The Wicked of Wicker Woods

Letting go and Letting in

Oh Hi Nolan, you just might be the death of us. 

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"𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕, 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝."

What did morals even matter?

Everyone else was doing whatever they wanted, so why couldn't Anna? More importantly, why couldn't she just move on from the tragedy that struck their town, instead of dwelling over it? Life isn't a Nancy Drew novel and not everyone is meant to be a hero.

Maybe it was time to let go.

Anna was attempting to fight a battle blindly and in the process, she was losing the relationships with the people closest to her. Was it worth it? 

No suspects had been listed in Molly's case and things seemed to have halted. Would being honest now, even help?

The more days that past without her friends speaking to her, the more she realized that her fight would never be won. It wasn't her job or her right to play the blame game, nor was it okay to do so. It was time to cut her loses and rebuild what she could salvage. 

Anna took a deep breath, setting the leather-bound book Reese's father had given her on the white plush comforter. On her stomach, she turned her head towards the clock, it was well past 3:30am and there were no signs of any odd happenings. 

Nothing out of the usual had happened in more than 2 two weeks and she was more than thankful for it. 

Shaking her head, Anna picked the small decaying book up and continued to flip through its pages. The handwriting was small and at times, eligible. However, she was able to fill in for the words she couldn't quite make out. It was odd, seeing a handwritten book made during a time where typewriters were abundant.  

The stories in the book were mostly old folktale, derived from generations of paranoid people. each more different from the last. Though it was an interesting concept for the time period it belonged to. Stories of she-devils dancing down darkened paths, werewolves feasting on children who strayed from their homes and even killer trees sucking the blood from any living thing they could find. 

But perhaps, the most interesting of the stories was the one that didn't have a monster at all. The one about the mysterious disappearances of locals in a deserted forest. They'd enter, never to be seen again. 

It was a funny thing, the unknown. The scariest stories happen to be the ones where evil can't be seen. Which made Annas most recent experiences even more frightening. 

She cracked a smile a few times as she turned the pages, her eyes working from left to right. She had done a good job setting the mood for herself. A few candles burned warm light on her computer desk and nightstand. And the dim illuminance from the Christmas lights wrapped around her headboard spruced up the experience. 

A small tap came from her window near the left side of her bed. The wooden window pain was open slightly, letting the cool air of the night circulate the dim bedroom. Ignoring it, knowing the weather was fierce as of recently, Anna continued to read. 

The tapping came again and it caught her attention, forcing to look towards the window. Not even the sway of the trees beyond the glass could be seen, letting Anna knew it was pitch black outside. 

Suddenly a gust of wind forced the window open, slamming against the outside of the house. The force of air traveling so far into the room, the candle on the computer desk blew out, smoke trailing towards the ceiling.