MEGAN

Chapter 7

Megan

Autumn, 1988

"One, two, three, four...fifty-one, fifty-two, shit!" Megan cursed as her younger brother ran into her, making her stumble onto the desk, the little shiny stones falling out of her hands and mixing with the ones she had yet to count in the process.

"Language, child!" Mother yelled from the kitchen, glaring at her as she prepared the dough with practiced ease.

"Sorry, mother," Megan whispered shamefully, praying that the woman would let the slip of her tongue go. She wasn't really in the mood for a beating, not that she ever was, but that day had been particularly awful, and the thought of a whooping on top of everything else was excruciating.

Her mother glared for a second longer before turning back to the counter without a word, making her let out a sigh of relief.

She quickly collected all of the stones and put them in her pink backpack before hurrying out in case mother changed her mind.

Megan went around the house and then followed the little dirt path toward the woods, which led to her favorite place.

Well, it was Rachel's and hers, but since Megan hadn't seen her for the last couple of days, she had decided to go without the older girl.

She followed the path for a few minutes, searching for the tree that hid their special place from prying eyes.

It was a regular tree; nothing extraordinary about it except for the two small initials carved into its bark.

Megan remembered the day they did it. She had done something wrong; she wasn't even sure what it was anymore, but she definitely remembered the whips she got for it. She had been crying behind her house, rubbing her sore butt when Rachel appeared.

Once Megan told her why she was upset, Rachel had taken her hand in hers and told her to follow her because she wanted to show her something.

She took Megan to what was now their place, a fairytale hidden in the woods, with its crystal-clear river and fireflies lighting the dark space.

They stayed there until nightfall, and it was the best day of Megan's life.

Rachel had carved their initials into the tree that day and told her that no matter what happened, that would always be their place.

Megan was slowly starting to get worried that she'd missed it when she saw their tree a few steps ahead. She guessed that the track to the place seemed quicker when she had company.

She hitched her backpack higher on her shoulders, kind of regretting the number of stones she'd stashed into it, and started to move the branches that kept their place hidden from view when she heard a strange noise coming from inside.

Megan stopped in her tracks, suddenly afraid, especially when she heard the same noise again, this time louder.

"Oh God, please." the words followed it, and as soon as Megan heard them, she froze.

It was Rachel. She could've recognized her voice anywhere, and the fear grew stronger.

Was she in trouble? She sounded like she was in trouble.

Megan's hands shook as she reached for the last branch, feeling completely terrified but still unwilling to run away and leave her only friend alone.

The branch made a loud noise as it moved, and Megan froze, fearing that she would be discovered and that whoever was keeping her friend there would take her too, but the strange sounds continued, and after a few seconds, Megan forced her eyes to open.