Irene, My dead best friend [Wattys 2015]

Chapter 28: Death

Chapter 28:Death

Half an hour into our walk and we still hadn’t spoken a word to one another. I was still mad at her for dodging my questions and speaking to me as though I were a child and she probably didn’t have anything to say to me anyway. It’s not like she was giving me any answers to begin with, so why bother?

We were walking deeper into the forest, an area that I had never been in. The grass was thick and squishy beneath my feet while the trees around me were large, the barks so wide, I looked like a speck in front of them. They had definitely been in this forest for a while now and I wondered idly if they’d ever seen two kids venturing around here before. I walked a step or two behind Irene, letting her lead the way, after all, it was her house we were heading to. I tried speculating about what it was she wanted to “show” me or tell me but I was drawing at a blank. I wondered if it might be about her supernatural abilities or those centaurs. Yes! Those centaurs. Apparently an entire army of them were heading our way and here we were strolling casually through ancient trees. It was hard to feel the “eminent danger” as Irene had put it but I had to take her word for it. I had seen firsthand what they were capable of doing to the human body when they had chowed down on that woman in the forest earlier yesterday. I am uncertain however, if the woman was real at all because we never found any remains of her, not that Irene had let me look.

It was a constant state of confusion in my mind and I had no idea how to comprehend these events. Never in a million years had I thought I would have gotten myself into such a thing but then again, isn’t it the kid with the lamest life who goes on all the adventures in all those movies? I was yet to sprout my sudden onset of abs and ruggedly handsome good looks but at least I had the pretty girl in the picture. Well,…okay..let’s be honest. It’s not like I had her, but she’s there walking next to me, besides, if movies are to be believed, I’d be the hero and get the pretty girl in the end. I’m SUCH a fool. I need make believe things to keep me sane, oh brother.

It was during this mental tango that Irene turned around and pressed a finger to her lips and made a “Shhhh” sound. I looked around to see who she was shhhusshing because I’d been only talking to myself in my head and there’s no way she’d heard that madness…had she? She turned back to the front and kept on walking. I wanted to tell her she was quite cuckoo but thought better of it. If however, she was capable of hearing my thoughts, I was in big trouble. No, no, she definitely didn’t hear that. Slightly worried and uncomfortable now, I ran to keep up with Irene and walked besides her.

“We’re almost there,” was all she said, slight fear lacing her words.

“Ha! To think you’ve been my only neighbor this entire time,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood but Irene only looked at me like I was an idiot. I uncomfortably cleared my throat and figured it was best I kept my mouth shut for a while.

We walked in compatible silence for about 15 minutes more and then I noticed the trees thinning out just a tad bit. They were spaced further out and then just like that we came out into a clearing where nothing stood but a large, two story Victorian House. The same house I had seen in Irene’s memories except now it wasn’t white anymore. It had taken over a dusty appearance, the walks chalked with black marks. The windows weren’t a nice blue but moldy green with glass broken through most of them. The door seemed to be missing, the very door Irene’s father had closed on her when he had gone in to beat her with his belt.

I looked besides me and saw Irene standing in silence, eyes wide open, fear etched all over her face. She was absolutely terrified.

“It’s going to be alright, Irene, I’m here with you,” and I moved closer to her, trying to comfort her but she didn’t acknowledge my presence. She was frozen in place, eyes glued to the house. I took a step further, closing the distance between us and reached out to touch her shoulder. I expected the usual where my hand would sit in space but I’d feel nothing, except that didn’t happen. I was yanked off the floor, literally, I flew back, Irene herself flying back to the other end of the forest. The last thing I saw over her face was a morphed mixture of fear and utter screaming.