The Secret Society of Ryland, Virginia

Chapter 3- The Cottage in the Woods

I opened my eyes and saw only darkness. Suddenly I panicked. Was I still in the cave?! I stuck my hand out and felt around, and I felt a string that seemed to be hanging from the ceiling. I pulled it down, and light spread across my vision. I was in a very small, dark room, not the giant cavern under the forest. I saw someone lying on the floor a few feet a away from me, facing the opposite wall. I moved towards them and turned them over, only to be horrified. It was Byron, and the entire front of his body was covered in blood. His formerly grey eyes were glassy and white. To my horror, he opened his mouth and spoke.
"Dakota," he croaked. Terrified, I stood up and ran in the direction I had come from. Then I realized that all of the walls were gone, and everything was dark except for Byron and me. Suddenly I heard that same rustling wind and saw the pinpoints of light in the distance. Screaming, I ran back towards Byron.
"Dakota!" he exclaimed again, his voice clearer this time. I closed my eyes as the monster closed in on us. When I opened them I saw my mother's face.
"Dakota!" she said. "Get up!" I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a dream. I sat up and held the blanket around me, remembering that I had fallen asleep last night without changing.
"What day is it?" I lazily asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Saturday," my mom said, still standing over me.
"Thank God!" I grumbled, laying back down on the bed.
"I know it's a little late, but I forgot to ask you about your day yesterday," she said. I looked up at my mom's tired, dark brown eyes.
"Why do you want to know?" I asked. I didn't want to make up a random excuse to what I had been doing yesterday. Usually my mom could care less what I did all day, so I didn't know why she was even asking.
"I heard you made a new friend," she said, suddenly smiling. Wait, what? "You know, I've been worried about you, Dakota. I think a friend is just what you need,"
"What the heck are you talking about?!" I grumbled, sitting up again. She better not have been talking about Byron.
"Remember, you went to someone's house yesterday. Mr. Brenton called me and told me. Who was it, anyway? Do I know them?" she asked. Then everything that had happened suddenly came rushing back to me, and I remembered that Mr. Brenton had called my mom yesterday and told her that I was at a friend's house. Ugh. Now I had to act like I had an actual friend.
"Oh, yeah... um... I don't think you know... my friend. By the way, uh... we're going to the diner today. Can I go?" I asked. It was a dumb idea, but it's not like my mom was going to come with me. As soon as she heard Davis's crying, she was gonna run off. And pretty much all he did was cry, so she was out of the picture.
"Oh, really! That's great! How are you going to get there, though? I can't just leave Davis alone," my mom said to me. Typical.
"I'll walk," I replied, dropping the covers and getting out of bed. Suddenly my mom gasped.
"Dakota! What happened to your clothes?" she asked. I looked down. Ugh, I had hoped she wouldn't notice. Under my dirt and blood-stained hoodie my white T-shirt was revealed, and the bottom of it was ripped off. I grimaced, remembering that it had been used as a bandage for Byron. My hoodie and jeans had faded red smears on them, probably blood from Carmen's hug.
"Umm... we... painted. And I- uh- got my shirt stuck on a... tree," I mumbled. God, I was bad at making excuses.
"Well.... just change first," my mom replied, clearly skeptical as well.
She left the room and I walked over to my closet, opening it to see the large array of hoodies, T-shirts, and jeans that were sloppily thrown inside. I grabbed an old black shirt, a pair of washed-out jeans that were probably too big for me, and a grey hoodie with words so faded that I couldn't even tell what they said anymore. I changed and threw the old clothes in the trash can next to my desk. There was no use trying to wash the blood off them. I took my old phone from where it lay on my nightstand and stuffed it into my large hoodie pocket. Despite how much I used my laptop, my phone remained barely used, and, anyway, it was just a super old iPhone that my dad had given me when he got a new one.
I suddenly remembered that my two keys were still in the pocket of my jeans from yesterday, and the claw was still in my hoodie pocket, so I pulled them out of the trash. I stuffed the keys and claw into my pocket and ran downstairs.
