I never thought I could fully believe in an afterlife until Clay left. Then and only then did I consider a lost loved one's eternal presence, existence, and awareness.

Clay taught me how to live, love, and laugh. I am who I am today because of him. He would encourage me like a mother and push me harder like a father, and most of all, he supported me like the brother he was.

Clay knew a lot about me and the world. Surely, there had to be consciousness beyond the physical because my brother was a smart man.

Why would he leave a letter asking me to make him proud if he wouldn't be conscious enough to know when I had?

~Excerpt from Untitled Novel by Ima Jean Paige

The fire seemed to vanish from the fire pit with the sudden rush of wind. The gust whipped and bent the tops of the trees as it swept in.

"Now what?" Atem shrugged as he sat behind the steering wheel.

Zeke didn't wait for an answer, opening the car door and hopping out into the unforgiving fog. I didn't have a moment to protest before the door slammed shut behind him. I watched as he went to the items we had left behind, especially the beverage chest filled with drinks and melting ice.

The headlights lit the space as he dug for a bottle of water, threw the cap aside, and swallowed the entire contents in several large gulps.

I opened my door, feeling safer in the spot we had spent most of our time and where our stuff lay. I followed suit, grabbing two water bottles, keeping one and giving the other to Atem, who also opened the car door.

We drank, resting and stretching our legs and muscles. All while keeping alert for any threats or a sign of Felicity. Zeke wandered toward his guitar, lifted it by the neck, and sighed. I knew what the somber look on his face meant. He contemplated if he would ever sing again, although it wasn't clear if singing again was a good thing or not. Did he worry if he would lose his voice for good or did the look signify his acceptance that singing wasn't his passion?

"Where's my notebook?" I dived into the backseat to retrieve it before standing at the head of the car in the bright headlights. Swiping through the pages, I searched for Clay's letter. A ripped sliver of paper attached to the spine was all that remained of the page.

"Are you sure you wanna read that?" Atem lifted an eyebrow. "Will you be okay?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I hope so, but if I'm not, please take care of me."

I turned ink scribbled pages, searching for the middle of the outline while using the time to build confidence to comprehend the words. I took a deep breath, preparing for what would come next. "She discovers the parallels within the walls of the old, dilapidated cabin, bringing her a deeper understanding of the representations of the world around her." My nose tickled with a buildup of liquid, and I sniffed to counter it. "The hall of the timeworn cabin holds something sinister. Stalking becomes an understatement." A painful thumping behind my eyes caused them to blur with moisture. "She must complete the puzzle of all puzzles to find the end of her misery."

The world around me went black.

When I opened my eyes, the blackened sky and its far off pinpricks of stars stared back at me. Then Atem's face appeared.

"You're awake!" His smile quickly replaced his concerned frown.

Zeke's striking eyes came into view. He gently wiped my nose with a cloth, and that's when I realized I had collapsed where I had stood. As soon as the realization hit, my head pounded.

"Ugh," I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut to block the bright headlights and grab my head. "It hurts."

Atem's voice quivered. "Zeke, didn't you bring any painkillers?"

Through the strained hoarseness, Zeke answered. "Booze."

Maybe I had brought some, but couldn't remember if I had or where I would have put them in this state.

Atem smacked his lips in disappointment. His warm hand gently rested on my shoulder. "Grab some ice to put on her head."

The sound of Zeke scurrying to the ice chest prompted me to open my eyes. Beyond the haloed headlights and across the road stood a dark humanoid figure, waiting and watching. "Felicity?" I strained my eyes to force my blurry vision to focus. The form looked nothing like Felicity, the Hangedman, or the Bound One. This figure reminded me of rot.

Before I could register my what I was seeing, pain penetrated my brain like a sharp, hot knife through lard. "I'm gonna die."

"No, you're not." Atem gently massaged my shoulder. A soothing energy moved through me, bringing me back to the feeling of being wrapped in one of Clay's hugs. Although thankful, my head and my vision continued to disturb me.

When I glanced back across the street, the figure had disappeared, yet I didn't feel any safer with it gone. It only heightened my fears.

The cold ice on my forehead startled me. After realizing they placed crushed ice in one of my shirts, I held it to my head and allowed the boys to pull me up to a sitting position.

"How long was I out?"

"A few minutes," Atem confirmed. "You don't look so good. How do you feel?"

"Like shit." I looked around at the swaying and bending trees, seeing them as blobs of silhouettes above and through the mist. "Everything's blurry."

"Really? Oh, no." Atem's face was blurry too, but with him being so close I could still make out his frown. "You want water to rinse your eyes or something?"

Zeke gently punched Atem's shoulder, showing how he thought that was a bad idea. "Stop," he whispered.

"What?" He shrugged. "Maybe she needs to clean her eyes."

Zeke pointed to the notebook as the pages flipped and fluttered in the wind. "Cabin?" His voice was low, but it thrilled me he used it to communicate.

