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Off into the deep darkness

Friday July 22 2016
story

PHOTO | TEA GRAPHIC

Lana knew she wasn’t alone in the forest. It was too dark to see farther than a few feet away, but she knew.

She could sense them a few feet from where she hid, a feeling that made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

She could hear the faint but unmistakable sounds of people, moving around with purpose… looking for her. Crouched inside a large, hollow tree, Lana was barely breathing.

Every muscle was taut, her eyes were open wide, searching the darkness. Her breathing was controlled and her mind totally focused on the task at hand. She was waiting for her chance.

******

It had started out as a sunny, beautiful but humid day in the rainforest.

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It was her third and final day. She’d journeyed deep into the forest in search of a remote tribe in order to study them in their natural habitat. She loved experiencing cultures first-hand before writing about them.

As an anthropologist, it was the only real and fair way to truly understand different types of people. So deeper into the forest she’d trekked, until she, her two guides and two porters, reached a river. Then the four men stopped dead, shaking their heads and gesticulating anxiously.

The river swirled and roared, daring anyone foolhardy enough to cross it, but Lana could see it wasn’t deep. She walked ahead of everyone and was about to enter the river when a scream from behind stopped her.

“Oi! Madam!” shouted the head guide — the only one who spoke English.

Lana turned around to find the porters already dropping the luggage and gesturing for her to turn back. Their faces were full of fear.

“What’s the matter? What are they doing?” she asked the guide, impatiently.

“We do not cross the river,” the guide told her.

Lana sighed. These superstitions were starting to irritate her, “Why? What are you afraid off? It’s not even that deep,” she said, trying to control her growing irritation.

“If you cross, there is no coming back. We will not cross,” the guide said with finality.

“Fine, give me the black bag, I’ll go alone and you can wait for me here,” she said.

It was only going to be a short excursion anyway, seeing as night was a few hours away.

“Madam, you are not listening… there is no coming back-”

“Just wait here for me,” Lana said, interrupting him.

The water was surprisingly warm and the river floor was smooth and firm. Once across, she pushed forward through the thick undergrowth and into the forest.

It was much, much darker on this side. The forest canopy blocked out the sky, allowing only tiny shards of sunlight through the leaves.

It was a beautiful sight, little twinkling stars against a dark, rich green, like magical fairy lights in an enchanted forest.

And it was quiet too; there was hardly any sound, except for the fast fading roar of the river and an occasional bird.

Brushing aside a slight flutter of anxiety at the eerie stillness, Lana concentrated on the treacherous ground with its hidden tree roots, slippery, moss covered stones and rotting logs.

She’d been walking aimlessly for a while when she came across a large, tall tree, so tall that its top was lost in the clouds.

She craned her neck to look up, awed by the sheer size and majesty of it.

“Just seeing this, makes the trip worth it,” she murmured to herself as she looked around at the beauty of the forest. Then, realising the sun would be setting soon, she decided to head back to the waiting porters and guide.

Suddenly a dark shadow zoomed past behind her, sending chills down her back. The sound of rustling leaves confirmed she was not alone.

Fighting to steady her breathing, she began running towards where she had come from. The light was quickly fading as the darkness engulfed more and more of the forest.

Then a loud scream, almost like a warning call, rang out in the still darkness. Lana stumbled and fell to the ground, unsure of whether the pounding in her ears was her heart or the ghouls after her. The forest was coming alive and there were different sounds from all directions.

She could hear subtle, distinct movements all around her, but she couldn’t make out what they were. But she wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

Her survival instincts were in high gear, while the adrenaline pushed her to run even faster. She leapt over fallen branches and marshy patches, over roots and through walls of foliage.

She didn’t need to look back, she could hear them coming now. They whooped and hollered and screamed in shrill voices as some leaped from tree to tree while others materialised out of the undergrowth, shadows with gleaming eyes and teeth.

Weaving through two closely spaced trees, she spotted what looked like a dark hole at the base of a thick clump of bushes. Not wasting a second, she dived in and immediately scrambled to conceal the entrance of her hiding place.

Her breathing was ragged and harsh while her heart was beating fast. Mustering every ounce of will power she possessed, she closed her eyes and fought her body and her fear, forcing herself to be still. Turning to reason over emotion, she whispered desperately to herself, “They’re just people, just people…”

“Arghhhh!” sounded the guttural war cry, a few feet from where she hid.

Lana’s eyes flew open. They’d stopped giving chase and were now hunting her. She could hear the faint but unmistakable sounds of people, moving around with purpose, looking for her.

She waited for her chance. Clutched firmly in her hand was her camera tripod, the only thing she had that could serve as a weapon.

She did not intend to harm these ghouls, or whatever they were, she just wanted to stun one long enough to make her escape.

The soft padding of footsteps and a slight misstep over a twig jolted Lana. She saw the outline of a figure about a metre away and waited for it to come closer. Jumping out of her hiding place, she jumped at the figure and swung her tripod her at it. The figure fell down screaming, piercing the night with its shrill cry as it fell.

Lana did not wait around for what she knew was coming. She turned and fled in the direction of the river. The louder the river sounded, the more hopeful she got. Then she gasped and grabbed onto a vine as suddenly the river bank gave way to a steep drop into the darkness.

“Arghhhh!”

Lana looked back to see a pair of glinting eyes rushing towards her.

“Oh hell!” she cursed, and plunged into the icy darkness.

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