A one-shot when the trio are woken up during the night by the sounds of children laughing and crying outside their tent.

The original dialogue and characters belong to Eduardo Sanchez, director of The Blair Witch Project.

Original dialogue (If you've seen the film hundreds of times and can practically quote every bit off-by-heart, you know what bits of the dialogue in this fic I'm actually referring to lol!) and the four children belong to me.

Enjoy!

~Xoxomtmodnarxoxo

And that was when she awoke. Outside their tent was the sound of rustling. And… and… voices?

"Josh", Heather whispered, "Josh, wake up!"

Josh stirred in his sleeping bag and groaned. He had suffered a few nights of deprived sleep and for once he had actually thought he had managed to capture forty winks for a couple of hours without having to constantly worry about the dangers just outside the tent…

"Heather?", he mumbled, "What the fuck…?"

"I hear something", she whispered back and fumbled in her rucksack for her video camera. Josh groaned once more; anymore disruption and there goes another night of lack of sleep.

"Heather, put the fucking camera away and shut up!", he moaned, "God, you're as bad as my girlfriend when she has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!"

"God, shut the fuck up!", Mike hissed from the corner of the tent. He, too, was suffering from lack of sleep.

"No! No! Shh!", Heather hissed and attempted to quietly switch on the camera. Mike slowly sat up in his sleeping back, peering into the sudden light from the torch on Heather's camera. The two men were about to scream at Heather for being paranoid until they heard it. Heard them.

There was a strange giggle outside their tent, and then there was a noise which sounded like a child being smothered followed shortly after. Heather bolted upright, gasping horrifically at the sounds being created outside their tent. More giggles followed.

"Oh, God", Heather dared whisper.

"I don't hear anything", Josh whispered. Heather stared at him in the pale light inside the tent. How could this idiot not hear what was outside their tent? And then she realised; Josh DID hear what was going on, but he didn't WANT to hear it. Mike stared at both of his friends. It couldn't be. Yet, it was.

Heather zipped herself out of her sleeping bag and knelt back on her knees, staring at the walls of the tent.

"Did you hear that sound?", she whispered. The three friends craned their heads towards the mysterious sounds outside in the woods until they heard another strange giggle. Heather gasped horrifically again, only to be nudged by Josh. Shut up!, he signalled with his eyebrows. But Heather couldn't help it; anybody would react the same way if they were in the same predicament as the three filmmakers. What was outside their tent…? Was it the invisible, supernatural force known as the Blair Witch…?

More strange childish noises came and went, in which it led to the sound of a child vomiting which persuaded Heather to get up, startled, and look at Josh pleadingly.

"Oh, Jesus!", Josh commented and struggled out of his sleeping bag. Mike attempted to remain calm and collected as he remained where he was, however the fear and adrenaline was beginning to build up inside of him.

"Jesus Christ!", Josh whimpered again. Heather got up from her knees and tugged herself into her jeans. No way was she going to miss this! No matter how terrifying it would be on camera, she just had to get it! After all, she did not spend two years at college to capture nothing on tape! And Mike? Well, he refused to believe that it was actually happening to him as he huddled back into his sleeping bag. Everybody could sense his fear.

"I'm going to put jeans on", Heather explained as she struggled desperately into the pair of trousers.

"Oh, Jesus Christ", Mike suddenly whimpered in the darkness, beginning to cry.

"Get the video camera", Heather informed Josh. Josh fumbled about and began to put the 16-millimeter camera together , "Now get the DAT ready"

Josh wasn't listening very carefully to Heather. Instead, Josh listened with shock and horror as he heard cries from outside the tent. Yet, not just any cries; it sounded as though the cries were coming from a baby. Josh began to tremble. Shit, he did not want to go out there! He didn't care what was out there, he just wanted to remain inside their tent, as though the tent was a haven from the madness. Mike stared at Josh. Josh stared at Mike briefly. Mike scrambled to his feet and stuffed his feet into his shoes. He was determined not to be left behind, therefore obeying Heather's demands. It was a wonder he hadn't wet himself yet.

