~~~~~~~~
Chapter 1::
I ran. I ran as fast as I could. My heart was beating-- louder and louder by the second.
I slowed down from running, right as soon as I came to a clearing. Where was I?
I looked down at my shoes- falling apart, and covered in mud. Suddenly I realized my head hurt. I put my hand to my head, and felt mud and twigs stuck in my hair. Great. All of that must have gotten tangled in my hair when I tripped over a rock, and fell into a pile of leaves.
I had no idea where I was. It was kinda scary... seeing unfamiliar trees, plants, and what not.
But then I froze. I got chills up my spine. I slowly turned around.
There was a young child standing there. Who was she? It seemed I couldn't remember anything, so I didn't think I knew her.
She walked up torward me, but I didn't move, not sure if I should be scared.
But then I thought- why should I be scared?
"Umm...," I said slowly. I just noticed how much my throat hurt, I definatly need water. Then I finished my sentence, "Can you help me get out of here?" I asked, making sure my voice was understandable.
She just looked at me, and smiled.
"Yes." she said, in the most sweetest voice I ever heard. Then she took my hand and lead me out of the clearing.
• • •
The sun shined to bright, I had to shield my eyes. I moved my hand from my eyes, and looked around. I knew where I was. I noticed the small grocery store, the small movie theater. I was back home. I turned to thank the girl, but suddenly she was gone, I didn't even notice she was gone, and I had no idea where she was. I didn't even notice my friend waving to me at first either. My friend Claire ran up to me and started talking about something. "Where were you?!" she asked with the most surprised expression on her face. "I..um... don't really know?" I said, while walking torwards a bench. She followed me, and grabbed a piece of my hair. "What. Happened. To. You.?" she asked, sounding really angry with me. It's not my fault I had no idea what happened. A few minutes passed. "So, um, I'm going to go home...," I tailed off, while started to get up. She just nodded and gave me a look, then told me I need to call her later. I just replied a simple "yes". I walked home, and thought about what happened. Was I dreaming? I knew there was something chasing me, and I was running away from it. I'm not sure if it was an animal- or even a person, truthfully. What ever it was, was hopefully gone.
Before I knew it, I was back home. I looked at my house, my mom wasn't home from work. Good. I probably would get grounded for looking like this. Our house needed re-painting, the paint was peeling off. I quickly ran upstairs, ran a brush threw my messy hair, and sat down. I stared at the ceiling, feeling very confused. How could this be so strange? I really had no idea what happened, yet it bothered me so much, and I need to find out what happened.
• • •
I heard the car door slam, probably my mom. After a few minutes, she called for me. "Sophie! Come downstairs please...," she yelled up our narrow stair case. I ran downstairs, not realizing I was still a mess from the mud. She looked at me, and I looked back. Only now had I noticed that her hair was wild looking, and out of control, and she had dark circles under her caramel brown eyes. Did she work to much? Guess so. "Sophie, why are you a mess?" she asked, while she pulled a stray leaf from my hair. "Oh, um, I fell while I was running in the woods.." I trailed off, while slowly looking away- just waiting to get in trouble. "Why were you in those woods, I told you NOT to go into there! Haven't you heard of that 'wild animal' running around in the woods?" Wild animal. Then it all came to me. I remembered an article to the News Paper saying that people caught sighting of this crazy animal. Didn't know there were crazy animals running around in this small town of ours. "I'm sorry. I don't even really remember what happened." I blurted out really quick, my mom probably didn't even hear me say it that because it was that fast. She just sighed, and sat down on the wooden kitchen chair. She looked tired, like she worked to much. I bet she did. "Anyway, Sophie, I wanted to tell you that I got a call from your friend Claire, inviting you to dinner at her house." she said, while pulling stray pieces of hair behind her ears. "She said to come over as soon as possible, that she wanted to talk to you. So, I guess you might want to go talk to her right?" She asked, peering at me. "Yeah, right, I'll go now." I mumbled, and grabbed a sweater from the coat hanger, said 'bye' to my mother quickley, and walked out the door, into the windy, autum afternoon.
