Chapter 14: The light

The boy's whole body ached, someone was pushing him, calling out his name. It sounded so far away, echoing along the air before hitting him in the head. It ached, his body was sore, cut all over the place. It was weird, he couldn't tell what was worse. 

The stretching coldness that numbed him, or the stinging sensations from the open wounds. His head pounded, something hot felt stitched onto his lip, crested into his mouth that tasted like iron. His body felt bare in places that he knew he wore something.

"Cameron..! Cameron!"

But it was the darkness that didn't make sense. The annoying pulling into the darkness that showed no light was unusual. It made him feel vulnerable, unsafe.. he was unsafe, how did he know that?

 "Cameron! Fucking- get up Cam cam..!"

The shaking from the person pulled the short boy out of his trance from falling back into unconsciousness. It was aggressive, forcefully pulling him back into reality that seemed so far away from him.

"Ergh…" Cameron grunted in pain, holding onto his head that drilled into himself. It was so painful, his eyes blurred as he tried to get the dark atmosphere into view.

"That's it.." The voice soothed into him, a hand behind his back and pulling him up. Cameron let out a cry, the hand slowly coming into his foggy view, along with his face. "Come on, we can't stay here.."

Kim Seo looked wrecked, his white uniform was ripped up at his shoulders and covered in dirt. His face was battered with cuts and ugly open bruises. The rest of his uniform must be just as dirty and ripped, though Cameron couldn't make out if he was in pain.

He sure was in pain.

"Ow ow ow!"

"Shut up..!" Kim Seo covered his mouth, shushing the poor boy as he looked around their surroundings.

"Where..? A-Are we…?"

The taller boy gulped, trying to make out anything that he could. It was so much darker now. Their surroundings blurred together in a huge mess. He could see trees, dirt, grass, bushes, and more trees that ventured into the abyss.

All Kim Seo could remember was falling off the hill. He took a look up, wincing as his neck felt cut in a certain place. The boy tried to make out anything, above was a few fallen bushes of foliage that looked squished. The rocky surface was steep, higher above was the hill. It was a long fall, he couldn't believe that they had survived..

"Ah.. ow.." The shorter boy winced, trying to hold in his voice. He tucked over, holding onto his stomach and head at the same time.

Kim Seo could tell that the boy got the worst out of it. Probably because he was the one who broke his fall, falling first with his back hitting the ground and tumbling all over the shrubs and sticks. The taller boy was right behind him, the path already being cleared from the one who fell first.

The guilt crept up on him, he had pushed them down the hill without thinking. It was stupid, but they would have been killed if they stayed up there.

The man was right there.

Walking over with menacing steps with the blood soaked spear raised at his face. Kim Seo couldn't think at that time. He would hate to admit it, but he was terrified.

The boy bit his lip, holding back the shudders when recalling the near death experience. 

"Oh no.." 

Cameron looked over at him, worry in his eyes as the older boy took in shaky breaths. He looked over to the younger teen. "Vinh and Marie. They- they fell in the other way. Shit..!"

The short boy gulped, his skin growing more cold, his body feeling flushed from all color when he recalled last seeing Vinh getting slashed in the face by the maniac. They were split up, and had no idea where the girls were.

Kim Seo suddenly stood, shaking slightly, he looked down to the younger boy with his eyebrows drawn together. "Come on, we can't stay here."

"Obviously.." Cameron hissed out, putting his hand down to try and stand. His whole body shook from the sudden weight, almost causing him to crash back down. Kim Seo grabbed at him, helping the boy up and throwing his arm over his shoulder. "Oww..!"

"Shut up..! We can't cause attention to ourselves by being loud.." The older boy hissed at him, ignoring the boy slumping along his shoulder.

"I will shut up if you don't hold me so fucking hard..!" He hissed back a bit louder than he intended. 

Kim Seo rolled his eyes, turning away from him before stepping forward. It was slow thanks to the pain riding on his back, but the more he kept going, the easier it was for Cameron to get a feel of the floor beneath them. They stumbled forward, holding onto one another for support, the taller boy looking around them so he could try and capture something.

He was trying to look for something, for the one thing that pops out to lead the way. He couldn't really grasp on their surroundings. His head pounded out of his head while he tried to understand where they were. Everything around them was a mess of black leaves or dirt, he had no sense of direction. 

The older boy felt Cameron begin to find his grounding, he still noticed the small whines coming from the injured boy, but they slowly became quiet. Cameron could walk with his feet, stumbling slightly that turned into very slow limping. So the taller boy made his pace slow so he wouldn't be left behind. They shouldn't separate again, they didn't even know where they were.

The small push of the air passing leaves that echoed small whispers made the teens flinch. Small branches that snapped, or even some critters or owls all sounded so threatening. It felt like the darkness was closing in on them, it was swarming around like rabid bees that consumed the pair in some sort of dark abyss. 

