The Woods

Chapter 12

(Day 5, Madeline)
     My eyes opened and I sat up with a yawn, the sunlight streaming in through the windows in the room. I felt more refreshed than ever and listened to the sound of Mary waking in the other room. I stood and made my way to her room energized.
      Her room smelled of oranges and I sniffed the air as I passed the bedroom door, listening to the old wooden bed groan as she stood. I continued to make my way downstairs and sat on the couch, looking over at the brick fireplace and how the ashes inside lied coldly.
     Suddenly I remembered my abdomen wound and reached down to touch it and felt the rag, sighing in realization. Firewood was stacked high next to the fireplace and I stood, moving over and dropped a few logs onto the pile of ashes and looked around for a lighter or matches.
      I turned back to find Mary holding out a matchbox to me. I took them with a nod and she then moved towards the kitchen. I struck the match and tossed it in, only to realize I had forgotten to add smaller sticks and twigs. I grabbed some fast and tossed them in, grabbing and striking another match before tossing it in and the fire slowly began to consume the wood.
     I placed the matches in my pocket and figured I would give them back to Mary later, as she was cooking and I didn't want to interrupt. I returned to the couch, listening to the various sounds coming from the kitchen and then the sounds of nature, birds singing, the wind through the trees. I tried to imagine a giant waterfall within the woods and a beautiful picture filled my head when suddenly I was called over by Mary.
"Hey, you can eat now."
     I stood slowly and swiftly approached the table, pulling out the chair and sitting. I stared at the colorful breakfast dish, consisting of a bunch of fruits, vegetables, and other herbs. Mary set down two glasses of water before sitting herself. I drank through half the cup in one go before returning to eating.
"Thank you."
     Was the only thing I managed through a stuffed mouth. She sat silently, looking as though she was in a trance of some sort. I took a few more bites, leaving the plate completely empty before taking it to the sink and beginning to wash it when suddenly both of us turned to the door, a knock catching both of us both off guard.
"Go!"
     Mary whispered harshly as she moved to the door. I stood frozen as she began to remove the locks, waving at me to go away. I ducked behind the wall, but watched carefully as she opened the door. It was him.
"Who are you?"
"I'm looking for a girl who went missing. Madeline. Have you happened to have seen her anywhere near here?"
"No, no I haven't, what's your name?"
"Where's Madeline, I know she is here."
"I said, what is your name?" She asked a bit more aggressively.
"My name is Parker."
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(Night 4-Day 5, Diane)
     I watched concerned as Victoria moved her hand along the counter. She looked hesitant to share her story so I prepared to tell her what had happened to me. My mind raced over how far back I should go and decide to just start from the beginning.
"I was adopted and all the while I grew up I had visions through someone else's eyes. Now I know it's Madeline. She's being hunted down, but why? Anyway, so I met Parker and he has been helping me the entire time. I got this-"   
     I lifted up my pants leg to show Victoria the cuts on my leg, her reaction told me she was concerned. I stood, letting the pants leg fall back down. I moved over to the bar, opposite Victoria.
"What did that to you?"
"I don't know, but it wasn't human. I think it might have been something related to my visions, but again, I don't know."
"My family wants to murder me. I found out about their… sick ways of living. They're willing cannibals, I was unwilling, but I didn't know. My stomach..."
     I could sense she needed to throw up so I grabbed her hand and led her around the counter and to the bathroom, where she threw up in the toilet. I stood outside the bathroom waiting patiently for her to finish. Finally the toilet was flushed and I turned to look into the bathroom, staring at Victoria as she sat in front of the toilet, looking broken and sick.
"Should I-"
"No, I'll be fine."
     I helped her stand and we moved back into the kitchen, sitting down, staring at each other in silence. It felt weird explaining my problems to a stranger that I just met, but we had already gone through a traumatic event together.
"I wanted to go talk to Madeline's mom, see if I could figure anything out."
"I haven't seen my friend in awhile, he was injured and looking for Madeline, his best friend. Hopefully he won't be falling victim to the weather." She said as I turned the television on to the news.
"Looks like the weather only gets worse from here."
"Great. We need to go find them, and fast."
"We need more information." I argued.
"You need more information." I sighed as she spoke and I turned off the TV.
"Before we do anything let's give Janet a call."
"Okay." Victoria said as she moved to the phone, calling the hospital.
"Victoria, we need the address, then we'll be there."
      Victoria relayed the address and then hung up and turned to me, nodding. We returned to sitting in silence when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look up and saw the black haired woman standing there, staring down at me.