~~~~~~
Chapter 2::
I walked down the street, thinking to my self, what Claire would want. Probably to know what happened today. I came to the last house on the street, with flowers outside, and a happy-sounding sign that said 'Welcome'. I walked up to her door, and knocked. Not even a few seconds later, her little brother, Sam, opened the door, and smiled. "Hey Sophie. C'mon in! Claire is upstairs in the TV room." he said, while letting me come in. "Thanks Sam." I said, trying to sound less frustrated. I walked up the stairs, into the TV room, and saw Claire watching an interview with some person. She quickly turned, and jumped up out of the chair she was sitting in. "At least you brushed threw your hair. It looks wayyy better than it did." she said, while leading me over to a chair. Thanks, I thought, knowing it would be better to just not say anything yet. We sat there, not saying anything for about 5 minutes. "So, are you going to tell me what today was all about? I couldn't find you after school..." she trailed off, and I didn't hear the rest. "Oh, sorry." I said, trying to make my excuse sound better. "I actually don't know what happened, to tell you the truth." I exclaimed, while shrugging. Nope, she didn't believe me, I can tell, just by the look she gave me. Why didn't she understand? I wish she would. "C'mon Sophie, is that the best explanation you can give me?" she said, while staring at me with huge dark blue eyes. I stared back, only wondering what to say next. What should you say to someone when they ask you a question you can't answer? "I'm sorry Claire, but I told you, I don't know. I don't remeber what happened. I.. don't understand why I can't remember..." I mumbled while staring into the TV trying to figure out a way to explain this any easlier to her...
• • •
Not that long after that, her mom Ella, called us downstairs for dinner. Claire said we were having cheese burgers for dinner. I'm lucky to have a friend like her to invite me over when other people wouldn't. It seems like she's my only friend, I would be lucky to have at least ONE person notice me at school.
We sat down at the kitchen table, and Sam started eating right away, he must have been hungry. Claire rolled her eyes, and started eating with everyone else. Soon her dog Ace came running into the kitchen also, and sat next to Claire's feet. How cute. Claire started asking me more questions... AGAIN. So, I told her after dinner, I would try to tell her more.
After dinner, we went to the park, even though it was soon dark. We sat on a bench, and I told her everything. From running like crazy, to the little girl. She just looked at me like I lost my mind. I probably did. But then she told me something that made me freeze. She said that there was this little girl that she saw once in those woods, a few weeks ago when her and her family went for a picnic.
Then, we both froze as we saw a little girl standing a few feet away.
~~~~~
Chapter 3::
We both looked at eachother, then back at the little girl. I knew it, it had to be the same girl we saw in the woods. We both looked at the girl, and I noticed things more clearly. She had her hair braided, and had icy blue eyes. She didn't look scary, but calm, and happy. She smiled, and I didn't say anything. A minute passed, and I looked back at Claire. We both had the same thought-- what do we do? I turned back to the girl and smiled, and said 'Hello'. She looked at me with those chilling icy eyes. "Hello," she said in a calm voice. "I'm sorry I ran off earlier, my mother was calling for me," she explained, while frowning. "It's okay," I assured her, and I kept on talking. "I can't thank you enough for leading me out of that clearing- I had no idea where I was," I told her. "Oh, your very welcome," she smiled. She was actually very nice. "Um...did you see anything chase me?" I asked, nervous. "No, I didn't...," replied the girl quietly. "I live in the woods, in a cabin, and if something goes on in the woods, so I usually know what happens, that's why I saw you," she smiled. "That's cool," I replied, looking at Claire. Why was she so quiet? This little girl was nice. "Well, I have to leave...," the little girl said, then smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow? My name is Amanda. I'll be back at the park tomorrow!" she exclaimed, while running off into the woods.
• • •
After that, we walked back to Claires house, talking. "I can't believe that little girl showed up...," mumbled Claire, I guess she was talking to herself. "Yeah, I know. I now know that her name is Amanda, and she lives in the woods. When I asked her if she saw anything chasing me, she seemed like she didn't want to answer." I was basicly talking to myself also, I needed to get some sort of thought out there in the open. We came to her house, and she said I could stay, but I told her I needed to get home before my mother would get to worried.
