A Moan in the Woods

Everyone was staring blankly at the lasses' now-covered wounds. Ariadne and Mariette were sitting on the bed after Sophie Riviere reunited every single one of them. Mariette's neck did not go unnoticed in Sophie's eyes when she found them. She rapidly treated her after moving them to the upper floor.

No one wanted to pronounce a word. Lethia, Maya and Sophie Ozanna were crying uncontrollably, Marion Lianne was clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, and Juliette was still sceptical about what was happening. Riviere was the only one serene.

"It was a man. Something like a vampire," vented Ariadne taking Riviere's hand.

Mariette turned her head to look at Ariadne as soon as she said those words. She quickly tried to appear unagitated. However, the movement did not escape Sophie's eyes once more.

"What attacked you wasn't a man, was it?" Riviere was staring at Mariette's frightened gaze.

"N-no, I—"

"Forget it," interrupted Marion Lianne. "We need to get out of here fast. The front door was open."

"So was the door here," Ariadne sighed.

"We shouldn't get out; it's too risky," Sophie Riviere shook her head. "We might get hurt."

As those words were said, a loud blow on the bedroom door echoed throughout the room. Everyone tried to hold a scream, except for Ozanna, whose cry was so shrill that a miracle would be necessary for the neighbours not to hear. Life escaped their bodies after she covered her mouth to let her tears run inaudibly.

Riviere put her index finger in front of her mouth, requesting silence. As they all agreed quietly, she used her hands to signal them to stand. Not a soul knew what she was thinking, but they had no other plan to go against hers. At least Sophie seemed confident about what she was instructing them to do.

Nodding and biting the interior of her cheek, Lianne patted Ozanna's head and helped her. She stood there with Sophie Ozanna, who sorely trembled, in her arms. They were so disoriented to give her a helping hand that she felt she had to bear it alone. It was Ariadne that reached her and made a simple movement with her head that meant she was about to relieve her burden. She placed her hand on Ozanna's waistline and held tight for Lianne could do the same.

Once they were on their feet, Sophie Riviere began searching for something in the wardrobe. They stared at her, bewildered as if she was not in her right mind.

"Sheets," she muttered.

Ariadne signalled with her chin a shelf inside the wardrobe. The moment Sophie had them in her hand, she tied them together. We can already tell what she was thinking at this point, right? And our lassies were as disbelieved as you and me.

Once more, as if to remind them they were still there, another blow on the door was heard, and another scream was suppressed. Sophie Ozanna was already at the point of fainting.

Juliette shook her head in doubt. Nonetheless, she went to Riviere and got the bed sheets out of her hands to help her tie them. With the extra help, Sophie could take the time required to consider where she could hook the sheets to get down safely. Her terrified friends would not want to descend using an unstable method, but it was her only idea. The thick iron fence Ariadne had on the balcony was the conclusion Sophie came up with. She would be the first to go down, so if she died, they could come up with a different solution before the monsters entered the room... right?

When they were done, they heard the sound of someone desperately trying to open the door handle. There was no time to think. Sophie Riviere went to Ariadne and gave her a quick kiss before holding the sheet and attempting to get down. She did not waste time with intrusive thoughts. Before she noticed, she was on the ground.

The mentality was all that mattered.

One by one, they began to risk descending using the bed sheet. Thankfully, most of them forgot their fears for a split second and did what they could to be next to Sophie on the ground. Ariadne wanted to be the last one to go, as it was her house, and she felt at fault for what was happening.

She was still there, staring at them from what they thought was the sky. When she was about to touch the sheet, a hand, arriving from nowhere, grabbed her. They all saw the fear seize her expressionless face. And, for the first time that night, Sophie Riviere cried, allowing her cold-blooded mask to fall.

A crusty masculine voice was heard loud and clear:

"Move," was what it said. "Get out of here."

They did not want to leave their friend behind, but no one said a thing. They were too afraid to do so.

"No!" yelled Sophie Riviere. "Get your hands off of her!"

"Get. Out. Now."

Juliette, who was tired, and could not keep rejecting what was happening in front of her, took Sophie's hand and started running through the streets. The others followed her, crying as if their best friend was already dead.

"Why are you being more of a monster than the one that has the love of my life hostage?" cried Sophie, trying to run away from Juliette's hold.

"Stop, Sophie!" Marion Lianne stopped running. "What do you want us to do? We're not machines! We are human beings! We can't help but be afraid! That thing could kill us all! It attacked Mariette, too, not just your girlfriend! If you knew her as I do, you would know she would want us to be safe before attempting to play superheroes!"

"What about the 'all for one and one for all'? It was all a play? Is the world a stage for you? Are you an actress?"

"Sophie, stop. They're crying," said Juliette signalling Maya, Lethia and Sophia Ozanna.

"So am I, and no one seems to care! Why should I care about the ones that claim to love but don't even stop being assholes to help someone that would give away her life for them!"

"You don't actually mean that, do you?" asked Marion. "Do you even know your own girlfriend? She would not agree with half of what you're spouting right now."

Sophie was about to fall to the ground. Her legs began to fail her.

"I don't care! I wanted to be with her, and you took me away with you! If you're too afraid to die with her, that's your problem! I wasn't."

"You're a kid, Sophie. Don't talk about your love for her as if it was eternal," yelled Lianne. "Love is never forever, you know? Especially if it comes to her."

"Why do you keep on talking like you know her much better than I do?"

"Because she is my best friend."

"And why didn't you, of all people, stay?"

"Because she would want us to live, Sophie," Marion rushed to hug her. "She wants you to live."

Sophie burst into tears embracing Lianne. They both fell on the floor. Maya, Lethia and Ozanna stopped crying, and soon Sophie's painful moaning was the only thing to be heard in the woods. Wait, woods?