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the goatman » event.

miss goaty vs the people.

julian

after enduring a boring ten minute conversation with one of the cameramen netflix brought along, julian was able to return to the group of mysterybusters that had settled down. the cabin was fairly empty, with most of the sleeping bags set up in the large main room. "alright, we've got an hour or so to do whatever. then they want to get some footage exploring the cabin." he pointed his finger at the crew, then sat down on top of a sleeping bag with a huff.

naomi.

naomi remembers the last time the group had gone out camping and the mess that it was. she was glad they were finally able to redeem that day and move on with their lives. “sounds good. we shouldn’t go too far from the cabin though. wouldn’t want the goatman to get ya.” she says in a teasing tone; not believing that there was an actual being out there that was half man half goat.

nathan.

laying back on his sleeping bag, nathan retrieved his headphones from his bag, plugging them into his phone, and slipping them on. he quickly scrolled though his playlists before settling on one and hit play. "don't bother waking me up. you don't need me to film." nate rested his arm over his face, hoping he would sleep through the rest of the day uninterrupted.

kimberly & micah.

"you're fucked if you think i'm leaving this.... hellsite." micah sat down on his own sleeping bag, taking out his headphones and plugging them in. if nate was allowed to ignore the group, he would, too. "don't talk to me, either, or i will l... literally jump off of the roof." "you wouldn't die," kimi supplied, glancing up from her phone. "break a few bones, yes, but i don't think you would die."

zach.

standing above the rest of them with a sub in hand ( he'd made a special request for a sandwich stop before the trip out of town and had saved it until now ) zach blurted out a laugh. "always the optimist, kimi." zach took another bite, and spoke with his mouth half-full. "i brought some vodka and soda. actually, i think ash packed the soda. but are we down to break out the solo cups? micah, it's that kind you liked at the party," he tried to urge the other male back into the conversation.

kimberly & micah.

micah perked up at the mention of alcohol. "suddenly, i found the will to live again." or at least die via liver failure. he stood up, glancing over to ashley. "do you have the soda? if you d-don't, straight vodka's fine, too."

ashley.

"mhm," ashley hummed, already digging through her bag to pull out the soda. "they were a pain in the ass to pack, but here." she lined the six 2 liter bottles that took up an entire bag of hers in a careful row, allowing micah to take his pick. "i don't really know if it'll last the whole time we're here, but i couldn't carry any more, so."

julian.

looking towards the drinks that were getting brought out, julian had to give a small, distasteful shake of his head. "can we lay down a rule for the night? no one gets black out drunk?" with the eyes of the crewmen watching over, julian wanted to make sure the mysterybusters weren't on their worst behavior.

naomi.

“agreed. i’ve got hella water if anyone wants any.” naomi settles down in her claimed spot for the night, making sure she had everything. “what’s the plan anyway?” her eyes immediately go to julian and verena who were the ones overseeing everything.

verena.

glancing up at julian for a moment, verena turned back to naomi to respond. " i think we're just getting settled for now and then the camera crew wants to get some shots of us... outside of that, i'm not sure." looking back to julian for help, she continued. "is there anything else we're doing tonight?" she hadn't been involved in the planning of the trip which was foreign and a little nerve recking to her as they sat in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

julian.

"we might do some EVPs outside once it gets later. besides that, we're just waiting for any signs of this dude." julian took a look around the cabin. "and i think we're all good for now." grinning, julian pushed his glasses up on top of his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "that being said, if you notice something, just start shouting. someone with a camera will start filming," he nearly laughed.

kimberly & micah.

"fuck water. i plan on k-killing all of my organs tonight, before the fucking... goatman gets to them." micah had already prepared his drink by then, and was gulping it down grumpily. drinking vodka wasn't like drinking beer, in the way that you typically had to be smarter about it. but micah hadn't done a smart thing his entire life, and was already pouring himself another cup. kimi watched as a few members started drinking, keeping her face carefully neutral. she had already decided she would never drink around them again, because one, she didn't trust any of them to drive her home if they needed to, and two, bad shit always happened when they drank. so if they needed to run for their lives, she could easily outrun the drunk idiots. social darwinism at its finest. "are we allowed to look around inside before we start shooting?" she asked the ones who seemed intent on staying sober. she would probably look around outside, too, but she would like to know what boundaries she was overstepping before she did it.

sofia.

sofia sat up on top of her sleeping bag as the conversation seemed to liven up, shutting her eyes for a moment and stretching her neck. she didn't realize how on edge she would actually be going out on another trip, but she wasn't going to let that ruin it for her. in fact, she was going to use the opportunity to try to get over her insomnia and her fear. unfortunately, that meant keeping her wits about her. she scooted over to the drink and poured herself a cup of soda. "bro, having the netflix people around is still so weird," she said with a shake of her head. "ooh, i'd like to look around now."

zach.

“i’d be down for that,” zach quickly hopped on board, a cup with mixed vodka and soda in his hand where his sandwich was a moment ago. “should we grab a camera, in case we see something?”

sofia.

"probably," sofia said, standing and stretching her free arm over her head. she went over to their pile of supplies and pulled out a camera. "i can shoot." whatever she saw in the camera had to be real, right? not worries about seeing things again.

alex.

"if there's a camera involved, i'm down," alex huffed, tossing aside (read: carefully re-folding) her sleeping bag and dusting her jeans off as she got to her feet. she'd take the supernatural entity over another cop raid any day, and the fact that that was an actual, sensible thought—with context!—running through her head right now kind of made her want to throw something out of a window. but whatever. she glanced at sofia, smirking at the sight of the shorter girl behind a camera lens. "—-though, if you wanted to give it a shot, be my guest," alex teased, rifling through her purse for a granola bar. she peeled the wrapper off, bit into the corner, and gave sofia a wink. "you'll do fine."

zach.

“oh, hell yeah!” once alex and officially agreed to join the small group, zach raised his plastic cup to her. “intern take over. we’ll get nate involved at some point,” he didn’t bother trying to whisper, knowing damn well that the other boy would ignore them either way. “alright, let’s head out.”

alex.

"uh, has nate ever volunteered for anything that involved more effort than picking up a beer?" alex commented under her breath, plastering on a smile afterwards, as if the other boy wasn't in the same room.

sofia.

sofia couldn't help but grin at zach's enthusiasm. she really did like the other interns, and she was happy when they were able to do stuff on their own. she met alex's gaze with a smirk of her own. "well, you could always teach me, if you think i'm fucking it up," she said as she marched passed her. "let's goooooo!" she hadn't really tried camera work before. she'd mostly been working research, like julian, but most of the time it made her want to smash her head into a wall.(edited)

kimberly.

kimi briefly considered taking the pocket knife from her purse and picking them off all one by one. how the fuck dare they invite themselves on her trip? did they not realize she was trying to get away from them? not for the first time since working with them – or this week, or day, or even in the last hour – she bit back her urge to scream. instead, she slipped away before the others would notice, somewhere between sofia picking up the camera, and alex flirting with her, and found herself secluded from the team, upstairs. she took a moment, clenching her fist and closing her eyes, as she let out a silent noise of frustration. she just wanted to be alone, goatdammit. she then took a deep breath, and started wandering the upper level of the cabin, knowing that the rest would only be a few steps behind her.

alex.

it was nothing more than a flash in her peripheral vision, really, but alex spotted kimi all the same — and that, combined with a casual sweep of the room once the more excited parties died down, made it all the more obvious that kimi had gone on ahead without them. with a faint scrunch of her nose, she followed in the direction she'd seen the shadow flicker in, slowly but intently making her way up the flight of stairs to the second floor landing.

zach.

"do we know for sure that this place is clear of bats or rats?" the more zach creeped around, the more he realized how the place wasn't a neat and tidy as julian had promised. the main room was, thankfully. but the little back rooms had thick layers of dust. he went to the window, and tried lifting it up, just to see if it could move. a few creaks and cracks of the wood later, he was poking his head out and looking around at the forest in its twilight. "goaty!" he shouted, pulling his head back in and laughing. "does he have a real name? or is it just goaty now?"

sofia.

"why do you ask, prescott? you scared?" sofia teased, trailing after zach with the camera up to her eye. he had a point, though--the place seemed totally abandoned. the perfect setting for the show. she snorted at his exclamation. "dunno. i think it's just 'the goatman', so goaty works." she took a deep breath of the night air zach had let in and felt her shoulders relax. this was what she liked about working with the mythbusters; the investigating, the guessing, the figuring shit out. that's what made her stick around. "what parts of him d'you actually think are goat? like, just his legs?"

naomi.

“so while they do their thing, what do you guys want to do?” naomi asks as soon as part of the groups goes upstairs. “usually we’d have to be setting everything up but now that the netflix people are here— it kind of takes the fun of it all.”

zach.

“i hope he’s like, goat from the dick down.” zach responded without much thought. “Or maybe he’s all over the place. goat ears but a human face. goat legs but normal feet. who are we to judge that it’s half and half?” zach poked around a corner. “kimi! alex! have you seen the goat yet?” he called out, overly loud.

alex.-03/24/2018

"will you shut—?" she starts it, but thinking of the netflix crew downstairs, she'd rather not give them any reason to think there's internal conflict going on. for their reputation and all. and she likes zach well enough, even if she is on edge and he's decidedly not helping. "...calm down, zach. if we'd seen it, you'd know. any luck outside?" alex asked, even though she knew the answer, seeing as most of his and sof's rambling so far had been nothing but nonsense and conspiracy theories.

sofia.

sofia burst out laughing at zach's response, shaking her head. she forgot about the camera for a moment, letting the lens dip down slightly, before bringing it back up. "i feel like all over the place would be creepier." she followed the sound of alex's voice around the corner. "nope, nothing," sofia replied. "just looked like a bunch of trees. not even like, a creepy gust of wind." she kept her tone light. everything was going fine. he'd even gotten a few hours of sleep the night before. there was no reason to be afraid--except for the goatman, of course.(edited)

ashley.

ashley perked up slightly, turning her attention to naomi as she spoke. "uhhh, drink?" she suggested with a smile. "we could play a game? is there anything we have to do to, like, get ready for whatever we're doing for the investigation? these woods seemed huge, are we actually gonna go look for it or just wait and see if it comes to us?"

naomi.

"i don't think so," naomi shrugs, getting up and walking over to grab a cup and filling with some soda, "well if we want good footage, i think we're going to have to go after it. it's kind of.... weird if you ask me but nothing that we do is ever not weird, y'know?" she takes a sip and clears her throat, "i did see that there's a lake nearby and i want to take advantage of that before we leave."

julian & zach.

