Page 24 of Insanium
It felt like we were walking into a vacuum.
Aisha squeezed my arm, her whisper tingling in my ear. “It sort of feels like people are watching us, doesn’t it? Besides the obvious hidden cameras, I mean.”
“I don’t hear anyone, but I think you’re right.”
We walked for what felt like forever with no change in scenery or anything remotely exciting happening. As the sun rose higher, so did the heat, making our little venture a real pain in the ass. It wasn’t until we stumbled upon a small clearing that the unusual quiet began to make sense. There, hanging from a low branch between two trees, was a solitary recorder with a label taunting us: “Play Me.”
“That’s not out of the ordinary at all,” I remarked dryly, breaking the silence as we surveyed the strange setup.
“No one go over there. Let me check something first.” Brandon turned and picked up a few sticks from the oppositeside of the path we were on. He tossed them one by one into the clearing. They landed with soft thuds, undisturbed. “Seems safe enough,” he said, though his voice carried a hint of doubt.
Jerome, shaking his head with a resigned chuckle, stepped forward. “Okay, I’ll bite. If I get blown up, I’m haunting all of you.”
He took a breath and rubbed his hands together, approaching the recorder cautiously. As he got closer, he grabbed one of the fallen branches and used it to poke at the recorder, and then the string it was tied to.
“Be careful, Jerome,” Maya called out.
“Yeah, let’s not turn this into a horror movie cliché,” I added, half joking.
“I think it’s good.” He tossed the stick aside and stepped up to the recorder, managing a nervous laugh. “Here goes nothing.” His fingers wrapped around the device, and he carefully tried to pull it lower. For the briefest moment it looked like it was going to come, then it shot upward, yanked by a hidden wire. Simultaneously, the two trees beside him swung open like doors, revealing spear-like spikes that shot out with terrifying speed.
“Jerome!” Maya screamed as the spikes impaled him through the midsection.
The recorder blared to life by some unseen trigger, and a voice began to speak, repeating the sign at the entrance of the woods.
“Only through walking the path of the prey can one truly comprehend the essence of the hunt.”
“What does that—” Kristy cut herself off and whirled around. “There’s someone … there!” She pointed as a blur of a figure darted past, disappearing from view as quickly as they appeared.
Jerome gasped, the pain evident in his voice as he tried to speak. “Guys … I don’t think I’m walking away from this one. Guess I’m haunting ya’ll asses after all,” he joked weakly.
I turned back toward him and frowned, watching as he coughed and blood dribbled down his chin, more dripping onto the ground in rapid succession, turning the greenery and leaves beneath him crimson. The rods had speared him in the shape of an X, going right through his gut. I followed the ends of them to some kind of contraption the trees were modified with.
“We have to help him!” Maya cried. She made to move toward him and was blocked by Eryx.
“Don’t be stupid. There’s no getting those things out. He’s as good as dead.”
I reached out and nudged him. “You need to work on your delivery.”
His gaze flickered from my hand to my face, and he smirked. “I don’t sugarcoat shit, princess.”
“First of all, I’m much more than a princess. Secondly, you could at least dip it in honey.” I gnawed my inner cheek, mind racing on how to handle this appropriately.
“I should’ve just stayed in bed today,” Jerome joked weakly, trying to lighten the dire situation despite the agony he was clearly in.
Another blast of rustling foliage carried through the air, this time clearly coming from multiple directions.
“What we need to do is move before whatever—whoever—is hunting us gets any closer,” Brandon stressed.
He was right. It sounded as if we were being surrounded.
“Damn it, Jerome, hold on!” Darrel shouted, stepping forward but hesitating as more closed in.
Two, clad in what appeared to be tactical gear adorned with menacing masks—one resembling a snarling wolf, the other a cold, emotionless skull—charged towards us. Hael’s reaction was instantaneous. He shoved me hard, nearly sending me crashing into Juno. “Move!”
I stumbled, regaining my balance just in time to see our group splinter.
The forest erupted into chaos as more masked figures emerged, darting between trees and expertly manipulating the terrain to their advantage.
