As the menacing group approached them, they all stood in fear except for, uncharacteristically, Matt who tried his best to fight them off. However, his flailing windmill like arms made it all too easy for his momentum to be used against him, and for his captors to quickly overpower him into a bear hug.

Meanwhile, Katie tried to grab hold of the nearest tree in a bid to climb up it to escape, even for a short time. But, unable to find a useable branch in the dark, she was quickly swallowed up and dragged down by the mass of cloak below.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Jess asked, pleadingly.

"You'll find out soon enough," Growled the voice under one of the hoods. "You'll get exactly what you came here looking for."

"I didn't realise we were hunting freaks," Katie spat.

For a brief moment, it sounded to the group like their pursuers were laughing at her not so subtle insult, but then in a flash the laughter turned to silence, as the man who'd spoken to Jess turned his attention to Katie and slapped her across the face. The sound of the impact was almost as loud as the scream which had lured them all out in the first place.

"Leave her alone!" Matt yelled, once again fighting to break free but being held firmly in place.

"Come on. This is boring now. Let's get this over with," The leader of the group said again, nodding back into the woods to his comrades. As expected, they silently obeyed the order, and began shoving the teens along.

All throughout this exchange, Kyle had remained silent. He was still trying to figure out any means of escape but in the harsh midnight black of the Falls Peak woods, he could literally see no way out.

Life had been good while it lasted.

"Kyle, what are we going to do?" Jess whispered to him, still being pushed alongside him.

"I don't know, Jess" He sighed. "What can we do? We're screwed."

"Are you serious? Now is the time that you don't have any ideas?" She cried in frustration.

"What do you want me to say, Jess?" Kyle cried back, not caring who heard him this time.

"Would you keep it down back there? I'm trying to think!" The same hooded assailant said again.

"Trying to think of a way to be a man without hiding your face?" Kyle argued back. He hadn't quite regained his will to fight yet but he hated being scolded. Particularly when it was by a stranger in a hooded robe in the middle of the forest.

"Someone's been watching too many movies," He replied. "Are you so young and naive that you think that I'm going to reveal myself to you so you can sit in stunned silence while I explain my master plan to you all, is that it?"

"That's usually the way it goes," Katie muttered under her breath, not wanting her sarcastic remark to be heard for once. Her cheek was still numb from the strike she'd already endured.

"Do you know my brother?" Matt asked, taking the conversation in a completely new, but not totally irrelevant, direction.

"I remember you when you were just a little boy, Matt. What happened to you? How did you get yourself into this mess?" Was the response. Somehow it was far more chilling than a simple yes would have been.

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself the same thing?" He retorted. "How could someone normal enough to know me turn into a sick murderer?"

"Are we still talking about your brother? Or is this about me now?" The clearly arrogant man asked.

"Matt, calm down." Kyle sighed. He knew better than to argue with people clearly sicker than they could ever imagine. Who knew what would come of it.

"Calm down!?" Matt cried in response. "Are you even listening to this guy? We have to fight back!"

"Matt, you might not care what happens to you but we sure as hell do! So quit trying this suicide mission of yours," He warned.

"So we're just going to let them kill us?"

"We're not going to let them kill us," Kyle whispered this time, in case any of their captors decided to make an example by disproving him.

"You have a plan?" Katie whispered, having been listening intently.

"I'll think of something," Kyle claimed. His head was still spinning trying to come up with a plan but nothing was forming. Mostly he was just saying this so Matt would compose himself before he ended up getting himself, or anyone else, killed.

*

As the group were pushed further forward, they once again reached the former residence of the unsettling scarecrow.

"What happened to the scarecrow?" Katie asked in annoyance. Apart from anything else, she didn't like being part of an unfinished puzzle.

"Threw it off the waterfall," The ringleader answered matter-of-factly.

"Seems a little harsh. Did he look at you funny?" She snapped.

"That was just there to freak you out. You know, these guys weren't sure about it but I knew that playing the long game would work out."

"Have you been following us the whole time?" Jess asked. She'd been silently sobbing for quite some time now.

"Not the whole time. But once we knew you guys were onto us . . . well, we can't have that, can we?"

