Forest Of Forever Dead

CHAPTER 1

Hayley

I contemplated my next words as I knocked on the rough wooden door three more times, my patience slowly chipping away as once again, there was no answer.

I was going to stand here and knock until I got some sort of answer on what happened to the two sweet girls that lived in the house beside mine, even if I had to wait for hours.

It all started 2 months ago, when my neighbors suddenly went invisible. I stopped seeing Alex sitting by their porch and practicing on her guitar. I stopped seeing Lily come out to the garden and tend to her plants. I stopped hearing Alex's voice whenever she practiced and I stopped watching Lily joyfully humming her own tune while watering her flowers. Their house was empty, as if they'd disappeared. And yesterday, their home went for rent.

They didn't answer their phones for two whole months, and there was simply no way that they'd moved away without notice or gone on vacation. So here I stand, in front of Mr. Bernes's house. 

Alex and Lily were undoubtedly the kindest sisters I've met in my whole life. They moved in next door when I was 9 years old, which would obviously engrave a memory of them in my head. They had raised me when my parents didn't have the time. I would never forget the day I first met them.

"Scruffy!" I giggled as my dog ran off around on the sidewalk, pulling me and his leash with him. To match his pace, I ran after him, but tripped over a small rock. I fell face-first onto the harsh, cold concrete, wincing in pain as I tried to sit.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, helping me to stand up. "You alright there, darling?"  A woman with a soft Australian accent asked, another one spoke from behind her. "Oof, that must've been a bad fall." The other woman said.

My two saviors had dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, both looking nearly identical to each other, except the other woman had her hair down and was wearing all black while the woman who helped me up had her hair tied in two braids and was wearing a flower-patterned sundress.

"Looks like you have a cut." The first woman said, gently rubbing a finger over my scraped knee. The other woman reached into the pocket of her jeans, handing the first woman a band-aid. The first woman undid the bandage and applied it onto my knee.

"It's only a scrape, love. You'll be alright, yeah?" The other woman said, slightly tilting her head to the side. It seemed like the pain had subsided already, so I gave a small nod. "Be careful next time, hun." The first woman said before giving me a bright smile and standing up, then two women took off without another word.

I snapped out of thought as the door finally creaked open, revealing Mr. Bernes standing behind it. He looked tired and kind of devastated, unlike the one time I'd met him when he came to visit his daughters. 

"Uh, hello!" I scrambled up, fixing my posture.

"Whaddya want, kid?" He responded lazily, frowning at my enthusiasm.

"Well, I would just like to know if everything is okay with Alex and Lil-" Before I could finish the sentence, he slammed the door in my face. His daughters sounded like a sensitive topic.

I knocked more before he opened it again with a scowl. "Please, sir, just let me know where they are and if they're-" 

"They're dead." He stated abruptly.

I froze in place.

"What? How?!"

"I legally cannot tell you. I'm sorry, kid." 

Legally cannot tell me?  What did he mean by that?

He went to shut the door again, but I quickly put my hand between the door to stop him from closing it. "Wait. I won't tell anyone else."

He scowled, but moved aside to let me enter.

Mr. Bernes returned from the kitchen with two cups of coffee, placing one in front of me before sitting down at the chair opposite mine. I was too busy looking at the framed baby pictures of Alex and Lily to notice he was back, and I only did after he cleared his throat.

"The girls, well they've always been very adventurous." He spoke in a low, gruff tone but I could hear small bits of sadness peeking through.

"So they went to this forest to go speak with some of these--ghosts, -- or something. Hollow Deeps Woods." He continued. Hollow Deeps Woods and ghosts, I noted those two.

"It was originally supposed to be a small getaway for the two to have fun and go 'ghost hunting' as they say." He sniffled. "But then I lost contact with them, they went missing in the forest and were only found dead a couple of days ago." 

Ghost-hunting, forest. Noted.

"I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but their dead bodies were found physically unharmed."

"Like...?" I asked, not quite understanding what he meant.

"Like they were dead, but their bodies were fine." He continued. "Their autopsies said it was of natural causes for both of them, which just does not add up." 

Interesting.

"The police threatened me and their mother to keep quiet and not let this news out to anybody, but I told you because they considered you as their little sister. The girls really were great people..." He started tearing up, and I feared that I would too.
"Well, thank you for telling me this, Mr. Bernes." 

I drove home, took a shower and headed straight to bed that night, but all I could think about was Alex and Lily, and how something definitely didn't add up as Mr. Bernes said. I couldn't help but go over the mental notes I made in my mind again.

I've never believed in ghosts or the paranormal, so I grabbed my phone off my nightstand and texted the most crime-loving, ghost-believing person I knew.

Me: Hey.

Seyra: Sup, bitch?

Me: Meet me at the park. I have 2 deaths for you to investigate.