An hour or so had passed since their agreement, now only footsteps and the sound of bones cracking filled the night.
If not for the fact that it was nighttime and cool air still brushed against them, most would've given up by now. But this wasn't their home nor did anyone know what creatures laid in the forest, even though it'd been abnormally qiuet, no one would've really risked staying behind to rest.
And so the silent walking went on for a little over twenty minutes before it was initially broken off.
"Damn it, they really aren't moving. I'm really starving right now" Billie growned as he gazed at the four moons, his hands wrapped around his stomach.
"Me too."
"Me three."
A few more kids kids voiced out.
"Can't we rest here a little? We're all tired from all the walking." Dan inquired.
"Yeah we've been walking for so long that even our best athlete is tired" Tony added while jokingly tapping his close friend's back.
Mrs Taiyo had used every passing second walking trying to think of any solution of how they were gonna survive and the only thing that came to mind was hunting. If they were somehow successful at hunting even a rabbit, it could tone down their hunger if only a little.
But there came the problem, since their arrival at this place, they haven't came across any animal let alone a rabbit. They'd walked for over an hour, not even a chirp from a bird, there haven't even been a slight movement in one of the many bushes.
And not to mention that no one here was really a hunter.
"WHAT, how, the forest isn't supposed to have any animals." One of the kids who stood in the middle of the group, exclaimed, pointing towards the right side of the path.
As if the heavens were smiling upon them.
Mrs Taiyo and everyone one looked towards the direction of the pointing finger, all their faces filled with suprise, and among them a grinning face.
Between two giants, trees that towered above the others, was a spring buck. And athough it's hide was black different from it's usual brown, Mrs Taiyo couldn't really fail to discern it, standing still in the middle.
Even after percieving the murmurs and footsteps approaching it, much to their suprise it didn't really move or flinch.
Mrs Taiyo watched as the kids petted the animal her grinning face turning brighter and brighter before being interrupted.
"Don't you think this is strange?, Since we came here we haven't really seen any animal, and as soon as we meet one it doesn't even flinch or move, it's as if, it's already dead" Alpha who'd been staring at some of his classmates pet the strange animal, asked his teacher who was now thinking of ways to skin and cook the animal.
Driven by her empty stomach, she had failed to Analyze the situation, and the moment she realised it, well it was too late.
~Whrrrr, whrrr~
With the echoing of the irritating sound, everyone froze, from partially happy faces to grim and frightened ones.
Everything went quiet, the kids that'd been previously petting the strange animal were now frozen in place.
But this time was different, Mrs Taiyo had grown somehow accustomed to this types of situation, even though not fully, it was enough to snap her out of the frenzy.
"Everyone gather around the path, and make sure you're standing on the skulls." She remembered what Mr Leonard had told Alpha, she didn't really understand why he specifically asked them to walk on it, but she figured he had to have reason.
There'd been 10 kids petting the spring buck, among them was Ciru who seemed to have been worse than anyone else. When she heard the whistling, her legs immediately gave out, making her stumble, her eyes wide in horror.
With the remark from their teacher, the kids began collecting themselves, but before they could go back on the path, between the tree's above them black mist began forming and suddenly a figure appeared.
Same cowboy getup, only this time it hovered above ground, with bat shaped grey wings that were about three meters each.
The faceless cowboy gazed_well more like lowered his black top hat that hovered above the greyness shaped like a face. As soon as it's body finished materialising, he raised his hand that still held the silver machete, and in an instant, faster than the eye could record, he appeared Infront of the spring buck and beheaded it with one slash. Jets of blood gushing in every direction.
As everyone watched this, none of them uttered a single word, they all stared blankly at the cowboy, as if waiting for death to come. Mrs Taiyo who was now growing restless and scared by the second, dashed towards the forest.
She couldn't really fight the cowboy before them, but she knew he had a habit of observing before attacking.
Without even batting an eye at him, she squatted, picked up Ciru and shot back to the path.
"Move, now." She shouted. She didn't really know why, but for some reason she believed that if one was on the skull path no harm would come to them.
Still frozen in place the kids stared at the faceless man before them, in what seemed like an enternity before their teacher's voice landed and they saw her, which motivated them to immediately dash back towards the path. But as everything in this cursed place seemed to have somehow been against them, this time was no exception.
