weren't at the bottom of that hill and it meant they were somewhere else.

              We had been walking all day, taking occasional stops when we needed to gather some energy. Those of us with injuries had struggled the most and a part of me felt bad for making them join the search—but we needed numbers. There wasn't a chance I was letting anyone stay behind when my sister was out there somewhere.

              We were sitting in a clearing, sipping from our water bottles when Hailey suddenly spoke up, "Alright, I'm just gonna say it—we're not gonna find them," The moment she opened her mouth I found myself glaring at her, because who the fuck did she think she was? We were going to find them—their lives depended on it. Hailey threw her hands up at me, "I mean it, Juniper! We've been walking all day. If they were around here, we would have found them by now." She said, shaking her head as she spoke, the water bottle in her hand almost completely drained.

               I stood so quick from the log I had perched myself on that it made me dizzy, "We're not stopping—"

                "June, there's a chance she might be right," Abby spoke over me, her brows pulled downwards in concern. I spun towards her, a look of betrayal on my face. They were Lennon's teammates—how could they give up on her so quickly? Abby pushed her hair out of her face, "We've been circling this area all day and they're not here. They must have moved or—"

                "Then we broaden the search." I interrupted her.

                A heavy sigh escaped Maggie's lips, "Everyone's exhausted, June," She tried reasoning with me in a small voice. "And it's gonna get dark out here soon. It's too dangerous for us to continue the search." I shook my head in refusal, my jaw going tight. I didn't want to hear a word they were saying, even though I knew deep down it was reasonable.

                "They're right," Imani said, rising to her feet, sweat glistening across her forehead. Her brows pulled downwards, a frown on her lips, "Lennon's my best friend, I want to find her too. But we're no good to her stumbling around in the dark. We should head back and if they're not back by morning, we'll start up the search again—"

             "You know what? Fuck you, Imani," I growled over her, earning a surprised expression on her behalf. I took a few steps closer to her. "You rave about being Lennon's best friend but you're so fucking willing to give up on her. If the roles were reversed, she wouldn't give up until she found you—that's the kind of person my sister is. She wouldn't give up—"

                "And she also wouldn't hold it over you for giving up," Imani argued, making my glare intensify. "Lennon gives a shit about everyone. She wouldn't want us out here right now! Now with those fucking wolves running around! It's putting us all in danger. You're putting us in danger!" She exclaimed, her voice raising towards the end of her sentence.

               I let out a bitter, hollow laugh and turned my back, shaking my head in disbelief. I couldn't give up on Lennon, because I knew my sister. Everything the girls said was true, and that was exactly why I couldn't leave her. Lennon was a good person—she was a good friend and a good sister. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to her and I could have possibly stopped it.

                I inhaled sharply and then turned back around, "If we leave now, we might miss our chance at finding her—and Ivy. It might be too late. And I get it, alright? I get that you're all fucking tired but think about how they must be feeling," I tried reasoning, looking around the faces of those staring back at me. "And let's me real for a fucking second, if we don't find Lennon, we are well and truly fucked out here, all of you know that. We need her if we're going to survive—Ivy too. We can't give up, alright? We just can't." I could feel my eyes burning, tears threatening to fall as a lump formed in my throat.

               No one spoke, everyone looking anywhere but me. Then Kitty sighed, "Alright. We keep looking," I glanced up, my eyes meeting hers in surprise. She shrugged her shoulders. "I won't be able to sleep another night until I know Ivy is safe, okay? So let's just go and quit the fucking complaining. We survived a plane crash—we can survive a night in these woods." She insisted, sending a sharp glare around the group. No one argued.

               I slowly nodded, sliding my water bottle into my backpack, "Alright. Let's go." I urged, turning on my heels, deeper into the wilderness.

              Imani walked up besides me, rubbing at her arms, "I'm not trying to be difficult, you know," She spoke up. I didn't do so much as look at her. Imani sighed. "I love Lennon, alright? She's my best friend in the entire fucking world but I'm terrified of being out here—especially when we don't know what's really out here. We could be being watched right this second and we wouldn't even know! I'm just... I'm not scared often, okay? So, when I am, it really sucks." Despite myself, I turned to look at her, seeing how she was checking the trees every two seconds and I felt myself sighing. Of course everyone was scared—I just hasn't noticed because all of my priorities had been on Lennon.