The laughter, cries, and indescribable sounds continued to torment the trio until it eventually came to a point where the sounds all arrived at the same time; laughter, crying, vomiting sounds, imitations of airplanes and cars, and voices crying for help became louder and louder to which Mike desperately and childishly covered his ears to block out the noise. He wasn't hearing this. He wasn't hearing this…

Suddenly, the sides of the tent shook, as though there were people outside deliberately running their hands across the sides of the tent.

"Oh, Dear God!", He howled. Heather seconded the emotion by crying out in surprise and shock, fumbling about with her boots. Josh tried to shush his two friends, as he did not intend to influence the… the… thing that lurked outside their tent. The shaking persisted, encouraging the three friends to get out. Terrified, Mike was the first to leave the tent, screaming and crying out in terror as he did so.

"Go! Fucking go!", Josh screamed. Heather followed Mike from close behind, her boots not properly laced but she didn't care, whatever it was that was messing about with them was dangerous - too dangerous to fight against - but the idea of capturing it on camera was too good to be true. She couldn't mess around at this moment of time - she must do! The camera that she held in her hands was recording at that moment of time. Heather cursed to herself that it was too dark to see anything strange or useful. She could hear Josh scuttling from behind, the huge 16-millimeter camera balanced on his shoulder. Mike continued to scream with fear, tears running down his face in an unpleasant manner.

"Hurry up!", he howled as the haunting, childish laughter invaded his ears once more. It was now more intimidating the fact that now they were all in the woods, running in the pitch darkness.

"I'm coming!", Heather cried, "My boots aren't laced!", which proved to be quite a handful. She stumbled and slipped as she ran into the never-ending darkness of the night. She could no longer see Mike in the distance as he fled fearfully. Damn it, how the Hell is she suppose to find him when he leaves them behind? She could hear the child-like noises surrounding her. Heather wanted to stop and give in to the inevitable, but the unknown fear of what would happen to her - to them - if she did stop forced her to keep running.

And then she saw something. Saw it. As Heather ran past many trees, she caught sight of something to her left in the distance. It looked like a pair of glowing eyes watching her every move behind the leaves in the trees. The eyes were bright with malice, but strangely enough the eyes had no pupils, therefore creating a haunting illusion for Heather. She wondered if she was the only one who could see it. It certainly wasn't an animal…

"Oh, my God!", Heather howled in the darkness, trying to capture the pair of eyes on camera, "What the fuck is that?"

"Heather! Jesus, shut the fuck up!", Josh howled from behind. He didn't want the children or thing to follow them but because of Heather's fog-horn voice, they would be spotted a mile away.

"But what the fuck is that?", Heather persisted as she ran. And come to think about it, where was Mike…?

No way. There was no way that Mike was waiting for Heather and Josh to catch up with him. He wanted to get out of here, and had no intention of returning if he did get out. How the fuck was the size of this forest possible? Mike remembered how he used to go to his Grandparents' house occasionally during the week as a child., an how they would hike for hours in the woods that stood near their back garden. Mike could recall the pleasant cool air, the warm, hazy sunshine, the delicious cakes his grandmother made… and how they were a unpleasant contrast to the situation he was in at that moment of time. He vowed never to go back into a woods ever again.

A bad stitch in his stomach forcing Mike to slow down. He had noticed that the continuous child-like sounds had died down as he ran further away from their tent, but even though his friends were somewhere in the distance, Mike didn't run back to find them. Better them than me, he thought bitterly to himself, attempting to regain his breath.

A giggle came from in front of Mike, causing him to freeze. He groaned with fear and dismay. Not again, he thought despairingly to himself. The giggling persisted and became louder, too loud for Mike to handle. He then noticed someone - something - appearing from behind a tree. Mike peered into the darkness, curious. Slowly, a woman with black hair and a black cloak came out of the shadows, staring at him relentlessly. Mike stood still, afraid to even blink. The pale woman in the black cloak stood very still, her eyes wide and huge… and hungry. Mike didn't dare to move one inch. He trembled as the woman in the black cloak gradually made her way towards him, taking her time as she stared at him with her intimidating eyes. Mike frowned, wondering where he had heard of a story similar to his situation…

"And… all of a sudden, I felt like something was near me", the old woman recalled.

"Yeah?", Heather asked, curious. Josh rolled his eyes at the elderly lady. It was official; this elderly lady was completely and utterly crazy. Mike stifled a laugh as he kept an eye on the DAT. He knew that the elderly lady was probably talking a huge load of crap, but didn't dare say it out loud. Heather glanced furiously at both of the men as she continued her interview with Mary Brown. Men, she thought despairingly to herself and focussed her attention on Mary.