"Right." I nodded, wiping the remaining drizzle of blood from my nostrils with the back of my hand. "The outline mentioned a cabin. Not the ranger station or a building, but specifically a cabin. When we were driving around, I didn't see one. Did you guys?"

We looked around, trying to spot anything that could resemble a cabin. The only thing that caught my eye was the lone camera still planted in the same spot on the tripod, despite the gusts of wind.

Atem focused on where I stared, even as I squinted my eyes to see better. He moved toward the camera, and Zeke and I followed out of curiosity. "You see that?" He pointed at the display screen.

The closer I got, the better I could make out the stillness of the trees and a distinct trail that led through them on the other side of the road. I stared across the road where I had seen that rotting figure and the trail. The trees bent and shook with the wind, but there was no trail of any kind, only dirt and dead forest foliage.

Zeke fixated on a spot on the camera. "Listen." He put his finger up to prompt us. I wasn't sure what we were listening to, but the whistling of the wind echoed between the trees. His eyes widened. "Felicity!"

"You hear Felicity?" I removed the icepack from my head and ignored the residual pain.

He nodded and headed toward the area that showed a trail on camera.

"Wait!" Atem grabbed the camera from the tripod, turned on its shoddy light and pointed it toward the woods. I remained a couple feet behind him to see the differences and similarities between the land and what the camera revealed.

Zeke waited as Atem took the lead. We watched the immediate environment and on screen, using the camera image to keep us on the mysterious trail and take us through the woods. I was relieved to see no rotting figures, hanging bodies, or bound ones on our path.

Even though Zeke kept the pace, he stayed behind me as we kept our eyes on the display screen. The fog was dense as it had been since first appearing, but through the camera the murkiness didn't exist. The camera played like a video of Ayahuasca Forests on a vibrant and quiet night with the addition of a clear, narrow trail. However, when we slowed or turned, so did the image.

"We gotta hurry," I said, gripping Atem's shoulders as he handled the camera to lead the way. The trail on camera turned and curved around and through the trees, and no matter how hard I tried to detect it, the trail wasn't visible to the naked eye. Was it really even there?

My curiosity kept me on the path, as I wondered where it would lead and if I would regret following it. However, we kept moving, especially as Zeke became more and more sure that who he could hear was Felicity. "Says help," he insisted.

"I don't hear anything," I whispered, but continued to follow Atem and the cleared and visible trail on the camera.

When Atem swung the camera to the side, I screamed, seeing a glimpse of a figure standing near a tree. "What was that?!" I pointed to the area to urge Atem to swing the camera back around.

Atem turned the camera to where I pointed. Nothing but the uneasy feeling of being watched emitted around us. "I don't like this."

"Same." I refused to tear my gaze from the tree, knowing that once I did, I would regret it.

"Let's keep moving," Atem whispered and aimed the camera back to the path.

Near a tree beside the trail, the long, gangly figure stood and gawked, watching as if caught like a deer in headlights. I could clearly see its rib cage through the thin and ripped flesh on its chest as it heaved with uneven breaths. The smell it produced was nothing short of decay. It didn't move, although we screamed and backed away from it, ready to run if it approached.

I expected its lazy limp toward us, but it only watched and waited, as if it knew we were being led to our deaths and wanted a front-row seat. We backed away, staying on the trail. Only when fifteen feet were between us it followed. Slowly at first, like a baby learning to walk with drapes of its wet skin dragging on the ground, collecting dirt and debris as he hobbled closer.

"Stay back!" I yelled, hoping he would frighten and run away like a wild bear. He only hobbled faster. "Go, go, go!" I shouted, and we turned on the trail, rushing back the way we came and not knowing where it led, but hoping it would allow us to get away from the rotting manifestation of death.

The rotting figure moved quicker, hobbling toward us, but its eyes and intention weren't for me or Atem. Its bulging, bloodshot stare was solely on Zeke.

"Don't lose the trail," I insisted, imagining the mysterious trail was our only way out of the woods and if we lost the trail on camera, it would disappear for good.

With help from the camera, Atem kept us on the path, but we weren't moving fast enough. Atem was so afraid of the creature behind us, his attention was on it instead of the trail before us. In no time, we had gotten tripped up, missing turns, or running into trees, branches, or other obstacles.

Zeke departed from the trail, trying to escape the attention of the figure. He didn't get far before tripping and falling over a dip in the terrain. I immediately remembered him teasing Felicity about being clumsy. Ironic.

"Zeke!" I yelled, my voice bouncing and echoing from distant trees. "Get up." I sped toward him to help him stand, and as I gripped his forearm, the creature was a foot away as a putrid liquid gurgled from its loosely intact jaws.

Zeke looked up at me and, with a hoarse voice he mumbled, "Sorry."

