Ch. 2 We Are the Woods We Wander In

“Fuck do you need a flashlight for?” Nick asked, not looking up from his video game. “Shit is there a Woodser tonight? Cus there’s no way I’m missing an opportunity to get wasted in a hunting hat again.”

“There’s no Woodser okay I just need a flashlight.”

He paused the game and looked at Adam skeptically. “If there’s no Woodser why are you going into the woods at night?”

“I never said I was going to the woods dude, do you have one or not?”

He stared at Adam for a second longer and then grinned. “You’re totally meeting some freaky bitch in the woods to have some kind of sexual seyonce. What is it a blood moon tonight?”

“I’m not going to a Woodser and I’m not meeting some bitch for whatever you just said, now do you have a flashlight?”

“Nah,” he said, unpausing his game and frantically pushing buttons once more. “But for you to go do whatever debauchery you’re getting into tonight and not invite your best friend is pretty flaw, to be honest.”

“Look, I’m just meeting Haley and her weird political freak friends in the woods so I can join their secret club or whatever.”

This time he dropped his controller altogether, not even bothering to pause the game and burst out laughing, “You’re fucking with me.”

Adam glared back.

“You’re truly going to go hang out with those shouting weirdos just to see our neighbor? Wasn’t it you who suggested we fill water balloons with our own piss and chuck them at them next time they wake us up with their chanting at six in the morning?”

“Okay, first of all don’t blame me for the things I say when I’m hungover. And yes, they’re lame and weird and totally too into their cause of the week, but I have to show Haley I give a shit about something or she’ll never go out with me.”

Nick’s jaw dropped, “Go OUT with you? Didn’t you already hit that like freshman year?! She’s not even that hot—”

Adam lifted a hand to cut him off, “I didn’t ‘hit that’ okay, we were like best friends. She talked to me back when I weighed like 100 pounds and still wore Hollister shirts.”

“Oh I get it,” Nick said, talking with his hands, “She put you in the friend zone back when you were a fugly loser, and now that you’re the big man on campus you’re tryna get a revenge fuck?”

“Jesus Christ, Nick. Not everyone’s trying to get laid every second of the day alright?” He grabbed his wallet and his keys from the nightstand and shook his hair out in the mirror one last time. “Don’t wait up, asshole.”

“Alright have fun at your secret club meeting,” Nick shouted as Adam stormed out of the door. “I hope you know the secret password so they let you into their treehouse!”

Adam stuck his middle finger through the crack in the door before he let it slam.

He bounded down the stairs of his old dorm building and broke free from the door into the crisp night air. Fear pinched his chest for a moment as he paused and looked at the wall of trees across the grassy lawn. The moon was about half full, casting just enough light to create shadows. He strode forward, taking large steps and crunching the dry grass with each placement of his sneaker, which blended into the shadows around him. As he broke through the wall of thick sycamore trees, he began to wonder what he was getting himself into. After about ten minutes of carefully maneuvering through the woodsy terrain, he tried not to let himself panic. He squinted through the dark looking and listening for any sign of the group members, expecting to hear them speaking or see a break in the trees or a light from a lantern. He hoped for anything besides the coo of owls and rustling of leaves from moving creatures in the forest. He stopped and listened, hearing nothing but the whir of a cold breeze. He tightened his jacket and looked around before he heard it, footsteps rapidly moving and leaves crunching in every direction.

“Haley?!” he shouted, fumbling backwards, ready to make a run back to safety.

“Nope,” said a deep, raspy voice from behind Adam’s right ear. He whipped around to see a face become illuminated by a flashlight from underneath it. It highlighted his smirk and his 5 o'clock shadow and made his brown eyes shine from within the black holes surrounding them. He had shoulder length brown hair and wore black zip up hoodie with no shirt underneath it, revealing a sprawling black design of a tree tattoo across his chest, extending to his right shoulder.

“I’m Asher,” he said.

It was the last thing Adam heard before the loud thud of wood make contact with his skull.

“Jesus Christ, Ben we didn’t say to knock him out!”

Adam recognized the voice to be Haley’s and slowly began to open his eyes. In the blurriness he could make out a yellow glow, casting light and shadows all over the group of people. Carrying flashlights and pacing about, all were dressed in black hoodies.

Adam blinked a few more times until the shadowing figures began to materialize. He could make out Haley’s face now, her features distorted into a mask of worry.

When Adam made an effort to move he noticed his arms were restrained at his sides. He looked down to find himself duct taped to one of the big sycamores. He immediately started struggling against the restraint, getting the attention of the group members.

“Hey he’s up!” shouted a stalky blonde girl with a ponytail.

Asher made his way towards Adam first, the rest of the group trailing shortly behind him. Haley looked like she’d taken her first breath since Adam had been struck.

“Hey buddy,” said Asher. His casual tone didn’t exactly match the setting. “How’s the head?”

Rage puffed out Adam’s chest. “About as good as you’d expect it to feel after being beat with a blunt object.”

Asher just laughed and pulled a beat up box of cigarettes out of his pocket. In one quick motion he placed one between his lips and lit the tip with a silver Zippo.

Adam began to survey the situation, counting six people in total, two girls including Haley and blonde with a ponytail and four boys including Asher. The other three boys looked practically like carbon copies of each other with big brawny shoulders and hair shaved close to the skull.

“Haley said you’re interested in joining the club,” he took a drag and blew smoke into Adam’s face. “Now you see, I’m finding that hard to believe, but I’m a man of the people. Someone says we should consider someone for the club and I do.” He gestured over to Haley and she made her way towards them. Asher put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight to him.

“If after this little ordeal you’re still interested in joining us, and if you’re able to break out of your restraints and make it to Haley’s room by hmm let’s say,” he looked down at his black G-shock, “Six a.m., you can be one of us.”

Adam was dumbfounded. It took a moment for his thoughts to reach his mouth.

“This is how you welcome in new members?!”

Everyone in the group besides Haley laughed, until Asher shushed them.

“You said you wanted a chance,” Haley mumbled. “This is what a chance looks like.”

“Oh that’s not all you have to do. I came up with three criteria,” Asher droned on. “First you had to have the balls to meet us out here, so congrats on passing that one. Next you have to get yourself out of this shit in a timely fashion and then third, when/if you get back to us by sun up you better be ready to join us on our mission tonight.”

“Your mission?” Adam asked, taking the bait.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing you’ll have some time to brainstorm ‘cus when you meet us you better be ready to pull your weight. Protesting, petitions, flyers. That’s all weak shit. President Murphy doesn’t give us a second glance. He just hides up in his nice-ass house in his comfy-ass bed and gives the trigger happy children of this school what they want. We’re doing a new plan. I need another thinker in this group.” He leaned in closer to Adam’s ear. “Do these kids behind me look like the sharpest tools in the shed?”

Adam looked past Asher at the group of oversized kids, kicking rocks around the lamp light.

“This group needs fresh ideas. I can’t do it all by myself. According to Haley, you’re not the biggest idiot to ever live so… Let’s see what you got.”