Chapter 5

“Well she couldn’t have gone far,” I placed a hand on the door handle. “I’m going to go see where she is. Kate, you have to come too.”

“Alright, fine,” Kate rolled her eyes.

Kate and I exited the SUV. I took a second to embrace the dark woods around me. They were even darker when viewing them beyond the window. The woods seemed to be home to only a dark void. A chill went down my spine. There was something off about these woods, something that told me that we shouldn’t have been out here. I looked around for Rhoda, though I saw no trace of her. I looked down for her footprints, but there were none.

“Rhoda!” I shouted.

I turned around and stared into the woods. It felt as if someone was there watching me. If there was, I’m sure it wasn’t Rhoda since it didn’t feel like her.

“Something’s not right,” I said.

“What are you talking about,” Kate asked.

“You don’t feel it?” I asked. “It feels like there’s someone in the woods watching us.”

“Is that what you think?” Kate asked sarcastically. “Well, maybe it’s Rhoda.”

I took a few steps facing the woods. Maybe it really was Rhoda. Who knew? It just had a different vibe than what Rhoda had. I placed my hands around my mouth.

“Rhoda!” I screamed. I only heard my voice echo through the woods. The feeling of someone nearby faded. Guess it was nothing.

The sky was shrouded in grey clouds. They were different than usual, not quite the usual snow clouds. It was hard to tell but there was something off about those clouds. They quickly rolled through the sky, but the sky didn’t clear, and more clouds came from the distance. The lighting was darker than usual. It shouldn’t get this dark this soon, even for winter. While visibility was still there it was still unsettling because you never knew what lied beyond, especially in the woods. The feeling of someone being in the woods watching us still lingered in my mind and Rhoda was nowhere to be seen.

“Kate,” I called out. “Do you see her?”

“No, I don’t,” she said as she came around the SUV.

I placed my hands on top of my head. “Dammit, Rhoda. Where’d you go?” I stuck my head in the SUV’s doorway. I pointed at the small snowy field on the left and got Steve and Eric’s attention. “Steve, Eric. Did either of you see Rhoda run toward that field?” I asked.

“No, we haven’t,” Steve said.

I sighed and shook my head. “Well, just keep an eye out for her.”

They nodded as I stepped back out. I walked around the SUV still looking for Rhoda’s footprints in the snow, though I only found mine and Kate’s. I found Kate leaning on the SUV’s hood with her hands on her waist and a frown on her face.

“Still nothing?” I asked.

“No. I don’t know where the hell she went,” she said.

“There’s no sign of her anywhere,” I leaned against the SUV’s hood. I looked around at the woods and looked down at the ground in front of us. “Her footprints aren’t in the snow. I didn’t see any sign of her running into the woods. It’s like she vanished.”

Kate glanced left and right. “Hey, listen. It’s getting darker and colder. We should go back inside.”

“She’s still out here Kate!” I shouted.

“I know that,” Kate pointed at the SUV’s windshield. “We can still look for her through the windows.”

I shot a hard frown at Kate. It was her fault Rhoda was out here to begin with and now she wanted to stop looking for her just because it was getting chilly. Being as pissed as I was, I thought if she didn’t want to be out here, she shouldn’t have tossed Rhoda out. I was so pissed that I felt not the cold air breeze by. In fact, I felt quite warm. I gritted my teeth as I turned toward Kate. “You can go inside if you want. I’m staying out here until I find her.”

“Suit yourself,” Kate headed back inside the SUV.

I stepped away from the SUV and took a few steps while contemplating on what to do. I wanted Rhoda back, but I didn’t know where she was. I didn’t know what else to do for her. A light breeze hit me in the face. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head that throbbed. It felt like a cross between a migraine and a heartbeat in the center of my brain. I stumbled about and grabbed my head. I heard someone exit the SUV, but I felt delirious and couldn’t make them out. I looked down with my eyes closed and shook my head hoping to regain my senses. I looked back up and saw Kate standing beside me.

“Stanford. Are you alright?” she asked.

I tried shrugging off the pain. “Yeah. I guess the air’s getting to me. Guess I’ll take a break for a moment.”

We both went inside the SUV, but I still felt the pain throbbing in my head. It seemed to be getting worse. I massaged my forehead hoping it would help, but it didn’t.

