Crossed: Clues

Chapter 3

Penelo pulled into the gravel driveway for the park, cursing at the bumps along the way. These pot holes just want to put the sugarcoat on top of my perfect day, don't they? She still felt the adrenaline from her less than sweet encounter with whatever that creature was, and coupled with her annoyance with a bunch of abandoned cars littering the highway like pieces of trash, she felt the need to swear at anything that pissed her off. Right now that was the bumps in the road, that made her lurch in her seat, causing her to jolt the steering wheel. It made for a less than pleasant ride.

Finally halting to a stop in the middle of the park's parking lot, Penelo grabbed the letter out of her bag, pulling out the picture again. She was sure the lookout was around here. Carefully scanning the tree line to see if there were anymore of those weird creatures, she felt satisfied with her safety, and swung open the van door, slipping her bag over her shoulder. The front of the van was badly dented, and coated with dried yellowish puss that had come out of the creature when she hit it. It gave off a weird smell, like someone had left fish out too long in the sun.

"Ew."

Crinkling her nose is disgust, she walked away, grabbing a walking stick, and heading for the trail that was at the end of the parking lot.
The dead leaves crunched underneath her feet, as Penelo walked up the pathway, in silence. Something was off about this forest... It was too quiet, kind of like the city. The way it was silenced made it feel ominous, like she was in a horror movie or something. It's the birds. There's no birds chirping, that's what makes it feel so empty.

As she climbed higher, Penelo could see the lookout coming into view, with Mt. Hood peaking out into the distance. She pulled out her letter for reference. It was exactly like the photo; a small round clearing on the edge of a cliff, lined with a small fence, and a bench in the middle, looking over it. But, there was nobody there. She couldn't help but feel disappointed, and even a little bit panicked. That letter was the only thing she had, and what it said hadn't come true.

"Maybe if I close my eyes, count to ten, and do a spin, everybody will come back again!" Penelo said aloud, in a mockingly optimistic voice, throwing herself down onto the bench. She rubbed her eyes, muttering to the sky. "What do I have to do to please the gods enough to give me one pure sign of humanity? Beg? If so, please just give me one sign okay? I mean, one sign would really lighten up my day. Give it a shiny new light, y'know? Please..."

"Penelo?"

Oh god, it actually worked.

She turned around, grabbing her walking stick, and wielding it like a sword, just in case her god-sent miracle was actually a monster. When she saw his face, she almost laughed out loud.

"Asher? Asher Anderson?"

Her Chem 20 lab partner stood behind her, with his white-blonde hair ruffled, sticks and pieces of dead leaves sticking out of it. His uniform was a little dirty, but otherwise fine. He held a white letter, similar to hers, in his hand. Asher was her classmate in most of the classes she took, and was part of the program she was in, which made her kind of obligated to talk to him. But other that that, he was like the lanky kid next door that you never really talked to, but was forced to be friends with by your overpowering mom.

"... Yeah. That's me. I suppose you got the letter too?" Asher said, pointing to hers in her hand.

Penelo slowly nodded, putting down her stick. "Some weirdo left it to me, on my desk." She handed it to him, so he could read it. "What does yours say?"

Asher looked closely at the writing, and the picture, as if he was trying to look for some hidden message. After a minute or so, he seemed to give up. "It's pretty much the same as yours, I even got the same picture as you." He handed it back to her, shoving his own in his pocket. "You don't think this is just some practical joke the school wants to pull on us, do you? I mean, I've pinched my self hard enough about ten times, and I haven't woken up, so I'm pretty sure this isn't just a dream."

Penelo shook her head. "I'm pretty sure the school wouldn't sick giant ant-like creatures after me, if it were a practical joke."
Asher looked like a lost puppy, even tilting his head to the side a little. "What?"
She sighed, "It's a long story- let's just say that a freaky insect-demon was in our nurse room and I ran it over with the school's van."

"Well that makes se-"

"We gotta get out of here. Just come with me to the van and we'll head back to the school to see if anybody's come back." Penelo puffed, repadjusting the shoulder strap on her bag. "Let's go-" Her voice was cut out by a boom, and a blinding white flash, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground. Penelo's eyes felt like they witnessed a heavy dose of bleach being poured over them. She was pretty sure she had landed on her stick, seeing as it felt like there was a bunch of small sharp twigs up her back.

"Well, definitely not a dream." Asher's voice came from beside her, as he shuffled to get up.

Penelo dared to open her eyes, dark spots dotting her vision. Whatever's causing those rather interesting occurrences, better stop because it's kinda getting on my nerves. Y'know, with my eyes being burned out, falling to the ground each time.... It's kinda unsettling. She pushed herself up, wiping away the twig bits digging themselves into her back. She squinted at Asher, who was looking down at the bench.

"What is it?" Penelo asked.

"Theres... another letter. It has both of our names on it." Asher replied, his face pale.

Penelo furrowed her eyebrows, and walked over. Sure enough there was the pearly white envelope, with both of their names scrawled on the back, in the pitch black ink. She looked up at him. "Do you think we should open it?"

Asher shrugged, "we might as well, I mean, what could it hurt?"

Nodding, she opened it, pulling out the piece of parchment from out of it. Unfolding it, she held it out so they could both read.

Washington's tallest,
is where you'll find the smallest.

"Quick question- does Washington have mountains?"

"I will not. Climb a mountain just to find something, we don't even know what it is, just because a letter told me so." Penelo started walking down the path again.

Asher snatched the letter out of her hand, looking at it closely, as he followed her down the hill, leaves crunching from underneath his shoes.
"Okay....But what if it wasn't a mountain? What if it was a building..... Seattle's Columbia Center is the tallest in Washington I think!"

Penelo stared at him, giving him a "you really memorized Washington's tallest building?" Kind of look, before shrugging. "Even so, who says I'm going to just leave the state and go to Seattle? All for some stupid riddle? No way, even coming here was a stretch!!"

"Wasn't it you who was begging to the gods to send you a sign? This is a sign! What if there's another clue there?"

Even though Penelo didn't like to admit it, Asher had a point. She didn't like the idea of just a letter being left as a clue, to send a few hour's way to another city, but it was the only thing they had. "I... guess you're right..." Penelo muttered, looking down at the ground. "But- you have to agree with me, the thought of just up and leaving to Seattle because of a letter is crazy, right?"

Asher looked back at her, his blue eyes shocked her- they looked more serious than before. "Crazy, yes, but it's the only thing we have. Something attacked you right? A big black monster? I thought I saw one on my way here- I almost ran it over."
Penelo nodded her head, taking in what he said. "Yeah, a weird insect thing. It was terrifying."

"I wonder if there isn't any in Seattle..."

Penelo sighed, looking away from his curious expression. He looked like a kid. She had given up. "Fine, you win. We'll check Seattle out. But, I want to go back to the school and pack first! My only request."

"Roger that, Captain! Just one question- what's that gross looking puss on the van?"

"I told you I ran it over."