The Woods: The Complete Novel (The Woods Series)

by Milo Abrams

  Jack examined the area and looked back at the small creek flowing behind them. He walked over to it and looked down both ways.

  “What’re you thinking?” Owen asked.

  “Well, it seems this small stream is running parallel with the hillside. But since water runs downhill, we should walk upstream. Even if it doesn't look like it, the land must be sloping slightly, so walking upstream should lead us to a smaller hill at some point.”

  James’s positive demeanor had started to erode as the stress of Duffy’s disappearance continued to wear on him. “Unless the hillside and the stream aren't on the same piece of land. Or what if the hill just continues or the water turns away from it?” he asked.

  “We obviously can't climb back up it here. The trees are so thick and twisted, I don't think it's even passable. What other choice do we have?” Jack pointed into the woods, “We’ll walk upstream, find a place to climb up and walk back this way to the house, then we can search for where Duffy may have gone.”

  Owen noticed a small branch lined with razor sharp thorns clinging to the edge of his shorts. He picked it off slowly. “Let's make sure wherever we do climb up, that there isn't any of this shit!”

  Having a plan made James feel a little better. They listened to Jack and started to walk along the small stream against the current while watching the hill for any possible way to scale it. The stream ran with the hill for some time but about a half a mile from where they started it began to wind like a snake through the grass and large mounds of dirt began taking up the space between them and the hillside. James kept his eyes open as he scanned everywhere for any sign of his dog.

  “Duffy!” he yelled, “Duffy!”

  “Keep it down, will you?” Owen yelled at him in a hushed whisper, “You forget that we're on the monster’s turf now. Yelling like that is only going to draw attention to us.” James knew Owen was right, so he resorted to only looking.

  The small stream they followed lead to a large creek that flowed away from where they had just been. The water angrily rushed down its wide body, spraying the air as it slammed the large rocks that sat drowning near its banks. Above them the sky opened and the summer sun was free to pour down like a thousand invisible hot irons on their skin. The air felt thicker around the trees than it had back at the house, which only added to the smothering feeling the woods was giving them. But it felt safer there in the sun. So safe that they decided to sit on a rock, have a bottle of water and plan their next move.

  “If we follow this down here to the right we should stay in line with the hill,” James said between gulps of the already warming water in his bottle. He pointed toward a smaller offshoot of water in the distance near the hill they wanted so desperately to scale.

  “Or we could leave the damn water and just walk at the bottom of the hill. We haven't tried to climb up a single place yet,” Owen whined.

  “I don't think it's possible to just follow the hillside,” Jack said, “the landscape seems to be changing dramatically. These hills are getting more numerous, and the entire hill side is practically melting with all that mud. I think we should follow it like James says.”

  “It's settled then,” James nodded, “we’ll follow the creek, find where that water is coming from and follow it back.” With the tension of the chase behind them for now, he was reassuming his leadership role and his confidence was returning.

  They had to do this because it was nearly impassible with the way the landscape had changed. The flat ground they had been back at the bottom of the hill had mutated into a mud and water filled embankment that sank even further away from the top of the hill like a crevasse on a glacier. The earth had deep grooves dug into it and was nearly drowning in water and plant life which only added to the alien feeling of the already unsettling woods. Following the creek came with its own problems as it became wider and rougher the further upstream they went, blurring the lines between creek and river. Its increase in size and the varying bumps and hills along its banks distorted the fact that it too was curving through the landscape as it went.

  After walking for a while and baking in the sun’s rays, they had completely forgotten that they could come upon the monster they had been so desperately trying to identify at any minute. Their minds remained scattered as they were faced with so many mysteries at once. Not only were they trying to make an escape from the lower level they had fallen into, but they still sought to find Duffy, hopefully alive, and escape the woods without being killed by the monster that dwelled within it. Owen couldn't escape the creepy feeling of being watched constantly.

  “I think we've walked down far enough,” he finally said, “we should climb one of these bastards and get back to the hillside.”

  James and Jack agreed. They were getting tired of walking and the sun was too hot to be in. They took another break just long enough to sit through chugging another bottle of water each. With only the two bottles of water left that they packed for Duffy, the boys had not only grossly underestimated the woods themselves, but the amount of time they would spend out there.

  The hydration gave them the strength to climb the hill in the humid jungle air the woods had them trapped in.

  “Look at this,” Owen said grabbing the trunks of small trees that grew straight out of the hillside, “we can use these to climb up! This is awesome!”

  He was clearly enjoying the adventure the most. James was drenched in sweat with a large smear of dried mud across his face where he attempted to wipe the perspiration away. His contempt for the heat was beginning to show as he followed Owen’s lead, grabbing each small trunk then stomping his foot into the squishy hillside. Jack, on the other hand, struggled to keep up and catch his breath. His brains to brawn were clearly disproportioned compared to the more athletic build of his friends. He took small breaks often, letting his friends get ahead.

  The sheer number of trees within the woods was disorienting. The mound stretched up twenty feet like a small mountain that had been sheared off on the back side. At its peak stood a mass of trees all huddled together as if they were afraid of falling off. Owen smiled as he crested the hill then slid down the other side. The monotony of walking through endless green had been broken up by the fun of climbing and sliding, and to him it was as much an adventure as he had ever known.

