Cursed Daughter

Chapter 3

    We waited until dusk to meet at the edge of the woods. There was no gate here, or actual fences, the severely dense woods were enough to discourage anyone who wanted to leave. If the natural predators didn’t kill you then getting lost in it would. We each packed a backpack with several days of clothing, some food, and a couple personal memorabilia, as we didn’t plan to come back no matter the outcome. I scanned my room once more hoping to never see it again then headed for the stairs. We just chose the woods behind building three since that seemed to be the closest to where we needed to be.

    By the time I reached the woods edge I saw Sandra already waiting. She had changed into running shoes, blue jeans, and a black hoodie. Her hair was down in a braid that reached her mid-back. She had her backpack casually slung on one shoulder as she stood there tapping her foot impatiently. I jogged to catch up with her asking her where Kyle was.

    “He’s just leaving the building now apparently.” She pointed behind her and I could just make out a shadow that looked familiar.

    I surveyed the woods taking in how dense they truly are. I looked down at my outfit, I was in black leggings, black canvas shoes, and a dark green, v-neck, long sleeve. I didn’t bother with a jacket, since I really don’t get cold, but now I was thinking I should have. The bushes were wild with no clear path around them, the trees were about ten times our height, there was also no telling what wild animals lurked since our patrol never let them near us. I had memorized the maps so I knew that if we started here it would take us about twelve hours to reach the location the trainee went missing.

    Kyle was out of breath by the time he reached us. He had changed into loose fitting blue jeans and a grey, body hugging, t-shirt. Since he wasn’t in his long sleeve you could see all the scars he had that ran like snakes all the way up his arms. Our uniforms didn’t permit jewelry of any kind but I caught a flash of silver under his shirt. His scars didn’t resemble mine, but rather a more clean look, as if someone purposely etched them. I had never seen his arms in the years we have lived here and neither me or Sandra could stop staring.

    “Yes, yes, gawk at the scars. I’ll even pose for a photo, but then could we get going?” he snapped angrily.

    Sandra and I shook our heads and apologized. She may not have any markings but she still knew better and so did I. Kyle looked upset but didn’t press anything further so we gathered our things and headed into the woods. We all brought flashlights so we were able to light our path up decently. I took the lead as I was the one who planned the route we would take. We walked for about twenty miles before we stopped because the sun was rising again. The whole night was spent in awkward silence as Kyle was still mad and Sandra was too ashamed to attempt a conversation.

    We had assumed that we would have been at ground zero within the same night but we underestimated how much brush we were going to have to cut out of the way. Luckily there were no animals that went near us but we were still being cautious and listening for them.

    “The sun is coming up and we need sleep so lets camp right here.” I said.

    Sandra nodded, “we have to climb into the trees since we can’t stay on the ground.”

    We nodded and silently agreed to pick one tree. We stayed only several feet from the ground as those branches could support Kyle’s weight and we could easily stay in each other’s reach. Sleeping during the day was safest for us since we knew how to hide in the brush and we could spot any ground threat from a distance away. We quietly settled into our sleeping bags and before I could even finish tying mine down I heard Kyle begin to snore.

    Me and Sandra shared an annoyed glance realizing we're going to have to listen to this all day. I sighed and turned my back and tried to fall asleep.