Pushing each other while running towards what they believed to have been a safe haven, one of the kids tripped and fell, injuring her foot.
Mrs Taiyo, who'd managed to step on the skulls and place Ciru down, was about to take another trip towards the forest and help another kid, though they'd all somehow managed to pick themselves up and were now arriving at the path one by one.
Within a minute all of the kids were now on the path_well almost all
"Help! I don't wanna die."
Everyone attention was drawn towards a rather young girl, with brown eyes and curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail, who looked to have been younger than every other kid present. She laid on the ground as she tried her best to crowl out of the forest.
"I'm coming." Mrs Taiyo readied herself for another trip. "Move" She ordered the kids who stood in front of her.
"You'll also die if you step off the path, that is if you believe we're safe here." looking at her with a concerned look was Alpha, who stood in the middle of two other kids.
"And if you die, we'll all die" Margaret, added, with a look that indicated that she didn't really believe in what she was saying.
"You're not suggesting we just watch her die?" with a tone laced with anger Mrs Taiyo asked.
"No, you're the adult, your decisions are supposed to help us survive" Tony who stood to the right said, before adding," Margaret is right, if you die then it's game over for us. Mr Leonard couldn't fight that thing and you're no exception either, we really don't want her to die either but.. " His face, flooding with tears he pointed "look at her leg you can't save her."
When Mrs Taiyo gazed at her, more specifically her foot, she staggered a bit. Filled with responsibility and the trust the kids and their parents had on her to keep them safe, she had lost composure and failed her duty.
"Help me, daddy, mommy help me, I don't wanna die." Her cries echoed in the forest as the faceless cowboy approached her, slowly like he had all the time in the world.
She tried her best to move but to no avail, wrapped around her left foot was the silver chain, with the other end being on the cowboy's gloved left hand.
As the cowboy approached her so did death.
Mrs Taiyo, Alpha, Tony, Margaret and the rest of the kids watched the scene unfold before them with terror filled faces, not being able to utter a single word, they just stood there.
Soon, the cowboy approached her. What happened next was something that would be etched in their memories for as long as they lived.
Dropping his silver machete and chain, he picked the girl up on her left arm and used his free hand to raise her right arm, crucifying her with his monstrous arms. Lucy faced her teacher and classmates. Her eyes having lost all hope, she had screamed and screamed until she couldn't no more.
She stared blankly at the group, she'd thought that nothing more would make her scream any more, well she couldn't have been more wrong.
A minute passed then two and finally three. The passing of seconds seemed like centuries for everyone present, no one uttered a word the whole time, they all just stood there tears overwhelming some of them, but after the time hit the three minute mark, the show commenced.
The cowboy with his otherworldly strength, began stretching the tiny human that wasn't even a quarter it's size.
"It hurts, it hurts, make it stop. " Her cries landed on deaf ears as he continued stretching and she continued begging but to no avail.
Soon her fragile body gave up and split in two.
Mrs Taiyo, for the first time since she came hear couldn't hold herself any longer.
"Ahhh, why, why are you doing this? What did we do to you?" She let out a cry, her tears flowing uncontrollably. She couldn't understand why this was happening to them. Why them? Why her students whom she loved like her own kids?
Alpha and the rest were in the same boat, their eyes had dried up from all the crying, their throats ached from all the screaming, they couldn't do anything they couldn't help one of their own, a friend, a sister they'd known since four.
And now there she was, her eyes having lost their light. Why was life so cruel? why her?
Her lifeless body now hanged on his hands, blood dripping and filling the ground where he stood.
He put down the body parts, went down on his knees and did the same kind of ritual he'd done on Mr Leonard. He tapped his right shoulder, his left, his chest and finally his stomach to which he then severed her head that still clung to one of the body parts.
When Alpha saw this he couldn't help but puke the small breakfast he'd taken before the trip.
Most of the kids did the same while others closed their eyes, only Mrs Taiyo, Dan and Margret watched the whole scene without any movement, only tears drained.
After the severing, once again the sky turned chaotic, the red clouds veiled the moons and soon after the blood rain poured, only this time it only lasted for about three seconds before everything went back to normal.