The rotting figure pounced, leaping onto Zeke's chest. I fell back on my ass, eyes wide, watching in terror. Zeke kicked and grunted. His throat prevented him from screaming and yelling like I knew his body wanted to. He fought, but each push, pull, and kick caused wet and rotting pieces of flesh to fall from the creature and collect around them.

Without warning, several ropes slithered through the dead and fallen debris around us like the lively roots of the tree. The quicker they moved, the more their distinct whipping sound cracked the air.

One rope slithered around Zeke's wrist, coiling tight. Another gripped his free arm, spreading them wide to prevent him from using his hands in defense.

While still on the ground, I kicked the creature in the head, and it fell to the side of Zeke. When it stood, its head hung unnaturally below one shoulder, hanging on by a string of flesh.

The ropes tightened, suspending Zeke into the air between the sturdy trees. He was too high for the creature to reach, but it tried. Not interested in me or Atem at all.

"We gotta go!" Atem screamed from up ahead. "Hurry. I found the cabin and the door's closing."

"Cabin? What about Zeke?" I looked up into his once striking blue eyes that now stared vacant and... lifeless. "Oh my god, Zeke!"

"We have to go, now!" Atem screamed and the urgency in his voice jumpstarted the adrenaline already flowing through me.

I looked up at Zeke one last time, glanced at the creature who took a sudden interest in me, and wondered for a split second if I really wanted to go inside a mysterious cabin in the woods.

I made a quick decision, running toward Atem. Ahead of him was fog and trees, not a hint of a cabin or a structure anywhere in sight. It wasn't until I got close enough to see the camera display it came into view.

Rotted, dark wood made up the outside of the cabin. There was a small, cracked window in the front near the door and only darkness behind the dingy, tattered white curtains. A couple of crooked steps led up to the small porch and the front door. Nothing about the cabin looked inviting.

However, Atem was right. The front door was ajar, with utter blackness seeping out from the rapidly closing opening.

"Are we gonna go?" Atem urged.

"You sure?" I asked.

He looked behind me at the creature, whose head bobbed on the side of its shoulders as he closed the gap between us. "I'm going." He watched through the camera as he carefully walked up the steps. I did the same and followed.

It was disorienting to step up the porch of the cabin that wasn't there physically, but our steps matched those on the camera until we entered the door.

As soon as we were inside, the door slammed behind us. I turned to look, and the dark wooden door was physically present. Without having to peer through the camera, the cabin had enclosed us in its darkened space. Even the surrounding air became stuffy and stagnant.

"What the actual fuck?" I said, no other words came to mind. "Where are we? What is this?"

"I don't know." Atem shook his head. "But it looks familiar."

"Does it?" I looked around the cramped room, and only through the camera lens did I see weird swaying shadows that hid away from the light of the camera by dipping behind the large couch covered in a dingy white blanket.

The cabin contained an open fireplace empty of anything but ashes. And on the other side of the room, a hall led down a mysterious darkened path.

"Listen," Atem whispered, and we stood quietly.

The distant sound of a man and woman talking perked my ears. Atem followed the voices down the darkened corridor. The camera and its light illuminating the way. I followed closely, not wanting to be too far from our only light source.

The voices grew louder. So much so, I heard the distinct pronunciation of words, but I couldn't comprehend the foreign language.

"What is that?" I whispered.

"Hindi," Atem nodded, listening. "They are arguing about their family. About their kid."

We continued to follow their voices, moving slower as if to not interrupt or let them know we were in the vicinity. As we approached a room with light emitting from the open door, a couple stood next to an unmade and used king sized bed.

The man and woman both had dark hair and a deep bronze complexion. The minor wrinkles along their eyes and forehead showed their maturity as they exchanged angry words. Although they spoke Hindi, I listened intently, reading their body language and tone. They must have been accusing each other of some wrongdoing.

They didn't notice us or refused to react as if they did.

Atem lowered the camera as we peeked around the doorjamb. I whispered into his ear. "What are they saying?"

He didn't respond, enthralled with whatever they were arguing about. The man's voice deepened, and the woman yelled back but through sobs.

Atem stepped out into the doorway, camera in his hand but at his side. He seemed to want them to take notice, but they didn't. They only continued their heated debate.

I nudged his shoulder. "What are you doing?" I murmured, urgently trying to get him to be more discreet.

He ignored me and stared at the couple. "Mom? Dad?"

Finally, the couple paused. They turned to him in unison, and the thundering sound of snapping and breaking wood overhead rattled the cabin and my ears just as the ceiling inside the room crashed down on top of the couple.

I screamed as the roof and debris creaked and crunched, sending dust and wreckage through the intact door jab and around us. Atem stood covered in dust from head to toe. Flakes of dirt fell from his curly hair like snow. Still, he didn't move. He only stared wide-eyed at the aftermath.

Thoughts? Thanks for the support!