"oh, come on, don't be such a debbie downer, lex," zach closed the distance, trailing to a few feet behind the girl. he took a sip from his cup, and offered it out to her. "it's like, eight o'clock. i really doubt he's out here hunting right now. does he eat meat?" zach turned to face sofia, and glanced at the camera. "do goats eat meat?" though julian was relaxing, he made a point to pop into the conversation the two girls were having. "it likes groups," he pointed a finger at naomi, not wanting her to but in with her skepticism before he finished explaining, "so a group will head out there later with night vision cameras and see wait for anything to pop out. i don't think we need to go as far as that lake, though. maybe that's a good marker for where to stop."

ashley.

"what? no, we have to go to the lake, it'll be fun!" ashley insisted, her eyebrows furrowing as her attention turned to julian. "although i didn't know there would even be a lake around, so i don't have a swimsuit, but still. does it matter how big the group is, or what?"

naomi.

naomi playfully rolls her eyes at julian and pretended to zip her lips. she listens to what he says then when ashley speaks up, "yeah we don't need bathing suits. we'll just jump in in our birthday suits! also, i want to be apart of the group that goes. if we get lucky enough— we might see a deer and julian will mistake it for miss goatman." she laughs before saying, "maybe he'll nut in his pants like our beloved elijah did. no offense or anything, you just got stuck being the scapegoat since eli and trevor went awol."

sofia.

"do i look like i grew up on a farm? no, i don't think they eat meat. they eat like...grass and cardboard and shit or something. this is like some supernatural monster though, right? so maybe it does. 'cause humans eat meat." sofia was rambling but this was the most fun that she'd had in a while. even practice had become a pain, because she could barely keep her eyes open on the field, much to the chagrin of her coaches and her teammates. "do goats make noises? could we like, do a goat call?"

ashley.

"exactly!" ashley said, pointing at naomi when she spoke. "we can skinny dip, it'll be fun. i bet that will get us some viewers. and i mean, we've been through a lot of shit but when we're all together we always make it out, so we'll be fine. that's how like, statistics and stuff works, right? goatman can't be worse than damaris and cris at silverwood."

julian & zach.

zach nearly stopped in his tracks. "you're messing with me, right? they don't eat cardboard." he shook his head, deciding to move on before he got even more confused. "haven't you seen the screaming goats on youtube?" zach was already reaching for his phone by the time he asked. "oh my god, you're going to die, sof." it didn't take long for julian to begin laughing at the absurdity of their ideas. he tried to keep the upbeat tone going even after hearing ashley's fairly concerning comments. "no, nothing is going to be worse than that. and i don't know about actually going in there and swimming, you guys. it's probably not the… cleanest body of water around. but, you know… might as well film it," julian said, teasing slightly.

ashley.

"who cares? have you never swam in a lake before? it's never clean, but it'll be fun."

julian.

julian's eyebrows squinted together. "doesn't sound that fun, but i won't stop you guys." not that he could, anyways. "there's a firepit out back. we can throw some wood in and have it ready for you guys, if you want to leave now."

alex.

pacing along the floor, alex sighed. she was far too wound up to have as...carefree of a time as zach seemed to be — probably due to the fact that even after all of her research and string-pulling with locals, she still didn't have anywhere close to all of the information. which, in alexandra ochoa's book, was just as bad as having no information at all. she pulled out a tiny flip camera of her own, still making decent work of the granola bar in her other hand. "where to start, where to start...?" she muttered, crossing the room to another window to try and get a view of the surrounding forest.

lana.

she had spent the majority of this conversation silently sitting on her sleeping bag with her, legs up against her chest and arms wrapped around them. that was until she found a way into it, lana propped on to her feet before speaking. "i'll help find the wood for the fire," she just needed some fresh air and sitting back to watch everyone else do something was getting to be a little more boring than expected.

isaiah.

isaiah looked around for julian, helplessly, as ashley and naomi suggested skinny dipping. this goatman thing was ridiculous enough as it was, but isaiah really didn't want any accidents or anything to happen. he'd been more and more cautious since everything that had gone down. he agreed with julian, silently, that it didn't sound like fun, but he really didn't want to leave ash. he could already see zach was keen, and so was naomi- so why not let the pair go in together? he tugged ash closer to him, and pressed a kiss to the crook of her neck, "wouldn't it be more fun to get naked somewhere inside, and warm? just you.. and me..?" he added.

julian.

"you should take someone… with you…" by the time lana had stood up and was out of earshot, julian had only just started speaking. he didn't try too hard after that–his sentence trailed out, and he turned to the group, mainly to isaiah. and, respectively, let out a loud laugh at the face of pure fear he had on. "he's right, it's still pretty cold out. hypothermia is probably more deadly than this goatman." he tried to help isaiah's cause a little bit more.(edited)

naomi.

"it's not like we're going to be in there for hours. it's just going to be one little dip then boom, we're out." naomi says, seeing lana go outside, "whatever you guys decide." she follows behind her and clears her throat once they're both outside. "hey." she says softly, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

ashley.

ashley leaned in closer to isaiah as he wrapped an arm around her. "maybe. it doesn't really look like there's anywhere warm to go. but i'll stay here. zach can join naomi when he gets back."

verena.

every warning possible sounded in her head at the thought of people jumping in the lake, let alone naked. she'd watched her fair share of horror films and doing something as crazy like skinny dipping in a lake was always one of the first things to happen before the serial killer emerged and hacked everyone to pieces. vee had to continuously remind herself that this trip was supposed to be fun and that the chance that the goatman actually existing was fairly slim. "i'll grab some snacks and blankets for everyone sticking around by the fire. but please, if you're actually going to skinny dip, don't take the camera crew with you."

zach.

"alex!" zach called out, having misplaced the girl in the dark. he used his phone flashlight to wave around, it being useless for looking up youtube videos ( there was absolutely no signal out in the woods ) or anything else that required internet. "i'm out of drinks!" one drink, to be specific, but zach didn't care about grammar. "we're heading back inside!"

julian.

"let me tell the crew what the plan is, then. maybe they can do their own thing for a while and we won't have to worry about them." julian stood up, holding a hand out to help verena off the ground as well. "then we can just… chill by the fire for a bit." he gave her a soft smile, happy to see that she was beginning to relax, finally.

kimberly.

kimi wandered outside, wrapping her arms around herself. she was far away enough that she didn’t bother changing her facial expression. the hatred in her eyes was clear, and her lips were curled into a visible sneer. she wanted to go home, because this shit was ridiculous, and no one wanted to be in the south. but this was a job, and if she wanted anything to go to plan, she needed to be here. for her plan, and the group’s, because they’d proven that they couldn’t survive without her. her face gradually changed into something softer and sweeter, as she finally approached the group. when she saw members of the group heading back in, she glanced around. she held out a hand to stop zach, giving the group another glance, before looking up at him. “where’s alex?” though she asked him, she would’ve accepted anyone’s answer. “wait, what’s going on? is micah about to jump in the lake naked? does he know that might actually kill him in this weather?”

alex.

"goddamnit," alex let out on the tail end of a sigh, having realized she'd lost the others. she pulled away from the camera, looked over the subpar footage of the forest outside and the abandoned closets in this godforsaken cabin she'd been temporarily out of her mind enough to wander into. backstepping over a threshold, alex followed the sound of voices until she found herself out in the open air with the others. "think i found scratch marks in one of the old closets upstairs, but this place has shitty lighting, so who the fuck knows," she said somewhat haughtily (but mostly in attempt to disguise how flustered she was at the moment) as she eased her way into the forming crowd.

verena.

taking ahold of julians hand, she stood from the ground, dusting her behind as she reached her full height. “sounds good. ill start getting everything setup outside.” mirroring his smile she moved to her bag to pull out a few small throw blankets she’d packed before ducking outside.

zach.

being turned around numerous times left zach to be merely a non-functioning brain in a human body. he could have blacked out for five minutes, and would understand nothing more or less about what was going on. when he finally came to his senses, he started looking at the group around him. had it gotten bigger? yes-kimi was back, and naomi wasn't far, either. "nomi!" he shouted out, pointing to her. "found her!" even though kimi had very clearly asked where's alex," he was still happy about his discovery. "but–" he held a finger up at alex, "has anyone found the goatman?"

lana.

when lana heard naomi's voice, she turned around and peeked behind her to see if anyone else was on their way to save her from this very awkward situation. as suspected, there was no one. she offered naomi a half-hearted smile, "hey." luckily, before the other could speak up again, zach was calling out for naomi.

naomi.

naomi was about to say something when she hears zach call for her. "i— never mind." awkward silence then she's on her way over to where the blonde boy and his group was. "did you guys see anything cool? just so you know it could have easily been a bear or some other real creature."

zach.

"scratches!" zach confirmed with a nod of his head, scurrying to be at naomi's side. "and we found kimi and you. so, basically, nothing. but scratches, according to alex." despite still not really knowing what was going on, zach held a bright smile on his face. "do we have any flashlights? i don't want my phone to die…" the light on the back was still shining bright.

naomi.

"so me and kimmy are basically nothing? smooth." she shakes her head and laughs, "yeah there's some in the cabin. well i assume there is— why would we come out here without flashlights?" naomi wouldn't put it past anyone in the group to actually forget bringing one of the most important pieces of equipment. "i want to go take a quick swim in the lake but everyone chickened out. wanna come with?" she asks zach in a more hushed tone, looking at him.March 25, 2018

zach.

it took zach a moment to respond, but whispered back, quieter than she had spoken, "there's a lake?" a second passed, and zach flashed a smile, laughing at his own joke. "i didn't bring trunks, but, hey, i'm down for a dip if you are."

naomi.

"yeah no one brought the proper swimwear but who cares. we won't take long." she grabs his hand in hers and begins pulling him in the direction of the lake, "we'll be back soon. make sure to tell everyone else so they don't freak out." she says to the group that was outside before disappearing with zach.

ashley.

after some of the rest of the group got the fire going, ashley wandered outside to join them. almost immediately, her nose scrunched in disgust. "what's that smell? do you guys use something weird on the fire? it smells like... blood, almost."

sofia.

sofia had joined the rest of the team around the campfire, the oversized sweatshirt she was wearing stretched over her knees for warmth. "we always seem to end up around a fucking campfire," she said. she gave ashley an odd look, then turned back to the fire and sniffed. "well...it's kinda funky, i guess. maybe it was just wet or something?"

julian.

"it wouldn't be burning if it was wet," julian promptly corrected his cousin from his spot in an old fold-out chair that was sitting around inside. he peered into the fire, not noticing any weird flame colors come out. but the smell still caught his interest. "i don't know, though. lana got all of the wood. i don't know what kind of wood would burn and smell… metallic."

ashley.

