Snippet #2118022

Alex sighed in response. His moods felt all over the place: one moment he was out of it and numb, next he was gung-ho and ready to find Faith, the next he had a moment of common sense, and now his optimism felt deflated. What was next?

Through the rain, he heard a child-like voice. "Is someone there? Hello?" Alex whipped around and looked in the direction he thought the voice came from. He could not tell for certain, but he thought he saw a child standing at the edge of the forest. Faith?! Instinct took over, and he ran back to the forest. If she was there, they would be fine, they would be all done, everything would be back to normal again.

As he reached and passed the treeline, he realized his mistake. Faith was nowhere to be seen. And for that matter, neither was anybody else, certainly not through the rain. Even though the trees kept the rain from making him wetter, the cover only made him more nervous, as it also darkened the area around him. He looked around, trying to see what the source of whatever optical illusion had convinced him charging headlong into a dark forest was a good idea. After all, it could have been a person.

A sudden noise behind him made him jump again, whirling around to find...nothing.

Shit.