The Lake house

THE OTHER TWENTY

Get out of there! Now!", Jake screamed loudly at a fair-skinned teenager who had himself trapped inside a cave with no where to run to except through the narrow tunnel that ran deep into the dark cave with huge stones that obstructed free movement into the deeper end of the caverns. He had got himself trapped after he had luckily escaped being eaten by a black leopard after he had taken a wrong turn away from the right route which his group had ventured past some rocks into the forest under cover of the thick darkness trying to return back to the camp. They had left the beach area immediately after Kelly arrived with the last supplies they needed to overcome the dark hurdles that lay scattered on the forest floor creating unseen obstacles on the dark pathways of the forest and had directly taken the eastern route derailing from the path taken by Kelvin and Stacy, towards the wrong direction which led them to another area of the landmass mainly occupied by heavy rocks of different sizes densely populated on the mainland before getting close to the calm ocean. Fred had advise Jake to lead the tired teens towards the northeastern direction which led to the stonehouse but he brushed aside his advise and took the wrong turn away from the route that could lead the team towards the missing campers which will ease their burden of venturing into the deep jungle sheerly shrouded in darkness making them vulnerable to invisible dangers of stepping on sharp broken branches especially spiky plants that lay among the dark bushes whose spikes are lethal not to mention some poisonous parasitic plants that grow on the roots and stem of forest trees. The teens obeyed Jake despite harsh pleas made by Fred for them to turn around back to the right route which he strangely but accurately displayed to the teens including Jake who still remained adamant and enjoined the team to press on into the dark bushes in accord of his own planned direction.

He wanted his team to hastily comb the whole eastern region in order to search the surrounding areas especially the eastern side of the beach where he thought that the others must have gone to since they all wanted to feel refreshed on the beach after putting a strenuous effort to build the camp. Treading on the forest floor filled with hidden night creatures that seems to ignore their hard footsteps, Jake led his detached team towards another side of the dark jungle which obstructed their pathway towards a high mountain. They trudge slowly trampling on soft grasses before arriving at a perfect spot to rest their tired legs beside a huge tree after being ordered by Jake to rest a bit in order to further confer with Fred to ascertain if they had ventured off the right track or were still on the trail of the missing campers.

"I can't believe you won't listen to my advise despite many warnings I made when we weren't totally lost in the forest", Fred said shaking his head in frustration and boldly placed his hands on Jake's weary shoulders peering over it towards the teens who sat down scattered close to a huge tree. The shrill noise of the cricket was piercing the ears of the team but surprisenly they chose to ignore it.

"It's not that I don't wanna follow your direction, it's just that my guts is telling me that they must have gone towards the eastern side of beach", Jake replied with a pale countenance feeling totally upset about the incessant walking into the forest which seems endless and dangerous.

"Your guts! That's interesting. I can't believe I just heard you say that. What you are trying to say to me is that you dragged me here including those young boys over there into this wrong direction of the forest because your guts told you that we should take this direction,huh?", Fred almost squealed out in anger which attracted some tired teens who gaze in their direction.

"Believe it or not that's the truth. My instincts has never failed me once and it won't fail me now", Jake rejoined undaunted by Fred's nagging which pestered him a lot ever since they began the journey and placed his hands akimbo gazing at the empty darkness.

"Look young man, your instincts has failed us now by leading us into the middle of nowhere!", Fred screamed in sheer agitation at a boy way younger than his age who wouldn't listen to his instructions which he had planned for the team before they left the beach.

"You may be older than me but don't get me angry because I won't consider respecting your age when I am furious", Jake warned removing his hands from his waist and stood in a position that would prepare him to pounce on the adult standing beside him regardless of his age.

"You wanna fight, huh? Let me give you a clear warning, you maybe young with fresh blood flowing through your veins but that doesn't mean that you can easily defeat me in a combat. And If you continue to remain adamant, I would compel you to turn back right now", Fred threatened looking ready to retaliate back if Jake were to send a blow to his face and step forward face-to-face with Jake ready for a face-off.

"Back off now old man when I'm asking you nicely", Jake replied offensively peering hard on Fred's blank face without fear of his queer height and dropped his large flashlight on the dry grass which sank below the leaves touching the bare ground.

