Madison - An AJR Fic

Prologue

MADISON COUNTY - August, 1994

It was a quiet night. Peaceful, some could even say. Crickets chirped in the brush throughout the forest, while fireflies floated through the air above. The pickup truck's passenger-side door slammed shut as Andrew stepped out onto the grass.

"Easy, man!" Keith cried over the hood. "This is my dad's old truck. He'll kill me if he finds out that we were out here, let alone if he finds a damn door missing." He shut the driver's door as gently as he could. "Have a little respect..."

"Sorry," Andrew mumbled. "Must have other things on my mind."

"Like what?" Dutch asked from the backseat. "You aren't scared of the dark, are you?"

"No! No, I'm fine," Andrew chuckled, shaking his head. "There's just...a lot to figure out, that's all."

"Mhm," Dutch mused. "A lot to figure out, he says. Sounds like an excuse to me." He snickered under his breath.

"Whatever, Dutch," Andrew rolled his eyes. "If anything, you sound more scared than I do."

Dutch gasped. "How do I--?!"

"Ok, enough, both of you," Keith put his hands in the air. "We came here for a reason, didn't we? If we keep stalling, we're never gonna get anything done."

Dutch stammered a minute, then let out a sigh of defeat. "Fair enough I guess." He tossed a backpack onto his shoulder and hopped out of his seat.

The forest around them was deathly silent, apart from the occasional distant bird call and the sounds of insects. It was almost impossible to see anything, except for when a firefly blinked nearby. Keith looked to Dutch expectantly.

"You're the pack mule," Keith reminded in a sing-song voice. He held his hand out.

Dutch rolled his eyes and reached into his backpack, pulling out a flashlight. "You're...in charge of the flashlight." He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't think there's a special name for that."

"Guess not," Keith scoffed as he turned on the flashlight. He looked over his shoulder. "Any final objections from the peanut gallery?"

Dutch and Andrew glanced at each other, each expecting the other to chicken out.

"Alrighty then," Keith turned his flashlight toward the forest clearing ahead. "In that case, I humbly welcome any ghosts, spirits, and ghouls to this...forest clearing." His voice faltered near the end of his sentence.

"If you were looking to scare them off with your speech, I think you might've done it," Dutch teased.

Keith glared at him. "If you think you're so great, why don't you give it a go?"

"No, no. I'm good."

Andrew pursed his lips. "...If there are any ghosts here with us, show yourselves now."

Every sound in the forest stopped for just a bit too long. The cicadas stopped buzzing. The birds stopped chirping. Not even the traffic from the road could be heard. Then, only a number of yards away, there was a snapping of twigs on the forest floor. It sent a jolt through each of the boys' spines.

"Did you guys hear that?" Andrew asked in an anxious hush.

"Yeah," Dutch responded. "It was probably a deer or a raccoon or something like that."

"I don't know...it sounded heavier than a raccoon. Maybe even more than a deer."

Dutch's eye's narrowed. "K...Keith?"

Keith's gaze was transfixed on something in front of him. His eyes were wide, and he was trembling.

"Do you guys...see...that?" He asked in a whimper.

Andrew and Dutch nervously turned to look in the distance. Just beyond the tree line was a large, dark figure. It seemed almost human-like, but it was abnormally tall, and its limbs were unusually long. When it moved, it made no sound; its arms swayed as it walked.

"What...is that?" Andrew whispered.

Dutch shook his head. Keith couldn't respond, his eyes not leaving the mysterious shape. It felt like it was hunting them. It felt like it wanted them.

"We should get out of here," Dutch suggested. "I don't—I don't feel safe anymore. Can we go now?"

The figure paced back and forth in front of them. It never ventured beyond the tree line, but it was close. It knew where they were, and it was staying near.

"Keith..." Andrew huffed. "Can we go home? Please?"

Keith's breathing quickened. "...I don't know if we can."

Andrew looked at Keith with worry. "What do you mean?!"

Suddenly, the figure stopped. It seemed to stare down the three boys, its entire body unmoving as it watched them. It almost appeared to have a stretched, human-like smile on its face, but human it very much wasn't. The boys were nearly hyperventilating now. They exchanged horrified glances with each other before the sound of shrieks echoed through the valley.

The forest was silent once again.