The Woods

Chapter 20

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Because . . . I don't know," I could tell that he didn't actually want to know the answer.

"She's alive right now, I mean for you, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, so?" He said with a rude tone.

"Well, she's alive for you so enjoy that. From what I'm guessing, it's somewhere around late July or early August. She still has a couple of more months left, spend them with her." I told him more about how he should enjoy the fact she is alive. The entire time I heard nothing come from him. These woods are really large, I thought to myself. We walked for some time.

"Here!" Jordan shouted and began to run. This didn't look good.

"What the hell is this Jordan?" I yelled at him. We were at an enormous, worn of its color, barn. It was a dark, faded shade of red. It had been abandoned, obviously. It had windows, the glass had been broken, and the remaining pieces of glass in the window were covered in thick layers of dust. It had to, at the least, be 30 years old. There were tiles on the roof and it looked, from where I was standing, like most of them had fallen off. Jordan looked extremely nervous. I knew that he was planning on going inside, I didn't want him to but I don't know what's in there. He began to take baby steps toward the barn. He didn't say anything to me the more closer he got, he didn't even turn his head toward me, not even in the slightest.

"Jordan!" I yelled. Nothing, he didn't turn to see if anything had happened to me. It hurt me to know that he didn't even seem to care. I continued to speak, "Jordan, if you go in there I'm going with you." I said nothing else. He stopped walking and turned around to look at me.

"Brian," He started "You're not going in with me. I won't let you." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He wants to leave me outside when the sun is setting, he's risking his own life, and I don't how the hell to get out of here. He's crazy if he actually thinks that I'm not going to go in there. He could die and I wouldn't know because I wasn't there to help him.

"Jordan, if you get hurt and I'm not there to help you, you could die. You're risking your life." I announced. He didn't look like he cared that much. He definitely couldn't care less when I said that he could die. I didn't know what else to say other than the fact that he could die.

"I'm not going to die, Brian." He said positively and pulled out a gun.

"Why do you have a gun?" I screamed at him.

"I was going to try and kill him." He began. "I was on my way here but that's when I was ambushed by them." He said. I always to find the positive side of things but for the past few weeks I haven't been able to. I couldn't resist asking him.

"Well, what if the gun doesn't kill him?" I asked. He looked at me and thought about it for a minute.

"I'm willing to accept my fate." He announced. This was a side of Jordan I had never seen before. It was a much more sinister and dark side of him. He was trying to be calm, I could see right through it. He wasn't calm or fine, he was terrified, he really didn't know if that gun was going to work or if he was actually going to make it out alive. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he doesn't let me go in with him. I am going to distract him, it's the only way. If I distract him long enough, the sun will go down and he won't be able to go in there, at least I hope he won't.

"What were those things that ambushed you earlier?" I asked. To be honest, I didn't know what those things were, but the only thing I do know about them is they are terrifying. Their faces, they're haunting my mindscape.

"Oh, those." He said nonchalantly. I couldn't believe this was the same Jordan I was talking to before. Before he was full of sorrow and now, now he's just filled with...fear. I remember the look in his eyes when he saw those things, why was he calm all of the sudden? He began to speak again, "They don't have names as far as I know." They don't have names? Why not? If I'm stuck in this hell forever, I would at least like to know what their called?

"What do they do exactly? Why are they here?" I asked hoping he would give a long answer.

"They kill, that's what they do." He responded with an I-hope-your-annoyed-with-my-answer tone. I whispered 'smart ass' under my breath and asked him what exactly they kill and why.

He rolled his eyes and told me. "They kill the ones who are able to perceive what's really beyond death. Why? I don't know yet, but I think they kill them because they don't want anyone to really know what happens when you die." He paused for a moment.

"Or they don't want the ones who perceive to tell the others, the normal ones, of what you could become. For example, anyone who is Wiccan and dies becomes reincarnated or goes to the Summerlands. I really don't like talking about religion but when it comes to the afterlife I have to. Whatever your religion believes happens, happens after death. Only the ones who believe in reincarnation and can perceive are the lucky ones. If a Wiccan can perceive, well they just become reincarnated, that's it." He didn't continue going on and on, but he obviously knew more. How would he know about what they do without them killing him? How did he even find this stuff out? Why would he even want me to know all of this stuff? It didn't matter now because what I was seeing was something we both weren't expecting.