I walked home in thought. I wasn't sure if I should tell my mother about this, but she would obviously see something was bothering me. I figured it would be best not to say anything. I walked up to our front door, tried to open the door, but it was locked. I turned and looked to see if there was a car parked in the drive-way, but there wasn't. Wierd. I ran to the back door, tried to open it, but that was locked too. So I found the spare key, unlocked the door, and walked it. It was dark, so I found the light switch, and turned on the lights. My cat Marie was sleeping on the sofa, like usual. I walked into the kitchen, and saw a note on the table, it read:
Sophie,
I'm going to the grocery store, I know, it's late.
I'll be back soon.
Mother
I put the note back down, and ran into the living-room. I jumped on the sofa next to Marie, and turned on the TV. And that's all I remember, because I fell asleep.
• • •
The next morning, I woke up, laying on the sofa. The TV was turned off, and the sun was shining in threw the windows. I blinked, but I was blinded. I sat up, and my vision cleared. Marie was eating, and it was quiet besides the chirping of the birds. I got up and walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and saw a fridge full of food. Mom must have came back last ***ht, just I don't remember. I got out Orange Juice, poured it into a cup, and sat at the kitchen table. I took a sip of the Orange Juice. I wondered if my mom was awake, so I ran upstairs. I knocked on her door, and slowly opened it. She was sleeping. What time was it anyways? I ran back downstairs, and saw it was only 9:00 in the morning. I grabbed a piece of paper, wrote that I'll be back later, and left it there for my mom. I walked outside, and walked down the street to Claires house. I wonder if she is awake yet, shes probably texting. When isn't she texting? I though, while the breeze became stronger. Wierd, I thought, it was really warm out, but now it was coolder out. I walked with my hands in my sweater pockets and noticed a piece of paper. I pulled it out, and read it, hand it had a number on it. A number? What is this? I frowned, and crumbled the paper back up and put in in my pocket. I looked up, and noticed that I was at Claire's house. I walked up the staires to the porch, and knocked on the door. I waited a few minutes, then her mother Ella answered the door. "Hello Spohie, up early?" she asked, smiling. "Yeah, I'm sorry for coming over so early..." I said quietly, I just noticed I was a quiet person. "No, no, it's alright, Claire's in the living-room, she's on her laptop..." She said, leading me into the house.
I walked into the living room, and sat down on the couch, while Claire was typing rapidly. She looked up, with dark circles under her eyes. "Woah!" I said, "Did you sleep at all?" she shook her head, and waved her hand to come over. "Look." she said, while pointing to the computer screen. "What...?" I asked, surprised, as my eyes widened.
• • •
"Wow..." I mumbled, placing my hand over my mouth. I stared at the picture that was on the screen showing a picture of the girl, Amanda, that we both saw. I grabbed the laptop from her, and sat down beside her, and started reading the article.
Young Amanda has been living in these woods for many years, with her mother and father. She and/or her parents were not seen too often, the cabin that they lived in is basically in the middle of the woods. But ever since these strange animal sightings have accurred, there are many, many reports of a young child being seen. There have been no parents, or adults seen. Just a young child by the name of Amanda.
I sat there, staring at the computer screen. "I don't get it..." I mummbled. "Me too." Claire said, taking the computer back. "I talked to my mom about it. Well, not really. But she said she known Amanda's parents from when they were in school." Claire said looking at me. I shrugged, and then I got an idea.
"CLAIRE!" I yelled, standing up. Claire gave me this look, which was basically saying: quiet down, and sit! So, I did that exactly. "Claire," I started. "We need to find out what is up with this girl. Something strange is happening. And with that 'wild animal'?! Really, it makes no sence..." I explained to her. "So, we are going to go into the woods, and find out what's happening with this stuff." She nodded. "Camping trip it is." she said smiling.
