"What in tha?!?" Anne exclaimed as Trevor threw his door open and bolted from the car. He was running into the forest and then he was gone from sight. He really didn't want her help, but durn-it, Anne knew she couldn't just leave the boy out in this nasty weather. For a moment she considered her options... and those became less and less as she tarried. "Awe, man!"
Anne leaned over the console to grab a small handgun from the glove compartment. It'd been years since she'd felt she needed it, but tonight strange things were happening and she knew she'd feel better if she had it with her. She checked to make sure the safety was on in the dim dome light and then sticking it in the back of her waistband, she exited the car, leaving it running.
She ran in the direction Trevor had disappeared, thinking all the while how stupid it was that she was running after someone who'd always been more an acquaintance than a friend. She stumbled a little at first as she got acclimated to the rough muddy terrain, but after a bit, she was running swiftly through the forest, scanning from side to side looking for any sign of Trevor. Her training was starting to return and her muscle memory seemed to take over. Anne paused to listen every fifty feet or so, hoping to notice danger before it found her. "No use running into something unawares," her father had always said.
On a small rise ahead, there was a rather large sprawling oak tree. The air about it was unsettling, so Anne paused near, sheltering herself behind a tree to watch and listen. Sure enough, she heard that strange sing-song voice again. Thankfully, it wasn't calling to her, because she couldn't help but be affected by the power in it even from this distance. She peered around the rough pine tree and saw what she'd almost expected to see. A shadowy glowing figure of a woman hovered over Trevor, who had curled up in a snoozing ball amidst the large roots at the base of the old tree. It looked pretty dry under the tree from where Anne stood, but she couldn’t be sure. “Well, here goes nothin’,” she whispered to herself. She palmed the cold gun and snapped the safety off. She knew just how many shots she’d have before she would be in trouble. It was enough. Specter or wood spirit or whatever that thing was had a weak spot, and Anne would find it.
Anne scoped out the trees about the large oak and then pointed the gun. She squeezed the trigger and then she was off. When she made it to the next tree, she aimed and shot another warning shot into the top of the oak. A medium sized branch snapped and fell with a horrific booming crash. Trevor was protected from the debris by the pronounced roots at the base of the tree, but the specter had vanished and Anne couldn’t hear any more of her poisoned song. She wove her way around several times before approaching Trevor, but the shadowy whatever that had been was nowhere to be seen. Trevor still snored in happy slumber, but Anne couldn’t be sure he was alone. She waited in the icy darkness shivering for as long as she thought she could before deciding how to get in there.
She ran. She ran into the dry undergrowth of the tree and slid to a stop beside Trevor. She slapped his cheek, pinched the back of his arm, anything she could think of to wake him, but he was out. Anne rolled her eyes. This guy had turned out to be more trouble than he was worth. She pulled at his arm, hoping she could drag him to the car, but this time, in the dry leaves under the oak tree, she couldn’t manage to budge him more than a few yards before she realized there was no way she’d be able to drag him all the way back to the car, almost a quarter mile away. As an afterthought, she pulled out the gun again, pointed into the ground a ways off and squeezed off a round. Then she pressed the gun barrel’s tip to the back of his arm. That got the desired reaction. He was roused and was fully awake, swearing and rubbing the burn on the back of his arm. Anne just stood there, waiting for him to focus. When he did, she grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her into the forest.
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