Traumatic | h.s

Chapter Five

"A missing person?" My heart skips a beat.

Is it someone i know?

The officers face falls, saddness evident in his eyes.

"Yes unfortunately, The girl's name is Lillian Carter. Do you know her at all?" He starts to pull out a small notebook from his shirt pocket.

My eyes travel back to the girl crying her heart out on the floor. She must have known the missing girl.

"No, sorry i dont." I reply with a frown evident on my face.

Slowly, people start to disappear out of the parking alot as the sky above darkens to a dull gray color. Hardly any light could escape through the mass of clouds at this rate.

I didnt even notice as the officer had thanked me for my time and walked off to another person, i was too focused on other things.

One of those things was across the parking lot.

The Emlin forest.

   I didn't care for any of the bullshit people would say about it but Sam would tell me about the stories. I never understood how she knew all this old shit but i never forgot it.

    In 1986, 28 dead.

   All the bodies were found dismembered and buried in the woods nearby the school, except the 4 that were missing and still are to this day.

People would joke about the small forest during halloween,

The girls come out to play.

Emlin's cries can be heard.

Watch your step.

Emlin was the first girl to be found and dug up, hence the nickname for the large wooded area.

As i looked into the thick woods, a tall dark figure stood there blending in with the large pine trees. The wind would sway the branches back and forth but the figure never moved.

    I could feel their eyes on me, watching me constantly.

   Slowly, the rain started to drizzle over me. Everyone quickly began to rush over to the entrance of the school and through the double doors, including myself. Once I finally squeezed through the doors the warning bell rung throughout the school.

    "Fuck"  The words came out my mouth in a slur as i tried to make it to my locker before class started.

    My bag bounced against my leg the whole way as i sprinted to the back of the building.

   Around me, people began to disappear into the class rooms leaving me alone in the long dark hall with only the soft thumps of my converse hitting the floor.

   Finally, the area of the chipped blue lockers comes into view.

I twist in the combo and on the first time in a while the locker quickly opens with a 'click'. My economic textbook falls out along with my Wuthering Heights copy for AP lit. I briefly grab them both from the ground and slam the locker shut, sending the noise to echo through the empty hallway .

    The seconds almost begin to torment me as they count down in my head for the time i have left. With the quiet thumps of my feet working as a metronome for time, i swiftly turn the corner onto another hall and immediately start to slow down.