"… you know, kind of a hairy feeling?", Mary persisted, "A-and… it was a woman", Mary clutched her bible fearfully, "Only on her arms", Mary gestured by tracing her free hand over her arms, "There were hairs everywhere, like a… really dark, almost like a… like a horse-"

"Like fur?", Heather asked, intrigued.

"Yes, like horse's fur", Mary recalled. Josh wiggled his eyebrows at Mike. Mike smirked loudly by mistake. Heather glared at him.

"But on her arms she had, like, a shawl", Mary informed the trio.

"And she scared you?", Heather asked her, "She intimidated you?"

"And, uh… she didn't say anything", Mary frowned at the memory, "But she just kept staring, and she opened up her shawl…"

"I can see where this is going!", Mike whispered to Josh, "Lesbian action!", and with that both men spluttered with laughter.

"Do you mind?", Heather mouthed at them as Mary shook at the memory, oblivious to the joke between Mike and Josh.

"And what was under there?", Heather enquired. Josh was close to tears with laughter. Heather's face grew a scarlet colour as she tried to remain in control as not to strangle the two immature men right there and then.

"… and under there was hair on her body! Like a horse", Mary exclaimed.

"So… she was hairy from head to foot?", Heather persisted.

"Yes, and on her legs, yo-you can see that she was a female…"

"What about her face?" Heather asked.

"Jesus, if her body was as hairy as fuck", Mike muttered to Josh, "Imagine the pain she'd go through to get her eyebrows plucked!"

The two men spluttered with laughter once more. The smile on Heather's face was becoming very strained, and this time Mary was staring at the two men with a shocked expression on her face.

"It was kind of, like… strange looking", Mary described, and from then on the comedy suddenly died down as the trio watched the elderly woman slowly sit down on the bench on her front porch, her hands desperately clutching her bible, her eyes filled with fear over the memories…

Mike wished he had taken Mary Brown seriously when she described the Blair Witch to the filmmakers earlier that weekend. He never knew that he would be, nor would he have wished to be standing right in front of her at that very moment. Once again. The woman picked at the openings of her cloak and slowly began to remove it. Mike shut his eyes determinedly.

"No!", Mike shouted, "I won't look!"

"Come on, Mike", a small voice piped up from behind, "It isn't too bad"

Mike spun around and there behind him were four infants dressed in immaculate white clothing. The scene would have been quite reassuring for Mike if it not for the fact that each child did not have any pupils in their eyes; instead their eyes remained startling white, haunting, glowing.

"Who are you?", he croaked. The four children, two males and two females, stared impassively at him.

"We're the children from the basement", one female informed him, "Don't you remember the story, Mike?"

"Oh shit!", Mike whimpered.

"Of course you do, Mike", one infant male said slowly, "And thanks to your help, we now have two more children to add to her collection"

"Who's collection?", Mike whispered, although he had a fair idea.

"Why", the woman suddenly announced in a calm, soothing voice, "My collection, of course"

"No!", Mike shouted, "I only agreed to play a small part in this! You will not hurt us! You're simply a figment of our imaginations! You can't…"

"Can't I?", the woman asked and began to circle around Mike in a floating manner as the four children stood back and watched, giggling, "Getting you to throw the map in the river was all very well, but I need you to carry out another task for me, Mike"

"I won't do it!", Mike screamed desperately, "Heather! Josh!"

"They can't hear you", the Witch explained, "As I was saying, all I need is your assistance, and that's it"

"And what's that?"

"All I need you to do is to make sure Heather and Josh find you here and stay here until morning. Is that understood?"

"Bu-but why?"

"I need my spirit to stay alive, Mike", the witch soothed. She licked her lips hungrily and suddenly revealed her sharp, fanged, gleaming teeth, "I. Crave. Blood"

"Don't you dare!", Mike howled, "Why don't you just kill me instead?"

"Why not?", the Witch smirked, "What a brilliant suggestion!"

The four children giggled. The Witch backed away slightly, her cloak slipping from her shoulders, ready to lunge towards him.

