The mushroom circle

*Trigger warnings: Blood briefly mentioned, trauma, murder

The woods would have been better if her nag of a friend had not begged Kiri to let her come. She was already whining about how much her feet hurt. The sweat on their brows attested to how long they had been trekking in the woods. Lyria's white dress danced as they walked.

"You should have worn better shoes Lyria." Kiri stated. She was matter of fact and would have preferred being here alone.

"Hey Kiri, we've been walking forever," Lydia moaned, "My feet hurt, and I think I saw something watching us over there."

"You are whiny and paranoid," Kiri responded, "We're not alone out here after all." she turned to tease Lydia and mimicked a ghost by making a creepy haunted face at her friend. Kiri had taken this forest path many times before but after turning back around from teasing her friend her surroundings looked foreign. A large mushroom circle sat encased with flowers before her. 

"Uh, Kiri, I don't think we should be here. Let's turn around." Lydia said, her nervous hand tic started to act up. "I don't like the energy in this part of the woods." The silence was deafening and terrifying. There were no bird sounds and no signs of any kind of life in this part of the woods. Just the mushrooms and a dark shadow that approached them. Only Lyria seemed to notice the energy at first. Kiri looked her up and down judgmentally.

"I haven't seen your hand tic like that in a while, Lyria. I thought you had been seeing a therapist." Kiri crossed her arms holding in a chill.

Lyria just stuttered, "uuuuuhhhhh......Kirrrriii. Iiiii rreeaally thhinnk wee shhoulld leeavee." Lyria's face was pale as a ghost. 

In the center of the mushrooms before them stood a creature. The creature stood at least 6' tall and had long claws on it's hands. 

"Wwwwwhat issss ttthat thhhing?" Lyria stuttered out again. 

"Oh, come on Lyria. This is Max. He won't hurt you." Kiri soothed. She walked closer to max and held his hand. His claws grasped her hands and drew blood. 

"III thoughttt youu saidd hee woulddn'tt hurtt mee?" Still full of disbelief, Lyria needed to escape. She knew her friend in this moment was doomed, there was no return for her. The darkness in Max's eyes were all she needed. 

My therapist just told me I needed to hang out with my friends more. She thought while running.... I will never do this again. 

Later that day....

"Two women went missing while on a hike in Stone Park. If you have seen these two women or know of their whereabouts, please contact the police with any information you may have. Time is crucial and the women are believed to be in danger......" 

"Earl! The tv in the old camper is acting up again!" Eleanor yelled to her husband, "I can hear it from the house!"

"I heard ya, Eleanor." He shuffled past her to the camper and disconnected the tv. He heard a rustling from next to the camper. 

"HHEELLP MEE." A pale girl covered in blood reached her hand out to him. 

"Eleanor! Eleanor!" He yelled. His wife shuffled out the door to him. 

"What in tarnation happened to you child? What is your name?" She said. The girl looked like she had seen death itself and survived. 

"IIII ccaann'tt rememberr myy namee..." the girl shivered at the cold breeze she was soaked in water and had blood splattered on her clothes. Eleanor went and grabbed a blanket from her hearth and shuffled the girl inside.

"I'll go call the police." Earl muttered as he shuffled to the back phone wall. As he talked to the sergeant, Eleanor offered Lyria a towel to go wash up. 

"Iii amm afraidd too bee alonnee," she stuttered again. 

"Don't you worry now honey. We have shot guns, nothing will get in this house." Eleanor cooed. 

"Okkk." the girl said shrinking into the bathroom. 

She bathed and came out to Eleanor who had made her a muffin treat. "You must still be in shock." she said. "Go calm yourself by the fire the police chief will be here soon." 

A little while passed and the police came knocking on the door, he identified her as a Jane Doe until they could prove she was one of the girls that went missing and took her out the door. 

When they left Eleanor looked at Earl, "You don't recon Max is back do ye?"

"We are not alone out here after all." He replied. They both grabbed their riffles. "We may have another long winter, Eleanor." 

The wheels of the police cruiser pulled away with Lyria in tow. She sat muttering and rocking back and forth in the passenger seat. A sweet female police officer held her hand as she rocked.

"Chief, I think we should just worry about getting her home today."

The chief nodded in response, and they headed to the station to fill out some paperwork and call her parents.

At the station, Lyria was informed that she had been missing for three days and she tried to recall to the police chief what had happened. Her stuttering was so bad that she could not utter a word cohesively. The chief chalked it up to pure shock. 

She was found covered in her friend's blood talking about an alien and murder and running for her life. Anyone would think the poor girl had lost her mind.

After some deliberation, the police let her go home. Lyria sat in silence in the car ride home, her father glared at her from the front seat. "I told you not to ever go into those woods!" He accosted.

She slithered back in her chair scared and worried.

A few days later detectives with an arrest warrant showed up. They had already questioned her but said her story did not line up. She was arrested and taken to prison."

"Did you hear that poor girl was locked up Eleanor?" Earl called from the living room. 

"A right shame! Wish more people knew we were not alone!" She muttered back from the kitchen. They both knew it was just a matter of time before the thing in the woods claimed someone else. Was it a fae, fairy, or alien? They knew not. They just knew that they had land to protect and secrets to keep themselves.