Come Play Charlie – Part 2: The Forest

My first day back at school was surprisingly great, people actually wanted to talk to me and I felt accepted. People kept asking me if I was good and in better health which to be honest gets a little old but at least someone wants to talk to me! I even befriended a kid named Cory Wilson, he is a lot like me, not too many friends and is normally bullied by Grayson. Also surprisingly even Grayson laid off of me! I could never have been happier. My life was finally starting to get a little better! It was going good until I got called to the principal’s office.

I arrived at the principal’s office and was met by a police officer. The officer was about 6 foot 2 and had a buzz cut and a thick mustache across his lip. He had a strong build and looked like he didn’t take anything from anybody. “Charlie White?” he asked “yeah” I responded. “Come with me” he ordered, I didn’t move. “Get in the car Charlie” barked the officer. “Uh shouldn’t I wait for my parents or at least tell my parents?” I asked “They’ve been notified” he snapped back. Feeling a little cornered I realized that I pretty much had to go into the vehicle although I didn’t want to.

The first thing I noticed as I got in was how little leg room the back seat had. The seats were made of leather and I could barely see out the window. I’ll admit, it was kind of an interesting experience, it felt kind of badass to be back here like a real criminal but at the same time it was a bit nerve racking to be back here. There was just something about it that just felt weird, although these past couple of days certainly have been a whole new kind of weird.

We drove out to some weird forest in the middle of nowhere, that started to make me panic. There was no cell service so I couldn’t text my dad to tell him where I was and we weren’t even on a paved road anymore. I asked the officer where we were going but he said nothing and just focused on the road. After about 15 minutes of driving in the middle of nowhere, he finally pulled over. “Get out” he said with a stern look on his face, “What why?” I asked, “Get. Out.” this time a little more frustrated. I refused to move until he opened my door and grabbed me. I screamed for dear life but of course no one would hear me. “COME PLAY CHARLIE” the officer yelled, “YOU’LL LIKE IT OUT HERE WITH US”. At this point I was so scared tears came down my cheeks and my blood felt cold. “COME PLAY CHARLIE” he yelled even louder. In a moment of shock I noticed the taser on his belt, I grabbed it and tased him right in the gut. He let out a shriek that didn’t even sound human. I kept tasering him, hoping to kill him, he wasn’t a human and I knew that. Slowly but surely he stopped moving, I grabbed a pistol that I found in the glove box of his car and shot him in the head.

I found a box of ammo and reloaded my gun. “Great” I thought to myself, “All alone in a forest full of strangers that want to play with me”.

I decided to sit in the car for a bit and keep warm, I was a little underdressed for surviving in the wilderness. All I had with me was a red t-shirt and a black pair of shorts. My phone was low on battery and I thought to myself it would be best to conserve its power. I tried turning on the radio but was greeted with static but then something out of the usual happened. I tried contacting the nearest police station through the walkie talkie device in the car and I did get a response. They asked me where I was and I gave them my location and all that I knew about where I was. Their voices suddenly changed, the person I was talking to’s voice became broken and staticky and he started chanting “Come play Charlie, we know where you are. We see you right now sitting in the front seat of that police car. You may have killed one of us, but we are onto you. We want to play Charlie” exclaimed the voice in a dark and twisted way. At this time my heart did a backflip in my chest and my only instinct was to drive away. Only problem was that the keys were with the dead officer and if those things were watching me, chances are they aren’t too far away. All I had with me was a gun and a box of ammo. I couldn’t risk going anywhere due to the fact that I would most likely be murdered or forced to “play” with whatever these things are. Then I heard banging…

I screamed at the top of my lungs at the site that I saw, a humanoid creature banging on the passenger door window screaming. It was grey and had no eyes, it had hair but only tiny grey strands of it and razor sharp fangs. This was it for me, I was doomed. I couldn’t escape this thing, it was going to end my life one way or another, and then the window broke. My heart was racing faster than any race horse has ever gone before. The thing grabbed my leg and pulled with strong force, I tried fighting it but nothing could stop it. I kicked it in the mouth and broke a few of its teeth and then remembered the gun in the car. I shot the creature right in the face and it became a motionless pile of what was once something deadly. I heard whispers in the background telling me to “Come play Charlie” and realized that wasn’t the only one of them. My window was broken so I thought it wouldn’t protect me for much longer, so I got out and booked it as fast as I could.

