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intense crying and a woman is begging her
captor to let her go.
“Please. Let me go. Please”.
    There is a faint scream and the crying fades away.
The smell of blood permeates the air, and I push my
face into the moldy leaves to keep from throwing up
in my mouth. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to think
about something else. I can hear the sound of feet
shuffling. The sound is within 100 feet of my hiding
place and I estimate that a half dozen people are out
there. It is impossible to think straight with the
sickening odors and I feel as though the world is
closing in on me. I am lying as flat as possible and
restrict my breathing so that I will not be detected.
    I must have dozed off in the musty, humid place I am
hiding. I can’t recall if I have been in the Underworld
one or two days. It all seems to blend together and it
is difficult to measure time here. I wonder if the
people I heard were real or spirits. Gramma June said
once that spirits go through the same actions over and
over again and don’t realize they are dead. It has
been said that spirits that end up in the Underworld
experience torture for eternity and that there is no
escape.
    How is it that Jeff is here then? He looked so
innocent and happy go lucky- just as I remembered
him. I wonder why he is here in the Underworld?
Maybe that’s not him at all but an illusion. I shake
my head no because there was life in his eyes when
he smiled at me. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that it is Jeff and he is trying to lead me somewhere.
    The humidity inside the hiding place has made me
thirsty and I remove the water from my backpack. I
gulp it down and drain the bottle in no time. I
immediatelyregret that I didn’t ration the water
instead of draining it all at once. I am out of water
and there is not much food left either. The camping
trips with Jen’s family hadn’t really prepared me for
roughing it to this degree. Back then, not having a
flat iron for my hair was a major setback when on a
camping trip. Not that the bears cared what my hair
looked like or anything.
    It’s only been a
couple days but I have covered a lot
of ground. My long walks after a bad date have really
helped prepare me for this. Never thought I would be
thankful for the jerks that caused me so much grief.
It’s kind of amazing, how the really bad things that
happen to a person, can turn out to be something
worthwhile down the road.

Chapter 3
    I am surrounded by a thick mist. I try and push back
the feeling of fear that is creeping into my bones. My
sanity is eluding me at the moment as I survey the
miles of forest below me. It looks like it belongs in
some freakish fairytale and not really my current
reality.
    The landscape looks like I am at the top of a precipice
in the Olympic Mountains. Many summer camping
trips were spent there with Jen’s family. The only
difference is that this forest has a sinister feel about it.
The pine trees are so thick you can hardly see
between them. The thick mist hovering above the
trees makes me think this is just another setting for
one of my nightmares. The fresh smell of pine trees
is the only thing that makes me certain this is not a
dream.
    Inside me I know that something is wrong. I should
be moving with urgency but my mind seems to be in
slow motion. My backpack seems to be filled with
bricks and my legs ache from walking. I am
exhausted and so weak my cat could knock me over.
My legs are shaking and my heart is skipping beats.
The water has been out for over a day now and there
have been no streams or watering holes. How strange
for a forest to not have water for miles. But then I
guess this place is meant to be for the dead not the
living. What easy prey I am!
    My heart jumps in my throat as I see a man walking
to the left of me. He stopped and stares at me with
hollow eyes. His skin is sickly white and his head is
bald. He is wearing what has to be an expensive suit.
His shoes are shiny and his hair is