Who Are You

Who Are You
Evangeline P.O.V.

I watched in horror as Finley was forced backwards away from us. Something very unnatural was pulling and pushing him to the ground, his face turning bluer every second it held him down.

"Let him go! Please!" I begged, trying to move towards him, but something was keeping me rooted in place.

I looked down at my feet, vines and small roots covering them, forcing me to stay where I was. This was so much more than just a woman in the woods. This was a dark force controlling these woods, controlling people, and now one that was threatening to kill us.

Susan snapped her fingers. Finley immediately gasped for air. More roots sprouted from the ground, grabbing his arms and snaking around his legs.

"Stay like the dog you are Finely and this will all be over soon." Susan's voice no longer as soft as it once was, every word coming out ragged and raspy.

"Who the hell are you? What happened to you Susan?" Lainey spoke up. I completely forgot she had also come into the woods. Richards siad he didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, so in she went with us.

"You know who I am Lainey. You've always known."

"What is wrong with you? They are children! Whatever happened between you and Lainey should stay between the two of you." I could hear the fear beneath Richard's voice.

"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm protecting our legacy!" She motioned to the woman behind her.

"Screw your legacy! That thing behind you killed the woman I loved! The woman you knew I was supposed to marry! If you knew what was in these woods why didn't you stop her? How could you do that to me? We were friends Susan, we talked, we shared laughs, and you let her come in here."

Richards voice cracked as he spoke. But Susan's face only got darker. She snapped her fingers again, and the ground started to shake violently. A body emerged from behind the two women. It's bones cracked as it turned around and walked towards us.

"You want to see her so badly, don't you?" A tinge of amusement came from Susan as the figure walked closer.

"Jen- I- Jennifer, my love." Richards stood, the vines untwisting, freeing him slowly.

The woman stood next to Susan. She looked the same as the other woman, ragged, gray skin, glossed eyes, the epitome of dead. She was still dressed in hiking gear, though she was missing the bottom of one boot, and her pants were torn almost to shreds.

"Richards that isn't Jennifer! Someone grab him! Stop him!"

This was a trick. Just like sitting around the campfire. All of this, maybe even putting Lily in these woods, was a big trick. They wanted us in here, no, they needed us in here. But why?

The students on the other side of the tree line grabbed onto him. Richards started to thrash, screaming for them to let go of him.

"Richards please! Wake up! That isn't Jennifer. She's dead!" I pleaded, hoping he would hear me.

"You seem to be so confident, Evangeline. Your parents didn't die in these woods, but nothing is impossible to recreate." She snapped her fingers again.

The ground rumbled violently as two more figures appeared. They made their way towards us and my stomach dropped.

"Mom. Dad." My parents were only a few feet away from me, almost within my reach. I felt the vines give way on my feet as my body carried me towards them.

"Sweet bee, how you have grown. Come, come with us, we can be together again, forever." My father outstretched his hands towards me. My mother smiled sweetly as she nodded her head in agreement.

I got up slowly, half of me in shock by what I was seeing, the other half wanting to cry and run into my father's arms. My feet continued to carry me towards their embrace, every step heavier than the last. Everything around me was silent, except their voices as they called me into their arms.

"I'm so sorry. I should've been a better daughter." The words jumbled as they spewed out of my mouth.

"Sweet bee, you can make it up to us by coming with us. We can forget about everything, just come with us. Come home." His voice carried an uneasy amount of urgency.

I kept walking to my parents, but as I continued to get closer, something was telling me to turn back.

"Evangeline!" Someone was screaming my name.

"Sweet bee, keep walking. Come closer, take our hands, come home." He motioned towards him and my mother. My mother continued to smile, never moving or speaking.

My eyes darted between her and my father. I had stopped, not taking another step forward. I was so confused; my heart and mind were at a complete war. My heart wanted to run, jump into my father's arms and never look back. My mind wants to tell them to fuck off and get back to reality.

"Evangeline! Turn around!" The same voice screamed again.

Something cold wrapped around my wrists. I looked up to the same dead eyes that every other thing in this forest had. The same cold, cracked gray skin that hadn't seen the sun in years. Now I could smell the rotteness of the person in front of me. The person who no longer resembled my father, but someone else who died in this forest.

"Times up." A sweet voice I once knew turned cold and dark.

It yanked me forward. I stumbled, barely catching my feet beneath me. The forest appeared around me, the voices of everyone screaming flooding my ears.

"Evangeline!" Finley. It was Finley calling for me.

"Let go of me you bastard!" I tried to free my hands, kicking at the corpse as it continued to drag me further away from the safety of others. Its grip tightened around my wrists.

The ground rumbled once more. A large hole opened, revealing a large pit in the forest ground. This was how I was going to die, swallowed by the damn ground and dragged by something deader than death itself.

I continued to kick at the corpse, screaming for it to let me go as the feeling of dread crept into my skin the closer we got to the hole.

Just as the edge of the hole came into view, an arrow whipped across the air and dug straight into the corpse's back. It reluctantly let go of me as it stumbled backwards. The arrow had gone through its entire back and poked out of its chest. Black oozed out of its wound.

I scrambled backwards, determined to get away from it as fast as possible. It ran towards me as I turned around, trying to run back to the group.

Another arrow zipped through the air, jamming right into its eye socket. It let out a blood-curdling scream as it sank to the ground. I managed to get back to my side of the tree line with minimal bruising on my wrists.

I dropped to my knees, tears flowing out of my eyes. Even though it wasn't real, it still felt like it. It's been years since I've heard their voices, seen their faces not in a photo. And I just watched it all crumble to dust again.

I don't know who Susan is, what she is, or how she did it, but what I do know is that she will be the one dying in these woods, not us.