~~~~~
Chapter 4::
A few hours later, we were all packed up, ready for our camping trip. I had gone back to my house, and left a note explaining that I'm going to be spending the night over at Claire's house. I couldn't tell my mom that I was going to be in the woods, I'm not even suppost to be in there. I also left a message on her work phone answering machine, explaining the note. Claire had a cell phone, and I left Claire's cell number on the note. Claire told her mom that she was spending the night at my house. We walked down the side walk torwards the woods. It was night time by now, 10:00 at night. We shined the flashlights everywhere on the side walk, making sure we wouldn't trip over anything. The side walk was only illuminated by the street lights, but that wasn't very bright. We came to the entrance to the woods, and just stood there. Claire looked at me, and sighed. "This better answer our questions...," she shook her head. We walked into the woods, shining the flashlights anywhere and everywhere. We came almost to the middle of the woods, where it was rumored that Amanda lived. I had actually knew how to set up the tent, so I had to set up the tent by myself. After the tent was set up, I got out an electronic lantern, and turned the knob on the side. It lit up, shining around. It was quite bright for being an electronic lantern. We gathered wood, and I started a fire. Claire was surprised I know how to do this, it was funny when she tried to do the same. The fire was warm... cozy... even comforting. We looked around, and didn't see any houses or anything. We decided to look around, maybe find something. We picked up the lantern, and I got out another one for Claire. We walked deeper into the woods,
but saw nothing. But we kept walking. And had come across a huge, HUGE, mansion. It looked like it would be in a horror movie; dark, old, and just creepy looking. I raised the lantern up to see better. It looked just like a mansion from some sort of scary movie... I slowly walked up torward the stair way torward the door. There were pillars in the doorway, raising quite high. I gently traced my hands down the dark pillar. There were spider webs, everywhere. You couldn't look around without seeing them. "Stop!" Claire whispered, basically hissing. Her face was angry, upset. "Why?" I whispered back. We didn't know if there was somebody in the house or not. So we whispered. "This could be someones home...," she started slowly walking torwads me. "I wouldn't want someone touching my house!" she hissed again. "This could be Amanda's home..!" my voice was rising. "We can't just go away, and avoid everything that has happened!" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. "Shhhh!" she hissed once again. But then Claire froze. "What?" I was angry. She didn't say anything, she just stared past me looking into a window of the house. Her mouth moved, and she pointed to the window. "What?" I asked again, but not as rude, calmer, and sympathetic. Claire's hand was shakey as she pointed torwards the window. I slowly turned to look into the window, to see nothing.
---
I walked over to her, and grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. "Claire," I stared at her. "There is nothing there!" she stared past me, and nodded. "There was something..." she whispered, sounding like the wind. "Something..." she whispered, her voice raspy. "C'mon...," I said, grabber her wrist while walking back the way we came. She immediatly went into the tent right when we got back to the campsite. I sat down by the still blazing fire, and stared into it. I rested my chin on my arms which were folded around my knees. The krackling noise was calming, and the colors were gorgous. It was getting rather chilly, and even more late. After a little while, I went into the tent and zipped it up. I crawed into my sleeping bag, which was right next to Claire's. I figured she was asleep, but I wasn't 100% sure. The moon was out, and as I fell asleep, I almost didn't notice the shadow of a small child outside of the tent.
The next thing I knew, I was running through the woods. Like when Amanda found me. The darkness was closing around me; only a tiny floating light shining... or leading me somewhere. I kept running, and came to an opening. The grass looked freshly trimmed, and just like a perfect meadow to lay in and pour all of your thoughts out. A little child was sitting in the middle of the meadow, the moon brightening the dark meadow. She just sat still, her knee's hugging her chest. Her dress drapped over her knees, and her hands rested on the grass. Her hair was pulled into two low pig tails, which were braided. I walked over to her, and slowly sat down next to her. She stared straight ahead, and smiled. she looked up at the moon, her eyes shining like a small child on Christmas. "Look," she said quietly, pointing the the sky. "It's a falling star..." she smiled.
After that, I bolted up. Sweat ran down my forehead, and I was breathing heavily. It was just a dream... a vivid dream, which could have easily been real. I sighed in relief, to see Claire gently snoring next to me. I propped my legs up, pulling my knees to my chest, and layed my arms ontop of them. I layed my head on my arms, and eventually fell asleep like that. I woke up to: "Sophie... Sophie, wake up." I didn't budge, when she muttered "C'mon Sophie, I think I may have seen Amanda." I gently lookedup at her to see her hair messed up, and dark bags under her eyes. "Where?" my voice barley was audiable. "C'mon." she grabbed my arm and lead me outside of the tent. The fire burt out, and the smell of a campfire was in the air. I stretched, tired. She pointed to one part of the woods. "I saw a little girl running around, giggling. I don't know, but whatever it was, was very creepy."
And more coming soon. :]
I know it's not that great...at all. xDD
But I hope you like it...
Edited by Mil Styles, 22 October 2012 - 12:58 PM.
