I rushed toward the door of the ranger station, urging Atem to shine the light on the darkened room. With caution, I peered inside, only seeing my shadow displayed on the back wall next to the single piece of paper.

"Can you grab the letter?" Atem angled the light and the camera to see more inside of the space.

I nodded, hoping I wasn't wrong about my assumption. I gathered my courage, anticipating something happening. It wasn't weird to think that as soon as I snatched the paper from the bloody nail that fastened it to the wall that it would trigger a series of events I wasn't ready to encounter.

I just knew it, feeling it in my bones. I glanced over my shoulder toward the shining camera light. "How many stories have you read where the character gets an important item and walks away from conflict with no issue?"

"Zero," Atem said, walking slowly behind me while also peering over his shoulder now and then. "Now please be careful, Ima."

Across the forest, the sound of a ghostly wailing rode the wind. "Ima Jean..."

I looked at Atem. "That definitely wasn't you."

"It came from the woods," he confirmed, eyebrows high on his forehead. "It sounded like Zeke, didn't it?"

"Help me..." another voice echoed over the fog and bounced off the branches. "Come help me."

I shook my head, confused. "Is that Felicity?"

"Just like Zeke said, I think she's still alive." He nodded. "They're both out there, needing our help."

"The Ayahuasca Forest is hundreds of acres wide," I reminded him. "There is no way we could find them."

"We could follow their voice," he suggested. "As soon as you get the letter, we can search for them by listening for their calls for help. Just get the paper."

He turned my attention back to my task. Hesitancy made me move slowly, but I swallowed the lump in my throat to push my fear aside to prepare for what I knew was coming. My fingers grazed the handwritten sheet. I tried not to read it, but couldn't help focusing on the words live, laugh, love. My bottom lip quivered as I imagined Clay's trembling fingers scribbling out his last words.

I took the paper in my hand and ripped it from the nail that held it in place, feeling a sense of victory as the sheet was finally in my grasp. With the cold, thin paper on my fingertips, I smiled. "I got it!"

A loud crack from above startled me, and I looked up to see a support beam on the ceiling of the shack crack and split in two. Without a second warning, it crashed down in front of me. Dust cascaded over me like dank snow.

"Get out of there!" Atem yelled, his urgency shook my bones.

More sounds of wood cracking and splintering around me urged me to sprint toward the exit. Some of the wooden boards from the ceiling dropped, grazing the back of my leg as I moved out of the way.

I dived out of the door and from the porch just as the dust and spattered debris crashed around us. Some pieces followed us out the door. I hit the ground with a thud, unprepared for how I landed. The blow knocked the wind from me, and I couldn't even grunt in pain as I wanted to.

I lay there, staring up at the night sky and the curving, hugging trees as they looked down over me. With the paper snug in my hand, I didn't have the desire to move, finding my immobility a much-needed rest and didn't fight it.

It wasn't until Atem's voice broke through the peaceful silence that I realized my hearing had left me and was only now returning. "Ima? Can you hear me?"

I lifted my head toward his voice, scanning the obscure surroundings for a sign of him. I saw only the camera and its red blinking light, showing it was recording. And because its once bright light no longer shined, it made it difficult to see anything beyond a few feet surrounding me with only the help from the light of the moon.

"Where are you?" My voice creaked out of me since I couldn't inhale a proper breath into my lungs. Before I made another move, I stuffed the sheet of paper into my pocket to secure it.

"I'm here, Ima." He groaned. "Argh, I'm hurt."

With those words, I pushed myself up to see Atem a few feet away. He lay on his side on the ground with his right leg bent and twisted in an unnatural position. "Oh, my god! What—what? How?"

"I think I broke my leg." He grunted and groaned in pain. "Yup, it's definitely broken."

"You think?" I crawled to his side as he hissed in agony. His leg twisted at the knee, making it lay to the side in a way I never thought would be possible. "Shit. That looks bad."

"I can barely feel anything below the knee." He looked down at it with wide eyes. The whites of his eyes were visible even in the darkness. "Grab the camera. We need light."

I got to my feet, quickly looking over myself and taking ginger steps to access my body. The only sign of pain came from my tailbone because of the way I landed after jumping from the porch.

I grabbed the camera from the ground. "How do you turn on the light?"

"Bring it," he urged, reaching out toward me. I made out his silhouette in the moonlight and handed him the hefty camera. He winced. "Aw, man. Dropping it broke the light. And the camera's all beaten up. I knew as soon as it left my hand that it was a goner."

"Is it?" I watched as he examined it in the moon's light.

"Well, it's still recording. Maybe I can adjust the contrast to see better in the dark." He brought the camera and readjusted the screen and settings before aiming it at his leg. "Oh, no. Oh, shit. My leg! I'll never walk again."

"You'll be okay, Atem." I went to his side. "It'll be okay." I didn't know how else to comfort him. "At least you don't feel it, right?"

"It hurts!" he cried. "My bones broke, and it hurts. Oh, my god. What am I gonna do?"

I instantly regretted mentioning the pain. My heart raced hearing the fear in his voice, but I was convinced he felt little pain until he saw the position of his leg. Mind over matter.