"What's going to happen to us?" Kyle wondered aloud, hoping that if he knew the destination, he could find a diversion.

Unfortunately he wouldn't get what he wanted.

"Where's the fun in telling you that?" Wasn't the answer he wanted but it was what he was expecting.

As if what they were experiencing wasn't scary enough, they were now entering an area of the forest that they had yet to explore and so even if they did somehow escape, they would be running completely blind. If the hunters didn't get them, the elements probably would.

"Where are we going? The waterfall's that way?" Matt sighed.

"And?"

"Well? Aren't you just going to chuck us off the edge too?" Jess said with a sudden piqued interest. Regardless of what was about to happen, it was presumed by all that they were about to be murdered and have their bodies dumped where no one would ever find them. But now it seemed that they'd misjudged their terrible situation.

"Oh no. We've got something much better for you to see," The man smirked. His hood still covered the majority of his face but the upturned corners of his wicked smile were clearly visible.

A short while later, the march descended onto one lone path, surrounded by trees not dissimilar to the Dark Woods that the teens had traipsed through the day before. It was almost pitch black, as if they were walking with their eyes closed. The only thing visible was a rundown looking house at the end of the demonic path.

"What the hell is this place?" Kyle asked, his heart now racing more than it had during any soccer game he'd ever played in.

"They say a witch used to live here. Because one crazy story just isn't enough for a small town like this one is it?" Although the man answered Kyle, it seemed like he wasn't really talking to him.

As they got closer to the ruins, it became clear that the building was made up of large grey blocks, but some had clearly collapsed and corroded over time and now the surrounding wildlife had began to grow into it, soon to swallow it whole. There were no remnants of whoever had lived here previously but Kyle suspected it to have been at least a hundred years ago.

"Why are we here?" Katie asked what they were all thinking. "You think we're going to find this witch for you or something?"

"Do you know how many suspected witches they killed at the Salem trials?" This answering a question with a question was growing tiresome but Katie admitted anyway that she didn't know. "Not as many as you'd think. Just another story exaggerated by history to give an identity to something."

"What's your identity?" Kyle challenged, having finally had enough of the seemingly directionless conversation.

"You know if I tell you, it's not going to mean anything to you. You won't know who I am. But I guess we've got time before we start so what the hell!". What had started out as a menacing voice when the kids were first approached by the group had slowly become more normal to the point where now it was like they were talking to a disgruntled neighbour or something.

The man nodded at his comrades and they all threw back their hoods as one to reveal their faces which were just as normal as the voices. These didn't look like the faces of monsters; just people. Right now Kyle couldn't tell the difference.

What he did know though, was that he didn't recognise any of them. He was both relieved and disheartened.

"You," Matt muttered. "I saw you."

"And we saw you," Finally one of the followers spoke. "In fact, seeing you come back with some friends felt like a jackpot to us!"

"Who are these guys Matt?" Jess begged for answers.

"I don't know them all," He admitted. "But the front three. They are my brothers' friends I told you about. I saw them throw the body over the waterfall."

"Bastards," Kyle sighed. He already hated these people but knowing what they'd done recently made it all that much worse.

"I don't know their names though," Matt seemed more disappointed with this than anything else.

"It's alright Matt," Jess assured him.

"It is," Katie agreed with a steely tone. Until now she'd remained silent since the big reveal which now that everyone thought about it, was a completely out of character for her. Despite giving an explanation, her next words created more questions than answers.

"It's ok, because I know them. I know all about them!"

__________________________________________________________________________

So Katie knows the killers! Who could they be? And what exactly are they doing at the alleged witches house? A fun little bit of inside knowledge; as I previously mentioned, a lot of Falls Peak is based on the area around my house. The witches house also is, although I really have no idea what this place really is. My dad used to take me and my sister there to play sometimes (totally safe haha) and we called it a castle. Years ago it was all removed and now there is a genuine house there. Maybe they are witches!

Another fun fact is the line in the story about the Salem Witch Trials. I actually originally had a different script for this part. Originally he was supposed to say the actual number but a quick google search told me that there was only ever around 30 confirmed deaths. It's still awful, but I was always under the impression it was so much more. So I changed it and actually like the new version better. I hope you agree with my decision!