"what if there's, like, something wrong with the cabin? like the wires or something and that's what's causing the smell? if you didn't put anything weird on the fire." while the smell was definitely noticeable, even over the fire, it wasn't overwhelming.

sofia.

"you wouldn't be burning if you were wet," sofia grumbled, throwing a twig into the fire and desperately wanting to tune julian out. "if it's coming from the cabin, it's gotta be super strong." she didn't know if she'd be able to handle finding something wrong in the cabin, especially if blood was involved. "should we, uh...should we go check it out?"

kimberly & micah.

micah snorted at sofia's comment. "i-i can go check it out." he was kind of desperate to get away from the fire. though he and julian had been on much better terms since the new year, micah still remembered the last time they were close to a fire. he stood up from his chair, digging his phone out of his pocket to use for a light. "wait, micah." kimi prayed that the goatman was out there and killed them off one by one. she was so tired. "if it smells like someone is boiling blood, don't you think it would be best if we at least went back together? or... at least more than one person? i recognize your, um, desire to die, and i... appreciate your dedication, but we do still have to film later. i think netflix would like it best if you... stayed alive for that?" "let me f.. fucking die in peace, kimberly."

naomi.

to say that naomi was relieved when she saw that they had a fire going would be an understatement. after what had just happened to her and zach, she was more than glad to see the rest of the group. "you guys there's something out in the woods." she says once they've reached everyone, her hands shaking as she crouches down in front of the fire. "i-i'm being serious i saw it with my own eyes. and please tell me you smell that. it's fucking horrible."

julian.

after the two had rejoined the group, julian had rose from his seat and walked closer to them, making sure that both were okay. “why are you wet? did you actually jump in the lake? god-do we have any blankets out here?” he asked the others around, looking up briefly. “what’d you see?” the question came with some hesitation.

naomi.

"yeah but that's not the problem right now." she tells julian, feeling herself beginning to warm up, "i saw... i don't know. at first i thought it was one of you messing with us but then i saw like... it's eyes. they were glowing red." naomi shook her head, trying to shake the image from her mind.

kimberly.

“red eyes?” kimi was skeptical, of course. she didn’t believe in the goatman, or whatever this was. but supernatural shit happened, apparently; she couldn’t keep denying that. she glanced around, then looked back to naomi and zach. “do you think we can make it back to the cabin without running into it?”

julian.

"wait, are you serious?" with the amount of teasing that naomi had given julian about the goatman, he couldn't believe that she was actually admitting to have seen it. but, he took in the sight of her, completely shaken and stern, and knew that she wasn't playing around. "uh–yeah, we could make it back. but do we want to lead it back there? should we wait until… i don't know, the smell goes away? at least?"(edited)

kimberly & micah.

"w-we're just sitting ducks if we wait," micah points out. "we stay out here, and... then what? we don't know how long it'll take for it to.... to..." he trailed off, frustrated at the blank space in his head where that final word should have been. "disappear," kimi finished helpfully. "it could be hours before the smell goes away, and naomi and zach need to get somewhere warm sooner than later. and... we haven't been quiet. there are a lot of us, including the netflix crew. whatever's out there already knows we're here."

naomi.

"kimi's right." naomi says, "i don't even think the smell matters. it's been what, ten minutes since we first caught whiff of it? if it was bad or whatever we'd probably start feeling weird by now." she stands and wraps her arms around herself. "i just wanna go in the cabin. i'll feel safer there than out here. who knows what it'll do when it comes back."

sofia.

sofia stood up, bouncing a little bit on the balls of her feet for a moment. "i'm with kimi and naomi. plus, all of our stuff is in the cabin. all around the better option." she gave julian a look, eyebrows raised, almost like she was daring him to suggest otherwise.

julian.

enough people had corrected him–julian held both his hands up in defeat. "alright, pack everything up and let's get back inside." julian gave one last look to naomi and zach, nodding. "and stick together, okay?"

kimberly & micah.

the packing up process wasn't quick enough. kimi hadn't brought anything out with her, so she stood off to the side, keeping an eye out for something with red eyes. she didn't know how much she believed that part, but she wasn't going to dismiss anything. she shivered a little, her tiny frame unable to handle being out this long without any warmth, and she started to urge them to hurry, when she was cut off.

"one of you d-dipshits took my sleeping bag," micah declared irritably, standing up. kimi's eyebrow ticked, and she looked around. "everyone only has one sleeping bag, micah."

"yeah, well, s... someone has mine."

sofia.

sofia rolled her eyes, pausing her backing to shoot micah an annoyed look. "seriously? like anybody would want to steal your shit anyways. it's probably stuck under something. just fucking...i don't know...look for it?" with that, she went back to trying to shove a blanket into her bag. she was already on edge about the whole goatman thing, she didn't need micah's complaining to make it worse.

kimberly & micah.

“what the fuck do you think i’ve been doing, dumbass?” micah was always too irritable for his own good. too ready to fight, especially where a vega was involved. “and i-i don’t know why someone would want it, but someone fucking — fucking has it.” “it could be an accident,” kimi said, hoping to deescalate the situation. “can everyone just make sure they have the right sleeping bag?”

sofia.

it didn't take sofia more than a second to register what micah had said. she leapt to her feet and whirled around, her expression furious. "call me a dumbass again," she said, taking a step towards him. "i fucking dare you."

micah.

micah glared back at her, unfazed by her anger. or maybe demanding it. ever the idiot, ever the glutton for punishment. “dumbass.”

sofia.

sofia didn't let people talk to her like that under normal circumstances, but because it was micah, her anger seemed to be amplified. to make matters worse, she was stressed and exhausted. her eyes narrowed and she closed the gap between them with a few quick steps. "you fucking asked for it!" she yelled as threw her fist into his jaw.

julian.

to be honest, the shouting and name calling from the room didn't really spark julian's interest. it was expected from sofia and micah, and whatever they were arguing about, he didn't want to get in the middle of. but then he heard the sounds of a literal fight breaking out, and tore away from his spot next to verena. "hey!" he shouted, running up and putting himself at sofia's side, tugging on her arm. "what the fuck is going on?"

kimberly.

kimi did nothing, pinching the bridge of her nose as micah let sofia get a few good hits in. kimi was almost positive he could stop her if he wanted to, but he seemed content to let her wail on him for as long as she pleased, until julian stepped in. “micah’s sleeping bag is missing,” kimi summarized, trying to keep herself calm. she fucking hated these people. “that turned into him calling sofia a name, and she hit him.” because they were both dumb as shit.

naomi.

naomi returns to where they're all staying, now dressed in warm and dry clothes when she catches sofia punching micah and she sighs. why couldn't they just have (1) one normal trip? "micah enough." she tells him, now at his side with her arms crossed. she isn't surprised to hear that he was the one who started it, "where did you have your bag at? maybe one of the netflix people took it by accident."

sofia.

sofia knew that it wouldn't be long before somebody tried to step it, and was unsurprised when she heard julian's voice. she tried to yank her arm out his grasp, still pulling forward and trying to get another hit or two in. "i'm tired of micah's never ending parade of bullshit!" sofia said. after another minute of trying to escape, sofia finally relented and stopped pulling away from julian. "can you let go of me now?"

julian.

"are you gonna keep hitting him?" julian tested, his voice showing no signs of him letting up any time soon. he knew damn well that she would keep going if he let go then, and as much as he had his reasons for not liking micah, he knew his cousin was overreacting.

sofia.

"if he shuts up," sofia replied, trying once again (in vain) to wrench her arm from julian's grasp. she glared at julian for a long moment, then at micah, then back at julian. "fine. i won't hit him. are you happy now?"

julian.

reluctantly, julian let go, and then turned to micah, making sure his eyes were still in their sockets and he didn't need any real medical attention. "they packed just enough sleeping bags for everyone. you sure there's not an extra one lying around?"

kimberly.

kimi glanced up, diverting her attention elsewhere. she looked around, letting her pleasant mask drop slightly. she stepped away, allowing them to duke it out themselves. if she was lucky, sofia would kill micah, and he would cease to be kimi’s problem. but sofia would still be a problem — no, she’d be the cops’ problem. just like damaris. kimi stored that away for future reference, and stopped to count the number of sleeping bags again. she was right the first time; everyone only had one sleeping bag, so micah had likely misplaced his, like the incompetent piece of shit he was. but, she mused, counting the number of people, how on earth did he misplace it? it’s not like there were many places he could’ve dropped it. even for micah, it didn’t make sense. when she tuned back into the conversation, they were still on this. jesus hot sauce christmas cake— “micah, just take mine.” she was so close to snapping, but was able to keep civil. just barely. “i’ll give it to you when we get back inside, and i’ll just sleep in the van. or — keep watch, if i have to, and i’ll buy you a new sleeping bag when we get home. i seriously don’t mind. in fact, i’ll be happy to. but right now, it’s cold, naomi and zach are this close to being hypothermic, and that smell is somehow getting worse.” ...well. she was civil.

julian.

the smell. julian hadn't noticed it with the fight that had broken out. but that metallic smell had gotten worse. every little account of the goatman that julian could recall was flashing in his mind, and a thought crossed by that was too worrying to ignore. there were certainly only enough sleeping bags for everyone. there was no way micah had simply lost his. someone had a bad that wasn't supposed to. julian gripped onto the straps of his own backpack, taking a quick glance around, trying to count as he looked. ( he didn't want to be too obvious. ) the crew members were either filming, or packing their things. once julian looked towards that group of netflix members, he immediately turned away. "let's go. everyone, come on." he pointed towards the cabin. his hand was shaking, only a little.

naomi.

they don't need to tell her twice, naomi is already making her way inside the cabin, honestly wondering why no one had actually gone in instead of arguing. it was freezing cold out. once inside, she goes directly to her sleeping bag ( thank god it was still there ) and settles in. "can we try not to argue again? at least not tonight? it's already been weird and we don't need any unwanted tension to make things worse."

kimberly & micah.

micah didn't offer anymore complaints. he was a bit peeved that kimi called the van before he could, but he didn't want anymore shit from naomi, so he didn't say anything about it. once inside, kimi stayed true to her word, giving him her sleeping bag, before gathering her bag. julian was undoubtedly acting weird. and as much as she didn't like him, or anyone, right now, she was too curious for her own good. items in hand, she made her way to her (former? ugh) best friend's side. "what's that look on your face?" she asked quietly and tiredly, as if the arguing had physically exhausted her. she made sure he was the only one who could hear her, but kept her expression light enough that if someone were to look at her face, they wouldn't notice her irritation. "it's not because of micah and sofia, so what is it?"

julain & zach.

the moment they were inside, zach dove for his back, immediately pulling out a long sleeved shirt that he had packed and a sweatshirt. he hands the sweatshirt to naomi–threw the sweatshirt onto naomi's lap, not even waiting for her denial that she didn't need it. "no more fighting, no more getting wet." julian, on the other hand, was moving quite slowly. he was backed up against the wall by the front door, double checking that everyone was inside again. he hadn't even taken his backpack off yet, and kept his arms over his chest. if it weren't for kimi's questions, he wouldn't have broken his stare at any of the netflix crew. "we packed the right amount of bags." he said, sternly, loudly.

naomi.