"I can sense you aren't fully prepared for a fight but I will give you one. The boys need a new leader that won't drag them to nowhere with their tired feets treading and searching for some persons who are no where to be found in this part of the forest", Fred retorted fearlessly and fully prepared for a duel with a youngster which may seem wrongly matched in eyes of the teens that were watching them ever since their conversation became hostile. Although some of the teens were peering at them ever since they camped closed to the huge tree, the teenagers became fully drawn to their conversation the moment Jake dropped his large flashlight on the grass and were waiting to see the outcome of their bitter argument. Kelly looked expectantly on the two opponents hoping to see some live action to be displayed from where he sat on tree root behind the spectators, peering beside a skinny guy in pale blue shirt and brown shorts which covered his lean legs.

"Mark, who do you think will win if they fought right there?", Kelly whispered in haste feeling excited to see a night brawl take place in front of the him,

"I don't know but I believe it will go ugly for the Jake", Mark replied adjusting his the frame of his black glass in order to see clear through the dim light which slightly covered the duo.

"Why do you think so?", Kelly murmured again while fixing his gaze on their leaders in order not to miss out on the first punch to be delivered by any of the two agitators who seems to waiting for the other to strike the first blow which would kickstart the duel.

"I think I have seen that man called Fred before back in the city, beating up a fat man close to the slums beside the recently built coffee shop, meant for the neighborhood", Mark replied placing his small flashlight on the grass feeling very tired of holding his torchlight for too long in awaitance for a phantom duel that may likely not take place.

"Really? That's very strange, are you sure you saw this man do that?", Kelly asked in shock which drew the attention of another boy who sat adjacent to him by his left and instantly stopped talking once he noticed that the teenager had overhead him. The teen looked at them for a while and turned his head back to his previous position facing the shadows since he wasn't among the spectators that sat on a slope beneath him on the grass.

"Yes, I'm really sure but what do find strange about a forty year old beating up a fat man?", Mark inquired almost feeling curious to know what Kelly muttered out and removed his glasses in order to peer clearly at Kelly's blunt face.

"Well, he told one of his crazy stories to us back at the party that he had a severe injury on his spine when he was little and had taken quite a lot of money to fix which he successful did after undergoing surgery. He said that he couldn't feel energetic and powerful after that until he got a strange herb from someone else a couple of weeks back that helped him a lot", Kelly narrated peering into the eyes of Mark who had shifted his gaze towards the duo who begun fighting each other for a while until four teens broke up the duel.

"Did he really say that to everyone at the party?", Mark asked looking surprised at him and picked his torch from the grass beside him.

"Yeah, that's what he said. Wait, weren't you at the party?", Kelly inquired looking utterly perplexed at Mark whom he had had a few bottles of white whiskey at the bar before he left to listen to the enchanting table.

"Yes I was, but I went to pee in the dark bushes a little bit far from the party venue and later decided to take a stroll on the beach", Mark replied putting back his glasses in his eyes after the fight had been quell down with no winner which surprised him.

He had actually seen a look-alike of a man that had the same face with the other fighter back in the city but he wasn't aware of this although he was perplexed about it and he got up from the ground along with Kelly and descended down the sloppy ridge to meet the crowd which encircled the fighters. Both boys stood behind the crowd trying to see past the bigger boys in order to see who got his ass badly beaten up but failed to see through, only their tired voices were heard exclaiming in the air around the crowd.

"Come on! Come and face me coward!", Jake screamed in anger as he was held back by two boys who prevented him from delivering another strike to bleeding Fred who was also held back by three guys. His face was slightly bruised on the cheek but he didn't hold back and kept on pushing himself forward against the two teens but failed to reach Fred because of them.

"Arrogant.. bastard.. how dare you hit my face, huh?", Fred groaned in pain trying to stop his nostrils from bleeding out using his pale fingers to cover the wound. The others had intervene in the fight just after Jake had punched his nostrils which started bleeding soon after he was held backwards by the others. Although Fred sustained the critical hit in the fight, he was able to land a painful blow on Jake's abdomen and his right cheek which had kickstarted the fight making it to end in a painful draw with both opponents being splitted apart from each other with a good number of bruises they inflicted upon themselves. Soon after the fight, it was decided between them and their followers that they should further vote for who will lead them hence forth forward in the search of the missing individuals which gave birth to two groups led by the two leaders. Jake had twelve vote counts including those of Kelly and Mark while Fred had eight vote counts which he got from those who wanted to return back to the camp because of the heavy sleep which weighed heavily on their tired bodies.

