Daughter of Death - Trip to Hell

IV ⚜️

          I looked around. Nobody. I was already heading for the train station, but I decided to follow the shorter route-the woods. I heard the noise again. I started to pull out my pocket knife.
         "Pocket knife. Great weapon"
         Just as soon as I said that, someone jumped right behind me. I turned around and saw someone I least expected.
         "Heidi", he was laughing. "You want to hurt me with...a pocket knife?"
         He was disguised, very well in fact, but from his twinkling blue eyes and very familiar accent, I knew exactly who he was.
         "Jay Wood", I called. "What the heck are you doing here? "
         "Long story", he replied, while he removed his disguise, "but I was mainly running from home, then I saw you running around in the woods here, so I joined in"
         "Why were you running from home?"
         He stared at me intensely and frowned. "Long story", he said, and then he looked away. I figured he didn't want to talk about it.
         "I'm actually not running away. My mom sent me on an errand"
         He arched an eyebrow. "In the woods? "
         My cheeks flushed. "Okay, fine. I'm trying to find a way to bring Lina back"
         "She's dead. There's nothing we can do"
         "How are you so sure?"
         Jay pursed his lips. "I just know it"
         "Well, she isn't dead. At least, not yet"
         "What makes you think so?"
         "My mother thinks so"
         I told him about what my mom and I talked about until we got to the train station.
         "So you think...this guy-your dad can bring Li back?"
         "Yep", I responded. "About ninety-five percent sure"
         "Really?"
         "Yep"
         "Whatever. Now someone has to pay for the ride"
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         We had entered the train. We were meant to stop at Santa Fe, in New Mexico. We sat down beside a chubby lady and her luggage. We were silent for a few minutes, until Jay moved to another seat. Nobody seemed to be complaining, so I joined him, and as soon as I did, Jay started asking questions.
         "How exactly do you know where he is"
         "I really don't. My mom just gave me a really unreliable address"
         I showed him the slip. He stared at me in disbelief.
         "Are you kidding?", he asked. "So I just followed you to a basically unknown destination? "
         "Exactly". I sighed. "She couldn't tell me how to find him, so I'm left on my own"
         "Not really. You've got me now. We're in this together"
         I smiled at him, and he smiled back.
         Two hours later, we got off the train. As we came out of the second station, we looked around. It was so much different from California.
         "What an excuse to travel around", Jay said.
         I laughed. "You're probably right. This is definitely much better than school"
         "I mean, visiting new places is fun"
         "Yeah, this is actually my first time going anywhere"
         He turned to look at me. "Really?"
         "Yes, really. I told you before, my parents didn't have time to take me anywhere"
         "Yeah, I remember that. At least, now you can"
         We walked deeper into the woods for a few hours of silence. We were getting hungry and tired, and besides, it was getting late. Jay took off his backpack, which somehow I hadn't noticed on him - mainly because it was part of his disguise. He put down his backpack and started to pull out all sorts of goodies- chocolate bars, biscuits, toffees, licorice and lots of other things. I looked at the snacks, and then at Jay. I didn't know he was such a sweet tooth.
         "Are you sure you can handle all that sugar?"
         He winked at me, and I couldn't help myself from laughing.
         "If I can't", he said, "You'll find a way to bring me back too"
         "Oh really? You think I would?"
         "You want some?"
         "Nah, don't worry". I brought out my own snacks. "I came prepared"
         "To think I was the only one who could handle a sugar rush"
         "You are. Mine isn't as much as yours"
         We opened the packets and started devouring them. He took a bag of potato chips from me, so I took some chocolates and licorice from Jay. We had soon finished it all. Even though this wasn't a very healthy meal, we still laid on the soft, wet earth happily.
         "Wow", Jay said. "That was enough sugar for a whole week"
         "I know. Now I think the sugar is going to give me a hard time sleeping"
         "Not me. I'm still pretty tired"
         My jaw dropped. "How exactly does your body work? "
         He shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I'm just used to it. Ready to sleep?"
         "Yes". I pulled out a green blanket, just the color of the grass.
         Jay smirked. "Did your mom help you pack?". He said it as a joke, but he didn't sound so happy. I guess that's what stopped me from glaring at him. Jay brought out a sleeping bag and crawled into it. I laid down, and wrapped myself with the blanket. I looked up at the stars.
         "I've never gone camping before", I told Jay.
         "Me neither"
         "It's nice, even without a tent, or a fire"
         "Yeah"
         Everything fell silent for a while. A thought quickly flashed through my mind. I was suspended, so I didn't need to worry about going to school (Thank goodness), but Jay wasn't. Then, I remembered he told me something.
         "Jay? "
         "Yeah?". He sounded sleepy.
         "Why did you run from home?"
         He didn't answer me. I turned my head to look at him. He had fallen asleep.
         "He really doesn't want to talk about it", I said to myself.
         And soon enough, I had also closed my eyes.
                           🔸️🔸️🔸️
       