"thanks," she says to zach, slipping on the sweater and looking over at julian, "maybe we didn't. and with these netflix people, it could be possible that one of them just took it by accident. it happens. we're not perfect." naomi tries to reason with him, plus there isn't another explanation of the bag to go missing. if whatever was out there had something to do with it, she's certain one of the netflix crew people would have seen something or someone else from the group. "we're all just a little spooked about what happened tonight. that's it. it'll show up tomorrow and then things can go back to normal."

ashley.

ashley stayed quiet as the rest of the group discussed micah's missing sleeping bag. as strange as the situation was, she trusted naomi's judgement that it would turn up eventually. in all the commotion, she hadn't even noticed that the smell had faded. ashley opened her mouth to comment on it, but something on the ground caught her attention before she could. "hey, isn't this your sleeping bag, micah?" she asked, picking it up off the floor.

julian.

unless ashley had pulled the sleeping bag out of her ass, everyone had completely missed the person who actually left it there. julian walked to her, looking at it. "i think it is," he looked over to micah, letting out a long sigh. "how'd it get here?" he looked around to the group. "wait, how *did it get here? who had it?"

isaiah.

Isaiah glanced up from where he’d been stuffing his mouth with marshmallows - he hadn’t been paying attention to anything anyone was saying until he noticed the irritated tone Julian spoke with, “what’s up?” He asked, voice muffled before he swallowed the marshmallows and stood up, walking closer to said sleeping bag. Isaiah opened his mouth, to say who’s sleeping bag it was- only to glance around and see that there wasn’t anything or anyone left to claim t. “Maybe we miscounted, it happens” Isaiah tried to be the peacemaker, holding up his hands, “We’ve all been a bit distracted, yknow dude? All good, let’s wrap it up and go on wherever we need to” he said, with a shrug, glancing around at the others to see if anybody else would agree

julian.

throughout the whole trip, julian was thankful to have one person dedicated to keeping the group calm and under control. though noami had tried, she was still the one advocating for everyone to jump in the lake an hour ago, and zach was of course dumb enough to follow. having isaiah around gave him a chance to take a step back and find reality again was nice. "how about we get the shots we need and call it a night? do you need anything for beyond the grave?" julian was eager to move past the fighting.

isaiah.

isaiah let out a grateful smile, glad to see no more bickering. he held his hand out, to take ashley's, and give it a reassuring squeeze. "sounds good, dude." he agreed. "i don't know- you're the genius here, you tell me." he shrugged. isaiah usually just stood where he was told to stand. he glanced over at micah and sofia, a small part of him still feeling worried for the pair because they hadn't been coping well. micah with drinking, and sofia with not sleeping. "look, if itll help everyone feel better, we can sleep in shifts. i don't mind takin' first guard. honestly." he said, genuinely. "so long as sofia sleeps first, though." he added, because he felt it was necessary

julian.

the idea almost brought a laugh out of julian. he appreciated the thought of it more than anything. “i don’t think we’ll need to. let’s just let things simmer down first. the last thing we need is everyone all sleep deprived.” as soon as he denied it, julian glanced over to the netflix crew, and rubbed his neck. “maybe... we’ll see...” he quietly said aside to isaiah.

alex.

a mental groan rattled around alex’s brain. as a girl who constantly checked and rechecked everything on pure reflex, she couldn’t help but think that the majority of this situation could’ve been avoided. better awareness, better...anything, really. naturally, she’d chalk this up to an irresponsible oversight rather than supernatural hijinks. ( ...and yet. that smell. the same one she’d read about in most of the accounts of goatman sightings. fuck. nope, she won’t think about it. ) she looked around — there was her kind of estranged friend, her partner in crime who’d punched him in the face, and her...well, kimi. all three of them in less than ideal moods. shooting off a quick text to kimi ( you can borrow my sleeping bag if you want. or at least, that’s what i would say if i knew you weren’t going to turn me down. i don’t blame you if you wanna get away. / just...check in if you need anything and i’ll be right outside, okay? ), alex sighed and made a path towards sofia, sitting down and drawing her knees to her chest. “...we should probably calm you down. adrenaline won’t help the nightmares any,” alex pointed out, fidgeting with the camera on her lap.(edited)

sofia.

having been freed from julian, sofia stalked away from micah and settled back down by her stuff, trying to shove everything back into her bag. she swore quietly under her breath as she resumed her task, pausing every so often to cast a dark look in julian or micah's directing. she didn't even look up when alex came over. "don't tell me what to fucking do--" she started, but then stopped herself once she realized who she was talking to. "sor–-i mean, i didn't mean that. i thought you were someone else." she sighed and sat backwards, giving the other girl a suspicious look. "i should've never told you about those. what d'you suggest i do?"

alex.

“nah, you meant it. but it’s fine.” she shrugged, barely looking over herself. “more than a few people are on edge right now.” after a moment, alex threw her head back, eventually letting it rest in its proper position once she’d summoned enough composure for a smirk, hair messily framing her face as she lifted the camera up. she aimed it at sofia, then panned out to the space around them and let her voice drop a few levels. “so, hey, mtv — don’t tell netflix — but welcome to our fucked up, haunted crib. i don’t know about you, but i could use some windex. this place is an allergy attack waiting to happen.” a sidelong glance was shot at the cabin. alex would take anaphylaxis over this any day, but she won’t say it (yet). without even pausing to see if the joke landed well, her fingers closed around the phone in her purse; a few swipes to get to the music app, and alex was already slipping one side of her earbuds into sofia’s ear. “i suggest you relax. or try your damned hardest to.”

sofia.

sofia rolled her eyes when she saw alex raise the camera, but couldn't keep a small smile off of her face. "or tetanus," she chimed in, casting a wary glance at the cabin before turning her attention back to alex and her camera. she raised an eyebrow as she dug around in her purse, and didn't even have the chance to say anything before alex's music was in her ear. "easier said than done," she grumbled, but she was already feeling the muscles in her shoulders relax. "what is this?"

isaiah.

isaiah shrugged yet again, glancing back over at the netflix crew, a little bit suspicious of them. he nodded to julian, to step aside with him. "yo, i mean. maybe it's the crew fuckin' with us." isaiah couldn't help saying, in a low voice. "i mean, they're here for a show right? maybe they're just trying to put us on edge?" that was the most logical thing to isaiah after all, none of them knew these people. he glanced back over at everyone else, already returning back to normal, and let out a small breath of relief. "so, we're setting up to sleep? should we try do dinner or somethin'? we can text kimi to come back here." he suggested.

julian.

it was the best explanation that anyone had come up with. julian wanted to be able to trust the crew that came with them, but after being on edge for hours at this point, he couldn't put his worry to rest. "maybe," he hummed, soon letting out a soft sigh. julian turned to look at his friend directly. "some of us already ate by the fire. i think… we're calling it a night." he was reluctant to say so. as for kimi… julian knew that if she didn't want to be bothered, there was no changing her mind.

isaiah.

isaiah nodded along, holding his hand out for a slap. at least him and julian could always agree on everything. "alright, we're calling it a night." he raised his voice, for the rest of them to hear as well, making sure to keep his eyes on everyone, for reassurance, and to ensure that there weren't any protests.

naomi.

when naomi wakes up, there's already a few people getting ready for the day and she stretches out to let out a yawn, looking around the room for a second before actually getting up. she grabs some of her toiletries and begins to make her way towards the restroom when she sees that zach is one of the few that's already awake. "why'd you get up? i was comfortable." she says, referring to how they'd been cuddling (bee and nikki vc fucking) the entire night.

zach.

since he wasn't getting much sleep in the first place, once zach noticed a few people waking up, he decided to join them. he was sat at a large, indoor picnic table, across from isaiah, picking at the protein bar he was having for breakfast when he heard naomi's voice. "hmm?" he hummed, finishing his bite. "what do you mean?" zach glanced at his friend, wondering if he had missed something.

naomi.

"don't act dumb, you know what i'm talking about." she pokes at his side, laughing a little. "you had your arms around me all night, obviously." naomi gives him a look, wondering if he really didn't know what she was talking about.

isaiah.

isaiah rubbed at his eyes and stifled a yawn for the 50th time that morning. he hadn't slept too well, and it seemed it was the same with everyone. he blinked in surprise at naomi, glancing up as zach did. "what?" he couldn't help letting out, laughing almost immediately, before looking over at zach for confirmation.

zach.

once isaiah started laughing, zach did, too. he couldn't help it–zach turned and faced naomi, grabbing hold of her hand. "nai, i wasn't even sleeping by you last night. i crashed next to isaiah, like, on the other side of the room." though he kept a smile, his eyebrows furrowed together. "you sure you didn't just dream it?"

naomi.

she feels embarrassed by the way both zach and isaiah laugh at her but shakes it off, "of course i didn't dream it." she says defensively, "someone was sleeping with me last night and if it wasn't you then who was it?" now, naomi begins to feel kind of uncomfortable with the idea of having someone else that close to her.

isaiah.

isaiah's eyebrows scrunch together, looking over at zach once again. if zach had left at some point to cuddle naomi, he wouldn't put it past his friend, but clearly he should own up to it now before things got weird. then again, isaiah hadn't recalled zach moving at all, the boy slept like a log. once he was out- he was out. "what do you mean sleeping with you?" isaiah asked after a small pause, looking over at naomi . "did they try anything?" he asked, jaw tensing for a moment.

zach.

in an instant, zach's whole demeanor changed. "wait, seriously?" zach had dropped her hand, and started looking around the room. he had no real reason to be jealous of anyone–but the fact that naomi seemed obviously uncomfortable made him angry. "who else was around you?"

naomi.

"i don't know." was the only thing she could reply to both their questions, " i just assumed it was zach and didn't think anything else of it. i don't even remember who was around me last night, i was really tired and freaked out about what had happened at the lake."

zach.

zach was having none of this guessing game. he stood up from the table, and didn't hesitate to look around the room and speak with a bombing voice. "okay, who the fuck was all up on naomi last night?" with his arms crossed over his chest, he waited.

ashley.

ashley rolled over, her eyes still half shut as zach snapped at the group. "what are you talking about?"

isaiah.

