Interactive Story: The Wicked Among Us [Part Four]
Alternate Endings
[Part One] Six friends assembled at mysterious Loch Kaille for a 25th birthday celebration. When one of them was found dead after a violent storm, accusations began to fly.
[Part Two] Was there something sinister in the trees? Was it responsible for what happened to Mona?
[Part Three] Leon disappeared and our survivors found their camp ransacked.
Our campsite was in ruins; clothes and rubbish strewn about the clearing.
Coll: “What the hell?”
Me: “Leon…”
Leon was missing and I was terrified that he had been in his tent when our camp was trashed. I rushed over and looked through a gash in his tent canvas.
Me: “Empty. What happened here?”
Coll and Max were walking through the clearing, inspecting the mess.
Max: “Seems pretty obvious to me. Someone's ransacked the place to try and freak us out.”
Me: “Coll, could this have been deer?”
Coll: “I've never heard of deer doing anything like this before.”
Max: “Maybe you did it.”
Coll: “Christ. Surely I didn't have time to do this and – how did you put it – hunt down Leon?”
Me: “I'm going back out to look for him.”
Coll: “I'll come with you.”
I shook my head.
Me: “Your limp will only slow me down.”
Max: “Then I'll come.”
Me: “Once alone in the woods with you was enough for today, Max.”
Max glared at me but I wasn't about to be argued with.
Me: “Both of you, stay here.”
I walked back into the trees on my own.
This is the last instalment of our story. The decisions made in Parts One, Two and Three may have sealed our survivors' fates but, when all is said and done, it is you that will have the final vote, Reader.
As the sun dipped towards the horizon I wandered the pines yelling Leon! wherever I went. But there was no sign of him, or at least no sign that I could find in the trees nearest the lochshore.
As I searched on it became increasingly obvious what I needed to do. Reluctantly, I trekked deeper into the pines, then reached into my pocket and pulled out my Hag Stone. I raised the Stone to my eye and looked through the hole.
I turned in a slow circle, taking in every inch of the forest around me. I drew a sharp breath as I spotted a ghostly-pale face in the middle distance.
I lowered my Stone and walked towards it. The face belonged to a deer skull and antlers sitting atop a person-sized cairn. The skull's exposed teeth formed a wicked smile. I reached out to touch the antlers but then withdrew my hand, thinking better of it.
I pocketed my Hag Stone and examined the ground around the cairn. There was a track through the carpet of needles that led further into the pines. The deer skull was a trailhead marker then.
I followed the winding path for a few minutes before the trail straightened out and I found myself in a grove of tall broad-leaves. I realised that the light had taken on a strange, otherworldly quality and that the sky above had turned peachy-red. None of the trees had leaves here, despite it being the middle of summer. There was no birdsong either and I had the distinct sense of something being off with reality, like I might have stepped into some sort of Alternate Dimension.
Then I noticed that bark had been pulled away from some of the trees and that patterns had been etched into the exposed softwood. There were spirals, symbols and bizarre glyphs I didn't recognise from any language.
There were more intricate carvings as well. The first was a human eye, three jagged circles, or perhaps Stones, encircling it. The largest carving was etched into the biggest broad-leaf in the grove. It depicted two people standing atop a mound, both of them staring up at a comet streaking across a starry sky. At the foot of the mound some kind of scaly, two-legged dragon gazed hungrily at the duo above it.
Leon: “Kate…”
Leon was lying against a mossy boulder a short distance from the edge of the grove. I forgot the carvings and hurried to his side.
Me: “Leon, what happened?”
I saw that Leon was bleeding from the side of his head.
Me: “Did someone attack you? Who was it, Leon?”
Leon: “I heard Aaron…”
Me: “That's impossible, Aaron's gone. I need to get you back to camp.”
I changed my stance in order to raise Leon up but he seemed to resist me.
Leon: “No. I think… Aaron and Coll. I think they might have… I…”
I interrupted Leon by trying to lift him once more, but he was too heavy for me.
Leon: “It's too late… Too late…”
Leon's delirious words faded and his head lulled to one side.
Me: “No, wake up. Leon, wake up.”
But Leon had passed.
I slumped over my best friend and began to sob.
I arrived back at the campsite under a starry sky. The moon's ambient light coated the clearing in a luminous glow, but Max and Coll were nowhere to be seen and the mess throughout camp persisted.
I examined a smear across the canvas of my tent. It looked like blood and it hadn't been there when I left to look for Leon. That's when I heard footsteps. Instinctively, I dropped to a low crouch. Then I risked a quick glance around the corner of my half-collapsed tent. From the trees skirting the other end of the campsite, Coll limped into view. He was carrying a bloody cutlery knife and he was heading for Aaron's tent.
I ducked back down until I heard the tent zipper. Then I peeked again to see Coll looking into Aaron's open tent with his knife poised. Apparently satisfied that whatever he was looking for wasn't inside he backed out, forcing me to duck back behind my tent so as not to be seen.
From my hiding place I heard Coll walk over to and then search another tent. I realised that he was systematically checking each one and that made me panic. Coll would eventually reach my tent and find me. Frantically, I looked around for a means of escape. I saw the discarded vodka bottle Max had been drinking from the night before. I picked it up and then, as Coll searched the next tent along from mine, I threw the bottle into the trees.
The bottle landed with a crack. There was a long, drawn out moment in which Coll seemed to consider the noise, but he eventually followed the sound into the forest like I'd hoped he would. Once he was gone I darted into the trees on the opposite side of the clearing.