                "I get that, Imani. But Lennon and Ivy are alone out here. We at least have safety in numbers," I tried explaining. I wrapped my hands around the straps of my backpack, pulling it further up my back. "I'm just scared that if we leave it too long, something else is gonna find them and it's gonna be too late." I admitted, feeling my heart sink into my stomach at the thought.

               Imani put her hand on my arm, locking her gaze with mine, "We're gonna find them, alright? Even if we have to spend all night looking." I found myself slowly sharing a smile with her, feeling appreciative at her words. I needed everyone to be on my side if we were going to find Ivy and my sister.

                "Wait," Hattie spoke up, coming to a sharp stop from my right. The entire group slowed to a stop, looking at her, immediately on edge. She glanced around, her lips parted. "Do y'all hear that?" She asked, a look of horror slowly crossing her features.

               Just when I was about to say I couldn't hear anything—I did. It was the howling again, and it was getting closer to us with each howl that would fill the air. I felt the hairs on my arms stand up as I took a protective stance in front of Imani and Hattie.

               "Shit! It's the wolves!" Evie exclaimed, her eyes widening in realisation, shrinking into her sister.

               "Fuck." I whispered, spinning in a full circle as I tried to pin-point where the howling was coming from. It was close, but it seemed to be bouncing off the trees around us, making it impossible to know where the sound was coming from.

                "I'm going back to camp! I'm not fucking staying out here!" Hailey cried out, slowly beginning to move backwards.

                 "Hailey, don't—"

                 "Yeah, fuck this. I'm out." Nora agreed, latching onto Hailey as they began stepping away from the group.

                "It's not a good idea to split up!" Hattie called after them as they began walking back in the direction we had come from, the sky growing dark above us.

               Nora turned, "Yeah, well it's not a good fucking idea to—" she didn't have the chance to finish her sentence, because suddenly, something was lunging from the shadows and pouncing onto her, knocking her and Hailey down into the dirt.

              The next few moments happened so quick I could barely keep up. Everyone was screaming as blood sprayed into the air. The creature on top of Nora was no wolf—it wasn't even an animal. In shape, it resembled a wolf, but it's body was crooked and it stood at least four feet tall and it's fur was short, matted and balding in sports. It's teeth that tore into Nora's abdomen were like nothing I had ever seen before—they were huge, like knives stuck in it's mouth and it's claws that scraped at her body were more like talons. It was no fucking wolf. It was something else entirely.

                "Nora!" I grabbed ahold of Kitty, springing into action to yank her back when she tried getting too close. There was no denying Nora was gone—her eyes were lifelessly staring up at the trees, blood spurting from her mouth whilst the creature tore her insides apart, shoving intestines into its mouth. Nora was gone—and I wasn't about to let it take anyone else.

                 "Help! Someone help!" Hailey was screaming from the ground. Her hand was latched onto Nora's, who's grip had been so tight that it hadn't let go even once she was gone. She was pinned on the ground, right beside the rampant creature that was devouring Nora.

                  "We have to do something!" Kitty exclaimed, some blood splatters on her cheeks, her eyes wide with horror as she stood in front of her sister, shielding her as she sobbed hysterically. When I didn't say anything, just continued to stare at Nora's lifeless body being torn apart, Kitty grabbed at me. "Juniper!" She yelled in my face, but it was no use. I was frozen.

               My feet were rooted to the spot, my jaw loose. I had the taste of copper in my mouth and my face felt wet. When I managed to move my head slightly downward, I could see that I had taken the brunt of the blood that had sprayed from Nora's abdomen during the attack. I wanted to scream, cry, throw up. But I couldn't do a thing. I was useless. Completely fucking useless.

              Once the creature was finished with Nora's remains, it threw it head back, sharp teeth covered in blood and guts shining into the moonlight. A howl erupted from its throat. A second later, howls sounded from all around us. We we're surrounded. And they were coming for us next.

                LENNON.

After walking for hours, Ivy and I finally found our way back to camp. I could see the outline of the plane in the moonlight that rose behind the trees. Thats when I heard it. The screaming. It echoed throughout the forest, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as my heart dropped to my stomach.

I spun around to face Ivy, "Do you hear that?" I asked her, but by the look on her face, I knew that she did.