“Did anyone touch you last night?” Isaiah can’t help but ask Ashley straight away

zach.

though he was focused mainly on naomi, isaiah brought up a good point. "yeah–did anyone else feel anything? or did anyone see anyone fucking with people?"

isaiah.

Isaiah puts a hand on Zachs chest, to help him both of them calm down “alright, alright look- if you just own up, I promise I’ll stop Zach from doing anything stupid to you” he tries to joke, looking around at everyone else.

ashley.

"no," ashley answered isaiah first before sitting up to glance around the room. "and no, i didn't see anything. naomi, what happened?"

sofia.

sofia rolled over with a groan at the noise, propping herself up on her elbows. her hair hung messily around her face. "wassgoingon?" she asked, still not entirely awake.

naomi.

now that the group's attention was on her and zach had properly caused a scene, naomi felt a little weird. "someone was, um, sleeping with me in my sleeping bag last night. i thought it was zach but as you can tell, it wasn't. seriously i won't be mad but, um, if whoever it was could say something, that'd be.... like nice...."

zach.

zach was eying everyone, ready to jump the second he saw something suspicious. but none of them were breaking. he was about to shout again, but was reminded of isaiah at his side, and stopped. he shook his head, and reluctantly looked to naomi. "it's not fucking funny, guys." he paused, "was anyone filming last night?"

ashley.

almost immediately, ashley jumped up, reaching for naomi to check in on her. "are you okay?" she really hoped it was just a misunderstanding. "why would anyone film while we were asleep? that's kinda weird. and it'd be really boring." although it would come in handy now, she really doubted anyone had set up a camera to film while they slept.

zach.

"i don't know," zach turned to the netflix crew, who were only still waking up themselves. "they've been filming this whole time, maybe they got something that we missed."March 27, 2018

alex.

oh god, this wasn’t a dream. —oh god, this wasn’t a dream. tempted to just throw herself back onto the floor and claim ignorance on account of sleep, a bleary-eyed alex groaned and propped herself up on her hands, somewhere close to but not quite sitting up straight — stirred awake by the noise. it took her a minute to fully process the scene, but when she did (thanks, naomi), an unimpressed scowl crossed her features. “...do we seriously have to have a consent lecture at whateverthefuck in the morning?” she sniped, arms crossed firmly. “come on, this isn’t daycare—it’s not funny. whoever it was, just drop the act already.” because if you actually make me look for video evidence of a dumbass prank, there will be hell to pay.(edited)

naomi.

realizing she had already caused enough tension and it was barely noon yet, naomi just shook her head and spoke up again. “it’s whatever just don’t let it happen again.” she tells the group, looking at all of them, “i doubt anyone was recording anything last night because there wasn’t any need to. it’s fine, seriously, sorry for waking you guys up.” and with that she grabs her things again and heads to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

sofia.

sofia had scrambled to her feet once it had dawned on her what was going on, but naomi was already heading for the door. she turned back to the rest of the group and crossed her arms. "well, who was it?" she asked. "maybe it was one of the netflix people or something. i mean, we don't know them."

kimberly.

kimi quietly slipped inside, taking only a moment to piece together what'd happened. it was obvious from the second she walked in that it wasn't any of them; all of them looked uncomfortable enough with what was happening that she immediately ruled it out. she glanced towards sofia, wondering if she was right. she wouldn't put it past strangers to overstep boundaries. still, she said nothing, not wanting to make things worse by dragging the conversation on.

julian.

julian, who had remained fairly quiet during the uproar, finally stood up from the floor and stretched his arms out, adjusting his glasses as he turned to kimberly. "you survive the night okay out there?" he asked, his voice still trying to wake up. he didn't like the idea of kimi sleeping alone in the van, but he wasn't in the mood to argue with her the previous night.

kimberly.

kimi nodded, turning her attention to julian. he still seemed teetering on the edge of sleep, but she doubted anyone would be getting back to sleep after this. "yeah. no signs of the boogeyman, anyway." she wasn't making light of what naomi and zach had seen, but she hadn't seen evidence of it herself. "i heard noises, but i think that's just what happens when you sleep outside." she glanced back to the other occupants of the room. "doesn't sound like it was so peaceful in here, though."

julian.

the boogeyman comment only made julian remember the panic of last night, and instantly made his good-morning-smile disappear. "it was… until naomi woke up." that seemed to be the case for a normal day, though. "the boogeyman was apparently cuddling up next to her last night," julian huffed, speaking sarcastically. but his eyes froze, wide.

kimberly.

kimi stared for a moment, before deciding to bite the bullet and ask why he had that look on his face, when they were cut off. "naomi said to drop it," micah said, as the conversation had apparently gone on without their notice. though micah was as protective of naomi as anyone else, he was more likely to respect her wishes than to drag on an unpleasant conversation in her honor. "chances are whoever did it pr... probably didn't mean to. let's just... eat, and move on."

julian.

it took a moment, but julian eventually agreed. "fine." he ran his hands in his hair once, and sighed. "most of the stuff for breakfast is already out," julian said, pointing to the little table where the food bags sat, along with a small cooler. "should be enough for everyone." it wasn't much, but they typically packed light.

alex.

“who’s doing the cooking?” alex mused, despite already getting to her feet and striding towards the kitchen area by the time the words had left her mouth. “—never mind. in the interest of avoiding another debate, i can at least pan fry up the meat or whatever.” summoning up the most of her usual enthusiasm, the brunette aimed a look over her shoulder, complete with a small smirk at the corner of her mouth. “no offense, but i don’t trust half of you not to give me food poisoning. everyone wins this way. now make your requests or forever hold your peace,” she drawled nonchalantly, tying her hair back and out of her face.(edited)

naomi.

naomi returned from getting ready and sat down in an available seat around the table, pulling her phone to check on it before looking up at alex, " i'll just have whatever everyone else is having. what all did we pack?" she was sure they didn't throw in anything difficult to cook seeing as they were in a cabin in the middle of the woods. she looks through the food bags and sees that they managed to pack pre cooked food. "yeah someone already made this, you can just heat it up. saves you the trouble of being everyone's chef for the day." she jokes, motioning to the bags.

julian.

julian went ahead and brought out the disposable silverware, keeping a bowl for himself as he rummaged through one of the large bags. he pulled out a couple handfuls of miniature cereal boxes and left them out on the table. “if anyone wants cold waffles, those are in there, too.” he offered, taking the carton of milk out of the cooler. “you can make us something when we get back, alex.” julian laughed. “we need like, a taco party. that’d be so fun.”

sofia.

sofia hurried over to the food as soon as she saw it, grabbing one of the cereal boxes and making a bowl of her. "mmm, i love a bowl of fruit loops in the morning," she said as she shoved a spoonful into her mouth. her sweet tooth really did the best of her at the worst times. "is there enough for everyone to have a bowl of cereal AND a waffle?" her mouth was still half-full of fruit loops as she spoke.

alex.

cereal and microwave waffles. ...of course. she really didn’t know why she expected anything else. (god, would she kill for homemade hash browns right now.) “uh...sure, that’s one way to go about things. i guess.” alex’s hands lifted once and fell to her sides in defeat before two fingers raised to pinch at the bridge of her nose; her own restraint was the only thing keeping the full body shudder over their breakfast options at bay. “okay, looks like i won’t be cooking, after all. —didn’t happen to pack any irish coffee in that icebox, did you, vega? i wouldn’t mind starting the day off right.”

julian.

“one box of cereal each, and I think one waffle each. i didn’t make the waffles, so i don’t know. but don’t go in for seconds until everyone’s had something, sof.” julian pointed his spoon at her with a stern expression that quickly softened. “i think there’s little starbucks mochas. the ones in the glass bottles?” julian held back a laugh. “or zach’s vodka.”

kimberly.

kimi grabbed a starbucks mocha and quietly made herself a waffle and some cereal. it was less than appetizing, but the alternative was not eating for the morning, and if she didn’t eat, her filter would be gone. it was in everyone’s best interest that she was fed. she took a seat on the ground and silently ate, glancing up every now and again as everyone went to grab their food. the food was going rather quickly, but that was only to be expected, given how many people there were. she sipped at her mocha and started scrolling through her phone, more interested in the horrible fanfic about her coworkers she’d been reading last night than whatever everyone was talking about.

sofia.

sofia inhaled her cereal in what must have been record time. she drank the last of the multi-colored milk that was left in the bowl (because that is THE most important part) and marched back over to the food. "looks like everybody's gotten theirs," she said, looking around the room before searching through the bag. "what the fuck? jules!" she called, shaking the empty bag in his direction. "you said there'd be enough!"

julian.

“What?” instead of yelling from across the room, julian gave up, and stood up from his chair to get closer to his cousin. “i didn’t even have one, there should be at least one left,” he grumbled, no longer upset at sofia, and instead confused. he took over, and looked through the bags himself. “well who had more than one?”

kimberly.

“no one,” kimi said, stopping another argument before i could start. “i was watching, and everyone only got one. we must have just counted wrong again.” it was embarrassingly unprofessional to count both the sleeping bags and food wrong, but who was really surprised?

julian.

julian had to do a double take to make sure kimi wasn’t messing with him. “kimi, there was at least enough for all of us. even with the extra guys. we wouldn’t bring not enough food.” julian hated the amount of times they’d been proven in the wrong this trip.

naomi.

naomi discards her trash and agrees alongside kimi, "yeah i was sitting right there and didn't see the same person come up twice."

kimberly.

kimi was, for once, thankful for naomi opening her big mouth. she was a little peeved that julian didn't believe her in the first place, but naomi's insistence helped. "exactly. everyone only got one. isn't there another pack or something that we can open up?" she was already contemplating going back to the van and just staying there for the rest of this horrible trip.

julian.

he looked back and forth between the girls, and his stomach began to twist into a knot. he didn’t realize why-until the stench of rotten blood, thick and coppery, hit his nose. julian’s face scrunched up. “no-that was all we brought,” he firmly concluded, taking a few steps away as he looked around the room carefully.

sofia.

"julian?" sofia's had forgotten about her waffle now, and was instead giving her cousin a measured look. sure, maybe them forgetting a sleeping bag or a thing of food could have happened, but it seemed like there were too many things going wrong for it to be their normal amount. plus, there was that smell. "what are you thinking?"

julian.

