Paying the Piper

Twenty-Six: Discoveries in the Dark

 "Ryland, wait!" I hesitated for an agonizing moment before following after him. "Let's stay together!"

"I'm sure it's Hannah!" he called back to me, which put a stop to my rational brain. If Hannah needed help, we had to get there as quickly as possible.

I caught up to Ryland, and we hurried through the trees, pausing to listen when we didn't hear a call for awhile. As we continued on, I could tell the voice definitely was Hannah's.

"What is she doing out here?" I muttered.

As we traveled through the trees, their canopies darkened the light. And then the darkness continued to fade. It was gradual enough that it took awhile for me to realize it was too dark. Darker than it should have been at this time of day. I grabbed Ryland's wrist and stopped running.

"Wait." I looked around the area, feeling more foolish than ever. We were not in our regular forest anymore. It was swiftly becoming as dark as midnight. "I think it's a trap."

Ryland looked around as well, the mad frenzy of our search suddenly hanging over us as regret. "But how? It's Hannah's voice for sure."

I had no idea if something sinister could mimic Hannah to lure us into the forest. Just the thought of that made me extra nervous. I debated trying to turn around and find our way back out, ignoring Hannah's cries. But would I be able to live with myself if I could have helped her and later found out the worst had happened? Plus, there was no guarantee we'd be able to find our way back out.

Ryland seemed to be having similar thoughts. He was looking around, seeming just as surprised as I was at how dark it had become.

"Something's not right," he muttered. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. On it was a small flashlight. It worked, but it was tiny. "Maybe we should try to head back." The doubt in his voice echoed my internal struggle.

It should have been simple. Turn around and go back the way you came. But when it came to the In-between, there was no direct path like that. And was it just me, or did there seem to be glowing eyes blinking at us from the undergrowth?

"I can call for help." I bit my lip, already trying to think of how I would introduce Cale.

"How?" Ryland had his phone out, and there was predictably no service.

"I meant a different sort of help."

He thought for a second and then said, "The fox?"

How surprised would he be to learn the fox was also a person? Right at that moment, however, Hannah's voice called for help, sounding extremely close. I jumped, but then turned toward the sound. My entire body wavered, half turned one way and the other half facing back the way we came.

"We have to at least check it out," I said, hoping I wouldn't come to regret those words.

"I owe her that much for sure," Ryland replied softly.

Since we were in agreement, he handed me the tiny flashlight and resorted to using his cell phone flashlight. His phone light was much bigger than this little one. I almost pulled out my own phone to use instead, but I figured it was best to save battery on one of our phones, just in case.

So far, nothing beyond a slithering sound and glowing eyes seemed to exist here. Maybe this part of the In-between wasn't as bad as other areas. I couldn't understand how it was taking so long to find Hannah, but it was probably another quirk of this dimension.

"Hannah!" I called, as we had called several times already, not really expecting a reply.

But I was wrong. This time, Hannah's voice called back. "Faye? Over here!"