Ashley had no idea where she was going. She just followed Sarah through the dark, assuming she knew where to go. It seemed that they were lost in the twisting labyrinth of oak and ash trees as the sun’s light began to creep in through the leaves.

“Where are we going?” Ashley inquired in hushed tones. Sarah’s response was to point to an opening in the trees. Motioning for Ashley to stay quiet, Sarah moved toward the gap. Ashley followed stealthily and winced as her eyes were suddenly marauded by unfiltered sunlight.

When her eyes had adjusted, Ashley could make out a clearing filled with abandoned tents and a still smoldering campfire. Ashley was mildly surprised. They’d spent so much time running through the woods and had now gone full circle. At least they now had their bearings, though.

While she was thinking these thoughts, her attention was caught by some movement at the left edge of the clearing. It appeared to be the figure of a man, facing the woods on that side of the clearing. Ashley crept closer through the woods and began to make out voices. One of them was a voice she recognized.

“You’re rather spry for a man your age,” Came the voice of Jason drifting through the woods. Ashley was elated. She hadn’t seen him since the lake, but she had hoped that he was alright. He appeared to be talking to someone leaning against a tree. No, tied to the tree.

“What do you want with me?” Came the labored voice of Mark. He sounded as though he was in extreme pain.

“Oh I just want some information,” Jason said smoothly. He sounded like he was attending a casual luncheon.

“What kind of information can I give you? I don’t know where anyone else is. If it’s about the company, I work in sales. I don’t know the dark things that go on there.”

This caused Jason to laugh a raucous, somewhat hysterical, laugh. “I can find the others with relative ease, and I honestly couldn’t care less about the deep dark secrets of the company. You could say that this is more of a personal pursuit.”

“Personal how? I didn’t do anything to you, and I don’t have any information I can give you!” Mark yelled angrily.

Stolen story; please report.

Jason, undeterred, replied coolly, “Sure you do, you don’t have any information to tell me. It’s all in your blood. A subtle but significant difference.”

The blade flashed faster than Ashley could see. Mark slumped in his bonds and Ashley looked away, horrified. Forcing herself to look back, Ashley almost jumped in astonishment. Hunched over Mark’s body was not Jason, but was instead the man in the white lab coat.

As Ashley attempted to process what had just happened, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Sarah, worriedly beckoning for them to go. Ashley couldn’t understand why until she looked back into the clearing. Her eyes met with the piercing gaze of the doctor. It was as though he knew exactly where they were. His face drew into a genial, even friendly grin, as if inviting them over for tea. Naturally, both Ashley and Sarah bolted. There was nothing subtle about their retreat, but they were too terrified to care. They wanted to get as far away from that man as possible.

During their retreat, they broke out of the woods and onto a narrow trail. Ashley recognized it as the trail that her group had originally been following. They continued to follow it, only slowing their pace when they were sure that they had gotten away.

“What did we just see?” Ashley gasped.

“I don’t know.” Sarah responded, out of breath and sounding as though she was still in shock.

“A person who can clone themselves, someone with gills, and now someone who can, what, change their shape? What’s going on?!”

“You saw someone with gills?” For some reason, this made Sarah start to giggle. She tried her best to stifle them, but soon the giggles turned into uncontrolled laughter. Ashley tried to give her a disapproving glare, this was a serious situation. However, she soon found herself laughing right along with her.

They continued this way for some time, but eventually they were able to bring themselves under control.

“This looks like the way that my group came.” Ashley said, finally. “If we stay on this path we should be able to get to the rangers’ office and get help.” Sarah nodded. This sounded like as solid a plan as any.

The two then lapsed into an uneasy silence as each tried to process what they had experienced. Ashley still couldn’t understand how these things could be happening. None of it made sense. Then again, nothing had made sense to her lately. She sighed a deep sigh, which was mirrored by Sarah. Grimacing, the two of them trudged further towards their destination.