Hide and Seek 4

The lock fell to the ground as it unlocked. Drew took a deep breath and opened the chest. Shining his light, he saw nothing inside. "It's empty Sam." Drew said over the radio. His light began to flicker again, and the temperature dropped. Suddenly the faceless girl appeared standing in the chest. She reached out and grabbed Drew before he could move away. With a quick motion she pulled him inside the chest. As he fell inside the lid closed. Drew's radio and head cam fell off due to the force of movement.

Drew felt himself falling into the chest, but he did not experience landing. He continued to fall well after when she should have hit the bottom of the chest, until finally he crashed into the ground. He reached for his radio, but noticed it was no longer attached. He checked his forehead as well and did not feel his camera. "Well shit." Drew sighed. He still had his flashlight in his hand and flashed it around the room. He was in some sort of cave. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were all made of dirt and stones. Skeletons and scattered bones lined the walls and floor.

The sight of death made Drew feel uneasy and he decided to make his way through the tunnel before him. Wondering if this is where the demon brought Terry, Drew decided to call out to his friend. "Terry!" He shouted. "Terry are you down here?!" He waited for a response but heard none. As he continued to walk and yell through the tunnel, he felt uneasy as if he were being watched.

He then heard a low growl echo throughout the cave. He had no idea what could be responsible for such a noise and he did not want to find out. He abandoned all caution and ran through the tunnel as fast as his legs could take him. The growls could be heard behind him, getting louder and closer. The fear he experienced caused him to sprint faster than he had ever sprinted before. He came upon a dead end and instantly searched it with his light. There was a hole in the ceiling with vines hanging down. He grabbed the vines and started climbing, trying to evade whatever was after him. When he got halfway up the vine, he heard a howl that shook him to his very core. He looked over in its direction but could not see the beast. The only thing he could see were footprints appearing in the dirt below him. Massive paw prints the size a large wolf or bear would have.

He continued to climb, praying with all he had that the vine would not snap. As he made it out of the hole, he found himself in an unfamiliar forest. Nothing felt quite right, and he looked up to the sky. Past the tree tops he could see the sky above him. Instead of the starless black night he found a strange sky with an odd greenish-yellow hue swirling into a center point. "The hell, am I?" Drew said to himself.

Drew decided to explore the forest, mainly to get away from the hole and whatever beast lurked inside. Throughout the forest he could see orbs floating and dashing among the trees. They lit up the area around them with their own bioluminescence ranging in different colors from red to blue, green to yellow. As he continued to explore, he noticed the trees were made of stone instead of wood as if they had been petrified ages ago. The colored sky gave him enough light to see where he did not have to depend so much on his flashlight.

He continued his journey until he found a woman sitting at a table in the middle of the woods. She was sipping on tea and had a plate of biscuits next to her tea pot. She jumped up at the sight of Drew. "Oh, you poor dear!" She said. "Are you another victim of the lady of the forest?"

"Lady of the forest?" Drew asked. "Do you mean the faceless girl?"

"What do you mean?" The woman looked confused. "Are you not a faceless girl yourself?"

Those words sent a shock through Drew's system and he examined himself closely. He was shorter than he remembered, and his arms were small, thin and pale. His hair was long and, in the way, nothing like the shortcut he remembered. "No this isn't right!" He said. "I am a man! My name is Drew, and I host a Television show!"

"Oh, my dear it will be alright." The woman walked over to Drew and knelt down to comfort his new small form. "You're just confused right now, why don't you come sit with me and drink some tea and eat some biscuits."

"How would I do that without a face?" Drew asked. "But wait I can see you, how is that possible."

"Let me help you." The woman said as she kissed Drew on his forehead. After the kiss features appeared on his face and he appeared as a normal young girl. The woman pulled out a mirror to show Drew. "See you have a face now." She smiled. "Now come, let's sit and eat and drink."

Drew reluctantly made his way over to the woman's table and sat down in a chair. His new small legs dangled not long enough to reach the ground. "Who are you? What is this place?" Drew asked, hoping to get answers from this mysterious woman.

"My name is Hilda, and I live here in the forest." She smiled. "And this is the forest between life and death, this is where all the lady's victims end up before they pass on to the other place. That is of course if they make it past the first challenge."

"You mean the cave?" Drew asked.

"Yes, the lady does not want any unworthy souls passing on, so she set up a little game of sorts." Hilda explained. "Inside the cave she placed what is known as a hellhound, a furious beast that will rip you to shreds in a matter of seconds. I await those who pass this test. I am to help them move on and accept their fate. Now drink and eat." Hilda smiled again.

After everything he had been through Drew did not trust Hilda, or anything around him. He was not about to accept any food or drink from anyone. Drew just sat there and refused to pick up his cup or touch his biscuits.

"You know it's quite rude to refuse a meal when someone offers you one." Hilda said angrily. "Now drink and eat, you don't want my precious food to go to waste do you? Aren't you hungry and thirsty? Wouldn't it be so nice to take a drink and quench that parched mouth of yours."

"No, I'm fine really." Drew said as he jumped down off his chair.

Hilda stood up in turn her features changing into a more frightening form. "You need to drink and eat!" She demanded.

Drew decided it would be best not to argue so he picked his cup up and Hilda smiled. She watched intently to see if Drew would take a sip. Instead he threw the cup on the ground and ran away as fast as his tiny legs would take him. As he ran, he felt his body returning to normal. He looked at himself and saw he was himself again. "Whew that must have been another trap, I have to be careful." He said to himself as he kept running. He could hear Hilda screaming behind him, demanding that he return and drink some of her tea. He continued to run until he could no longer hear her voice. He laid down on the ground to rest after this exhausting run. As he rested his eyes and familiar voice echoed through his ears.

"Wake up!" Sam yelled. "I need you to wake up! Please don't be dead Drew! I am so sorry I made you open the box! Please come back to me! Please!"

Drew could hear that she was crying in her voice. He closed his eyes and focused on her words. He could feel himself being pulled towards them. When he opened his eyes again, he found Sam sitting beside him doing chest compressions crying. "It's okay Sam, I'm back, you saved me." Drew smiled as he looked at his friend.

Seeing him alive again made her rush down and hug him as tightly as she could. "I thought I lost you." She said, still crying. "Please don't ever make me go through that again."