  He was the first to reach the bottom and slid right into a small stream, soaking his legs up to his knees. He caught himself before his pockets could touch, careful not to get his favorite pink lighter wet. Jack and James followed behind, and once they were at the bottom they stopped to dip their hands into the running water and dump it over their heads. The water was cool and refreshing, and just having their heads wet seemed to drop the temperature by ten degrees. Sandwiched between huge mounds of dirt and trees with cool rain water running in a stream beneath their feet, the woods now seemed less like a humid jungle and more like a park. Owen looked down to the right side at the small stream and noticed how it curved around the hills.

  Jack noticed this too, and quickly reassured him. “It doesn't matter how much this thing curves because it will lead us back to the hillside as long as we follow it.”

  Owen smiled and started walking again. The depth and thickness of the woods seemed to warp reality. The ground hadn't been level since they first started walking, and continued to change the further they went. What was once a dirt floor was now cratered and covered by vegetation that ran everywhere. Massive boulders protruded from the earth as if they had fallen from space and had been embedded there for centuries. The stream continued to wind, then around the next bend it split out to another larger creek that flowed in the opposite direction.

  Owen sat on a rock to rest. “Who would've known there was so much damn water back here.”

  “It makes sense, actually,” Jack said sitting down next to him. They hadn't said anything to each other as they walked because the heat had taken too much of their energy. “These woods are enormous. To maintain such a large number of trees would t
ake a lot of water.”

  “Which means a lot of area to search,” James said as sweat dripped down his face, “c’mon we have to follow this back and get up so we can find Duffy’s path.”

  Jack and Owen looked at James in confusion. “We’re tired James,” Jack said.

  “I don't care,” James pointed the rifle out into the trees, “Duffy is out there somewhere and he needs us. You can rest after we find him.” With that, James started stomping away from the creek and back into the jutted earth and trees that led deeper into the woods.

  Owen slowly got up with a grunt, “Jesus Christ, he's changed.”

  Jack agreed, slowly getting up to catch up with him. James had changed. Something in him snapped once he saw Duffy disappear that morning. His whole life had been slowly unraveling for months after his parents separated, and now the downward spiral tightened and increased in speed with each passing minute. A big part of James could very likely have been dead somewhere out in the woods, but he refused to even think about it. He was going to save his dog no matter what.

  Time also became distorted for them. They had been walking a long time following the small offshoot of the creek. Even James’s anger had time to burn out and soon they were all walking together again. They stopped to dip their heads and arms in the water and sat down.

  “Something isn't right,” James said. “I feel like we've been walking back this way a lot longer than when we first saw the water by the hill.”

  Jack and Owen shrugged. Jack offered some solace, “Well, the constant twists and turns of the water could actually make the same distance longer by having to walk less in a straight line than we did before when we were following the main creek.”

  “I don't know,” Owen agreed with James, “I'm exhausted. We've been walking a lot and this whole place looks so crazy I can't tell what is what anymore. Face it, we’re lost.”

  The humidity had picked up and with it came insects. They incessantly buzzed around their faces as they spoke, looking for any opportunity to fly up their noses or into their mouths or ears. James put his head in his hands in frustration. He felt like he was failing as a leader. “Okay, so what do we do?”

  Jack took a deep breath before thinking out loud. “Okay, well we don't know where we are or if we’re even lost at all, so the best course of action would be to retrace our steps.”

  “That sounds good,” Owen agreed, “we'll head back to the hill we crossed from the big creek, then take the creek backwards to where I fell.”

  “But what do we do once we get there? We can't climb the hill, we already tried. "We will be back where we started,” James said.

  “True,” Jack said, “but at least we’ll know where we are.”

  “Besides, we can figure out a way up now that we know walking and looking for another way up is shit. We can stand on each other from the ground like a human ladder or something,” Owen said standing up in excitement. “We’ll figure it out when we get there!”

  Again, James felt better with a plan. The desperation to escape the feeling of being lost distracted them enough to forget about their encounter back at the hill. Was the monster still there and waiting for them to return? Or was it following them the whole time? They turned around and walked back up the small stream the way they had just spent so much time and energy traversing until they reached the split where the small stream split into the creek again.

  “I completely forgot about this part!” Owen yelled. “Look, it's like a shortcut, it connects right back to the creek here. We don't have to go back to the hill and cross back because it's right here!”

  James was skeptical. He had gotten excited from the start, thinking that rushing into the woods to rescue Duffy would be much easier than it was. He had already made a fool of himself, and he was nervous of repeating that mistake. “What if it isn't the same creek?”

  Jack and Owen looked at him strangely. “What?” they both said at the same time.

  “I mean it looks like the same one, it's huge and looks like the one we walked earlier, but how do we know?”

  “Are you fucking with me?” Owen asked. “C’mon man, look at it!”

  “All I'm saying is we thought we were following the same small stream back there and now we are turned around because we think we are lost.”