"nothing." julian didn't want to admit what he was thinking, but more importantly, he didn't want to spread the toxic idea to anyone else. getting everyone scared for nothing would only result in the trip being worse than it already was. "sorry 'bout breakfast, sof." he turned away from the table, and kept his head down as he began to walk towards his backpack.

lana

lana pushed herself off the wall she had been standing with her back against. she was capable to realizing that something was off with julian, but she wasn’t going to force it out of him. if this was a couple of month ago, she would’ve without a doubt. now, it just seemed needless. she took a couple steps towards sofia, silently offering up the untouched waffle on her plate as julian walked away.

alex.

alex paused for the second time in as many days as she took stock of the room — a frown tugging at her lips as she tried to pinpoint when the hell everyone got so abysmal at keeping inventory. ( because that, at least, was easier to swallow than the alternative. ) she took one last drag of the iced coffee and sat it down, pushing off of the table to make her way to julian. her brows knit together in the picture of sympathy, and she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder. “hey,” she murmured, as if there was some way to squeeze you’re not going crazy and even if you were, underpacking doesn’t make you a bad leader into one syllable.

ashley.

ashley's head tilted to the side as she watched the rest of the group discuss breakfast, not following why everyone was suddenly so concerned. so they didn't pack the right amount, what was the big deal? "what's going on? why does it feel like you all know something that i don't?"

kimberly.

if kimi had to guess, ashley felt like that a lot. nibbling on her lip, kimi went to go sit next to ashley. “ash, we packed the right amount,” she murmured beneath her breath. “but the sleeping bags, and the food, and then... you smell that, right?” as dumb as it seemed, even kimi couldn’t deny that something was wrong now.

sofia.

sofia sighed as julian walked away, running a few fingers through her hair as she thought. she hadn't even tried to cause a problem or make him feel that bad but, as usual, this is where they ended up. "nothing my ass," she mumbled. she raised an eyebrow at lana when she walked over. "you sure?" but she was already reaching as she asked the question. "here, we can do halves. " she split it in two and handed the plate back to her. she hadn't really talked to lana much--not after silverwood. "thanks."

julian.

though he could hear some soft feet walking behind him, julian kept towards his backpack, only stopping once it was in his hands, and he felt alex's gentle touch on him. "i'm going to see what else we need to do today. talk with the crew. get things going as soon as possible." he knew what alex was trying to do. and although he appreciated it, now wasn't the time to sit around feeling bad for himself. "do you need anything?" julian finally turned to look at her, offering only a small, half-sided smile.

naomi.

naomi sees the way julian's entire body language changes but she doesn't say anything, especially since alex is already by his side. hearing his plans, she just gets up and straightens herself up, "yeah we should probably get some shots of the surrounding area. the faster we get everything done the sooner we get home. i swear i feel like we've been here a week and it's only been one night."

lana.

she opened her mouth, ready to protest sofia's suggestion of splitting the waffle but she stopped herself. there was no fighting with sofia. that was made clear long before the fight she got in last night. instead, she nodded her head and smiled as the plate was handed back to her. sure, this act of kindness wasn't enough to get sofia to forgive her after everything. hopefully, it was at least a start. "should we split up to speed up the process of going home?" lana asked, softly, and then took a bite out of her half of the waffle.

julin.

"splitting up wouldn't be too bad," julian responded, hearing lana's quiet question. "maybe get some EVPs and full-exposure shots around the place while kimi and i go through a couple questions with the crew. they want a sit down interview type-session about the place." he turned to his fellow researcher, making sure she was caught up to speed.

alex.

“i need something to do,” alex admitted, being largely on the same wavelength when it came to sitting around and letting herself drown in her own thoughts. when lana spoke and julian started doling out tasks, she immediately straightened up and nodded. “i’ll get the atmospheric shots. already got a few from last night, but more couldn’t hurt. but for god’s sake, everyone keep your phones on you—and charged.” that last part seemed a fitting reminder, and worth all of the exasperation alex put into it. they’d never know when shit hit the fan, otherwise.

naomi.

"daniel had us carry walkie talkies when we went to silverwood the first time," naomi mentions daniel for the first time since the night she snapped at julian for calling himself a leader (i assume), "i mean granted we lost them due to... the circumstances we were under but they worked really well. we should invest in some of those because phones... well they're just not that reliable." naomi would also love to remind them that daniel would want them to quit arguing and fighting but now was not the time to bring that up.

julian.

julian gave a small nod, pointing to lana. "you should talk to lana about it." it wasn't said in a dismissive way–it was an honest suggestion to naomi. "a little late now, but good idea. i'll make sure to keep my phone on me." he looked around the room one more time, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "everyone good for a bit?"

julian.

hours had passed since anything major had happened. julian was sitting, going over a checklist in his notebook, carefully watching everyone else in the room. his knee bounced up and down quickly. though he was meant to be focusing on wrapping up the shoot, the only thing he could think about was that there were eighteen people in the room. fourteen mysterybusters, and four netflix crewmen. he could vividly remember complaining about there being seventeen people going–did he not tell micah to book seventeen plane tickets? the van they took over barely fit seventeen sleeping bags, with little room for another. there was always one crew member away from the others. the woman with dark, curly hair. she hadn't spoken much–had she spoken at all? did she ask any questions in the interview? each of the crewmen tended to keep to themselves, but her especially… julian held his breath. he turned the pages of his notebook back and back, until a page of scribbled notes was in view. likes groups. shapeshifts. blood smell. there was no way. she was just a weird crew member. julian lifted his head up to look at her, but the woman was already staring directly at him from across the cabin room. it made his heart drop into the pit of his stomach, eyes wide as they quickly dropped back down to his notebook. "fuck this." the voice was one he hadn't heard at all during the trip. every head in the room whipped back around to see who had yelled out. and it was her. speaking… somewhat normally. speaking as if a bit afraid. "you are all crazy. i am not spending another night here." the woman, who's name still couldn't be brought back to memory, stood up from her chair and walked straight towards the front door of the cabin. "i am going to go back to town!" she shouted, her voice still not having any normal inflection.

julian.

“is no one going to go after her?” after a few minutes of waiting to see if any of the fellow crewmen would follow her out, julain spoke out to the group. he stood up and looked out the window, the dark figure of the woman only just visible. “i’ll see if i can get her to stay,” julian said with a huff of hair, heading towards the front door.

naomi.

before naomi could protest his decision, julian was already out there and chasing after the netflix worker. "i don't think that was the smartest idea." she says to the rest of the group.

julian.

julian v the goatman.

sofia.

sofia hadn't even noticed anyone had left the cabin. she still moody from the amount of bickering in the group, and was sitting off near the back of the room. her had her earbuds in, and the volume was turned up loud enough to tune out the rest of the room. maybe sensory deprivation would help her calm down. she almost didn't notice the pounding on the door next to her. she paused, pulling one ear bud out. nope, there it was again. "what the fuck?" she said, glancing around the room to see if anyone else had noticed. finally, she stood up and wrenching the back door open. "who the hell--" her breath caught when she saw her cousin. she sprang into action, bending down and trying to pull him into the cabin as quickly as she could. "julian. julian. jules. oh my god. oh my god. GUYS! HELP!"

kimberly & micah.

kimi had noticed julian leaving, and while she thought it was a terrible idea, she wasn't his babysitter. if he made bad decisions, that was on him. she decidedly Did Not Care. at least, that was what she told herself as the minutes passed, and the knot in her stomach tightened. she was too protective, that was all. julian was her best friend ( with every passing minute, she just thought of how much they needed to make up already, she missed him ) and she worried about him. but it was nothing. it was nothing. it was ––– "julian!" she knew she wouldn't be help in getting him inside; she was too small and weak to help out. so she stood aside as micah slipped by, meeting sofia at the door. "i got him," he muttered, bending down to assist julian, as carefully as he could without wasting too much time. "c... close the door!"

julian.

the room was spinning, and julian hadn’t even noticed that he’d fallen until he felt someone trying to help him stand back up. though he was only repeating what micah had said, he shouted out, “close it! close them! everything-“ he stopped for air, but didn’t say anything else, and rather just leaned into micah. he wanted to take a few steps forward, but needed to breathe more before trying. the adrenaline was gone, for sure.

sofia.

every fiber in sofia's being resented the fact that micah was able to pick julian up when she wasn't, but even she knew that that wasn't important right now. she followed after the pair, slamming the door shut behind her and leaning on it. "should--should we...should we barricade the door? i don't, uh...i don't know what to..." she could feel her heart racing in her chest. her mind was going blank. sofia, who thrived under pressure, who always had some sort of action, was completely frozen. "is he gonna be okay? please say he's gonna be okay. please." her voice came out very quiet and almost like a child.

kimberly & micah.

"barricade it," kimi said, already looking around the room. she took on a firmer tone, because now wasn't the time to worry about a fucking façade. not when someone (something?) had hurt her best friend to such a degree. julian wasn't a fighter by any means, but he wasn't small, either. it wouldn't be that easy to take him down, and from what she could see, whatever took him down wasn't human. were those... bite marks? "zach, isaiah, nate, cris, find whatever you can to block the door. no one's going back out there. micah, is he–––" "g-give me the first aide kit. and, uh... uh, something to stop the bleeding. a lot of cloth. s-some, uh, t-shirts or something. and some alcohol, if you have it." micah rattled off what he could imagine they needed at first glance, but he was hardly a leading expert on dealing with fucking... goatman wounds. ( a silly, dissociated part of him laughed at the thought that he'd somehow ended up being the team doctor, when it was the last position he wanted. ) ( a sillier part of him that wasn't so distant really entertained the idea of a goat person nearly killing their second leader. ) ( a part of him that was much too in the moment panicked at the thought of another leader dying because of this fucking job. ) "sof or vee, can you, uh, do you..." what are the words, what are the words, now is not the fucking time to not know this! "calm him down," he eventually settled on saying.

julian.

“i’m good,” julain’s response came out in a breathless huff, trying to pay attention to everyone around him. counting the people in the room when there was a burning pain all over his shoulder was impossible. julian eventually just gripped onto micah’s arm, stopping him from trying to help. “who’s inside? how many?” he cared less about a little blood and much more about making sure everyone was on the same page-no one gets in, no one leaves.without hesitation, zach and isaiah started moving around the old wooden furniture in front of the two main doors in the back and front of the cabin.

kimberly & micah.

