The final person
Stupid trees. Stupid birds. Stupid bushes. Stupid woods!
Gassan stumbled through the forest, the flashlight from his phone illuminating the path. He originally left at two, hoping that the search would only take a couple hours or so to find them. Now, though, the clock on his phone's home screen read '9:15'. He also noted the missing bars at the top left corner of the device, deleting the idea that he could call them (or for help, if need be) from his mind.
"Why the hell do they have to go disappearing on me," Gassan muttered to himself, swatting a branch out of his way.
The moon hung above, giving him some light to see further, but not enough. Even with the flashlight too, the brush was just too dense to see through. He prayed that he and his friends were the only ones out here tonight. Was it here that the mountain lion was spotted? Or was that the park across town? Well, wherever it is, he hoped it wasn't-
He was cut short by two rocks under his feet sliding out from under him and down an angled cliff. The forest just stopped without warning, opening up to the cool air of the night. He zipped up his jacket a little higher and gathered himself before noticing the mansion at the bottom of the hill.
It stood tall among the trees, towering over them to where they could have been saplings. From where Gassan could see, there was only one light on in the front of the mansion. Which meant life. Which meant a hopeful lead to where his friends were. Which meant he could get home to his bed and put all of this crap behind him.
"Now how do I get down-"
Something slammed into his back, sending him over the edge. Gassan managed a quick yelp before hitting the ground hard, his head slamming into the dirt. He managed to look up at something standing over the cliff. It started down towards him, but he was not able to move. Just as the shadow appeared, it vanished a moment later when the darkness consumed his vision.
Written by Cole Stryker on 16 August 2015