head, mixed with the grim image of a knife. The same horrific image from before, he recognised the thick red liquid still dripping off the blade. Mitch tried to control his own breathing as he felt himself step into the apartment with hard, echoing footsteps. He looked at his hands which were shaking violently. He forced himself to take a quick glance around the room. Cascy's room. He dared not to look at the floor in the fear of coming face to face with that horrible scene. He yelled as he felt his eyes being opened by some inexplicable force, focusing them directly onto the red flooor. He saw Cascy, his eyes wide and searching. His hands gripping the air and his knuckles turning white. Mitch choked in fear, his mouth gaping at Cascy for a moment as their horrified eyes met. Again the voice appeared, 'Mitch...' Mitch screamed out loud, "NO! This isn't real...It's not..." he screamed through the trapped voice in his head, not knowing if anyone was there to help him. He was unsure whether he was in reality, though he wished hard for it not to be, as his time to save Cascy was long gone. For a moment all that was in Mitch's mind was that Cascy had died. He quivered in a huddled mass beside his friend's body, wriving and shouting at the world. "Please don't..." He shook heavily as he took a breath, "...Don't be happening to me...If this is real.... Oh god don't be." He grabbed Cascy and held him tightly to his chest, burrying his head into his clothes. Mitch errupted in tears, as he felt all his own strength merge into one big mass of confusion. He continued to clench onto his friend's body like it was the last thing he had left. "I wont...let go. I won't." His face hardened out and his clench became harder in thought. The mass of confusion was mixing inside of his head again, and tearing at his skull as if it wanted something from him. Mitch gritted his teeth as he let the big ball of confusion explode infront of him, and he saw once more against the reddened background, the face of Cascy looking through him into his thoughts. Mitch distraught, listened to his voice, "Mitch!"

Then Mitch awoke. He lay gasping for air, his back toward the ground. As he looked up he saw the grey sky patched all over with watery blue clouds. He took a deep breath of relief as he felt his friend's shoulder up against him. He turned to see which friend it was. It wasn't Cascy, it was Carlson. Mitch sat up, he could feel a mild headache rumbling in the back of his brain. He saw Carlson was lying fast asleep, which made him feel a little reasured. He thought to himself about how he could have fallen asleep and laughed at the thought, but when he looked to where Cascy had been lying last night, his face suddenly dropped. Cascy wasn't there.

Mitch lunged at Carlson to wake him, "Where's Cascy? Carlson, get up!" He could feel his anger building. Carlson jumped with surpise as Mitch shook him violently on the ground, "Mitch...What the...?" Confused and battered he leaped to his feet. Mitch was breathing scornfully and dashed around him in desperation. Then Carlson too realised the indentation in the ground where Cascy had been resting, "Oh my god!" He thought quickly about what to do, "We should split up...and..." He stopped in mid-sentence, he had heard something in the distance. Mitch looked up immediately, he had heard it too, "Mitch!" It was Cascy. The calls were far away and desperate, they were accompanied with a long and unintansional scream. Mitch just ran for where he thought it was coming from, and Carlson followed, though he was much slower and struggled to keep up, "Mitch, wait!" Mitch did not wish to stop and continued running. He did not care what Carlson thought and wanted only to follow his own heart. He continued to run until he was swallowed waist deep by the hungry grasses. Then he became a out of breath; he had a stitch in his side and under his left shoulder which forced him to stop. As he stood to regain his breath, he listened out for a guiding call from Cascy, but all he heard was a very faint calling from behind him. Carlson' voice seemed very faint as though it had been lost in the tangle of grass. Mitch listened hard to the voice but he couldn't make it out anymore. Looking around he couldn't see anyone, and ahead of him the towering blue mountain was summoning him. He panicked for a moment as he realised that he had not only lost Cascy, but now also Carlson. In desperation he called for Carlson, his hands cupped together for effect. But there was no reply. Mitch thought that he did need Carlson at all times with him, though he knew if Carlson had to live on his own out there he would be able to survive for a while until they could reunite. Cascy on the other hand, probably wouldn't stand a chance. Not as a healthy person, never mind in the state that he was in. Mitch had almost fully regained his breath, when he he saw in the grass, a small trace of blood. He stepped closer, his mouth agape, and noticed it