         I looked around. It was a strange place. I had no idea where I was, or how I got there. I tried to move, but I couldn't. I seemed to be glued in place.
         "A dream. It has to be a dream"
         Suddenly my sight was clear. I was standing in the middle of a field, that never seemed to end. All around me, were people- gloomy, lifeless people. Nobody was doing anything. There was no sky, and there didn't seem to be any floor, but I was definitely standing on something. Whatever I was standing on was surrounded by a thick, green mist. In the blink of an eye, one of the lifeless people had appeared in front of me. She- the ghoul appeared to be a she- was about my height, but slightly taller. She wore a black cloak, which covered everywhere, from her neck, to her toes. Her face wasn't steady, but as I looked at her closely, she started to resemble my best friend.
         "Lina!", I called. "You're not dead"
         "I guess so", she said. "But what happened? "
         "I...I...um...", I stammered. "I really don't know, but I'll get you out"
         "I really don't understand". Her form flickered from a ghoul to her normal self - her long, light brown hair spread across her shoulders, her white t-shirt and blue jeans. She looked like Lina- the true Lina, for a few seconds, but then she changed back to her ghost form.
         "I just appeared here. Everyone here seems so lifeless and weird, and every once in a while, somebody disintegrates"
         I gulped. "Don't worry, Li. I'll get you out of here. I promise"
         "No, Heidi. That...doesn't seem right. Maybe you should just leave me be"
         "What? Leave you...I can't just leave you here"
         "Please..."
         "Wake up!"
         I woke up in cold sweat. I looked up at the sky. It was dawn. I turned my head to look at Jay.
         "Boy, are you hard to wake. Come on, let's go"
         I followed Jay out of the forest. We walked to the nearest bus station, since that was cheaper than a train ticket. It took quite a while, and finally by noon, we had bought our ride. Before the bus came, Jay and I were really bored. So we started our usual game of 'rock paper scissors'. Minutes after our game, we got into the bus. We sat down at the back of the bus, so that no one could hear our conversation. But we didn't even do much talking. Soon enough, Jay had fallen asleep again. Which left me alone to think about my dream. Lina had said, Leave me be. What did that even mean? Why would she want to stay there? What did that dream mean? A few hours later, after all my thinking, the bus stopped. When people started getting off, I woke Jay up-apparently he was a light sleeper-and we both got out.
         We walked and walked. We rested after a while. And then we walked and walked. We walked for miles. I was getting hungry again. But we didn't have as much money as we did before. And it was chilly, for some reason, so we couldn't just sleep outside like before. Besides, it looked like it was about to rain. So we continued walking.
         Soon, I saw a bright light coming somewhere from the left. I called Jay's attention to it. We nodded our heads in agreement and trotted over to the source of the light. It smelled like food, like, really good food. We both followed the light and smell like zombies. It eventually led to a cottage. It looked like someone was inside, because all the lights were on and there was smoke coming up the chimney. But we didn't care.
         "Enter?"
         "Enter", Jay repeated.