‘Shit. What is this?’ I wondered.

Upfront, Kate sighed.“This isn’t good, you guys. We have to find Rhoda before night comes,” she said nonchalantly. She propped her elbow on the window and looked outside. “It’s getting so dark out.”

I hated how casual Kate sounded, like she wasn’t being serious.

“But you’re the one who threw her out!” Eric shouted.

She shot a hard frown at Eric through the rear-view mirror. “Don’t start, Eric. I can always throw you out there too.”

“You threw her outside, you should still be out there looking for her!” Eric continued to shout.

Kate slammed her fist on the steering wheel. “I said shut your mouth! It’s her own damn fault for acting so silly! It serves her right for doing that shit!”

Eric sat up. “I don’t care! Stanford said she wasn’t feeling well, and you just tossed her out in the cold snow! You need to get your ass out there and find her!”

Kate turned around and propped her knees in her seat. She looked down at Eric. “I’m going to slap the shit out of you if you don’t shut your goddamn mouth!”

As they continued bickering, it got harder to make out what they were saying. I thought it was because they were talking random gibberish as most people do when they argue. However, I realized it was because of the pain in my head. In fact, each word they said was like a jackhammer pounding on my brain. All this damn noise was becoming a bit much for me.

“Hey! Everyone just chill out!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “I’m not in the mood for this shit right now! Seriously, I’m not! So everyone shut the hell up! Just shut up!”

They all went quiet. Steve, Eric and Kate looked at me with widened eyes.

“Stanford, what’s wrong with you? You look like shit,” Kate said.

“What are you talking about?” I muttered.

She tilted her head while looking at me. “You’re sweating buckets and turning pale.”

I felt something on my forehead and wiped it to see a large amount of sweat dripping. I saw it on my hand for a moment before feeling drops pour down my face. I felt weak, as if all my energy had escaped. My body shook like I had the jitters.

“Stanford, is everything okay?” Eric asked.

“No, I’m not alright,” I struggled to say. I wanted to ask them to grab my Excedrin from my bag, but the words didn’t come out. I’ve never felt sick like this before. It was like nothing I’ve experience. I didn’t understand how quickly it came. I was fine one moment and now I struggled to keep my head up.

With my heart beating faster and faster I felt anxious. It felt like a burning rock dropped into the pit of my stomach which exploded into flames and erupting throughout my body. I wondered if my shaking actually came from the cold. It had to be the weather but me and Kate were only out there for a few minutes. I couldn’t have gotten sick that fast. My vision blurred to where I barely made everyone out. I wanted to tell them to stop worrying but my words still wouldn’t form. I reached for the switch to lower the window. Maybe some air would help. As the window lowered, I heard absolutely nothing outside. No kind of sound. No birds chirping, no wind blowing, no whistling in the trees, no car noises. Nothing.

‘What the hell? It’s awfully quiet outside,’ I thought. “Hey, all of you listen outside and see if you hear anything.”

Everyone looked at each other briefly. Kate turned around and lowered her window. Steve also turned and lowered his window.

“That’s weird,” Kate said. “There aren’t any noises. It’s completely quiet. Usually there’s something like the wind blowing or leaves rustling.”

“Well, we are in the woods,” Steve said. “We could just be the only things out here right now. All the animals are asleep in the winter and I suppose not too many people come out to these kinds of roads, especially in late evening.”

“But doesn’t it seem weird though? It just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing to happen here,” Kate said.

I started feeling better but barely. “But this doesn’t feel right. It’s just too quiet. Something’s off.”

“Hey, Stanford,” Kate said. “You said Rhoda wasn’t feeling good before she started acting crazy. Now you’re saying you don’t feel good either. You’re not going to start doing weird shit like that too, are you?”

“Kate, chill with that bullshit. I really don’t feel like it right now,” I said.

She had a good point. What if something made Rhoda sick and now the same thing affected me? This couldn’t had been just a coincidence. Was there something in the vehicle making us sick like gasoline or a car air freshener? The front rear-view mirror did have a pine tree air fresher hanging from it. I didn’t think I was allergic to it but maybe I was and didn’t know. Then again, Kate may had been wearing some kind of perfume that made me sick. I glanced over and wondered if Steve and Eric had something. Steve once carried a sandwich in his coat pocket for three weeks straight. Maybe he had another that molded, and I’ve been breathing in the spores.