It didn't take us more than a second to decide what we had to do. We took off in a sprint, running towards where it sounded like the screaming was coming from. It was multiple people, all of them screeching in fear. I knew it was the girls, there was no one else it could possibly be. Which made a feeling of guilt swell up in my heart. The only reason they would be away from the safety of camp was to search for us. If they were in danger, it was on us.

Running in the dark, I tripped over something beneath me, making me go hurling towards the ground. I let out a groan at the impact but within seconds, Ivy was scooping me back into my feet, helping me stand. I gave her a nod, letting her know I was alright and we took off running again. The screams hadn't stopped once—if anything, they were only getting louder.

After running for what felt like forever, we skidded into a clearing at the bottom of a hill. I could vaguely make out silhouettes in the darkness, how they were stumbling around as cries left their mouths. And in the darkness was something else entirely. They moved so quick it made it almost impossible to see them, but the sounds coming from their mouths allowed me to know they were what we had been hearing for days—the howling creatures. However, they were no wolves; they were too tall, too skinny, too strange looking.

A shrill scream filled my ears, making me whip my head to the side. I caught a glimpse of my sisters platinum hair in the moonlight, moments before she was slammed into the ground by one of the creatures, "June!" The cry ripped from my throat as I tossed my backpack to the ground, immediately rummaging through it for something I could use as a weapon to help.

I ripped open the First Aid kit I had shoved into my pack, rummaging through it. I glanced up, watching as Ethan tried to get the creature off of her, but it hit him so hard he went flying backwards into the dirt.

                   My hands grasped the large scissors and I leaped to my feet, running towards my sister, "Lennon, don't!" Ivy exclaimed from behind me, trying to grab at me but it was too late, I was already out of her reach.

I jumped on the back of the animal, slamming the scissors into its back. It threw its head back, letting out a whine of agony before I did it again, and then again. I stabbed it one more time before it turned around, roaring loudly in my face, covering me in the stench of blood. It leaped onto me and we rolled on the ground. I could feel it's claws jagging into my skin as it tried to tear at me but I continued to fight it off with the scissors, stabbing and slicing.

"Lennon!" Juniper was sobbing from where she lay in the dirt, a scratch mark down her chin and neck. My eyes momentarily locked on hers as the creature crawled onto me, raising its claws in the air. My entire body was in agony after everything it had endured but I couldn't give up. I couldn't allow June to witness me dying like that—I just couldn't.

I scrambled out of the way of the creatures swipe, making its claw get stuck in the dirt. I stood to my feet, stumbling slightly as I twisted the scissors in my hands. I exhaled, dirt in my hair and face before kicking it hard in the chest, knocking it onto the ground. I didn't give it a second to recover before I jumped on it, straddling it's waist before plunging the scissors into its chest. Once. Then again. Again. Over and over.

The creature was wailing beneath me, thrashing as it tried to get away from me. But I didn't stop, "Fucking die!" I screamed in frustration, blood splattering all over me as I stabbed it over and over again. My arm was beginning to ache from the thrusts, but I couldn't stop. Not until it was dead.

I was completely blinded my rage, blood in my eyes and mouth, "Lennon!" June was yelling my name over and over again, her voice breaking. I didn't stop. "Lennon! It's dead!" Hands clamped around my shoulders, snapping me back to reality.

I jerked, blinking slowly. I turned my head, my gaze settling on my sister who was staring at me with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling, "Lennon. It's dead." She said in a soft voice, her hands on my shoulder shaking.

I turned my head back, staring at the creature. I gulped. It's mouth was wide open, showing a large array of teeth that was stained with red. It's chest was soaked in blood, parts of it's broken ribs sticking out. I felt a shaky breath leave my lips when I realised I was the one that had caused such damage.

I stumbled, falling off the creature and into the dirt. My body was shaking as I pulled my knees to my chest, my heart hammering in my chest as I felt bile rise to my throat. But I didn't have time to panic when suddenly, someone was gasping loudly.

I looked up towards Eden who was rooted to the spot, one of the creatures crawling on all fours towards her, stalking her.

                  I slowly got to my feet, my legs almost giving way, "Eden. Don't. Move." I whispered urgently, twisting the scissors in my hands, ready to do it all over again.

