《Blood in the Wilderness》Chapter 8-The Vanishing Woman

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Ashley and Sarah reached the trailhead at midday the next day. They were exhausted, having had no sleep the previous night. The bedraggled pair made their way unsteadily through the last remaining portion of the seemingly endless forest. Both of them yearned for a respite, but they forced themselves to continue.

Soon Ashley could see the rangers’ office through a gap in the trees. Sprinting off the trail, she made a beeline towards it. Breaking through the treeline, she grinned broadly. Laying before her was the solid wooden cabin that was their beacon of hope. Ashley and Sarah moved quickly towards their salvation.

Ashley’s face creased with yet another frown as she approached the office. The place seemed abandoned. There were no vehicles in sight in the small gravel parking lot in front of the building, and the windows were all either shuttered or dark. Still, the two of them made their way around the building to make sure the place was as devoid of people as it appeared. As they did so, they passed by a smaller cabin in the back that served as a tool shed.

“Two little girls go for a walk in the woods, just look at the chaos in their wake.” A high-pitched voice said in a somewhat sing-song fashion.

Ashley whirled around, searching frantically for the voice that had just spoken, but she couldn’t see anyone.

“Up heeeere.” It said, maintaining it’s melodic fashion.

Ashley looked to the roof of the shed. Still she saw no one. Then suddenly a young woman materialized from seemingly nowhere. “Can two mice run a rat race, or will they merely stay lost in the maze?” She said, as though nothing unusual had just happened.

“Wha-What do you mean?” Ashley replied, confused. “We’re not lost. We know exactly where we are?”

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“Then where are you?” She said, smiling a broad cat-like smile.

“We’re here, at the rangers’ office.”

“Yes, you’re here, yet still you turn corner after corner and find no exit.”

“We’ve found a way out.” Ashley asserted indignantly. “That’s why we’re here.”

The woman looked around.“Yes, such a lovely exit, like a locked door. Tell me, when does a hunt end, when the prey is killed or the hunter?”

“I guess if either happens, why?”

The woman’s smile somehow grew even more broad. “Then the blood will spill to the last drop, whether his or yours.”

“You mean the doctor, don’t you? How do you know about him?”

“The student practices to obtain perfection, so the scientist seeks fervently the truth of the world.”

Ashley furrowed her brow at this answer; she wasn’t sure what to make of it. She decided to keep the conversation moving. “OK, so what do we do?”

The woman’s smile now grew so broad it looked as though her face might split. “Elephants have tusks, wolves have their pack, and tigers have stripes to disappear in the trees.” As she spoke that last word, she faded slowly into the landscape until nothing of her remained.

Sarah turned towards Ashley, a look of befuddlement on her face. “That was weird,” She said. “So, what are we going to do; it doesn’t seem like anyone’s here?”

“It seems like we have two options. We stand and fight, or we keep running.” Ashley responded solemnly.

“Why do you say that?”

“Blood will spill to the last drop, whether his or yours. That’s what she said. He’s a smart hunter so he’ll know that we went to get help. He’ll come for us here.”

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“So you’re going to fight him?”

“I am.”

Sarah nodded. “Well, I hope the best for you then. I’m not a fighter, but I’ll be on watch out here if you need me.”

Ashley nodded in return and turned to look at the rangers’ cabin. Slowly, she walked towards it, approaching the front door. Given the seemingly abandoned state of things, Ashley assumed the door was locked. She decided to try the knob anyways and was pleasantly surprised when it turned freely in her hand.

Walking through the doorway, she found herself in the dim single room that was the rangers’ office. The only light being sunlight through a couple of unshuttered windows and one dimly lit lamp. Unfinished paperwork was stacked neatly on the desks, and several comfortable looking chairs were arranged neatly around the room. Oddly enough, the center of the room was still clear. Ashley could hear the faint hum of a computer, still on, in the background.

Ashley turned to the door from which she had just entered and locked it. Grabbing one of the chairs, she moved it in front of the door; facing the back door nestled across the room. She then sat, waiting in tense anticipation of what was to come.

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