Chapter 24: Never ending

The forest once again grew silent when the teens decided to be quiet. It did sorta seem like a waste since they have been talking this whole time. But Kim Seo wanted to be as safe as possible. 

The man might still be there, trying to find them. It was dark, close to midnight it would seem. They knew that he was as silent as a mouse, making no sound until he was jumping out in front of them. Just thinking about it sent shivers down Kim Seo's spine, he hid it well from the others.

Just like he was hiding the rising pain in his head that was pounding non stop. It must have been from the injury on his leg, it might have gotten an infection. Though it seemed unlikely since it hadn't been that long since the mark was made by the beast. 

He could feel that he might be growing a fever as well, he had a stronger immune system then Marie which is why it took so long for it to form, but the boy could feel it. The tingling sensations running through his fingertips along with his head pounding begged for a break.

Kim Seo refused to let it happen, he refused to allow himself to be slow because of that. They were counting on him, he made a promise to Cameron to protect him.

-And he will protect them with his life.

After they found just the slightest similarity in their surroundings was enough of an energy booster. It proved that they were close, that they were almost free.

That as well as the hand tightly wrapped around his own from the boy behind him gave the energy he needed. They were so close, he refused to allow the rising sickness to slow him down.

Kim Seo still kept his senses high, watching every move from the corner of his eye with suspicion of all the small movements. When the hand from Cameron was suddenly ripped away from him, the older boy noticed it immediately.

Even through the darkness, Kim Seo turned to reach out behind him. Cameron made a sharp cry, falling down below the other.

The darkness was trying to swarm their vision, to trick them. Cameron had stepped over a few things, no noticing that he had stepped into a trap. Kim Seo was quick to his side, grabbing Marie away to pull her safety to his side before moving closer to Cameron. Even through the darkness the older one made out the large amount of blood pooling out from under them.

"Shit..!" The boy watched the bear trap that was closed tightly around the younger boy's ankle, tears along with blood falling out from it. "Hey calm down-"

"Fuck fuck fuck…!" The younger one silently screamed, his eyes shut desperately along with his hands holding onto the sharp edge of the trap closed around his ankle. He tried to slip it off of him, but it would only make him scream from the pain.

The young boy quickly covered his lips, biting down hard to try and suppress his screams. The blurry mess of blood from the tightly closed trap holding him in place made his wobbly hands no use. He couldn't get it off no matter how hard he tried.

"Help-"

"I know, I will hold on." Kim Seo whispered, trying to sound soothing. His voice slightly shook while he moved closer to get a good grip on the side of the trap. The cold metal bit at his fingers, he powered through until he got a tight grip. "Okay, your gonna have to breath-"

"Agh!" Cameron bit his hand harder, the tears piercing right through his closed eyes. "Just.. do it..!"

Kim Seo gave a hesitant look, he couldn't see anything but the tears running down his face. Cameron desperately bit himself, hiding his face in his knees. "Breath Cameron, breath.."

Cameron couldn't even nod, all he could do was cry while silently urging the other to just do it. Kim Seo held tightly at the end, slowly starting to pry it apart to release the trapped boy. The latter let out a cry, his teeth sinking deeper into his hand. It slid down, landing along his wrist to have something bigger to grip onto to stop himself from crying.

Please just hurry..! He desperately thought, biting down harder when the strong pressure from the latched on claws sunk deep into his bone. 

Kim Seo took in a deep breath, he couldn't see, but with the feeling of cold metal beneath his fingers, the older boy pulled them hard apart. He felt Cameron flinch hard, a gasp escaping his lips. The older one felt the trap try and close again, he had to muster up most of his strength to keep it open. If he let it go even the slightest, the thing would snap back shut against the boy's clawed ankle.

Cameron pulled away quickly with a pained moan just as Kim Seo let the trap snap back shut. He let out a tired breath, feeling the wet substance of blood between his fingers. The boy quickly dusted off the blood onto his jeans as he grabbed for the boy laying half limp.

"Cameron?" His voice shook, his bloody fingers trembling while he tried to look for the boy. "Cameron..!"