led to a patchy, uneven trail. Almost hidden in the green and straw coloured grass, was a slightly distorted path heading through it. Mitch had made his decision, and immediately started to pick up his pace after the trail. Mitch felt unstoppable, he could not remember ever running this fast, but guessed he never really had a reason for it. He hadn't run much in his life, and not ever through such thick grass. He could feel the grass lashing at his waist as he ran, looking down to his feet, where the trail grew infront of him. He was encouraged to go on as he spotted a place ahead where the grass ended, and a large area of dirt spread acCarlson the land as far as he could see. As he reached the border of the new grounds, he stopped for another breather, finding the lack of obscuarble grass highly advantagous.There were still small growths of grass in odd places around where he could see. Mitch eyed the border carefully, there was nothing much else there except some large, brown rocks which cast sinister shaddows onto the ground; and as he looked alertly up at them he could see some odd rock formations on the top. Mitch felt intimidated by the their sheer size, he eyed them carefully as he paced through the dry and desplate environment. His eyes were still parcially on the ground as he followed the walls of rock. He scanned for more red liquid clues, but near the edge of one large boulder, the trail had stopped. Just one trace of blood, spilling over a small rock. It looked fresh, still dripping onto the ground below. Mitch became uneasy, realising that he can't be far from Cascy. He suddenly feared the most, if anything could have dragged Cascy away this far it must have been big. Atleast big enough to drag a man along the ground for several miles. Through all the grassy terrain, and Mitch thought about Cascy being conscious and dragged alive through the grass by some horrible...creature...He couldn't bare to think of it. He wanted to call to Cascy but something in his mind was telling him that this creature was still out there, and would hear him and then attack him too. Quickly he picked up a stick as a weapon, he felt safer with it. Then, with weapon in hand he yelled, "Cascy?" His voice boomed acCarlson the area, and echoed itself through the gigantic rock features. He was about to let out another yell, when he heard another call, "Mitch..." Mitch recognised it was Cascy. He sounded in a worse state than the day before. The same as the day he had found him in the apartment but louder. "Cascy, where are you?" Mitch shouted, but there was no reply. Mitch was however already scaling the rocks, as he figured the voice had come from a secluded area on the top of the biggest rock formation. There were several large rocks for Mitch to scale, but he had to abandon his weapon on the way up. Mitch climbed quickly and clumsily, dislodging some smaller rocks with his hands and feet as he tried to find a grip. He had only climbed a few feet and was already anxious about looking down. There was another scream from the top, and Mitch climbed faster, "I'm coming, Cascy!" he yelled, almost falling as his foot slipped in the moment of the scream. Then he heard a scattering of rocks below him. For a moment he thought it was just his own clumsiness, but there was a voice, "...Looking for something...or should I say...someone?" The voice which came from below sounded monotonous and without emotion. Mitch thought Carlson was playing a prank on him but when he turned, he saw something that caused him to jump out of place of his footing. He almost landed on his face but managed to catch himself with an arm onto a rock. Still above the wolf, Mitch grabbed tightly to the rocks, bending his elbows out behind him. He stared wide eyed; before him was the figure of a wolf. Mitch noticed that there was only one wolf, and no one else around, "Who...who said that?" Mitch said worriedly. The wolf gave him an almost human-like grin, "You must be Mitch..." Mitch did not like the tone of the wolf, it sounded unfriendly, "What do you want?", Mitch's hands were beginning to shake. The wolf continued to grin, "I know what you want." He replied craftily, "And let me give you a little advice; if you want your friend alive, you follow me." And with that the wolf turned expectantly and leaped onto one of the higher rocks near Mitch. Mitch was only beginning to take in the effect of the talking wolf, and was amazed also, at the agility of this creature. The wolf took a few effortless strides up the side of the rocks, then turned to Mitch, "Come quickly, don't waste time." He said sternly. Mitch had indeed no time to waste; he also knew he was taking a chance but he felt he had no other option than to follow the wolf. Mitch hurried up the rocks, he gulped as he looked up. There were still only a few large rocks ahead of him. As he climbed he gritted his teeth and dug his fingernails, almost leaving scratches in the rock. He was not sure how far he had