"How sweet", she commented, "A young man's blood. Ripe… juicy…"

"Okay, fine!", Mike snapped, admitting to himself that he was not prepared for death at all, "Don't kill me! But I'm not endangering my friends, so forget the idea of me helping you out"

The Witch pulled back, smiling knowingly.

"That's just as well, Mike, since I had no intention of killing you", she reassured him, "So what do you say? If you do this one task, I won't kill you. Just like we agreed in the first place. I'll show you the way out of here and you'll be a free man once more"

Mike hesitated. He didn't want to kill Heather and Josh. But if they were the ticket to get out of the never-ending woods...

He reached a decision

"Promise?", he whimpered. The Witch stroked his right cheek with her hairy hand.

"You have my word"

Mike fell to the ground in fear, tears pouring down his face as he secretly felt relieved that he had chosen his own life over Heather's and Josh's. The Witch watched him with admiration for a few moments until she heard voices approaching in their direction, her eyes widening with hunger and excitement.

"Guh!", Mike could hear Heather cry, "Oh, shit!"

"Your friends are here", the Witch informed him unnecessarily, "I'll be making sure that you'll keep to your word"

Mike didn't dare say another word as he trembled in the freezing cold of the night. The Witch knelt down beside him. The four children gathered around him, as though they were forming a human hex.

"Because from here on out you're in my territory", she whispered threateningly into his frozen ear, "And you can't ever leave… until you become a good boy and do as I say", and with that the Blair Witch leaned forward and licked the left side of Mike's face, causing him to whimper and crouch into a small heap on the ground. Mike remained that way until all he could hear was Heather and Josh rapidly approaching. When he dared to peek at his surroundings, Mike noticed that the Blair Witch and the children were gone, leaving him on his own.

"Mike, where are you going?", Heather shouted. Mike slowly stood up from his position, fearful in case the Blair Witch would create a sudden attack on him. The area remained still instead of the lights from the cameras shaking towards him. Mike ushered Heather and Josh to where he was, glad that his friends were safe… for now.

But he couldn't shake the idea out of his mind. Did he really want to sacrifice his friends to the Witch? Or was he just being selfish, not wanting to die? After all, Heather had dragged him into the Woods when he never intended to go in the first place, and Josh was becoming more pathetic as each day went by; moaning and complaining that they couldn't find their way of the woods - like they really needed to be reminded about that…

And did he want to die?

Mike pondered. He badly wanted to go home… and yet, he couldn't just leave his friends behind…

Was he prepared to die…?

There was only one thing to do.

"Over here!", Mike hissed to Heather, "Turn the lights off! Turn the lights off! Turn the light off!"

Josh followed closely behind.

"Turn that light off, Josh!", Mike hissed. Josh, afraid, nodded and obediently switched the light off. The trio huddled together, silently listening to any tell-tale hints of the haunting sounds returning to them. After a few minutes, there was complete and utter silence except for the constant natural sounds that took place in the woods every day.

"What the fuck is going on?", Josh hissed. Mike knew, but he wasn't going to tell. Anyone. At all.

"Did you hear that baby screaming?", Heather dared whisper.

"Shh! There's no fucking baby out there, there's no fucking baby out there", Mike reassured her, hoping to keep Heather with him as the Blair Witch did her business back at their tent.

"Oh, my God, it's cold!", Josh whispered. Like they could do anything about that!

"We should be quiet", Heather whispered. Feeling relieved that she intended to stay where the trio stood, Mike agreed with her.

"Yeah, we should be quiet", he nodded, "Let's just stay here just now"

Josh and Heather didn't argue and the three filmmakers stayed very still and remained in the same spot until dawn approached the next day. Mike knew he was doing the worst possible thing to his friends, but he had made an agreement with the Blair Witch and he desperately wanted to go home.

"I don't hear anything anymore", Heather muttered with fatigue, "I think we should go back"

Knowing that the Blair Witch would have finished her business for that night, Mike reluctantly agreed, knowing about the inevitable events that were to occur later on in the week for his two doomed friends. But for now, he had to act his part and continue his task.

"Yeah, I think we should", he muttered back, "Let's go…"

The Blair Witch watched nearby, hidden in the trees, licking her lips with satisfaction.

No doubt about it, Mike was her favourite.

Her special child…