Fair Blood

I felt a chill down my spine when we got close to the woods. People often get chills when they get close to certain locations, and this was one of them. It wasn’t because of the weather either, it was definitely because of the atmosphere after driving for over an hour.

“You good Zoe?” my best friend Kitty asked as we got out of the van and started getting the equipment out of the back, while Danny made sure Carl had his tie on right, which he naturally didn’t.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I said, “Just got a bad feeling about this place.”

“I don’t blame you,” said Kitty as she handed me one of the bags of camera equipment, “All we need is some denser fog and Southside Park would look just like something out of Silent Hill.”

“Especially considering it’s only May, it shouldn’t be this hot.” I laughed and hoisted out the backpack just before Carl started complaining.

“Everything good?” Carl asked, looking over at the two of us, “Nothing wrong with the equipment right?”

“Nothing wrong Carl, everything’s fine,” I said, “We’re just making sure we have everything.”

“I don’t wanna rush you girls, but we have to hurry,” Carl said, “If this fog gets too bad, you’re not gonna be able to get any good shots.”

“It’s fine Carl,” said Kitty, “I checked the weather reports before we got here, they said the fog’s not gonna get any worse than it is right now. And right now, it’s good ambience.”

“Fine, just… please hurry,” Carl said, “I have to get the package done before class next week.”

“You’ve only told us about a million times, doofus,” said Danny as he grabbed his brother by the neck and noogied him, “We’re gonna get this done, and it’s gonna be fine.”

“Alright, alright!” said Carl as he pushed himself away, “Don’t mess up my hair, it took me hours to get it right.”

“Whatever.” Danny said, rolling his eyes as he walked up to us, “Ladies, you need any help with anything?”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure we have everything,” Kitty said, “But hey, I’ll prefer two hands to hold the camera.”

Kitty handed one of her bags off to Danny and snuck a peck on the cheek to him as well. Danny took it with a smile, Carl grabbed his bag, and we started on the path up the hiking trail.

I wasn’t much of a hiker, but even I had to admit how mystical the woods looked with the fog. It reminded me of the beginning of Silent Hill 2.

“Watch your step!”

I was brought out of my wonder when Kitty stopped me from tripping over a rock in the path. I managed to keep on my feet, only stumbling a little, and thumbs-upped Kitty in thanks.

“Don’t break your neck out here, you’d never get to a hospital in time.” Kitty said, stifling a laugh. I laughed out loud, and we kept going in silence until we arrived at the rest stop halfway up the hiking trail, which was where Carl had wanted us to stop. Kitty and I stepped over to the spot Carl motioned for us, and started setting up the camera equipment, with me setting the camera’s settings up, and Kitty handling the tripod.

“Everything look good on me?” Carl asked after fidgeting with the tiny microphone he was holding in his hand. Danny shot him a thumbs-up, and went to stand behind me as I set the camera on the tripod and double-checked the settings.

Once I was sure everything was good, I shot Carl a thumbs-up.

“Alright, mic check,” Carl said, holding the microphone up to his mouth. I turned to Kitty, who was checking the audio levels, and she also shot a thumbs-up. Carl nodded, and then he started talking, holding the microphone and plastering a serious look on his face.

“I’m standing here at a rest stop, on the hiking trail of Southside Park,” Carl said, motioning with his free hand to the foggy landscape behind him, “Once a popular location for picnickers and hikers, it’s now close to being shut down by the FBI. Why is that? Well, in the past two years, several people have gone missing, never to be seen again.”

Carl paused for a moment, letting the information sink in, and then he continued.

“What happened to these people? Where did they go? And why is this park such a hot-spot for disappearances? Today, join me on a deep dive as we explore the vanishings in Southside Park.”

Carl paused for a second, then he asked, “How was that?”

“I thought it was good,” Kitty said, “Professional-sounding, I guess. I mean, I’m not a professional, I’m a goddamn waitress, but I thought it sounded good.”

“I liked it.” I said.

“Ten outta ten.” said Daniel.

Carl rolled his eyes.

“Alright,” he said as he pulled an index card out of his inside jacket pocket, “I have another one here, I’ll do a take of it, see which one’s the best, and then - “

Carl stopped when a shrieking scream pierced the air. Kitty and I started looking around; it took me a moment to even register the fact that it was a scream I heard at all. It was shortly thereafter followed by screaming and babbling of someone else, the deeper voice of a man.

“What the hell?!” Danny said. Before we could really let what we just heard sink in, two people rushed out of the fog from the other side of the path, opposite the cliff we were standing by. The woman was wearing a hoodie and leggings with a pair of sneakers, and the man was wearing jeans, black shoes, and a button-up shirt that wasn’t fully buttoned up.

“Help!” the woman yelled, “Please, help us!”

“Hey!” I called, rushing over to the woman and catching her as she ran into my arms, “Hey, take a breath! It’s okay, I got you!”