He managed to grab the boy's shoulders, pulling him close to himself to try and search his face through the darkness. The boy was breathing, his eyes closed tightly with tears streaming down in a heap. "Cam cam? Come on, speak to me.."

The fear tracing his voice scared himself, he never thought he would care so much for someone. The limp boy in his arms that was feeling an incredible amount of pain almost looked dead. Kim Seo grew more desperate, leaning down to place a hand above his neck to feel for a pulse. Cameron let out a moan, reaching for the warm hand around his neck. 

The older boy felt himself release a sigh of relief, tears welling up in his eyes that escaped with relief.

"H-How did you miss it..?" The quiet voice that spoke with the same attitude that Cameron held made the older boy smile softly.

"I don't know… I wish I didn't though, I'd rather it be me than you.."

"How nice…~" The boy's eyes slowly drifted back close. Kim Seo shook him violently, forcing the other to groan at him. "Fuck- I'm alive stop..!"

"You're gonna have to stand, alright?"

"Already?" The boy groaned softly, he wasn't ready to sit up and start walking again with a large mark on his ankle. It stung, bleeding right through his senses until he could feel nothing but it. He didn't even believe he could do it, the slightest pressure put on his leg made him hiss violently.

Kim Seo was by his side, lending him an arm under him to slowly lift the boy up. They didn't have anything to wrap it with this time, nothing to cover up the new wound so Cameron could just hope that they are closer to freedom where he didn't have to patch it up. It still made it hard to move, he felt the blood leak out from the large gashes lining his calf. Kim Seo quickly caught him before he could fall, letting the boy let sharp cries out from the pressure performed on his foot.

"Why is there even a f-fucking bear trap..?" The boy hissed out, trying to desperately think of something other than the pumping of his own blood leaking from his body.

The older boy shook his head, "I don't know.. here, wait and try to stand."

"I am trying…!" Cameron cursed out, seething hard just as the older one slowly let him go. Cameron cried out, keeping his feet on the ground but swaying hard towards the ground. "You fucker-"

"Shush-" His voice followed through the darkness, slightly farther off. For a second Cameron feared he had left, that he was pulled away. "Think about something else, something other than the pain."

Cameron huffed, closing his eyes tightly while his teeth rubbed against one another. He couldn't think of anything, the agonizing pain was too much to numb out. Slight pressure made the young boy squirm, even with his eyes open, he couldn't make out what Kim Seo was doing. 

"Think about Loire. How she is always trying to add you to conversations even if you don't want to." His voice traveled through the air, the mention of his dead friend sent a shiver down his spine. But he couldn't stop himself, he thought about the girl. "-How she helped me drag you into the water, how she would ruffle your hair and comment on the fluffiness."

The memories traveled back and forth from Cameron's indecisive mind. He didn't want to think about it now, it brought pain, sadness and fear. Even in that feeling, there was a hidden tick within his heart that clenched hard at him mercilessly. It shouldn't bring out such a large amount of sadness, though he couldn't control his emotions. 

Loire had always annoyed him, always pissed him off with her loud personality. Yet, she was the only one out of the whole school to actually approach him. Her outgoing personality was both friendly and frightening. She was the only one to see him at first.

He wouldn't want to admit it, the real truth of his now loud and stubborn mouth growing the more the girl spent time with him. She had influenced him, even if it was something that may be bad in the end, it gave the young boy something to hold onto.

It was the only thing he had about him. He was no one, nothing, he was nothing back then. Until Loire came in, she brought this side of him out without him even noticing what was happening.

"That's it… It's okay.." The soothing voice brought Cameron back to reality. He opened up just as the older boy was face to face with him. He noticed that the wind from the cold air wasn't hitting the open wound, he couldn't see it, but the question in his eyes allowed the older boy to explain. "What? It needed to be wrapped up."

"But- what, what did you..?"

"Don't worry about it," the boy turned around, kneeling down from the other who tried to use the pressure on his leg. It sent electricity up his body that sent hard currents over his senses, the pain was still highly present from the covered wound. 

