Echo Radke had been following her brother, Rhys Radke, in unfamiliar woods for almost 3 hours now. She was beginning to think that maybe they were lost, because she just saw a same looking boulder that she saw at least a half hour ago a few feet away from where she stood.
"Come on Rhys, are you sure we're headed in the right direction? I'm pretty sure I've seen that same boulder four times now," she pointed out with a growl. She watched the back of her brother as he continued to walk.
"Of course I know where we're heading, we're heading in the right direction. The compass says so, its pointing north, we're following it and our camp is just up ahead. You'll see," he said with no uncertainty in his voice.
"Well I say that its wrong. We've been here before, we're just going in circles! Give me the thing!" Echo exclaimed and continued to follow her brother, looking back at the now disappearing boulder from view. "No Echo."
She emitted a groan and stopped in her tracks. She crossed her hands over her chest and glared at him, watching him stop and turn to look at her.
"Just admit that we're lost!" she said with frustration in her voice, putting her hands in the air. Echo watched her brother stand there and seemed to think about it. She waited for a response, looking at him closely. He had his hoodie on with the hood up like always. It was hard to see his face with the shadow casted on it. She herself was wearing a hoodie with the hood on, so she thought that it was best to remain silent. Echo blinked as she noticed that he was lost in thought. She rolled her eyes and started to tap her foot, growing impatient. She cleared her throat and "Ahem." She smiled as he looked back at her, but he looked away let out a sigh.
"Fine...we're lost."
After admitting that they were lost, the two continued to search for their camp. Echo was getting tired, hungry and cold. It was getting hard to see where they were going, a sudden mist had rolled in and the old, dead trees looked terrifying. The wind wasn't helping and it was hitting against their faces. The nocturnal animals were awake and Echo never felt more afraid than ever. She was sure that they'd never find their camp again.
"Rhys...I don't like this..." Echo whispered in the dark, her voice shaking from the cold. She hugged her sides and curved in, trying to keep herself warm. She looked to see her brother examining her and she wondered what he would say about their situation.
"I don't like it either...here, get in front of me," Rhys told her and she obeyed, walking ahead of him, but not so far. She narrowed her eyes as it got darker, trying to what was in front of her.
"Did you bring a flashlight?" she asked, looking back to look at him. Her heart sank as she saw Rhys eyes widen a bit. "I'm...taking that as a no..."
"Just keep on walking, hopefully someone is out here too. And if were lucky, maybe even a house or a cave to sleep in" Rhys tried to make the situation seem less daunting. Echo stayed silent and she continued to walk on ahead. She couldn't help but think back to all the scary serial killer movies she had seen. It was a setting like this that the serial killer lingered and usually, the serial killer was always behind the victim. Echo felt her head turn to look behind her, but she didn't really want to see anyone behind her brother. Minutes passed by and the woods seemed less inviting. The wind was already pushing Echo and any sound made her flinch. She noticed that her pace had slowed due to how cold it was. Her body was trying to get her body temperature back to normal. At this rate, she might get hypothermia and that was something she did not want.
"I think someone's following us..." Rhys sudden voice made her jump and squeak from fear. She turned to look at him to see what he was talking about until he turned around, his eyes widened again. "R-run!" he ordered.
Afraid and worried, Echo began to run straight ahead. She felt her hood come off and her long black strands of her flow behind her head. She turned to look for her brother, Rhys on her heels. His hood had also slipped off and his face and hair was revealed. She took that moment to admire his features. She was proud of him. "Every scar is a battle won. Show them with pride, Rhys" she told him long ago. She always reminded him of her line and said it often, hoping he would go out into the public without his hood on. She thought of her two sentences in her mind as she saw his scars the second time that day. But due to her attention being elsewhere than what was straight ahead, Echo was unaware of the sudden slope a few feet away. She suddenly felt her feet step over nothing and she gasped as she looked down to see her feet off the ground. She felt like she was a cartoon character that stayed up in the air after running off the edge of a cliff. Echo, along with Rhys, plummeted down and let out an "oof" as her back hit the floor. Her body then began to roll down the slope and rolled all the way to the bottom until she came to a stop a few seconds later. She groaned and withered in pain as she lay there. Echo then heard screaming and her eyes shot open as she remembered that Rhys had followed her down. She was face first on the ground and mustered her remaining power to roll out of the way in time. Rhys came crashing into the ground, face first as well. She was on her stomach with her head raised as she watched. A giggle erupted from her throat, but her head collapsed to the ground. She was so sore and numb. What if she broke a limb? Or fractured a rib? Or worse, punctured an internal organ? Echo shivered and closed her eyes, laying there on the leafy, dirt ground.
"-cho? Echo?" a voice entered her ears. She groaned and felt her eyes open, wincing in pain as she felt a headache overcome her. Her shoulder was burning and her right side felt numb.
"Ugh...what happened?" Echo groaned and slowly turned on her back, to see Rhys looking down with his face exposed. His expression showed fear and worry, but it softened as he realized that she wasn't dead.
"Oh thank God. Are you ok?" Rhys sighed with relief. He touched her forehead and got her to sit up, but Echo winced as he touched her shoulder. She watched as he peered at it and a gasp was emitted from him. This made her heart race.
"Wh-what? What is it?"
"I...blood is bleeding though the hoodie...." Rhys said, starting to put pressure on it. Echo hissed and cringed with pain. "That's just what I needed...Rhys we have to find shelter" Echo said with clenched teeth. Rhys nodded slowly and carefully helped her up. Luckily nothing else was broken on her and no harm was done to Rhys.
"Just apply pressure to your shoulder. Let's go," Rhys said and walked side by side with her, looking at her from time to time. It was now completely dark and it was hard to see where they were going.
After walking around a while longer, Echo spotted something coming into view. "Rhys...whats that over there?" her voice shook with pain. She pointed her head to a certain direction and Rhys peered over to where she pointed at. After trying to get a good look, he stopped moving around and his mouth made a little o.
"Its...a mansion"