It was endless. The darkness never seemed to end.

Then suddenly, a light emerged from the darkness feet in front of them. Kim Seo pulled to a stop, his eyes wide at the unnatural small light. It was noticeable, binding right at him like a wave of relief washing over. He let out a shuddering breath, feeling Cameron stiff up by his side.

"Light..?" He let out a small whisper, his own eyes wide at the discovery.

The taller teen nodded, it all came back to him. The light they saw on top of the hill before they fell from it. It was where they needed to go, some life must be there as well. They can get help, they wouldn't be alone.

Without a word, Kim Seo quickened his steps in the direction. He had to traverse some long terrain like hills or logs in the way. It was messy, the world around them tried to stop them, everytime the boy lost the light out of his view, he felt a surge of panic run along his skin. 

He quickly found it again, letting out a relieved sigh before his legs quickened in the direction. He was only focused on that, it slowly came into view, the light was becoming brighter, and slowly but surely, the boy could almost make out a house. It looked like that, something that was heavily overgrown with the life of the forest. It was small from where they walked, some large trees blocking off sections so he couldn't see the details of what he believed was a home.

He was closer to it now, a few more steps and they were right next to it. The glowing yellow light was pulling him in, brighter and brighter with each step he took.

A tug stopped him in his tracks. Cameron who was at his side had stopped moving, his feet anchored in the ground. Kim Seo was forced to stop as well, looking back to him through the thick fog of darkness he could barely make out the boy's angry glare.

"What about Vinh and Marie..?" He let out softly, his eyes speaking otherwise.

Kim Seo sighed, his legs itched to keep going to the light. "We have to go, it's too dangerous out here."

"What about Vinh and Marie?" The boy spoke louder and clearer for the boy. Kim Seo stopped, looking back at his eyes that were unwavering under his glare.

His eyebrows twitched in frustration, he could never forget how stubborn this boy is. He was annoyingly stubborn. It seemed like he wasn't gonna move without an explanation.

"Look, we can't go through this again, just the two of us. Its a suicide mission."

"Then it's worse for them to be out alone..!" The boy hissed back, ripping away from Kim Seo who let him do so. "We can't leave them alone."

"What can we do huh?" The tall boy stepped over to him, a threatening glare in his direction. "Us two alone can't stop that fucking killer."

"You-"

"If we get to somewhere where there is light, we might be able to find some help. Someone that can help us, we won't be able to do anything alone."

Cameron stopped, his lips closed together in a straight line. Kim Seo could make out his figure in the dark, it was shaking ever so slightly in fear. "We can't leave them out there Kim Seo…"

That was the first time the older boy had heard Cameron say his name so softly. So much more docile, the first time the boy had actually witnessed the younger one filled with so much fear that he dropped the big balls act. He felt his face slightly warm up, it was nice to see this new side of him.

Though he knew why Cameron was scared, he was too. Everything around them, it was understandable. But it felt nice to know that Cameron was cooling off, he was slowly letting himself go from the pent up anger he has toward the older boy. 

Towards everything around him.

But Kim Seo was right about this. He too was worried for Vinh, and Marie.. but he knew they couldn't do anything to help them right now. He had faith that Vinh was smart enough to find them, to get somewhere safe and protect the child she loved dearly.

"Hey.." The boy took a hesitant step over to Cameron, placing a hand on his quivering shoulder. "Vinh is smart. She might be on her way here with Marie. They will know to come over here where the light is, they should be meeting us here soon."

His voice was soft, a gentle look from his eyes. Cameron flinched slightly, seeing something new from the boy who annoys the hell out of him. He didn't want to believe him, his stubborn nature was already crawling back up him. Though he let it die down, the new form of comfort from Kim Seo caught him off guard, so he didn't respond. He didn't fight back..

"We have to go," Kim Seo called out to him with a silent plea. The boy took his glance elsewhere, but followed silently behind the other boy towards the building. 

Cameron took in the small house, the closer they got the more of the wood and texture of the fallen building came in. Mold and moss grew along the dark wood, it crawled off the large door that had fallen and molted into the wall. The windows held no glass, it was just a wide entrance that had scratches along with wood welted down like the moss growing on it forced its new direction.

The boys could only make out the front in the dark, they were closer now so they could only make out the trees mushed into the building, hiding it. It seems to be merging together in a large dark form. They couldn't tell if the house was bigger than it actually seemed because of the darkness.

What caught their eye the most was the light. It was a bright yellow that reflected off the dirt, moldy wood. It was inside one of the window holes, it seemed to be a lantern from what they could see. 

"You're so stupid.." The small voice from Cameron made the older boy scowl.