He tried again, holding back hisses of pain, the tears were stained against his face but it meant nothing to him. The soft patterns of movement in front of him told him that if he opened his eyes, the boy would be in front of him. A hand landed on his shoulder, sending a small wave of relief through the boy. He was met with the still, calm expression from the older boy who had the small child in his hands.

"Are you doing okay now?"

"How can I be doing good..?" Cameron couldn't help but scoff out, slightly limping closer to the other. "My leg is on fire..!"

"We're almost there, hold on." His hand gripped the other's palm, tugging him along while he both dragged the boy along while holding Marie in his other hand. "Keep holding on, okay?"

"YeAH..!" The boy moaned out, slightly falling over onto the boy in front. Kim Seo gripped his side, making sure he didn't tumble over onto the ground or onto himself. "Why.. the fuck was there a- trap?"

"I…" The older boy looked up into the darkness, he maneuvered around the leaves and bushes while tugging the boy along. He didn't know why there was one here, they hadn't run into anything like that at all this whole journey.

A burst of goosebumps ran up his skin, the realization of what was happening coming at him in full force. He stopped slightly, the girl in his hands slightly dropping with her limp arms falling from his shoulder. Cameron knocked over to his side, hissing lightly with his hand squeezing hard, his body pressed against the other for coverage. He didn't realize what had stopped the older boy, he couldn't feel the tense and fearful posture he held high while in the darkness.

Kim Seo hadn't realized it until now, it was odd of course. They had been talking this whole time, they had been making more noise than they should have been. There was someone else in the forest with them. 

Of course the killer could easily track them no problem, but he hadn't made an appearance. He hadn't since he placed traps.. more traps the closer they were getting to freedom. The boy suddenly crouched down, forcing Cameron with one hand down next to him, the boy yelped, falling down beside him.

Without a word, the older boy searched the ground for anything, his hand landed on a fallen branch. He looked back up in the clearing following after them, the clearing was covered in darkness, branches and leaves apart covering it from the moon's glare, the perfect spot on the ground that held dead buses to hide a trap. 

The boy chucked the branch forward, and as soon as it hit the ground, a large bear trap snapped up to close its claws around the wood. The boys flinched, watching as another one was set off a few inches from the first one, closer to them.. Kim Seo had the growing dread in his stomach, while Cameron's realization came rushing back.

"He's here…" The silent voice sank a hole in the younger one's chest. He turned to the other, barely able to make out his face through the darkness. "He had been the whole time."

"What- what the fuck..!?" Cameron panted out, feeling fear claw at him from the depths.

The pit in his chest grew more and more as the silence swallowed the boys up. That's why he had been feeling like this, like they were once again being stalked. He was here, he had been here to place these traps since he knew the boys would be coming through here. That means.. he must be waiting for them.

Cameron quickly covered his mouth, the need to throw up over taking him. He couldn't puke anything anyways, he barely had anything to release with his stomach being empty. He didn't know what to do now, all the teens could do was hunker down into the dirt, hopefully the darkness would shield them from the man that they felt watch them.

"Kim Seo…" He whispered out, gently tugging at his arm that held him down. "What.. what do we do now?"

What do we do now?

The older boy gulped hard, sweating falling from his tense muscles. He had two options, they could continue forward slowly so they didn't alert any traps since going straight would lead them back to the entrance and freedom. Or, they could turn around and try their luck to manure around in the darkness to the entrance in a different path.

But both options had one bad deed. The killer could still jump them from both sides, it was more dangerous up front to easily make it back to safety, since if he jumped them it was likely they would fall in a trap and kill themselves. But the other one wasn't much better, if they went back into the trees covered in darkness it was also a suicide mission.

The darkness was one big enemy, it was slightly helping them hide, though it was likely the killer was still watching them, waiting for the boys to make a move so he could have a fun prey to actually chase.

It made him sick to his stomach, everything about this did.. either option was not safe at all. The most scary thing had to be the injury on both of the boy's legs. Kim Seo managed to power through with it since it was tightly secured in a bandage, but the other boys were new. It was just as bad, though it didn't have something tightly covering up. 

The only thing Kim Seo could cover it with was some of the end of his undershirt. Even so, it was not going to last if he had to run. 

