Hell's Angel

Chapter Two

After class had ended, I walked home, alone, as usual; like I said earlier, I don't exactly make friends, or even want to for that matter. The sun was still beating down on me as walked through the forest; what little light could penetrate through the thick foliage lit up the wooded wonderland. The path was washed in the golden glow only known to be found in my little town; it was a very unique town, apparently. The little wood animals and birds could be heard throughout the area, singing a nameless tune that changed throughout the day. Many of nature's beings resided here without a care in the world; it was almost a safe haven for many different animals. That was one of the many things I enjoyed about my forest: I loved to see and listen to the various animals and birds.

My feet crunched on the path as I clutched my books closer to myself, the birds continued to sing, and I was too lost in thought to pay attention to anything else. I couldn't figure out why of all people, Mr. Adair bothered to show any interest in me. Truly, I was nothing special; yes, I was a bright student but there were plenty of others who were smarter than I. Still, I could not figure out as to why I was so uneasy around him; surely, my mind must be playing tricks on me when it suggested to me to stay away from him? I shook my head, thinking how paranoid I was to imagine that Mr. Adair would ever harm me. He had only been here little over a year ago but, he really didn't seem like such a bad person. In fact, he seemed like he was just like one of the born-and-raised-in-Temple townfolk; he fit in very well with the people here and I sometimes forgot that he moved here.

So why was I always so untrusting of him? Why did I think that he wasn't just here to teach? Of all the towns to move to, why would he pick such an insignificant one like Temple, Maine? I slowly shook my head, softly chuckling at myself. I swear, the more time I spend alone, the more paranoid I become, I thought. You really need to chill, he's not even that bad of a person.

My feet continued to crunch along the path, occasionally kicking up rocks and gravel behind me as I walked on. The sound pulled me from my thoughts and I paused in the middle of the path; it was unusually loud now. The birds had stopped singing and the animals had stopped their rustling and foraging noises; in fact, the forest was completely silent. There was not a sound to be heard except from the erratic pounding of my heart, which had sped up once I realized how eerily quiet everything was. Even the sunlight had seemed to begin to disappear, despite it being nearly summer when the sun should still be high in the sky.

I looked around and tried to find any animal or bird, just something to help make sense of this unnatural silence. The only thing I found though was more deafening quietness; the only thing louder than sound is silence. Uneasy, I slowly walked forward, shrugging my bag higher onto my shoulders as I pressed forward. My shoes were the only thing to break the quiet and I continued to look around me. Left, right, up, down, sideways, and diagonal, I could see nothing that would attribute to the stillness. I looked over my shoulder once or twice just to make sure there was nothing back there but the only thing that met me was the past forest. What the hell?

I trudged forward, slowly and quietly, careful to make the least amount of noise possible; quite the impossible feat though as my feet was the only noise in the entire forest. I did notice, however, how the sunlight began to fade faster and faster as I neared my house. It was almost as if a giant blanket of darkness was beginning to cover the forest. One minute, the sunlight was there, filtering gently through the trees then, next minute, the light was silently replaced by darkness. I didn't really need the light to know where I was going but, to have the light made me feel safer, more secure. And now it was slowly disappearing.

Uneasy, I continued to walk, hoping that within the next few minutes, I would be safe and sound inside my cozy house. I suppose you can guess that I, in fact, never made it. I could see my house in the distance, just a few yards away when suddenly, the forest went dark. All light was eradicated and I was thrown into complete darkness. No, not so dark that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face but, dark enough that I could no longer see the path. It reminded me of nighttime, when the sun goes down and there's no moon to come out and play.