Secrets of the Forest

Chapter 1. Approaching Storm

A storm was reeling in from outside. The harsh winds whipped leaves off of nearby trees. It was April, and nearby summer was coming. Maya knew this, but she still hated the rain. She just wanted to run into the woods and explore. Her sister, Kaylie, however, didn't share the same enjoyment. Maya stared out the upstairs window. Kaylie was sitting on her bed, looking at videos on her phone. Rain pounded against the glass of the window.

"I wish it wasn't raining.. then I could explore the woods.." Maya said, sounding disappointed. Kaylie looked down at Maya from the top bunk of their bed. "Complaining again, little sister?" She asks, staring at her. "Oh, shut it!" Maya replied to Kaylie. Kaylie rolled her eyes. "Whatever." *She continued to look through her phone. Drawings were plastered all over the wall by Kaylies part of the bunk. Kaylie had the top bunk, while Maya stayed on the lower bunk. Kaylie told her that their rule was the oldest got the highest, and the youngest got the shortest. It was sort of unfair, but who was going to complain? Grey clouds started to roll in, darker than the ones already here. They almost looked black. With these clouds, came thunder and lightning. This was one of Maya's fears, but she had to stay strong. Mom wasn't home right now- she was at the grocery store buying ingredients for dinner tonight. They lived in a small wood cabin, in the middle of nowhere. Correction; In the middle of the woods, miles away from civilization. They had only one car, nothing else to drive. Not even bikes! What twin girls DON'T grow up with bikes?! Outrageous, Maya thought.

"When do you think moms gonna be home?" Maya asked after a while. "I dunno, maybe in an hour or two?" Kaylie said, giving a time estimate. Maya groaned with annoyance. "That's not enough time before the storm rolls in! What then?" Maya asked. "We'll.. then I guess mom will have to drive through it." Kaylie replied. "Yeah but..." Maya started. ".. It's harder without dad around, you know?" Maya said this in a lighter tone.

Not too long ago, their father got into a car accident after a tree fell on his car. It had crush him, and when they found him, it was too late. They all grieved for days on end. Soon, they were supposed to have a funeral for him. "Yeah, it is.. but hey, we're sisters! We do this together!" Kaylie said, trying to encourage her little sister. Maya sighed. "Yeah.." She said, smiling a little. She wanted to get away from the topic of her father. She noticed that her blonde hair looked a bit frizzled. She sighed. "I'll be right back." Maya said. Kaylie looked over at her. "What's wrong?" She asked. "My hair is frizzy again." Maya replied. Kaylie rolled her eyes and sighed. "You and your perfect styling.. honestly, I don't know how you do it.." Kaylie muttered. Maya didn't listen, and went downstairs.