And he might have too, with the plan Kim Seo was having in his head.

Only.. this plan was in favor of him…

"Kim Seo…?" The fearful voice from the other male startled the other back to the present reality. His bones felt sluggish along with his body, he didn't know if he was actually gonna go through with this..

With a quick deep breath, the older boy turned to Cameron. "We're gonna have to keep going forward."

"What?" He hissed out quickly, "are you crazy? D-Did you not see the amount of traps hiding up there?"

"We need to get out of this place quickly," the boy responded, shifting forward so he didn't fall over. "Marie is burning up and unable to wake up. Your injuries are gonna get worse as well, you and I can't run that far before collapsing."

"But-"

"Look…" His voice went quiet, a gentle hand on his shoulder startled Cameron into holding back tears. "You have got to trust me on this.. I promised to keep you safe, and I will."

His gulped, watching the dark iris of the gray eyes penetrate his entire being. He had no voice, he couldn't try and talk the other out of this because he did trust him, he did trust Kim Seo.

The small boy nodded, moving his eyes away to hide the threat of a tearful face. The older boy patted his head, moving the fluffy curls around for a sort of comfort before handing Marie over to him. He was right, the child was passed out, her body limp with the only sign of life being her restless breaths escaping her lips. 

Cameron held onto her tightly, looking back up to see Kim Seo walking forward with a branch out in front of him. He had Cameron by the hand, helping lead him on into the forest ground of danger. Their hands connected together tightly, traveling along the darkness slowly with a few snaps from the bear traps snapping at the branch.

Every sound made the boys flinch, Kim Seo just hoped that the horrible terrain of this deadly path would end. The branch he was using was getting shorter and shorter. His fingers were near the end, almost getting snapped off which caused him to drop the rest of the useless branch.

He took in a large gulp, closing his eyes to try and get his body to move. The warm embrace of Cameron's hand holding his gave him that, allowing the older boy to step forward and out into a bright clearing. It wasn't covered, light shined from above, allowing the boy to actually see everything around him. There were no more traps, but that didn't mean to let his guard down, the man was there and he could feel him.

"Cameron?" The boy whispered out, making a turn to be sure that the other was still behind him, he was slowly limping with each step filled with anxiety. Kim Seo waited, turning around everywhere in the light now that he could see to make sure they weren't attacked.

Cameron came over to his side, letting out a heavy sigh. "Please tell me we are close.."

"Well…" The boy looked around, he could only slightly make out where they were. It still wasn't the entrance where their end goal was, so where are they now? 

"Almost.."

The strain in his voice could be heard, even if it was, Cameron didn't acknowledge it. He pulled Marie up closer to his chest, feeling the girl let out a breathless moan. Her burning head was growing more and more concerning. He hoped so hard they were almost out, they could get any sort of help. 

Cameron stayed hunched over behind Kim Seo and was surveying their surroundings for anything that spoke familiarity. To his relief, he noticed a bit of bushes pushed aside like a group had tramped through. The group being them.

With a new found hope, he pulled Cameron along behind him towards that area, but with only three steps in that direction, he stopped. The young boy hit his back, not expecting him to stop so suddenly. He was gonna speak, but the tense grip on his hand told him something else, he took in a deep gulp, looking over above the boys shoulders with a tight hiss.

His pain momentarily numbed when his eyes clashed with his. The killer stood right in front of them, blocking the group from continuing straight forward.

Cameron felt his heart spike, his whole being froze and moved rapidly at the same time. His fingers trembled against Kim Seo's, taking his eyes off from the masked being to look at the older boy for something. The older boy looked on, only, instead of fear in his eyes, there was only anger.

It spooked the younger boy even more, seeing such hostility in the boy who was being so gentle to him. He couldn't say anything, he couldn't do anything when he was pushed aside and away from him.

"I'll clear a path for you to run forward. Be ready to run, run and don't turn back." He didn't even take his eyes off the killer, slanted and hostility clear in his expression.

Cameron could do nothing but take small steps away. He clutched the girl close to his heart just as the man lunged forward.