He ignored it, instead walking forward and into the small building. He didn't have to push open the door, it was glued open from the living moss. Cameron was right behind him, slowly taking timid steps from the unknown entrance.

It was pitch black in the first room, only one side where the light was coming from. Of course, Kim Seo walked toward the light first thing. They entered the room, it was illuminated by the light, plunging the boys in the soft yellow glow in the empty room. It was completely bare, nothing but the molding wood from around them along with the roof that was slowly dropping.

Cameron let out a huff. He stayed near the door entrance, making sure he didn't leave out in the open. "This is great. Just great!" He pulled Kim Seo's attention over to him. "There is nothing here! This is a waste of time."

"Shut up..!" The boy hissed back, stepping forward with his eyes narrowed. "We can continue looking around, don't assume so damn quickly."

"Fucking stupid…" The boy whispered under his breath, looking away. He let Kim Seo pass him, looking around the dark interior for any signs of life. That is what he seemed to be hoping for, that there was something to show that someone was here.

The shorter boy began to move away, having the older one move forward and more into the house. That had no light in it. 

Cameron hesitated to follow, his body itched forward instinctively. The darkness surrounded him from behind and up front where Kim Seo was. He didn't want to be alone, but he also didn't want to follow after the crazy bastard who walked head first in the unknown darkness.

The fear of being split up again was overpowering. He limped forward and behind the boy who was taking small steps into the unknown. He felt the boy crowd behind him, his shadow from the yellow light behind them casted on a small portion of light. It wasn't enough to see much in front of them, Kim Seo had to hold his hand out so he didn't trip over a few molten wood on the ground.

Cameron on the other hand tripped a few times. He caught himself, his legs aching from all the walking they had done. He had just fallen down a cliff, why was he having to walk so damn much?

Because of Kim Seo of course. He growled under the boy's back, anger lifted from his eyes to the unknown being in front of him.

He decided to keep his head down while trailing behind the boy. He did a few twists and turns, entering some rooms that were blank and dark before turning back in a new direction. The floor was becoming slippery, the water dripping from the boy who still felt soaked was making it difficult to move. He had to stop a few times to wipe his jeans before following again.

He was suddenly stopped by a wall in front of him that was illuminated by yellow glowing lights. The boy looked up, grabbing at it in confusion. He quickly realized that it wasn't a wall, it was Kim Seo. The taller boy had stopped in the middle of what seemed to be a hall, his body was stiff and cold to the touch.

Cameron gulped, feeling fear run up his back. "Kim-?"

The boy quickly grabbed him, shutting the younger boy up with a hand in front of him. Cameron felt the familiar tug of deja vu. Getting shut up by the older boy with one mere hand up. So, the boy quickly went silent, waiting for whatever the boy was waiting for. Or what had stopped him.

Cameron could barely see it because of the boy's outline and the light faintly flickering. 

But Kim Seo could see it, he could see the outlines that shone a dim yellow of what seemed to be a folded tarp. It was ripped and tugged with leaves that were dried and dead along the end, it was laying over a few shelves that seemed to be some sort of makeshift table. What actually made the boy freeze was the jars that had meat in it. It had large piles of flesh that had fur on it in the jars. 

This was the only other room that had a light in it. A small lantern on the side that hung off a shelf indebted in the wall that had mold growing off it. The light was much smaller, barely able to visual anything unless you were closer to actually make out the faint lights.

Blood was littering the ground of the room, it looked dried and very old. But what also was there was more bones. So much more bones..

They were made into things that lined the wall, some things that were for decoration, some were made into utensils and weapons. There were tons of them, like a rabid animal had killed things and let their bones and remains rot in the room. It was bad..

Cameron made a noise behind him, he tumbled over, holding onto his stomach and turning away. The boy quickly covered his nose, the smell penetrating right through, almost making him topple over. Kim Seo had the smell quickly hit him, he took small steps back, turning his head to cover his nose and mouth from the revolting smell.

He met up with the other boy, their elbows hitting so they knew where they were. The boys had to almost leave the whole house ending up in another room that was pitch black. Cameron huffed, finally taking in a good breath of air.

Kim Seo was right after him with a big gulp when the sudden shuffling from outside the house stopped them. He had pushed into the shorter boy, pulling one another in the room that was consumed in darkness. 

Kim Seo looked out the large window that was sunk in with no glass. He watched, he didn't know what he expected to see, but at the same time, he dreaded what was gonna come out of the darkness. 

The familiar large figure came from the darkness, his shoulders slump along with the chill-breaking sound of the large weapon being dragged from behind him. 

Although it sounded much heavier than it should, even while being covered in the darkness, the older boy could make out something large being dragged from behind the killer. Something much larger than a spear.

His breathing stopped, his eyes went wide just as the killer came into the soft yellow glow from the light.

The body behind him had a familiar wave of blue hair.