Downstairs, they had a pretty wooden table in their dining room. In the room next to that was their kitchen, as well as another room next to the dining room leading to the living room and the bathroom. They kept their combs in the bathroom, so Maya had to walk downstairs every time she wanted to style her hair. As Maya walked into the tiny bathroom, she looked into the mirror. Her hair was definitely much more frizzy than usual. It annoyed her quite a bit. Maya grabbed a blue comb from the sink counter, and started running it down her hair. A little frizzing wouldn't need a full combing. Suddenly, there was a loud sound coming from the tv. Maya looked at the bathroom door, and then went out into the living room to see what was going on. She didn't know if Kaylie had decided to go onto the tv or not to watch some livestreams, but this was different. On the screen, was a natural disaster warning. Kaylie rushed downstairs. "What's going on?! Did you mess with the tv again??" She asked, running into the living room next to Maya. "No-! Look!" Maya nudged her head to the tv's direction. The tv kept repeating the words; Warning, dangerous thunderstorm on the way! Harsh winds of 80 miles per hour are going to be blowing. Stay away from tall trees! Stay in a safe space, away from anything flammable! Thunder will light on fire! Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! This scared Maya quite a bit. They didn't have a basement, and they're 'house', was just a basic cabin out in the woods. Kaylie looked at Maya. "Now would be a good time for mom to be home.." Even Kaylie sounded a bit worried. "What do we do?!" Maya said, her voice shaky and panicked. "I don't know-! We'll be okay, I know we will!" Kaylie replied. Kaylie's words of encouragement didn't help in the slightest. Thunder struck outside, and Maya jumped. Their mom still hadn't bought a new lightning rod, which meant they were in more trouble. Maya watched Kaylie go to grab a blanket for them behind the couch. Their couch was pretty big. "Maya, I want you to help me turn off all the lights in the house..!" Kaylie said, looking at her with a serious expression. "Okay..!" Maya said. She sounded a bit scared, although she tried to hide this. If she showed that she was scared, there was a possibility that her sister would tease her, and she really didn't want to be the victim of sibling teasings. Maya turned off all the lights upstairs first, which was basically only they're bedroom. Then, she wanted downstairs and turned off the bathroom and living room lights. The house was completely dark by the time Maya was done, and it scared her a bit. She stepped into the living room, going on the couch to sit next to Kaylie. It was starting to get cold in the house. Maybe the power had went out?? She couldn't be certain, since the lights were out. She didn't want to flick one of the lights on to check, she could get electrocuted.. maybe? Whatever! Kaylie and Maya were both next to each other with a blanket wrapped around the both of them. Bolts of lightning were growing closer and closer, they could tell because they were getting louder. The rain had stopped pounding on the roof, they could tell because there was no echo sound. Things were still tense though. Lightning was still striking. "I hope mom gets home.." Maya said, not even hiding the worry and fear in her voice anymore. She was certain that they wouldn't make it out of this. Kaylie looked at her. "Mom is probably just under some lockdown at the grocery store... we'll be fine... I think.." Kaylie sounded uncertain. Suddenly, there was a very loud thunder strike sound on the roof. Both sisters looked up. "We should check that out..." Maya said, not sounding motivated, but if it was her end, she was going to go out brave! "Yeah.." Kaylie agreed. Maya felt her little bit of courage slip away into fear. She wasn't supposed to agree with her!! They stepped up the stairs together, one next to the other, although Maya was trying to stray behind Kaylie, it was almost like she wasn't allowing her to. As they reached the top, Maya's eyes widened in fear. A flame was bursting out before them, lighting their entire roof on fire. "Get out of here!" Kaylie screeched, racing down the stairs. Maya felt like she couldn't move, but her feet took one step backwards, and she started tumbling down the stairs. She panicked, not knowing what to do. Was this the end?! No- she didn't want it to be, but she didn't have any idea on how to save herself. Suddenly, Kaylie had blocked her from slamming her head into the wall after rolling down the stairs. Maya felt very sore. She had bumped against nearly every step, and each one was painful. Maya could hear the crackling of the fire as it started to burn one of the wooden pillars holding the second floor together. "Come on, we gotta go!!" Kaylie shouted to her, grabbing her wrist and trying to drag her out with her. Maya was as stiff as a boulder, but followed in pursuit. Right as the two were about to get out, a piece of wood fell and blocked the exit. "Shit!" Kaylie said. Maya was surprised to hear her against swearing sister swear, but it was sort of fitting. "How the hell are we getting out now?!" Kaylie was starting to panic, Maya could tell from her voice. Maya looked around, then saw a window in the kitchen. "The window!" She shouted. Now she was dragging Kaylie to the window. She felt like her skin was going to melt off. The heat was becoming unbearable, and now the first floor was starting to burn. There was a loud crack sound. Maya looked over, horrified before she saw the second floor starting to fall onto the first. When she looked back, she saw Kaylie already outside the window. She reached her hand out to Maya. "Grab my hand!!" Kaylie shouted, fear in her eyes that were lit from the sparks behind Maya. As Maya stretched out her hand to grab Kaylies, there was suddenly an explosion. The last thing that Maya remembered was being pulled, and a lot of fear.