"Ask him who he is."
     She said yet again and I couldn't understand. Why? Why does she want me to ask him? He isn't even here! She slowly turned and pointed to the stairs before fading away into the air. What does she want me to find? I thought as I stood and started towards the steps, Victoria moving to the front door to watch for Janet.
     As I made my way upstairs they creaked. The cold metal bar in the middle of the spiral staircase froze my hand. I continued up the stairs until I reached the top, stepping into the second floor hallway. Which room? I entered the room I had slept in last night and opened every drawer and checked under the bed, not finding anything of interest.
     I moved over to the closet and opened it, clothes of all kinds hanging, with some piled on the floor underneath. At the top was a shelf, on which a black shoebox sat. I reached up and grasped it, pulling it down and setting it on the bed, feeling slightly bad about going through Parker's stuff without his permission. Hopefully this is what she wants me to see.
     I removed the lid slowly, laying it next to the box. The contents of the box lied still and covered in dust. I picked up the first item, a gold earring. I set it in the lid carefully before moving to the next object, a picture. The picture was a group photo containing a bunch of police officers of the town, many of who were retired.
     The final object was a ring and slip of paper. On the slip of paper was Vivian. A name!? Suddenly I felt like I knew more about Parker than he had let on himself. He had to have been planning to marry Vivian, this ghost woman, and then she somehow died and he quit the police force. The suddenly realization had me feeling weird inside.
     Lying on the bed made me feel better. I lied on the bed sprawled out, holding the photo and ring, thinking silently to myself. The sound of breathing caught my attention. The cold breath traveled down the side of my neck and I turned slowly, staring into the eyes of Vivian. A smile spread across her face.
"You'll know soon."
"Know what?"
     I questioned in vain, knowing I wouldn't get an answer. She just stared at me with kind eyes, silently fading away. Vivian left with a light touch on my cheek. I sat up and replaced everything in that box, swiftly putting it back in the closet before leaving the room, heading downstairs. Chatter filled my ears and as I stepped off the last stair I saw Amber and Janet sitting in the living room.
"Amber."
     I moved over to her, a smile instantly appearing on her face as she reached up and hugged me. The building collapsed right on top of us, I don't want to think of what could have happened. As Amber let go I felt the presence of eyes staring at me. Looking around I saw no one, but the presence was still there, waiting with evil intent.
     Shaking the feeling away I stepped over towards the door, looking outside, before pulling it closed and locking it. My eyes glanced over at Victoria and saw a photo hanging from her pocket. I moved over to her, ignoring the chatter filling the room.
"Can I see that photo?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure, here." She spoke as she handed me the photo, turning back to talk.
     I brought the photo close to my face, examining it. The four people in the photograph all showed a resemblance to each other. I realized that one of these people had to be Madeline. If this is Madeline, then that means she had a sister. I looked around the room until my eyes landed on Amber. Handing the photo back to Victoria I hurried over to Amber's side.
"Do you know where Madeline's mom lives?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I need to see her, it's important."
"O-okay."
     I helped Amber out of the seat and with a few goodbyes we left, getting into the truck. Amber wanted to say something, I could see it in her face, but she kept quiet until she needed to give me directions. At last we arrived at a brick house. The windows were tinted slightly black and the roof looked worn. I guess she must not have money to be throwing around. I stepped down onto the dirt and stone path after turning off the truck. Amber stayed in the truck while I knocked on the door, waiting.
"Hello." The woman asked as she opened the door.
"Hi." I said as I realized that I didn't plan what I was going to say.
"Who are you?" She asked.
"I'm Diane Varga, I'm looking for your daughter, Madeline."
"You're no police officer or anyone like that, so why are you helping?"
"To be honest, I have visions through her eyes. I've seen what has happened to her."
     The woman's mouth fell open in shock, she stepped back into the house, Amber finally coming over, attempting to comfort and calm her down. I followed them inside and into the living room, all of us sitting on separate pieces of furniture. The silence became too much for any of us and I started talking.
"So we went to your old house and found a picture of what looked like you, your husband, and Madeline, but another young girl was there too."
"Madeline did have an older sister, yes."
"What happened to her?"
"We had to give her up, put her up for adoption, we couldn't keep her."
"Does Madeline know she had an older sister?"
"Not that I know of."
"Do you know who adopted the older sister?"
"No I don't."
"Do you have any idea on the whereabouts of this older sister? Any information would help me greatly right now."
"I know where she is."
"Where?"
"Sitting right in front of me."