The creature lunged. A shot rang through the air. The creatures body dropped to the ground.

The gunshot was so loud, it woke birds from their resting places, sending them flying in the air. Each of us stood there, looking around in surprise, trying to find the source of the shot. As far as I was aware, none of us had discovered a firearm—nor was there one to be discovered. We were going to fucking Nationals. Why would there be a gun on the plane?

My eyes landed on Brooke, who was lowering a shotgun from her eye level, smoke leaving the barrel. She winced, dropping the gun as her hand came up to clutch at her previously dislocated arm.

I stared at her in disbelief as I heard the creatures scamper off into the woods, running from the sound of the shot. But no one said a word, too busy taking in the scene around us and gathering ourselves.

                 My mouth opened in horror when I noticed the two bodies on the ground. It was Hailey and Nora. Whilst Nora's eyes were staring lifelessly at the dark sky, Hailey's body was rattling with shakes, her mouth opening and closing with each gasp, blood staining her lips.

I found my feet moving me toward her, collapsing beside her, "Hailey," I said, reaching out to grab her hand. "Hailey, look at me. You're alright. You're gonna be—" My words got caught in my throat when I glanced down. There was a large gash going directly down Hailey's abdomen to the bottom of her stomach, blood spurting from the wound.

"Lennon," Hailey gasped, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. I could feel everyone around us now and hear muffled cries, but all I could focus on was Hailey. "Lennon, I don't wanna die. I don't wanna—"

"Shh, don't talk, alright? Just save your strength," I hushed her, wiping her hair from her face, tilting my head as my eyes burned with tears. I glanced over my shoulder. "Ivy! Fist Aid kit!" I demanded and within a second, Ivy was by my side alongside Hattie.

Both girls looked horrified at the sight in front of them as they crouched down by Hailey. I looked up, tears burning in my eyes, "Is she—is she gonna be okay?" I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat. I already knew the answer. People didn't survive the kind of wounds that Hailey had sustained. But I couldn't wrap my head around it, let alone accept it.

Hattie's eyes met mine but she didn't say anything. That confirmed it.

I levelled myself with Hailey, clasping my hand around hers, "Hails. Hey, do—do you remember that time we went to one of Imani's parties and I wore those leather pants?" I began asking her as she blinked slowly, watching me speak as her chest rose and fell slowly. "I was partying way too hard and I—I ripped my pants, do you remember?" I asked her, attempting a laugh, but it turned into a sob instead. I was trying my best to take her mind off the pain, to ease her a little.

Hailey gave a ghostly smile, "Yeah, they—they ripped... right on the... on the ass." The laugh that left my lips that time was genuine as the tears slipped from my lashes, landing on Hailey's face.

"Yeah, and you—you didn't give a shit. You swapped pants with me and ripped mine into booty shorts," The more I spoke, the more I began to cry. "You really came through that night, Hails...Thank you." I croaked, squeezing her hand as Eden whispered prayers behind me, clutching her cross like a mad woman. She was praying for Hailey. Praying that she was going to be okay. But she wasn't. We all knew this was goodbye.

Hailey blinked, her gaze shifting from my face and to the sky, "It's so pretty," She whispered, her grip on my hand slowly loosening. "It's so beautiful here..." A sickening feeling washed over me when Hailey's eyes fluttered shut, her body going still.

"Hailey?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I grabbed her shoulders, giving them a shake. "Hails?" But she wasn't waking up.

From beside me, Ivy hung her head, tears dripping from her lashes, "Lennon, she's gone..." She whispered, her gaze not meeting mine as she slowly got to her feet, collapsing by Nora's body where Kitty and Evie were crying.

               June was suddenly grabbing onto me, falling ramming into my chest as sobs rattled from her mouth. I sat there, unblinking, unable to move. My sister was hysterical, holding onto me as if I had the power to make everything better, clinging to me like some newborn bird with its mother.

I blinked, turning my head to look down at Hailey, almost expecting her to open her eyes and call bullshit like she always did. It didn't make sense. She was there one minute and gone the next. Hailey was gone. And there was nothing I could do about it—there wasn't a single fucking thing I could do to fix it.

               AUTHORS NOTE.

               this chapter was crazy! did anyone expect what happened? what do you think is gonna happen from here on?

                hope u enjoyed!!

                — taylor xx