"shut up." micah managed to put a bit of heat in the comment, but not a lot. he accepted the kit from kimi, but stopped when julian grabbed him. "what? what does that m––" "sixteen." kimi did another quick recount just to make sure she was right. "there are sixteen people here right now."

j*lian • zach-Last Friday at 12:59 AM

when he finally heard kimi’s confirmation, he relaxed. not much, but enough to actually catch his breath. “there can’t be more. ever.” he looked his friend right in the eyes, making sure she understood. “it’s still outside, but you have to keep checking.” had he hit his head, too? because he surely sounded insane.

kimberly.

hesitantly, kimi nodded. she didn't want to believe in this, but the evidence was almost literally staring her in the face. she couldn't deny that something was fucking with them. and julian had been hurt by it. "okay. just... let micah help you, and i'll make sure it's always sixteen." she looked to the others, glancing at the barricade they'd built. "is that going to hold against... something big?" because saying the goatman sounded both crazy, and hard to gauge.

sofia.

sofia had stood there in stunned silence, her wide-eyed gaze switching from her cousin, to micah and kimi, to the boys moving the furniture, to julian again. she finally willed her muscles to move, half-heartedly helping shove an old wooden armoire in front of the back door. "it's the best we've got," she said without looking at kimi as she passed her and headed towards julian. "you've gotta let micah do...whatever he's gonna do now, okay? please."

julian.

julian didn’t even want to look at the bloodied mess that his arm must be, but having micah ( of all people, MICAH, who thought it was okay to walk out of the hospital nearly brain-damaged ) be the only one attending to him made his fear increase just a bit. “it just needs pressure,” julian mumbled to sofia, taking a cloth from micah’s pile. he turned to look at his shoulder, but couldn’t work past the tattered clothing. “lemme take it off-“ julian tried to push micah’s hands away to take his sweatshirt off.

micah.

micah let his hands drop, giving julian a blank stare. "go for it. as much as i d... dream of undressing you, i'm not stopping you," he deadpanned. "but it needs a little more than pressure."

julian.

it took a minute and a couple hard curses, but julian had managed to slip the sweatshirt off and get his first real look at the bite mark. looking to his cousin, he gave a slightly weary stare, “puta mierda duele,” he groaned, perfectly fine with letting her know just how he felt. “can anyone try calling? kimi-can you get my phone?”

kimberly & micah.

"fair warning," micah said, glancing at the fullness of the wound. "this is going to hurt a lot." kimi balked at that statement, but she didn't linger on it. she grabbed her phone, glancing at her service bars. nothing. "i'm going to see if there's anywhere with better service. i'll be right back."

j*lian • zach-Last Friday at 1:40 AM

“wait-” at first, it most likely seemed he was denying micah’s help. but julian reached out with his good arm to kimi, not able to hold onto her, but hoping it was enough to stop. “just stay in here, kim. or-“ julian took a deep breath. “quickly, okay?” he didn’t want her to leave, but since he had no real reason for needing her to stay, he didn’t try.

alex.

okay. the most capable ones were barricading the entrance, which was a start. a pathetic one, considering whatever the fuck managed to take a chunk out of julian's shoulder — fuck, alex, tranquila, you got this — "yo, zach, you still got that vodka? pass it over when you have the time." she called out with her most determined expression, then all but stomped over to julian and crouched down. alex wasn't used to not being useful, so now was about the time where she broke out everything in her repetoire. "whatever micah was about to do, i promise this is going to hurt more — but it's for your own good." seriously, has he seen this place? it's a standing tribute to tetanus, for god's sake. at least sterilizing the wound would put the possibility of a future infection on the backburner, which would give them all a second to breathe. her fingers twitched a constant rhythm at her thigh, brown eyes worriedly flickering over to kimi; she'd debatably be the faster runner out of the two of them, but there was no swaying kimi once the other girl got an idea in her head. "...be careful. please."(edited)

kimberly & micah.

micah glanced up at alex, nearly exasperated, holding up the bottle of rubbing alcohol kimi had already handed him. “what do you think i’m about to do?” he was half-tempted to just let her do this, because he sure as fuck didn’t want to. but now they were expecting him to, and he’d get a lot less shit if he just finished up. he uncapped the alcohol in his hand, and silently winced for julian. kimi took that time to slip out of the room, before the screaming could start.

alex.

"not the fucking time for your holier than thou bullshit, micah," alex snapped in a dangerously low voice, looking pointedly at julian, who was obviously in pain. "i was just trying to help. if you'd hurried up and done it, i would have never brought it up." knowing that arguing wouldn't get them anywhere, she reached out to squeeze julian's hand before following after kimi. another one of her friends turning into a victim in the middle of this godawful forest—especially with no one around to help her—would be the exact thing to set alex unraveling.

kimberly & micah.

micah didn’t know what she was talking about, but considering he valued the opinion of all of two people in this room, one of which she would never be, he wasn’t bothered. “and you’re not helping. so shut up, if you can’t be useful.” he poured the alcohol over the wound, letting the excess fall onto a shirt. kimi, noticing she was being followed, didn’t look back. she did roll her eyes, though. one day, someone in this group of idiots would learn how to take a hint. and she especially didn’t feel like dealing with any of the more irascible members. if they’d start an argument at a time like this, she’d rather go on a date with the goatman. quietly, she kept her eyes on her phone, searching for a better signal. getting nothing, she started ascending the stairs, stopping near the top. it wasn’t the best but three bars was better than nothing. she dialed 911, putting the phone to her ear. “hello? hi, my name is kimberly park, and i— hello?” she glanced down at the phone, nearly swearing when she saw that she’d lost service. she could guess it would happen all over the cabin, but she knew going out wasn’t an option. she considered just going downstairs and reporting, but continued up anyway. anything to stay away from them for a little while longer.

alex.

alex trailed behind kimi until the other got to the upper floor; she was close enough to catch the one-sided conversation, and smart enough not to say anything as redundant and borderline idiotic as, ...well, did you get through? instead, she sighed and cast a puzzled glance out of one of the windows, hoping on some stretch of luck that she'd stumble upon the sight of that...thing...in the woods. she spared a look at her own phone, grimacing at the telltale x through the signal icon. god, she was absolutely useless. step by step, alex started to pace the perimeter of the room before as her frayed nerves got the better of her — everything was slipping so grotesquely out of place from the original plan, and she wanted to scream. fingernails bit into the flesh of her palms as she clenched her hands at her sides, before letting out an abrupt, frustrated sound. "i should try for a signal outside. if all else fails, i can make a run for the van."(edited)

naomi.

it was weird how even when julian was severely hurt and on the borderline of a panic attack, they still found a way to argue about something so dumb and trivial. naomi just stayed back and let them do what they had too, seeing as they had it all under control. kimi and alex had gone to look for a signal. she goes over to a window and moves the small, dingy curtain aside to see that someone had just pulled up. "hey guys..." she says, to those who weren't busy attending to julian. "someone's here." maybe kimi had actually gotten through to someone? but then again, they couldn't have gotten here that fast.

kimberly.

kimi had to take a moment to wonder what the fuck exactly made alex think that was even in the realm of good ideas. was it the barricade, or the injured julian that seemed to promote stupidity on this fine night? she kept her back to alex for another moment, so as to not let that show on her face, then looked over at her. “no. no, we can find a signal in here, just...” she couldn’t find anything else to say, so she called again, and hoped that the signal held.

lana.

lana joined naomi's side at the window to see what she meant by someone is here. she didn't believe that anyone would voluntarily come up to this place and from what they've figured out long ago, it wasn't exactly like they would have been able to call for help. "what the hell?" whispering under her breath, lana took a step back. she and naomi watched as a man got out of an old pick-up truck and headed straight for the front of the cabin. "he's coming to the—" and before she could warn the rest of them, he was already pounding on the door.

kimberly.

kimi’s call dropped just as the banging started. she startled slightly, glancing at alex, before heading back downstairs. “what’s...” her question fell as she realized where it was coming from. then, she was stumped, because now what could they do?

alex.

her first thought was self-preservation: if this was the goatman, they stood a better chance back up there than being curiosity-led dumbasses served up on a silver platter in the living room...but she’s not quite heartless enough to abandon them completely. alex rolled her eyes, because of course this was happening. “sounds less like a demon and more like your run of the mill asshole in the forest with a shotgun, so that’s something,” she commented with no shortage of sarcasm. alex leaned over from her position beside kimi. “guess our options are eavesdrop from the back or defusing the world of shit the others are bound to get into. your choice.”(edited)

julian.

“bill?” having been rather quiet ( aside from cursing at micah, who really didn’t deserve it-he was doing his best ) julian yelled out, and waiting for some kind of response. “i think that’s bill,” he finally told the group. he never had the chance to meet him in person, but the thick southern tang in his voice matched the person who julian had spoken to on the phone.

naomi.

"who the hell is bill?" naomi asks lana, or anyone really as she hears julian repeat the name. has julian finally lost it? the pounding continues and she hears 'bill' telling them to open up. "isaiah... zach... i don't know should we open the door?" she asks them, not moving from her spot besides lana.

julian.

since apparently no one reads the emails julian takes the time of carefully crafting and sending out, he tried to stand up, ignoring micah. “this is bill’s cabin,” he explains, a bit of a rush going to his head once he got on his feet. he stood still, looking at the door. “let him in, don’t just leave him out there!” he quickly tells the two boys.

alex.

“oh, for fuck’s sake,” alex huffed, marching her way to the front of the scene. she pointed at julian. “you. lay back down before i find some way to sedate you.” steeling her nerves, she shoved a bit of the barricade away, unlocked the door, and eased it open — but didn’t swing it wide enough to put the entire audience on display. “can i help you, sir?” she asked politely, with her most disarming smile. it was likely that julian was something close to delirious, so him vouching for the stranger wasn’t the highest of praises at the moment. she could at least vet him before deciding whether to let him inside.

naomi.

naomi watches uneasily as alex opens the door and speaks to the stranger. please don't let him be some psychopath she repeats to herself, waiting for him to say something since he was so eager to come in. "what the hell?" he looks around the room to see an injured julian on one side and all of the furniture pushed up against the wall. "what's goin' on here?" since alex is the one at the front, he directs his question to her.

alex.

alex placed a few fingers on her left temple and gave the man a wry half-smile, feigning sheepishness. “my friend over here got bit by something nasty — feral fox, maybe? as you can see, he’s a little out of it, so we’re not sure — and barely made it back, so we were just trying to keep it out and make sure there weren’t any repeats. don’t exactly have tranquilizers on hand.” she was absolutely lying out of her ass right now, but at least she could do it with a pretty face and little to no tripping over herself, which was what actually mattered. “...you wouldn’t happen to have anything with a usable signal, would you?” she pressed just as cordially, hopefully killing two birds with one stone. teeth worried her lower lip to sell the act, though her own anxiety wasn’t complaining about it either. “we should really get him to a hospital.”

naomi.

"a fox, huh? that don't look like no fox bite to me." the man looked around the room with a confused look *"ain't no signal out here, girl. closest thing you'll get to a phone is about twenty miles up north at the gas station with a pay phone and i don't even think it works." naomi pinches the bridge of her nose at what he says. of course she didn't know what she expected with the 'good' luck the group had. "if y'all are so scared to leave, then why did i see one of you's out there in the woods on my way up here?" now naomi looks at everyone with a confused look. kimi had done a headcount and everyone was accounted for so what was he going on about?

alex.

creases slowly started forming between alex’s eyebrows; the hand at her head dropped and signaled a pause as she looked back at the mysterybusters. their collective expressions were confirmation enough: this guy had no clue what he was talking about. after the sight of julian, they’d all cut their losses and stayed inside. she turned to address him again, insisting, “bill, i promise you that everyone who needs to be in this cabin is in this cabin. if you saw someone out there, they’re definitely not one of ours.” assurance radiated from her words, but alex’s thoughts were already churning. first a sleeping bag goes missing, then there’s not enough food, now there’s someone hanging around who isn’t supposed to be here...

kimberly.

