somewhere in the darkness

chapter 1

"Noooo." Sam jolted awake on his bed drenched with sweat. It had been three days since Sam lost his friend James. It was the same dream that had been plaguing him since the scary incident.
"Oh ok, calm down Sam, it was just a stupid dream," Sam whispered to himself. He got up from bed and turned the lights on. He moved slowly to the bathroom so he could freshen up with a quick shower, and just then, mental pictures flashed in, recalling the whole disappearing scenario. Sam then froze.
"What if James is still alive." He wondered.
"There's only one way to find out,"  he muttered. He took his coat out of his room and headed towards the main door where he opened the door and stopped for a moment and felt as if the forest was alive in a way that felt wrong. Sam felt that the forest didn't only stand at the edge of his sight, but also he felt as if something was watching and waiting for him. From a distance, he could hear strange noises slithering through the night air, a faint rustling of leaves the same sound that he heard before James disappeared then a low guttural sound followed- or it could just have been the wind. Sam swayed back inside and shut the door behind him with a thud.
"No! I can't just go by myself into that scary forest." He muttered to himself. "I'll just wait for the sun to rise where there will be enough light." He went back to sleep, but he barely got sleep. Sam had not yet told anybody about james' disappearance as he thought no one would believe his story. So people started to become curious and suspicious about the sudden disappearance of James, and words began spreading slowly among the people of charlestone.
At school, sam became even more horrified as he passed the school verandah hearing various stories from different students.
"Maybe he ran away, I heard his parents are strict, right?" Murmured one kid.
Upon hearing this, Sam felt like a knife twisting deeper into his heart. He began to move away from other kids and act as if everything was normal. As he moved forward, he heard another kid whispering,
"My brother says people usually disappear in that forest like poof-gone."
Sam became even more nervous, and he made sure he avoided eye contact with other kids and, after making only one step to his locker, one kid behind him suddenly broke out
"Hey, weren't you with james the other night?"
A drop of sweat trickled down his face, and his stomach churns.
"We got separated....I don't know what really happened to him." Sam mumbled with a stummering voice.
The lie began to burn his throat, and he whispered to  himself it's better i could tell the truth -I ran, i left him behind.
The day became long for sam as he had to push himself away from hus fellow students and classmates as well. At home, things became even worse as Sam's parents noticed the strange behaviors from their son.
Sam's guilt continued to grow even more to a point where he began talking to himself.
"If i hadn't run.....if i had stayed, maybe i could have saved him."
"Boy, are you okay?" Her mother asked.