✓ Kiergan
That evening everyone sat by the fire, chatting and laughing, but those emotions were so far from me, since I couldn't stop thinking about what I had experienced earlier. What was going on with me?
However, the hairs on my neck began to rise and sweat beads began to form on my forehead as I felt a pair of eyes on my back, almost digging holes into me.
My heart began to beat loudly, my pulse pounding against my ears, while I twitched in my seat, rubbing my hands on my black cargo pants.
"Kiergan!" My heart jumped as someone suddenly called, while I held my chest, confused as to why every eye was on me.
"What?" I questioned, swallowing hard.
"Where did your mind travel to?" Thane asked, while grinning mischievously from ear to ear. "Are you thinking so intensely about Eliza?"
"Who's Eliza?"
Everyone gasped, while some chuckled after.
"Seems like this dude's mind was not here. Now, keep quiet everyone. It's going to get quite scary." Thane said and everyone became silent, fear suddenly evident on their faces. What is going on?
"The cursed place was called the Whispering Forest, because anyone who enters in the night could hear soft and weird voices calling their names."
Whispers erupted amongst the group, and girls began to hug each other and the ones with boyfriends grabbed their hands, just like Joanna did Orion's.
"No one goes there. No one nears the place. Villagers knew better than to wander there after dark." Thane paused and snickered, and a blonde girl screamed.
"But, there was someone—" Thane adjusted in his seat and threw a wink at me, and I shook my head. He was just a clown.
"— someone who doesn't heed warnings. A traveler. Bold and curious, and always skeptical about superstitions. Who?"
"Eliza." The blonde girl quietly said, holding onto the hem of her short pink gown.
"Yes!" Thane clapped his hands, and continued, "One evening while camping next to the forest, she heard the villager's stories and decided to explore. . ." Thane trailed off, and became quiet.
"Damn Eliza! Such a badass!" A boy whom I remembered to be a classmate suddenly shouted, causing everyone to laugh.
"Don't be distracted, everyone!" Thane cautioned and everyone became silent again.
"Armed with only her lanterns and weird combo of clothes, Eliza went into the forest, just as soon as the sun went down." Clamping his hands together, Thane picked a stick from the fire we were gathered around, and suddenly held it in front of the blonde's face, who screamed and fell off the woods we were sitting on.
A bout of laughter filled the place, and suddenly I felt the pair of eyes which seemed to have left staring daggers at my back again, and I shifted in my position, my heart hammering fear against my chest.
"Boom!" Thane suddenly shouted and I jumped, grabbing my chest, hoping I wouldn't have a heart attack at the rate at which I was proceeding.
"Kiergan is scared now." Thane chuckled, "At first, the wood was quiet, and the only sound one could hear was the crunch of leaves underfoot. But, as the moonlight covered the earth, piercing through the trees, she began to hear faint whispers. Eliza. . ."
The girls whimpered and drew closer into whomever they were holding.
Thane stood up, started circling around everyone, and stopped behind the blonde who jumped at the next word that left Thane's mouth, "Then, she stopped. Her heart was pounding. Her breathing ragged."
He touched the girl's shoulder, bending closer to her ears as she stiffened, "Eliza. . . Come closer."
"Please, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, please." The blonde girl shut her eyes and pleaded quietly.
No one laughed this time. Everyone was scared, so was I. Scared at the eyes staring at me. Scared for the imaginary Eliza. Scared of the danger that I knew was looking for me.
Thane left the girl, smirking, and continued, while going back to his seat. "Her lantern flickered as she turned in circles, the whispers growing louder, echoing loudly from every direction. Then, she saw them—"
"Who?" The boy from my class asked quietly.
"Shadows. Shadows. Shadows!" Thane screamed and lots of screams followed suit. "Shadows flitting between the trees. 'Who's there?' She called, her voice trembling. But, no answer came, only light childlike giggles that sent shivers down her spine."
"Panic set in, and she tried to leave, but the forest seemed to shift around her. The paths that were there moments ago now gone, remaining the gnarling roots, and the whispers that grew more insistent."
Thane stopped and looked around at everyone's faces. Horror was so evident on their faces, you would think the fear was more than from the story being told.
Then, he continued, his voice quiet, and tensed, "'Stay with us, Eliza. . .' She heard and she saw it—" Thane sighed, "A pale figure with glowing hollow eyes standing in the distance. It didn't move. It just stood there. But, suddenly, its mouth opened, and a piercing noise echoed through the forest."
Everyone remained silent, like they had forgotten to react.
"Eliza dropped her lantern and ran, her only thought was to get away from the monster, and somehow she managed to get out."
Someone amongst us sighed, but I knew that the story was yet to be finished. Thane was not done. He always made sure to add the last part.
"However. . ." Thane started.
"What?! There's more?!"
"Yes. The journey's yet to be concluded." Thane chuckled and continued, "She couldn't sleep throughout the night, and when she stepped out the next morning, the people who saw her gasps, and avoids her like a plague."
"Someone tell me, she didn't turn into a monster!" Someone in the group shouted.
Thane shushed, and pulled out another stick from the fire, and turned it off, "She began to meet everyone, but they kept running from her, until she met with an old man who told her the most horrifying thing ever."
He paused and shut his eyes, and when he opened them, they were bloodshot. Then, he began, his voice quivering, "Eliza raced back to her tent and pulled out a mirror from her purse, only to drop it immediately, and ran out, but into the forest. . . Her hair had turned white, her eyes were sunken and hollow. . ." Thane stopped and whispered, "Like the figure she saw."
I noticed that the light was already dimming as Thane had removed most of the sticks and killed their fire.
"Legends say those who hear the whispers are marked, forever connected to the forest. And on moonlight nights, if you stand at the edge of the trees, you can still hear Eliza's voice amongst the whispers, calling for. . . Help!"
As soon as he was done, the little light that was left, flickered gently and went off.
Everyone began to scream, the girls mostly, while they ran helter-skelter towards their various tents, with Thane calling their names one after another.
However, as everyone dispersed, chills covered me and I stayed gummed to my seat as I felt someone breathe on my left ear, and whispered a word—