“let him in.” kimi spoke before she could talk herself out of it. because bill had very clearly seen something out there, and it wasn’t one of them. and something was out there in the woods, fucking with them, hurting them. she feared bill would die if they left him out there any longer. she didn’t particularly care about his life, but she was interested in what he’d seen. “quickly, then push the barricade back to where it was.”

alex.

alex widened the gap in the door and stepped backwards, being sure to shut and lock it immediately after bill breached the threshold. “someone get that, please,” she muttered, gesturing at the stack of miscellaneous furniture. she herself took a few steps to the nearest window, cautiously peering out of it.

julian.

feeling rather threatened by alex’s stern tone, julian had listened and swiftly sat back down in front of micah. “a girl, right?” julian asked, his voice finally not shaking like it was before. “did it look like a girl? did she talk to you?” his questions rattled out quickly, hardly giving bill much time to answer.

naomi.

to be honest, bill had no idea what kind of drugs these kids were on and judging by the blood and everything else, he didn't want to know. "what do you mean do it look like a girl? hell yeah it was. tried to talkin' to her and she just stood there." weary eyed, he looked at julian then at everyone else. "i gotta get goin'. just stopped by to say there's a bad storm comin' and all the roads are goin' to be closed till mornin'. make sure he doesn't die and clean the blood up my floor." he points at julian before looking at the group once more and leaving. as soon as he leaves, nate and isaiah barricade the door again with the furniture and naomi turns to the rest of the group. "what the hell just happened?"

julian.

“we can’t leave until morning?” julian repeated, feeling a wave of anxiety crash into him. “we might be able to make it if we pack up, and leave now. we have to try, right?” there was no way they could last an entire night with that thing out and about. “bill said he saw it, it’s close-we have to leave while we can.”

sofia.

sofia seated on the floor next to julian, her body language tense and protective. she glared at bill has he left. "but if it's close, then it'll just get us when we're trying to leave," she grumbled. "plus, i don't think you should be moving unless it's into an ambulance, or at least when the roads are safe."

naomi.

"leaving now is only going to put us all at risk. we can't do it." she agrees alongside sofia and crosses her arms, "we'll just barricade the doors and stay together until tomorrow. the second it clears up we make sure you're out of here and on the way to the hospital."

julian.

a couple stitches were needed, sure. but an ambulance? the thought of everyone having to go to that much trouble for him made julian mad. “what if barricading them isn’t enough?”

alex.

well, there it was. the supporting evidence that alex absolutely didn’t want, but somehow still needed. there was an intruder, none of them were going crazy (at least, in this context), and it could make its way back here without anyone being the wiser. and they were stuck here, for the rest of the night at minimum. who knows what could happen to any of them in a handful of hours. “...someone should keep night watch. or a group. no one gets in, no one goes out.” alex clenched her teeth, knowing good and well she’d be up all night trying to process this shit, anyway. “i don’t mind doing it.”

ashley.

"but nothing's gonna happen to us, right?" ashley spoke up, still trying to wrap her head around what happened. "maybe he saw someone else out there, there are other people in the woods, aren't there? and besides, if it was gonna, like, hurt us wouldn't it have done that when it was hanging around all yesterday and last night? why would it wait until now?" it didn't make complete sense, but ashley was able to convince herself that maybe they had to go to it for it to hurt them. that's why it did something to julian and not to the rest of them when it was sleeping in the same room as the group.

julian.

“i don’t know, ash,” with a scruffy, tired voice, julian responded to ashley. “i think it just likes to fuck with people.” he looked to the window, only able to stare out for a few seconds. “it could have killed me if it wanted to. it’s huge. it could take us all. but...” julian looked around for his notebook. “people said it doesn’t like to be spoken about. and what have we been doing since the second we showed up?”

naomi.

“talked about it.” naomi sighs for what seems like the millionth time that day. she sees the clouds in the sky from the window and can tell it’s going to start raining any minute. “if alex wants to keep watch, someone should do it with her. isaiah?” she’d volunteer herself but naomi has no idea what she’d do if that thing came back and wasn’t going to put the group in more danger. “i think... that if we just stay together and not argue like we do all the time, we can beat this thing. let’s just not talk about it anymore and try to stay calm for the rest of the night.” naomi doesn’t know where this sense of wisdom came from but she hopes it doesn’t annoy the rest of the team. she cared about them... all of them and just wanted everything to straighten back up a bit. just a little.

sofia.

"i can keep watch with alex," sofia volunteered. not like she was going to sleep anyways. if anything, seeing julian get hurt, even a little, brought her back to her sister's accident. that's why she wanted an ambulance--so he could get checked out properly. she nodded as naomi kept talking. things had been really tense. it made sense; it was their first trip after silverwood. everyone was on edge. "naomi's right," she said, standing up. "everyone should just try to get some sleep."

julian.

julian didn't have much energy left to fight his cousin. plus, with naomi's new peace-speech, he shouldn't even be disagreeing with her. so, he didn't bother trying. "don't stay up too long, you guys." though, it was mostly directed at sofia, who julian knew hadn't been getting much sleep recently anyways.

kimberly.

kimi was fully prepared to go back to the van for the night, before realizing that wasn’t an option. she lingered by the barricade for a moment, wondering what the hell she would do. she honestly wasn’t in the mood to sleep near anyone tonight, but being alone wasn’t in the cards, either. she instead headed to the bathroom for at least a bit more alone time. when she came out, a little under five minutes later, things were calm enough that she figured they would survive the night. she was about to set up a sleeping bag nearer to the door, only to stop when the banging started again. she jumped, moving away from the barricade. “...bill?” she called tentatively, a horrible feeling in her stomach. bill didn’t respond. she would say no one responded, but someone did. it just wasn’t a someone so much as it was a something. the sound was all off, and it was first thing she noticed. the banging continued, and that horrid voice that was so clearly not a human cried, “ME! UNLOCK THE DOOR, IT’S ME!” it was a shattered mockery of julian’s earlier cries, and it made kimi’s chest twist painfully. but the thing sounded nothing like julian, or bill, or anyone. it sounded and felt all wrong. much, much later down the line, she would admit that she was scared. for now, she didn’t look away, but directed her next question to the others. “...it can’t get in. right?”(edited)

julian.

micah did his best patch job on julian’s shoulder, but there wasn’t much more to be done than use the little roll of gauze to wrap it up. he was trying to make himself comfortable on the floor, but it was nearly impossible. and just when he had gotten into a good position, the screams from outside instantly made him jump. he waited, frozen, for kimi’s reaction. “no.” Julian said, only just loud enough for her to hear. “kim, turn off the lights.” maybe if they all stayed quiet, it would leave.

kimberly.

kimi immediately obeyed, moving as quickly and quietly as she could. she stayed still by the lights, waiting for the thing to go away. it didn’t. it kept banging at the door, yelling to unlock!! kimi clenched her jaw, praying that if everyone just stayed quiet, this would be over sooner than later.

alex.

alex’s blood ran cold at the shrieking, all of the color draining from her face as her eyes went from narrowed anticipation to full blown, silent terror; there was something dissonant about the words just by their tone. an undercurrent of something — nails sliding down a chalkboard, an instrument playing jarringly off key. a sickening and unfamiliar feeling crawled across her skin, making her wish she could peel it off. even when the lights went out, alex’s vision stayed fixed on the door, not a word even tempted to make its way out of her mouth. all she did was reach down, and navigate to the voice recorder on her phone. (because at least then, they’d leave here with something besides various mental traumas. ...or, you know. leave evidence.)

naomi.

the way that thing was talking made naomi's skin crawl and the smell from before was only growing stronger. she wanted to gag and maybe even throw up but doing that was only going to cause more noise and they just wanted for it to go away. she shuts her eyes and covers her ears, quietly whispering to herself in hopes that it'd drown out that god awful screeching.

julian & zach.

after making sure the barricade was secure by putting one last chair quietly in place in front of the back door, zach inched away. help me! come here! it kept going, zach taking steps backwards every time he heard a break of silence. he looked over his shoulder, and quickened his pace, trying to reach naomi on the other side of the room with as time wasted as possible. the sounds had stopped, and he took that as his opportunity to go. of course, in the dark, he couldn't see shit. his foot collided with the cooler of water bottles and soda cans on the ground, rattling the entire container. he cursed, and managed to keep it from completely falling to the side. for a beat, there was still silence, and zach was frozen in place. then– LET ME IN! he jumped, and sprinted across the room, promptly sitting down on the floor by a sleeping bag, and tugged naomi down with him. "i'm sorry," he muttered, his hand dragging down his face.

kimberly.

kimi's eyes slammed shut as she quietly prayed that the thing wouldn't register the noise zach unintentionally made, and for a moment, she thought they'd gotten lucky. then it started up again, somehow even louder than before, and she was so close to losing what small meal she'd had this morning. she kept it down, simply shaking her head at zach's apology. it would've happened to someone eventually. "don't move," she whispered to the others in the room, though it didn't matter much, considering the thing certainly knew they were in there. still, the less noise and movement, the better, she thought.

naomi.

oh zach of course it had to be him who made a noise. she just pressed her finger against her lip and nodded her head to tell him it was okay but to just stay quiet. the thing outside continued to screech and repeat the words julian had said and honestly? it was even more terrifying now. it seemed like forever had passed by but suddenly the smell and the noise went away. naomi waited a few minutes before whispering "is it gone?"

alex.

alex said nothing; she simply saved what she’d picked up and let the app start running again, pressing her body against the wall in an attempt to catch any noises from outside. eyes darted to the nearest window, a bit frantic — as long as everyone stayed away from his (fuck it, THE GOATMAN’s) line of sight, they should be in the clear. pulling a dissatisfied face, alex murmured, “regardless...we’re here until morning.”April 3, 2018

micah.

"you think that... thing will be gone by morning?" micah asked, keeping an eye on the door. he edged back a little, further out of sight from the window. as much research as they put into this trip, he doubted any of them took it seriously, leaving them sorely unprepared for this situation.

zach.

"it wasn't bugging us during the day," zach whispered back, but sighed, "i don't know–at least we can get the fucking van out of the woods tomorrow." a mad run for the car should be enough, zach had thought.

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