The Forbidden Side

Lizzie

Lizzie could feel the damp, cold, wet leaves soaking through the soles of her shoes and permeating her socks. She looked up to see the sun running behind a cloud. "It's gonna rain." She said quietly.

"What?" Erin asked, looking at her sister.

"It's gonna rain," Lizzie repeated. And she broke into a run. Running farther and farther away from  the little community she had come to love. She ducked behind a huge tree and used it as an umbrella as the rain started to come down. Lizzie put her hands on her knees and started to breathe heavily. She felt her sister run under the umbrella next to her.

"Why'd you run?" Erin asked. She put a puzzled look on her face and turned to look at her sister.

"I don't like this place," Lizzie answered. The girls stood under the umbrella of leaves for what felt like hours, watching the rain come down and splash on the mud under their feet. Then suddenly, the rain stopped. It was as if a wall of brick surrounded the Earth, not letting any more falling water reach the ground. Lizzie ducked and stepped out of the shade.  

"I don't like this place," Lizzie repeated.

Erin tapped her on the shoulder. "What was that?" She asked.

"What?" Lizzie looked around and strained her ears to hear. Then, she heard it.

It was faint, very faint, but it was audible.  A muffled scream. They weren't alone. Someome else is here, Lizzie thought. But who? And why?

Erin started to sprint towards the scream. Lizzie waited a few seconds, then followed. More screams sounded in the distance. Lizzie started to run faster. As she ran, Lizzie looked up at the tree tops the towered above the rest of the forest. Another scream. The trees started to shake, and Lizzie was expecting birds to fly out. But there weren't any. Lizzie realized that there weren't any animals, well, except for whatever was causing that scream.

Erin stopped short. Lizzie, who wasn't expecting her sister to stop, rammed right into Erin's back. Erin went tumbling to the ground.  Lizzie bent down to help her, but Erin didn't accept her helping hand. "Erin?" Lizzie asked. "What's wro-" then she saw it.

She wished she didn't, though, for it was one of the most disgusting things Lizzie had ever seen. It was  rotten, it was foul, it was just pure hideous. The corpse had long black hair, and looked like it hadn't been dead long. Lizzie leaned over and immediately jerked her head back. She couldn't even describe the horrible stench the still lingered in her nose. But, before the smell blinded her, Lizzie thought she might have recognized the the body.

"Erin?" She called,  "Erin, that's that's -"

"Chloe," her sister whispered. And it was.