I ran so hard my lungs began to hurt and my legs began to tire. I heard loud shrieks coming from behind me and thought that this was how I was going to die. No, I was going to survive and kill anything that gets in my way. This dirt road seemed endless and muddy. It started raining making it even more muddy and slippery. I was panting hard now but I was determined. I kept running until I noticed a house. It was a tiny rundown cabin but I decided I could hide there for a bit. The door was unlocked and I entered.

I closed the door behind me hoping that I could hide from whatever was out there but was greeted by the gut wrenching smell of rotting corpses. My eyes adjusted to the dark room and I had a mini heart attack. I was suddenly back in that room full of corpses in that hospital I dreamed of. There was corpses everywhere, decorating the walls, floors, and even hanging from the ceiling. Then there was that corpse in the chair. I got a better look at it this time, it was definitely me. It had the same nose as me, same jawline, same everything except it was dead. It has been rotting in here for a long time. The scene paralyzed me, I couldn’t move, all I could do was stare at the dead version of me. But then I wondered, how is it possible for there to be two copies of me in the same universe? Were these creatures just messing with me and have basically trapped me? This is going to be my death bed, lying down on a floor covered in dead corpses soon to join them. The corpse in the middle of the room twitched a little, gradually it turned into a full on seizure. Twitching and convulsing, that corpse was alive! I tried opening the door, it was locked from the other side. I kept banging on the door trying to get out, I banged harder and harder. The corpse stood up. It started walking towards me, still twitching, with its jaw wide open as if it were mocking me. Making fun of me for falling for this trap. I cried and frantically banged on the door harder and harder. I body slammed the door and it opened up. I got out of the door and slammed the door shut while jamming it with some heavy crates that were near it. What shocked me the most was that I wasn’t in the forest anymore, I was back at the hospital.

There I was, was I dreaming? How did I get here? Once again, more questions then there are answers. I looked around and once again had two options that I could choose from. I could find my old room from the dream, or I could go down the other door. I tried the door and it was unlocked, so I ventured in. The hallway I entered smelled of a fine perfume, it was surprisingly pleasant considering what’s in the other room. This hallway looked like it was evacuated in a hurry. Papers were strewn all over the floor, the lights above me flickered at an inconsistent rate. All the doors were closed tight and seemingly locked. I continued down this dark hallway until I saw an open door. Curious, I walked into it. The door slammed immediately behind me locking me in.

The scent hit me first, it smelt of mold and dried blood. There was very little light, ruining my visibility. I yelled “Hello” and was answered with silence, of course. I noticed that I still had my gun and held it out in my hand. I tried opening the door but was met with utter disappointment, it was locked. So was I just going to die in here? I couldn’t escape. I banged on the door non-stop when suddenly it opened and I was met with a living corpse.

The corpse came in and took me by surprise. He was on me and he knocked the gun out of my hand. It was a one on one fight. He had me pinned, wow the amount of times I wondered if I was going to die. I couldn’t die, I’ve been through so much, this wasn’t how I was going to die. Suddenly I couldn’t move, I was paralyzed. It’s teeth dug into my neck. Blood came out of my neck and was getting everywhere. It felt like some force was entering my body, it didn’t feel right. I could feel my very life coming to an end. Yes it was a sad thought considering how far I’ve come but at least I could leave all of it behind and maybe start a new life. The pain hurt so much but it started to fade, everything started to fade. My life was being sucked out of my body. Slowly everything became a blur and it all faded out.