Hidden in the Woods

Chapter 5

     I made it through the woods with no casualties, which was a huge relief, considering I'm a major klutz. I walked up the path towards the Inn. I prayed that my mother was inside, not lying somewhere in the middle of the woods, dead. I climbed up the stairs and stepped onto the porch. I walked up to the door and opened it slowly. I stepped inside and looked around. I spotted a girl around my age sweeping the floor. It was Faith Moon! She is one of my closest friends. We do everything together. We hang out at school, after school and on weekends. She even got hired by my mom to help out at the Inn, since she spent all her time here anyway. She is awesome. She loves the Saturday dress up thing. She would participate even before she started to work here. We even got matching dresses... well besides the color, that is. Unlike my black and red one, she got a green and white one. The silver on mine, is red on her's. They are a little different, but we still match.

     "HI!" I called to her, forgetting my urgent need to find my mother. I ran up to her and gave her a giant hug.

     She hugged to me and smiled widely, "Hey! Where have you been? I've missed you! Why weren't you here earlier?"

     I looked into her wide blue-green eyes and sigh. "I went into the woods last night," I started, "And got lost."

     She looked at me and laughed, "Really? I find that hard to believe, considering you are in one piece! Plus, you're in your dress and it doesn't even have one stain or rip on it."  

     I mentally smacked her. "I got out!"

     "Oh! Sorry! So tell me what happened!"

     I took a deep breath and told her what had happened, "And so then I woke up in my room and my clothes were ripped and dirty. That alone proves it was real!"

     "Okay, so you think that the black shape is your mom and that she's dead? That's horrible! We have to find her!" Faith screamed, shaking me.

      I gave her a look, "Shouldn't you know? You were here all day."

     She smiled sheepishly, twirling her dirty blonde hair, "Actually, I just got here 10 minutes ago..."

     I glared at her, "What! And you gave me a hard time for being late! You are a horrible person!"

     "Sorry!"

     "Sure you are... anyway, we need to find my mom."

     "Yes, well, Come on then!" Faith said. We nodded and went to search for my mom.

     And search we did. We searched the lake, the driveway, the Inn, and the club house. We searched everywhere on the Inn's grounds. Not one hint, that she, in fact, was still alive.

     "So." Faith say, looking me in the eye, "What are we going to do?"

     I looked back at her and faked a smile, "Well, maybe she is at my house? It's worth a shot." She nodded and we went there. Nothing. We checked the grounds once more, in case we missed any places, and met up in the kitchen.

     "Anything?" I asked her.

     She shook her head and said, "Nothing." She sat at the table next to me and sighed, "I'm really sorry. She might be-"

     Faith never got to finish her sentence. Right at that moment, the door flew open. It was... My mom?

     Faith and I looked up at the door flew open to reveal my mom. What? But we had searched everywhere! How and where had she been?

     "MOM!"I  screamed in relief. "Your alive!"

     "Huh?" My mom looked at me with an odd look, "Yes, of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be?"

     Faith looked at my mother, "Mrs. BlackStone, where were you?"

     "I was at the store, buying food for the Inn."

     "And why didn't you wake up Shanna this morning?"

     "I was giving her a day off since she seemed so distraught yesterday. I even put a note on the table at home telling her that." My mom replied, giving us both another weird look. 

     Oh... I didn't see that. So that's why... Opps! Well, that explains a lot... hee. I smiled sheepishly, "Oh. I'm sorry. Thanks for the day off..."

     "You are welcome," My mother said, "But I see you didn't take it."

     "Well, I didn't exactly see the note..."

     "Oh, Why is that?"

     "Well, I was in a big hurry."

     "Why?"

     "Well..."

     "OH, Never mind Child! You and Faith can spend the rest of the day off. Okay? I told you, so you know. Now, shoo!" My mother told us.

     I turned to Faith and she looked at me. We understood the silent message. Marie Blackstone really meant: I give up! You and Faith are going to give me a heart attack if you stay here, so leave me alone! You have the rest of the day to annoy someone else! So, GET OUT!

     We both smiled at my mom and said, "Thanks!" 

     We ran out the door and to the back of the Inn. We walked down to the lake and sat down on the beach.

     I looked at my friend and said, "So... What about the creepy guy?"

     Faith looked at me, "Really? We are still talking about this? Come on, let it go. "

     I squeezed my eyes closed. "I can't. He is on my mind 24/7! There is something seriously wrong with him!"

     "I agree, He is an evil, sociopath, freak! He should leave before he hurts anyone else! I hate him!" Faith yelled sarcastically. She gave me a look that screamed, "Get over it! He doesn't matter! You can't prove he did anything! Leave it be!"

     I opened my mouth to yell at her, but shut it right away. HE was walking down the path towards them. I silently screamed, 'NO! Why was HE here? Didn't he have someone else to bother?' I leaned towards Faith and whispered, "That's him! That's the guy!"

     Faith blinked. Her big blue eyes were wide with terror. She respond in a worried voice, "That's the guy you were talking about?" She shook her head when I nodded. "Please, leave it alone. Don't go sticking your head in places it does belong! Just....Just forget about it, please!" She looked like she was about to cry. "I-I need to go."

     I watched her in shocked silence as she stood up and walked away. As she passed the guy, he gave her a look and said something that I couldn't hear. She nodded and continued on her way.

     Wha-! Do they know each other? What was she not telling me?! Why...Why did she look so, scared? I shook my head in confusion. I'm sorry, But I couldn't afford to obey her. I had to find out what was going on, especially because it looked like my best friend was in trouble.