I raced through the forest until I felt I had put enough distance between myself and the campsite. As I leaned against a tree catching my breath, a thought came to me. I checked my pockets, soon pulling out the camping knife I'd got from Leon. I opened up the switchblade and was met with short, sharp steel.
Then I heard a rustle.
I looked to my left and saw Max stepping around another tree, level with mine. He had one hand to a bloody wound on his side and a rock in his hand.
There was an apprehensive moment, and then Max raised a single finger to his lip. He wanted me to be quiet. Another noise told me why. Footsteps. It was Coll, no doubt following the obvious trail I must have left as I rushed through mud and pine needles. I silently cursed myself for being so stupid.
The footsteps drew closer.
Max took up a stance like he was ready to pounce on Coll as he passed between our trees. I was utterly unsure of what to do. Was I about to witness a massacre?
A moment before Max could strike, I stepped out from behind my tree.
Me: “Stop!”
Coll and Max both froze.
Me: “I don't know what's going on here, but you both need to stop.”
Max was still using his tree to shield himself from Coll's view.
Max: “That little shit stabbed me and I'm bleeding out. That's what's going on. He's – he's the killer.”
Coll was keen to refute Max's claim.
Coll: “Max started ranting and raving about hurting me. I stabbed him in self-defence.”
Max: “Don't believe a word he says, Kate. We – we need to take him out.”
Coll: “Think about it, Kate. We only have Max's word that the river is even flooded. He's kept us all up here, he's the killer.”
Max: “He's grasping at straws, you saw the rainstorm. We have to take him out.”
I took up a tone thick with disgust.
Me: “Listen to yourselves. Look at what you're prepared to do to each other. I don't know what's happening up here, whether it's murder, something supernatural, or just plain hysteria. But one thing I do know is that we're all supposed to be Aaron's best friends. There's no proof. Not a shred in any direction.”
Now I was practically shouting.
Me: “I refuse to believe that any one of us could have done all of this without proof. I outright refuse.”
Coll gestured towards my right hand.
Coll: “Then why are you carrying that knife?”
Suddenly, the wind gusted and everyone looked around in grim anticipation. In the distance trees began to quiver, and then to shake violently.
Next, branches closer to us began to thrash from side to side, like something dinosaur-sized was rampaging through the canopy to get to us.
Coll: “Run!”
We scattered as the shaking trees let out a ferocious roar that seemed to surge towards me.
The knife still in my hand, I raced through the forest. I was running faster than I ever had in my life, too scared to look back, too scared to worry about anyone or anything but myself.
The sound was penetrating; it became painful to hear and it seemed to be catching up with me. Closer. Louder. Closer…
And then the noise stopped as quickly as it had started.
I slipped behind a tree and rested my back against the bark. My chest heaved as I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath. Was I safe?
Coll: “Kate…”
Shocked by Coll's sudden appearance at my side I whirled around and buried my knife into his chest. Coll stumbled backwards, the camping knife sticking out of him like a gory lever. Horrified by what I'd done, I raised a hand to my mouth.
Coll: “You… this was all you. All along…”
I shook my head, denying Coll's final accusation.
Me: “No, I didn't mean—”
Coll: “Murderer… Monster…”
Coll crumpled to the ground.
Not knowing what to do, I glanced around in panic. Leaning against a nearby tree I saw Max watching on and our eyes locked through the gloom. Max appeared to be unable to move or even express himself. He held my gaze for a long moment and then he collapsed as well.
I took a step backwards, recoiling from the gore and horror before me.
Then, like a coward, I turned and fled.
That night I wandered the forest aimlessly. I was muttering to myself nonsensically, reliving all that had happened in my head. Five people dead. Including my best friend. What had happened? And why was I alone still alive? It was almost like I had been guided through the chaos by some kind of Unseen Hand.
Sometime after daybreak I heard voices. New voices. The sound snapped me back to reality and I took in my immediate surroundings. I was still in the forest and I could see the distant glistening of sunlight through the trees. I could hear water.
I moved downhill towards the sound.
I stumbled out of the pines to find myself standing at the river crossing. The water was at the same level it was at when I was last there; it was impossible to tell whether or not the river had recently flooded.
Sitting on boulders by the other side of the river a pair of hikers, a man and a woman, were eating sandwiches and chatting away. I charged across the water towards them.
Me: “Help… I couldn't stop it… please.”
Upon seeing me, the hikers abandoned their snacks and rushed to my aid. I collapsed into the man's arms on the riverbank and began to sob.
Hiker♂: “Christ, are you okay, girl?”
Me: “Loch Kaille… Don't go up… Never…”
Hiker♀: “She's delirious. Must've gotten lost in the woods. We need to get her to a hospital, back to the car.”
The man put a strong arm around me and began to half-shuffle, half-carry me away from the river crossing and into the forest.
Hiker♂: “It's all right, you're safe now.”
The woman hurried back to the boulders the pair had been sitting on and grabbed her backpack. She swung the pack over her shoulder and caught up with us.
Before I passed out there was just enough time for me to see a second feather doll peeking out of her backpack.
And so ends our story. My congratulations on keeping Kate alive. The cost was high, but would you really vote differently if you had the time again? And, more importantly, who do you blame for the tragedy that befell Kate and her friends?
Thanks so much for reading!
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Jack x
This was absolutely brilliant Jack. Engrossing and well written. I looked forward to each chapter. It may help to orientate readers if you put a quick description of each character at the top of each part, as there’s quite a long pause between parts.