Come Back Witch

Changing their direction, they started to sprint towards the origin of the sound. David only gave Finley, who seemed to have regained his endurance, even continuing to carry Ami.

But even then they were too slow; David was barely even running and Finley seemed to fall behind just as much as before. Just before David could think about slowing down, Finley called out to him.

''Just run, we will catch up in a bit.'' His voice was filled with determination, so David believed the young kid. It shouldn't take them long to catch up, so he wasn't worried about their well-being too much.

Accelerating, he heard another thunderclap, this time much closer. It was probably only a minute or two until he managed to find its source.

Jumping over another tree root, he finally saw a hill behind the tree lines, just where the sound came from, just then, a final thunder cracked through the sky.

It was close, very close, looking behind, he had already lost sight of Finley and Ami, but he couldn't stop now. Sliding below a low-hanging tree branch, he finally arrived in an open space.

He had been right the sound came just from the hill, as the bottom of it seemed to have been blown open, forming an unnatural cave.

Running towards it, the quietness made him feel uneasy. He stopped just at the entrance, only now realizing he hadn't brought any kind of weapon with him.

''Ah fuck it, I can't wait.'' He knew Ami and Finley would catch up soon, and he believed in his ability to survive until then.

Entering through the entrance, he found himself inside a long cave, but just ahead of him there was something resembling a campsite.

But something else caught his eye instead, in the middle of the cave was a human being impaled on some kind of spear and another one just lay next to it on the floor.

He didn't know the human hanging; he had dark hair, but he recognized the student uniform. It was from Mathley Colles University, but lying next to him was the unmistakable blond hair filled with dirt and blood.

Seeing Vince, David instantly wanted to run over and check on the kid but stopped himself from doing so. He didn't know what happened here or even if one of them might just be one of those wooden puppets he had fought before.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

But his caution didn't stay for long, as in the corner of his eye, the impaled young man slowly started to shrink down, turning into a familiar wooden puppet.

Hurrying over to inspect it, he was barely able to read the name carved into its surface: Lers Cloves. Before it slowly started to disintegrate.

Finally finding some confirmation that the person lying on the floor might truly be the real Vinces, he instantly moved to his side.

''Vinces are you ok?'' As he shook the body of the young man, there was no reaction. He tried it a few more times to no avail.

Finally standing close to him, a devastating smell of burned meat hit his nose as he found a small but precise burn on the stomach of Vinces body.

It reminded him of a hunting trip with his father decades ago. His father had once driven a knife through his own forearm by accident. Miles from the nearest doctor, he'd calmly heated another blade over the fire and sealed the wound himself.

Still lost in memories, a voice called out behind him.

''David are you in here? Is everything fine?'' Ami called out, spinning his head towards her. David found his companions standing inside the cave entrance. Finley finally seemed to have let Amilie down to the ground.

"It's Vinces, he's still alive, but I don't know if he will make it.'' His voice was filled with worry, instantly bringing his companions to hurry towards them.

''He's unconscious and wounded everywhere. He also seemed to have lost a tremendous amount of blood.'' He added quickly as both sat down next to him, the wounds should've long killed any normal person, but there was more than one reason to assume Vinces had already survived the first instance too.

''What had happened to him?'' Ami asked, her voice panicking, but David wasn't sure either.

''He most likely fought a mimic of Lers, or at least there was one of those wooden puppets here just now.'' He answered while pointing towards the spear lying on the ground.

But the reaction of his comrades only made him more confused, they seemed to not believe him as Finley slowly spoke up.

''Are you sure it was a puppet of Lers?'' His voice was filled with uncertainty, as if they were talking to a confused old man.

''Young tall guy with dark hair, right?'' He answered him truthfully, as he finally saw their agreeing nod, but before he could explain further, he was interrupted once more.

''That doesn't matter right now, first we should take care of Vinces and get out of here.'' Amilie speaking for the first time in a while rationally.

David nodded, agreeing with her; who knows if maybe other Mimics were on their way here? Standing up, he picked up Vinces with ease.

''Staying out here alone wasn't doing anyone any good, so we should either find the rest of the group or move back to the village.'' Finley spoke, allowing Ami to lean onto him while walking.

David had his problems with the rest of the group but had to admit meeting up would be the much safer way. ''How do we find them.''

While Finley shrugged, Ami spoke up. ''I think it's actually safer to return to the village from here without them... It's not that far and we only endanger ourselves if we wait more.''

David let out a sigh, he felt useless. Even though he had lived for years in the village and this forest, everything seemed to have changed so much.

David picked up the spear and the two rune-carved daggers lying nearby. The weight of real weapons in his hands made him feel a little safer.

As they slowly left the cave, their decision stood; they would follow Ami's advice and head directly towards the village. Any combat in their current situation was just too hard for them to overcome.

There was just too much for his old head to worry about at the moment, David deeply wished for just a simple moment of peace but knew it would be long until he could finally reach it.

But after roughly half an hour of walking through the way the maze like forest, David felt movement on his back.

Instantly letting Vinces to the ground, they all stood in a circle around him in complete silence.

As the silence was broken by an awakening scream.

Opening his eyes.

Vinces stared at the familiar faces.