The Forest

Chapter 2

My eyes felt betrayed because I could not believe what I was seeing. A hand stretched out through the barbed wire opening and grabbed Elizabeth with such force that it knocked her down. She screamed and tried to pull away, but whoever..or whatever it was..didn't want to let go of the young girl. The hand looked covered in blood and it's veins were so prominent that they looked as if they would pop out of the skin. The nails were dark like it just climbed out of a disgusting tunnel under the ground. Her sister tried to pull Elizabeth to help the hand pull away, but it was no use.

I thought to myself, you've seen enough, but I didn't and couldn't walk away from this. It pleaded for me to see and feel for those young girls. I turned away and started sprinting down the cold, hard staircase that screamed whenever my foot touched it. I grabbed for the door handle and felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Matthew, what's going on?" I could hear a voice ask. It was my mother.

"I.. I just..I think there's something funny going on outside that I thought I would check on. Just stay here" I told her and opened the door to slam it shut behind me. I didn't want her to see. I didn't know whether I'd look like a lunatic or not, because I wasn't one hundred percent sure this was real.

When I came towards the back sprinting, the blonde pig-tailed girl laid on the ground crying. Elizabeth has disappeared. Her sister screamed "Elizabeth!" over and over again, but no one answered. I wanted to touch her, just to see if she was real. When I touched her shoulder she screamed and backed away. She began to shake and quiver. Her eyes were darted toward me, although her stare appeared blank like she was lost.

I took the phone out of my back pocket and began dialing 911. I mouthed to the frightened girl, "I'm getting help". It was hard for me to type because I felt my body begin to shake. When I phone picked up I told them it was urgent and that..I thought there was kidnapping. I stuttered because I was in shock and could hardly breathe. The memory of it all gave me chills.

I walked over to the blonde pig-tailed girl who was still in tears. This type of situation.. this type of madness..was not meant for a child. It wasn't meant for anyone.

A police car showed up at the front of the house. There was even a siren. Two policemen came out, there expressions were not concerned at all. In fact they seemed not phased at all at the current situation. Heartless.

One of the police kneeled down over towards the blonde pig-tailed girl and picked her up in his arms. She hit him and whaled. She shook and tried to scramble away from him. He tried to calm her down.

"Hey, get her in the car so we can find her parents.." the sheriff said. He examined the grounds. Again, his face seemed so dull and despite what's happened.. he appeared so unpredictable.

Sheriff turns toward me and says, "You say there was a kidnapping?"

I shook my head unable to speak. It didn't register with me at all. No ambulance, no fire department, just a silent salute to those who were captured into the forest.

"You say she was kidnapped and taken into the forest?" He asks and I shake my head again. Although it didn't stop the dizziness that came over me.

"She's dead" he says and I feel my stomach drop to the floor. He said it so causally...like it was normal..was it normal?

"A-are you s-sure?" I asked. "You have to..to go look for her!" I said and I started for scream.

"She's dead" he repeated, "There's no use in looking, she's gone..you okay boy?" The sheriff asked me and I couldn't believe he wasn't even trying to sympathize with me. I knew this place didn't feel right.

"No" I finally responded with a nasty tone in my voice.

"You're new around her, aren't you? The lucky little family that bought this house? Am I right?"

"Yeah...so?"

"Well", he said scratching his grey beard that surprisingly looked unsanitary, like he's never washed. Now that I look at him, you'd expect a police officer to look better - or at least care that his fingernails were coated in dirt and his uniform was covered in mud. Why was he so filthy?

"Here, you don't go into the forest" he said sternly, almost defensively.

"Why?" I asked

"It's not safe" he barked.

The barbed wire now seemed to represent an even larger barrier. A barrier that even the police were too afraid to cross.

"What do you mean by "not safe"?" I asked, comfused out of my mind.

"Everyone that goes in, never comes out. They never see the light of day again. Walking into the forest is like a death sentence, writing "shoot" on your forehead, going through a forest, dressed as a bear on hunting season - your friend doesn't have a chance."

He turned toward the other officer and said, "You can start the engine. We're going to take her to the station" he then turns towards me and continues, "You just go back on inside and pretend this didnt happen. There's nothing you or I can do to change what is. Happy moving day"

He said all this with an expression of a smirking snake after catching it's prey. I didn't trust him not one bit, he's first on my list of creeps.

Over the course of time I've heard many rumors; haunting growls, shrieks in the night, people being kidnapped - all linked to the forest. Something that was meant to be peaceful, harmless - and it's now the face of horror for the entire town. I've never been so scared in my life and yet I was still curious.