Falling Hard // Nowhere Boys

4: Ghosts

The merciless wind whirls around the shack, drowning out Andy's chant. Jake keeps his hand firmly in mine and I do the same, gripping it tightly like a vice. 

Suddenly, a ghostly howl echoes through the shack and I snap my eyes open.

"What was that?" Jake shouts.

"A storm like this could be anything." Andy yells back.

"This is no storm!" Felix argues.

Andy briefly turns his head towards Felix. "What do you mean?" 

"There's something out there! You two saw it!" Felix motions his head towards me and Sam. I just shrug my shoulders while Sam argues: "Well, maybe Andy's right. Maybe it's just the wind."

Then, the door swings open and the wind abruptly stops. A short moment of silence passes before the door slams shut and the wind strengthens again.

"Oh, come on!" I complain, using my free hand to angrily motion towards the door.

"This is so messed up!" Sam agrees with me.

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm kinda glad you guys are here," Jake admits, and I can feel his eyes on me.

"If we do die, I'm glad we had this," Andy tries to smile despite the circumstances. 

"Had what?" 

"An adventure."  He continues.

"We won't die." I try to sound strong, but my brave words couldn't mask the fear in my eyes.

We sat watching the door of the shack. The wind had finally stopped, but the ghostly howling noise still sounded outside. The warm orange lamp light illuminated our faces in the darkness.

"I just wanna go home." Sam slumps his shoulders in misery.

/ / /

Andy's snoring woke me in the morning. And the fact that my hand was still resting in Jake's. And that my head was on his shoulder. Again.

"Shut up," I grumbled at Andy, forcing myself off of Jake.

"I feel like I've been dragged through a grand final." Jake stretches and groans, jostled awake by my movements.

"You didn't sleep Sam?" Andy looks over at Sam, who was wrapped in his sleeping bag in the corner of the shack.

"Between your snoring and that storm? No chance." Sam scoffs. 

"It was no storm." Felix sighs.

"Oh, what do you suggest then Felix? Zombie apocalypse?" Jake mocks and I roll my eyes at his antics.

"I think there might me forces at play which we don't understand." Felix explains warily, and Jake makes a ghostly 'whooh!' sound along with hand gestures. I elbow him sharply in the ribs, Jake smirking at me in response.

I sigh and walk over to the shack door.

"Taylor, wait," Felix tries to grab my arm and pull me back, but I shake him off. "We need to be careful."

"Look, whatever 'evil forces' are at play, I'm not scared of them, so-" But I'm cut off as I open the door. "Uh, guys. You might want to see this."

Fire ashes circled around the shack in a perfect dark spiral.

"See," Felix nudges my arm. "It's like a spirit force, or something."

"Felix, your brains been fried by all that heavy metal," Jake scoffs, joining us outside and kicking the black dirt.

"Don't do that." Felix warns and Jake rolls his eyes.

"These are trail bike markings, obviously." He proudly announces.