Fred instantly took his group heading back towards the northeastern route which happens to be on the right trail of whom they had been searching for but Jake pressed forward with his group of twelve heading towards the mountain cliffs where rocks obscured the clear pathway that encircled the tall mountain. The storm started soon after the team splitted apart which prevented Jake and his crew from going further because of heavy down pour of rain on the whole region compeling them to take shelter in a dark cave beside four frail trees leaving the other party to the mercy of the heavy rain which forced them to take refuge under a tree beside an old warning sign that stood on the boundary mark between the leafless trees and the forest. Jake and his team were lucky to find safe refuge inside the dark cave which brought them warmth and kept their clothes from getting soaked completely to their bodies that the group led by Fred suffering under the heavy rain.

"We'll have to wait here for now until the storm passes away" , Jake said looking upwards at the roof of the caverns and adjusted himself among six others who squatted on the rocky ground beside the entrance that brought them a pale light thanks to the flashes of lightening striking upwards in misty sky of dark clouds while his voice echoed loudly behind him which was transmitted deep into the dark cave behind Mark and Kelly who sat beside the last six. Jake looked behind him and saw the weary face of the teens especially Kelly whose pale countenance slightly reflected by mild flashes of lightening outside the cave which filled his heart with pity mixed with some emotional disturbances making his countenance to be clouded with pure guilt of misleading the teens out here in rigorous search for the others without allowing them to sleep in the camp in order for them to search when it's daytime. He change his mind of moving forward after the storm and decided to take them back to the camp in order to get some rest as well as a hot bath which they really needed to cleanse their frail bodies and gazed pass Kelly's shoulder into the inner darkness which swallowed the bright light emitted from his large flashlight.

They waited inside the cave until the storm had totally subsided till it stopped raining giving away to a chilly wind which took over from the storm and got ready to depart from the cave but Jake stopped them in order to inform them that they would have to return back to the camp so that they would continue the search next morning.

"Everyone listen to me, I know that we are all very tired and weary after searching tirelessly even your companions have left us so that they can returned back to the camp. So, let's return back to the camp in order to rest our bodies so that we can search for the missing individuals tomorrow", Jake said and lead them outside the dark cave into a calm but cold night which send chills to the exposed bodies of the boys. They began tracking their way back to the camp but found it very difficult to ascertain which path they took before they entered the cave but Jake managed to lead them through the wet ground that had washed off their former trail, towards the right course using a detour that ended up at the old route a short distance away from the cave through the dark forest but Kelly and Mark had unknowningly derailed into another wrong direction which led them away from the group.

The two boys slowly lost their way into another part of the forest thinking that they would catch up with the others who they thought was far off away from them after they had fallen behind because of the dry bones they had seen in the cave before they went out of the caverns.

"I think we are going the wrong way. Look at the trees, it wasn't like this before we entered the cave", Mark pointed out after noticing that the surrounding trees had changed its positions making it difficult for them to know the correct route.

"Maybe it's because of the storm. The storm had changed its positions", Kelly replied peering at the bent trees standing close to them.

"I still feel that we have lost our way. We should go ......", Mark was about to complete his statement before a black leopard made a surprise attack and suddenly sprang up from the dark bushes and toss Mark to the ground leaving Kelly highly terrified with shock.

The leopard instantly placed a ghastly bite on his right thigh delivering a great deal of pain to poor Mark who screamed in pain unknowningly alerting the others who haven't gone far, leaving his leg badly damaged by the spiky canine of the ferocious beast while Kelly looked transfixed at the scene in front of him. The leopard was about to wound his neck with its razor sharp teeths when Kelly struck its hind leg with a broken piece of wood from a tree branch but soon found himself running away from the ferocious creature back into the cave escaping away from it.

Kelly ran into the dark cave trying to get away from the leopard which he succeeded in running from using his weary legs that surprisingly conveyed him deep into the cave to take refuge from the monster but unfortunately got himself trapped inside between two hard rocks that made it enclosed him making it impossible for him to squeeze himself through. He wondered how he was able to pass through the tight spot before he got trapped again when he was being chased by the beast who lost track of him and walked away into the dark bushes.

