Shadow Zone

Shadow Zone Chapter 3

When I finally got home after 6 hours of pure awkwardness at school, I decided I might as well check out the woods behind my house.

I walked through my kitchen and dropped my bag next to the table, where a ton of boxes were waiting to be unpacked. My dad probably went to go pick up the rest of our stuff this morning. I slid the door open that lead to the backyard, and stepped onto our porch. I walked extremely carefully over the wooden boards, trying not to fall through the rotting pieces.

Emily was right. There really wasn't much "yard" in our backyard. There was about five feet of actual grass before it was taken over by the massive forest that seemed to extened forever.

I started making my way through the branches, and maneuvered over rocks, until I came to a clearing about 30 minutes later. There was a perfect circle of green grass that was kind of unusual. I really liked it though, and sat down, leaning against one of the trees on the edge of it. This was the only area in the woods I had really seen any decent amount of light. I looked up towards the sky and closed my eyes for a moment.

I heard a branch snap, and my eyes shot open, scanning the edge of the woods ahead of my for any movement.

"Hello?" I asked and then got up, brushing the dirt off my pants. I didn't get any response, so I figured it was an animal and continued walking. And then I heard a giggle.

I froze. It was a girl's voice. The memory of the girl in my yard this morning came back to me and I immediantly shivered. Once again, I felt like there was something I was supposed to remember. It was on the tip of my tounge...

"You can come out now." I said, trying to be sarcastic, but it came out more as a whimper. I heard another laugh coming from behind me. When I turned around again, the laugh came from the other direction.

I was being circled. Trapped.

"August..." I heard a girl call. I clenched my fists. I could feel my heart beat sky rocket. How did they know my name?

"What do you want?!" I screamed, finally extremely frustrated.

I saw a figure in the darkness stop and turn towards my direction. I could only see the outline, because of the lack of sunlight outside of the clearing.

"For you to come back home." The figure whispered.

 It was then that I noticed the red gleaming eyes again. The figure sprinted off into the woods, at a speed far faster than any human. I had the strongest urge to follow it. I ran as fast as I could, trying to make sure that I could see it at all times. It was almost as if I was flying, not running. My breathing was normal, but I could see the trees blur past me.

How am I going this fast?

That's all I could think before I suddenly fell over a large root sticking out of the ground. I flew a few feet before knocking my head against a tree. I saw the edges of my vision start to fade, and then a dark figure stood in front of me once again.

"Who are-" I tried to talk but my speech was slurred and I passed out and my body slumped onto the ground.

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I heard something shuffling beside me and groggily opened my eyes. It was dark outside, and it had obviously been a couple of hours since I came out here. My head was pounding and I could feel dried blood on my forehead. I turned to my side and saw a deer grazing right next to me and screamed, which only made my head throb more.