“Steve, do you have another sandwich in your pocket?” I asked.

“No, I don’t. At least I don’t think I do,” Steve reached into his coat pockets and pulled them inside out. He looked at me and shook his head.

I felt a sharp a jolt shot through my gut. I clutched my chest and leaned toward my knees as I rocked in pain. I grunted something fierce as I rubbed my face on the back of the passenger seat.

“Stanford!” Eric shouted.

I felt a bizarre feeling as if someone were close by. I felt them but didn’t know where they were. It felt like when I stared into the woods but now it surrounded me like there were multiple people all around. I stared into the pitch-black woods. My anxiousness got to me as my heartbeat sped up. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Out of nowhere, a loud noise suddenly echoed from the woods. It became louder as it came out the darkness and traveled to where the SUV was.

“What the hell’s that?” Kate yelled.

It sounded like a passing tornado. It was so loud, and it sounded exactly like a freight train. I covered my ears and looked to where the sound came from. There was nothing there as it passed as quickly as it came. Immediately after, the ground began to shake. I looked around as it seemed as if the entire area was rocked, even the SUV. I ducked and grabbed the back of my head. Kate scream loudly while Eric and Steve ducked and yelled.

“Is it an earthquake?” Eric asked.

“It is! It’s an earthquake!” Steve yelled.

The shaking was rough. It felt like the SUV was crashing. There were several rumbles followed by hard thumps. I don’t know how long it lasted, maybe a minute or two but it felt like an eternity. As soon as the shaking subsided my migraine and sick feelings disappeared. I felt better but I still felt my heart race from the noise and quake. I rolled up the window, sat back, and took a deep breath. My shirt collar was drenched from all the sweating I did.

“Kate! What was that?” Eric screamed.

“I don’t know!” Kate looked around frantically. “We’re leaving. I don’t know where Rhoda is, but we’ll have to find her later.”

“No! You can’t be serious!” I shouted.

“I’m not sitting out here in an earthquake,” Kate said. “If we stay out here a tree could fall on us. With all this snow I doubt someone would come out and help especially in the middle of the woods this late. We can’t search for Rhoda anymore. We have to go.”

The others rolled up their windows and Kate tried starting the SUV. I looked outside still for any signs of Rhoda. She shouldn’t be left out here. However, Kate was right about not wanting to stay here, especially with that earthquake. Who knew when another would happen and who’d want to stick around to find out? It was so dark I couldn’t see a thing. The air outside seemed thicker. That bad gut feeling seemed to drag around like it was trying to tell me something. I felt something bad was going to happen.

The SUV’s engine cut on. “Finally,” Kate said.

I looked out the window on Steve’s side and saw a rustling bush beside the ditch. I didn’t see any wind blowing, so I knew there had to be something moving in it.

“Hey, do you guys see that bush right there?” I pointed over at it. Steve, Eric and Kate looked outside.

“What bush?” Kate pointed to the rustling bush which stopped moving. “You mean that one?”

“Yeah. I think there’s something moving around in it,” I said.

We all leaned forward to see it, but it was too dark to get a good glimpse. A moment later, a large bird rushed out the bush screeching and flapping. We all jumped and screamed as it lunged at us. The bird briefly lifted off the ground before collapsing beside the SUV’s doors.

“Holy shit!” Kate shouted.

“It’s a freaking bird!” Steve yelled.

I leaned over Steve and Eric and looked down at the bird. Despite the darkness, I saw how it looked. It resembled a large condor or a buzzard. Most of its feathers were gone. It was as if they fell off or were plucked off. There were scars and bloodied marks all over its body which gave it a rabid appearance. Its neck had no feathers, skin, or muscle, but just exposed bones. Much of the bones in its wings were exposed as well with very little skin covering them. The bird laid there motionless.

I’ve never seen a bird this mutilated. Could something had attacked it like a wolf? The feeling of someone being nearby returned. This time, I felt a chill run down my spine as it felt like it crept closer. Outside, more noises stirred in the woods.