Meanwhile, Jake had ordered Murray to lead the rest of the group back to the camp except for four others who went with him to rescue the two boys and had luckily found Mark ghastly wounded with a fatal injury on his thigh whom the four others carried him off away leaving Jake to trace Kelly to the cave.

"Kelly! Kelly! Where are you?!", Jake called out to him from the entrance trying to confirm if he actually went inside trying to escape the leopard in accordance with Mark had told him and enter inside with his flashlight trying to make out Kelly but he couldn't.

"Kelly! Are you in there?!", Jake screamed out loudly in the caverns which aid his voice by echoing it loudly which ran deep inside the dark cave enabling Kelly to be aware of the presence of Jake in the cave.

"Jake! Is that you?!", Kelly called back loudly which send invisible ripples of his voice back to the entrance of the cavern which made Jake to be aware of his position.

"Yes, it's me! Where are you?!", Jake replied loudly trying to figure out where Kelly's voice actually came from and ventured deeper inside with his flashlight which luckily make out Kelly's hand protruding outside from a small opening with his body trapped behind the two rock and shouted from afar,

"Get out of there! Now!", Jake screamed again illuminating his pale hands hanging loosely on the rock.

"I... can't get out dude", Kelly replied faintly trying hard to breath in the tight enclosure.

"Then how the hell did you get in there?", Jake questioned walking towards him and touched his hands which felt chilly but not cold enough surpass the crisp air outside.

"I don't know dude but I think my only out is the darkness behind me. I was afraid it would lead to a dead end that's why I haven't gone in yet", Kelly replied sniffing off dust from his nostrils.

"You have to go inside, mate, that's the only way out. You gotta go and keep believing that there might be a opening out somewhere", Jake said stifling a tear from his left eye.

"But what if...... there's a dead end? What... will I... do?", Kelly stuttered wiping off tears off his face with his right hand.

"But what if there isn't any dead end? You gotta face your fears and try to find a way out of the caverns", Jake retorted feeling totally helpless and furious at himself for being unable to rescue Kelly from the rocky enclosure.

"I'm.... feeling... scared. What about Mark? Is he alright?", Kelly asked removing his hands from the hole.

"He's being taken back to camp right now, so don't worry about him. Worry about getting out this cave so that you can be with him again, you got that?", Jake replied standing up from the dusty ground and gave him his flashlight through the hole

"Al.. right, I will do that. See you at the other side, Jake", Kelly said and left venturing into the darkness leaving Jake behind who left afterwards heading back to the camp through the entrance of the cave .

Fred had left his team far behind before the storm started when he felt a breach of the invisible barrier which he had placed in order to prevent intruders from interfering with the stone house especially the savage tribesmen at the western region

and venturing past the eroded signpost into the dry forest that lay on the other side of the leafy trees treading hastily through the narrow path into the dark maze. He easily find his way out to the exit but stopped abruptly hiding beside the tall parapet when he saw the backs of two individuals standing in front of the barrier unable to pass through the barrier which had kept them out. He peered at them and noticed that one of them had a resemblance of the man he had given a large sum of money to set up the beach party which he did in order to carry out part of his plans and was feeling quite sceptical if the barrier really was a breached or not but he decided to called out to the two individuals standing there in order to find out their true intentions of going through the barrier.

"Hey! The storm is coming! Come over here!", Fred screamed out trying hard to prevent his voice from being carried away by the wind. Although his voice was cut short by the harsh wind, Stacy was able to hear his voice which made her tap Stanley who return back his gaze from the stonehouse to her pretty face with ringlets of her blonde hair swaying in the wind.

"I think I heard someone calling to us from behind", Stacy said gesturing towards the maze with her large flashlight.

"But what about.... Kelvin? He hasn't come out yet", Stanley looked her and glanced towards the stonehouse.

"The storm is getting stronger. I'm afraid we have to find shelter from the storm", Stacy said peering at the stone house and walked away back to the maze with Stanley following behind and met Fred who strangely led them out of the maze in haste and took them to a small abandoned house that lies on the opposite side of the tall wooden sign post where they took refuge from the storm.