“Please, you have to help us!” the man said as my friends joined me around the woman and man, “We nearly got abducted by some people in the woods!”

“People in the woods?!” Carl said, turning back to our impromptu set, “Hey, is that camera still running?!”

“Forget about the stupid camera!” Danny said, “The lady’s bleeding from the head! We have to get her to a hospital, look at all the blood!”

“Cool it down Danny,” I said, “Head wounds always looks worse than they actually are, and she doesn’t seem to have a bad concussion, so let’s get her to the ER.”

“We have to hurry!” the woman said, “Please, they’re coming.”

“Alright, let’s get back to the van,” I said, “Stay close to me, Ms…?”

“My name’s Trudy,” the woman said, “Trudy Clarke.”

“Trudy, cool name,” I said, “My name’s Zoe Watson, I’m a 911 dispatcher. You’re gonna be okay.”

“What about you?” I asked, turning to the man.

“I’m Peter Marsh.” the man said, “Those men she’s talking about were trying to abduct me too, and she just happened to stumble on it. We just barely got away.”

“Let’s pick up the pace,” I said. I was scared of course, keeping an eye on the woods for anything resembling a person, but the fog was getting worse, and it was even harder to see. We moved faster, heading down the path towards the parking lot, when I heard a loud thud from behind me. I turned and saw that Danny had collapsed.

“Danny?!” Carl said, leaning down to his brother and pulling something out of the side of his neck - it took me a second to register that it was some kind of dart.

“Shit!” I yelled, “Duck and cover!”

I half-carried Trudy behind a nearby tree. Kitty and Peter quickly joined me.

“Carl, come on!” Kitty yelled.

“I’m not leaving my brother!” Carl yelled, “Danny, come on man!”

Carl was trying to pick up his brother, or carry him to safety, but stopped and stumbled back suddenly.

“Ow!” he yelled, and the he stumbled over to us, and fell to his knees. A dart was sticking out of his arm.

“Shit.” I whispered again as Carl fell against the trees with labored breath, “This is really bad. We’re gonna have to make a run for it or something.”

“We can’t just leave the dudes behind!” Kitty said.

“I don’t think I can carry them,” I said, “Can you or Peter?”

“Not a chance.” said Peter.

“We’ll just have to hope that the cops can get back here fast enough to save them,” I said as I peeked out for half a second to check if I could see anything, “I don’t like it, but we don’t have many options. On the count of three, we run for it. One, two…”

“ARGH!”

I turned to see a huge, bulking man in an apron wearing a face mask that never should have been able to sneak up on us grab Kitty by the neck and plant a cloth on her mouth.

“SHIT!” I scream, “RUN!”

I tried to help Trudy again, but she tripped. I leaned down to take her hand, and felt a sting in the side of my neck. Then my whole body felt heavy.

“God… no…” I whispered as I collapsed next to a still-screaming Trudy. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the masked man’s big boots standing next to me.

It too me a moment to register that I wasn’t dead. As soon as that fact came to light, I opened my eyes and sat up from the cold, hard slab of rock that I was laying on, and looked around.

I was in a cell. In front of me were wrought iron bars that separated me from a hallway filled with other cells. The slab I was laying on was hard, but not steel, more like iron as well. My clothes were also gone, leaving me in just my bra and underwear. A chill ran down my spine.

“Hello?” I called out.

No response. Not a sound.

I calmed myself using a technique I used in the dispatch office; three deep breaths, looking at something different with each breath. In my case, the bars, the wall, and the iron slab I was laying on. It worked, as usual.

With my senses back, I started trying to figure a way out of this situation. I looked around, feeling each wall for something that could help me.

Luck came to me when I felt a loose brick on the wall opposite the iron slab. I pulled it out, and peered through. Another cell was on the other side of the wall, of course, but the door was open.

“Alright then…” I whispered, and started slamming the brick in my hand into the wall. It gave, much more than I anticipated. I was actually kind of shocked at how easy it seemed to be. A couple more swings with the brick, and the wall caved in, the black cement holding the bricks together crumbling into dust. Even I was shocked at how easy it was.

I crawled through the hole, and breathed a sigh of relief at the clothes on the iron slab in the next cell over, a pair of black sweat pants and a tank top, oversized, but a belt with them helped me cinch it in, and a pair of slip-on shoes. It was better than nothing, and I was more than grateful to cover myself up.

Fully dressed, I made my way out the cell door, still holding the brick. The hallway was just as damp-looking, with only a couple of faint lights on the ceiling that did the barest minimum of illumination.

I was about to call out again, then held my tongue. Considering what happened just before I was knocked out, calling attention to my ‘prison escape’ seemed like a bad idea. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t good, and I had to get out as quickly as possible.

I clutched the brick, the only weapon I had, tightly, ready to use if I needed to, and started making my way forward. The only thing on my mind was finding my friends, and escaping this nightmare.