  Jack nodded, “You have a point there. Owen, maybe we should head back to the hill.”

  Owen shrugged in frustration. “Ugh, it seems like such a waste of time.”

  The tension between the boys was becoming thicker. The muggy air held an electricity of dissatisfaction. As they continued to walk and soak in the idea that they were lost, they couldn't help but secretly blame each other. Without another word, they left the split and continued toward the hill. They walked along the winding stream, sandwiched in the valley of dirt mounds in frustrating silence until James finally spoke up. “How're we going to know which hill it was?” he asked.

  “I got that,” Owen said pointing at the hills around them, “I remember the water came right to the edge of the hill which is why I almost fell all the way in.”

  All three boys stared intently at the small stream as it wound and curved, daring to kiss the edge of each small hill before curving back into the middle of the small valley. After another few minutes of walking Owen suddenly yelled, “Look, that's it! Look at the top, too. See that?” He pointed to the top of the hill where trees were gathered together in a small cluster. “I told you I got this!” He furiously began climbing it, grabbing for trees and chunks of the ground like a wild animal. Jack and James finally caught up with him a couple minutes later finding him at the top of hill sitting on the ground panting. As they approached him they stopped. The soft sound of whimpering filled their ears as Owen held his head in his hands between his knees and quietly cried.

  “Are you okay? What's wrong?” Jack asked, rushing over to him.

  “Look,” Owen sobbed as he pointed over the other side. From the top of the hill they could see that at the bottom there were just more trees, more hills and more rocks. There was no creek at all.

  “Shit,” Jack said. “Now we're lost.”

  24

  They all sat down together at the top of the hill tired, overheating, and thirsty.

  Owen looked at James once he stopped crying. “Do you still have that water for Duffy?”

  “What? Yeah,” he said pulling one of the two remaining bottles from his bag.

  “Give it to me, I'm thirsty.”

  “No,” James snapped, “it's for Duffy. He might need it!”

  “What?” Owen yelled reaching for the bottle, “he's a dumb dog. He can drink out of a fucking puddle!”

  “Fuck you!” James yelled, grabbing Owen by the shirt.

  “Guys! Guys!” Jack yelled as his two friends grabbed each other’s shirts and began fighting.

  Owen thrust his hands into James’s chest causing him to stumble backwards. James bared his teeth like a wild animal and pushed Owen right into one of the trees at the top of the hill. Owen grunted, recoiled from the sting of the bark scratching his back, then threw a punch that hit James right in the face. James grabbed his mouth and tasted the blood from his busted lip.

  “UAHHH!” he screamed. He jumped for Owen, throwing his own punches. Owen tried to duck out of the way but was too slow and took a blow to the shoulder and then his right side. He dropped down and curled up into a ball as James jumped on top of him. James ripped at Owen’s shirt, blood-thirsty as he scratched his skin and slammed his fist into Owen’s back. Owen struggled to keep his breath during James’s onslaught, but as soon as James let up for one second to catch his own breath, Owen saw the opportunity to push his foot into James’s knees and took it. James fell back, allowing Owen to get to his feet and tackle him to the ground and over the other side of the hill. They rolled down the hill screaming in a fury of punching and kicking.

  “Guys, stop!” Jack screamed as he ran down the hill after them.

  James stood up with Ow
en still on the ground and stomped his foot down against his shoulder, pushing Owen into the mud as he screamed in pain.

  “James, stop!” Jack yelled from behind him. He grabbed James to try and restrain him but James angrily threw his elbow back to break Jack’s grip and contacted with the middle of his face. Jack cried out as he fell to the ground and the fire in James instantly went out. Owen looked up to see Jack on the ground crying and holding a handful of blood against his face as it trickled out from between his fingers.

  “Oh my God, I'm sorry!” James said as he reached out to him.

  Even though he wasn’t technically the youngest, Jack was the most sensitive, which made James and Owen always feel like he was their younger brother. Jack was the only one who had a sibling, and upon seeing Jack’s busted nose, Owen jumped up and shoved James to the ground then ran over to him.

  “Let me see, let me see,” Owen said softly trying to pry Jack’s hands from his face. “It's okay, it's okay.”

  Jack screamed and relaxed his hands as Owen looked at the blood gushing from his nose.

  “I think it's broken,” James said.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Owen hissed. He looked at Jack and spoke in a calm voice, “It’s okay, let me feel your nose. I promise I won't squeeze or anything. I'm not going to hurt you.”

  Jack tried to subdue his crying as the blood ran into his mouth. He spit it out and tried to remain calm as Owen gently felt his nose. “I don't know if it's broken, it feels okay. Try just pinching the end for a couple minutes.”

  Jack did as he said and they sat there looking at the trees while he pinched his nose and cried like a lost puppy in tiny gasps and whines. After a couple minutes Owen instructed him to let go and when he did the bleeding had stopped. Embarrassed, Jack wiped his face with his shirt and looked down, “Must've just broken a blood vessel.”

  Owen laughed and gave him a sweaty hug. James knelt down and looked them both in the eyes. “Guys, listen I'm sorry.”

  “It's okay,” Jack said wiping his eyes again.