As soon as his cries quieted for a moment, the rustling of leaves to our side sounded through the brief silence. Just behind the large welcome sign, a scratching noise grew louder, resembling branches and twigs scraping at the wooden board.

"What is that?" My eyes widened to take in as much of the view as I could in the darkness, awaiting something sinister to jump out, much like the big bad wolf. "We need to go."

"Go?" Atem cried out, nearly wailing in pain. "I can't go anywhere. My leg's broken!"

The scratching continued to grow, and the wind picked up, blowing the branches off the trees, and bringing a sense of dread over me. "Come on." I tucked my arm under his and pulled him to stand. He cursed and grunted in pain, trying desperately to balance on his good leg and not fall back to the ground.

"I can't walk, Ima," he pleaded. "You know my leg is fucked, right?"

"You have one of two choices," I said directly in his ear. "You can either stay here on your ass and get strangled to death by one of those creatures, or you can figure out a way to get the hell out of here."

Atem straightening up. As I held him around the waist, he placed his free arm around my shoulder and hopped past the rubble of what we left of the ranger station. He held the camera up to guide us. When he panned the camera toward the collapsed pile of wood where the ranger station once stood, the image displayed the intact and undisturbed building. I kicked planks and shattered wood from our path to help pull him along, ignoring the camera display.

With every hop, he cried out in pain, his right leg dangling at his side, dragging on the dead foliage covering the ground. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I urged him on.

Each hop was dreadful, hearing him sobbing and crying out in pain. But the dread was short-lived as utter anxiety overtook me when what made the scratching noise emerged from behind the large welcome sign.

"Ima? Atem?" Zeke called.

We paused and glanced over our shoulders. "Zeke! You're alive?" A part of me wanted to run to him and hold him in a big bear hug to show my appreciation for him not having to suffer to the creatures of the woods.

My heartbeat raced in excitement, but Atem's words in my ear brought me back to Earth. "That's not Zeke." He lifted the camera so I could see the screen.

Although it looked like Zeke in shape and form, in the camera, his body was bare, only abrasive rope wrapped around him and his private parts. His face even had a gaunt look that only the dead possessed. Vacant eyes and dark bruises on his previously flawless pale flesh.

"Zeke?" I whispered, the words barely falling from my tongue in utter despair. I noted the way his voice no longer came out hoarse as it had before.

"Let's keep moving." Atem put more pep in his attempts and groaned less about the pain.

We made it a couple more feet before the sound of ropes whipping the air stunned us. I glanced over my shoulder at the many pairs of cords emerging from behind Zeke to lash the air at his sides. The ropes grew longer, as if reaching for us like a sinister, tentacled creature.

"Run!" I screamed, but as soon as we tried, we immediately fell to the ground instead. "We gotta get to the car. That's the only safe place to go."

"I won't make it," Atem cried. "Just go. Go fast. Get out of here."

I stood and grabbed his arm to pull him to stand, but just as I gripped his wrist, one rope coiled around the ankle of his broken leg. He yelped in pain, dropping the camera to the ground. The cord pulled and tugged him out of my grip.

"No!" I screamed, running to grab his wrists again.

Our fingers grazed before the ropes connected to Zeke coiled around each of Atem's limbs before dragging him into the darkness. Only his screams were heard, echoing throughout the forests.

I dropped to my knees with a thud. "No! Atem, don't leave me. Please." How could I continue to fight without him by my side? I needed him. He was the only one that really understood what I've been through. The only one with enough guts and bravery to help fight it alongside me.

He was right. He was the brains of this group. And I couldn't lose him. Tears fell from my eyes and streamed down my face. My tears wet the dirt caked on my cheeks, making them tickle. My vision blurred, but I didn't care.

I needed Atem back.

I stood, grabbed the camera from the ground, which still flashed a red light, and ran toward the car. I had been back and forth along the path that I knew it like the back if my hand, not needing much light to make it to my destination.

As soon as I stepped foot on the campgrounds, I searched my pack for the box of matches or lighter I brought. Determine to start the fire for light, warmth, and comfort. I used the camera to help me try to locate them, but just like the keys to Felicity's car, they were nowhere to be found.

The trees shook in certain areas. I couldn't make out if the wind rustling was the culprit or something ominous waiting for the perfect time to strike. Either way, I grabbed my notebook and sat in the driver's side seat of the car.

The car provided little protection, but the illusion of protection called to me. I glanced at the second camera in the passenger seat next to me and shook my head, not knowing how to operate it or its light. I tinkered with it for a few seconds before I gave up.

With the beat-up camera in hand, I balanced the notebook on my lap. Preparing myself for the enviable. I had to read it. I took a deep breath, readying myself for what may happen. Reading the book was the only way to find Atem and bring him back to me.

I opened the notebook, aiming the camera at it to view the pages properly. To my surprise, the camera didn't pick up my handwriting from the notebook, but someone else's entirely.

Confused, I turned page after page, seeing the bold, jagged scribbles. I sniffed as my nose opened like a faucet. I kept turning pages, baffled at what I was seeing and trying to figure out what it meant before it was too late.

Remembering the note in my pocket, I pulled it out, feeling the copious amount of warm liquid run down my neck to soak into my shirt. Through the camera, the words resembled the same jagged writing that took over my notebook. The words die, die, die scribbled on the sheet.

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