I ran past my mom, who was feeding Davis. I opened the door and rushed past all the people out on our street. Ugh. It was warm outside, and the sunshine was blinding. I covered my eyes and ran down the sidewalk, passing all the identical houses in our row. It's kind of funny how I didn't know who lived in any of these. But honestly, I didn't care. My life was basically school, secret society, internet, repeat. I knew that one day it would have to change, but right now there was nothing I could do. (Well there really was, but I didn't care enough to change it)
Soon I ran between two houses and spotted the row of shops and the diner that were practically in their backyards. I entered Destiny's Diner, the bells jingling over my head, and sat down at the one empty booth in the building, the one closest to the door. Suzie Bell-Hix wasn't at the counter today, and as I looked around, I didn't see Penny Ingram either. Secretly, I wished she had fallen down the hatch in the forest. Anyway, the diner was packed today, probably because it was breakfast time. I didn't see anyone from the society, but I did see Nate Jones along with a group of annoying boys in the corner, so I slouched down in my booth. Soon a waitress walked up to my table. I recognized her as Emery Martinez, the oldest daughter in the Martinez family, which was one of the richest families in Ryland. But despite being rich, she was pretty much the most average person you'd ever meet. If you're wondering why they didn't choose Emery or any of her siblings for the society, it's because their mom was very... um, let's just say... involved in their personal lives. 
"Hello, ma'am. What would you like today?" she asked me in a rather monotonous voice, looking like she wanted to leave as soon as possible. All the waitresses at the diner knew me, and not exactly in a friendly way.
"I'll have a vanilla milkshake," I said, just to get her to go away. I wasn't hungry, but I couldn't stay here without buying something, especially when the rest of the diner was packed. Emery rushed off, and I relaxed. This diner was like a second home to me. I don't know why, but when I couldn't handle things I would just come here and sit, sometimes bringing my laptop along with me.
All of a sudden I heard the bell ringing. I looked towards the door and saw Ms. Vann walk in. Well, with the diner this packed she was going to have nowhere to sit. I slumped down even further in my seat, but she still caught my eye. She walked up to my booth.
"Hello, Dakota," she said, sliding into the seat across from me. I sat up. No use hiding.
"Hi," I grumbled. I just wanted to have a calm morning at the diner, but of course, nothing ever went my way. "Why are you here?" I asked.
"To get breakfast," Ms. Vann replied. "But all the seats are filled, so I thought we might as well sit with you. Plus, I do need to talk to you,"
Suddenly, Emery Martinez walked up to our, well, really my table, and handed me my milkshake. She had a look of pure shock on her face.
Yes, I am actually sitting with another person! I thought. But she wiped the look off her face and smiled at Ms. Vann.
"What would you two like today?" she asked pleasantly. I rolled my eyes as she ordered.
Emery came back with Ms. Vann's food. Well, that was quick. But before she started eating, Ms. Vann spoke.
"Dakota, you know the real reason I'm here," she said calmly. I was starting to get really annoyed at how calm she always was, despite the situation. But I knew that I had to tell her someday.
"Okay, I have to explain this quick, so it might not make sense, but I'll explain it better at our next meeting. So me and Byron were going to the diner to find Penny Ingram, and she took us into the forest and then I fell through the floor. Byron later told me that it was Penny's doing and she was controlling him somehow. I woke up in darkness, and I found Byron with the wound on his stomach. He later told me that a monster did it. We finally found the wall and we found a pile of bones. I think they were the missing children. We found Carmen and she said the monster hurt her too. Then the monster started coming towards us and we followed Carmen because she said she knew the way out. We climbed up a ladder and got out. A piece of the monster claw got cut off, and I have it right here. You know what happened from there," I said, spilling the words out so fast it was practically one big sentence. I expected Ms. Vann to be confused, or at least ask me to repeat myself, but she just nodded calmly.
"Can you describe this monster to me?" she asked.
"Um, it's basically a shadow with claws. But anyway, here's the piece of the claw," I said, removing the claw from my pocket and handing it to her. She inspected it quickly and tucked it into her purse. Then she started eating her meal of pancakes and eggs and I awkwardly sipped on my milkshake. I really wasn't that hungry at all, as I usually didn't eat a big breakfast, if any. Then Ms. Vann finished, and she stood up.
"It was nice talking to you, Dakota. I'll pay for your milkshake," she said suddenly, smiling a cold smile at me as she slid out of the booth. I grimaced back. She walked up to the counter and paid. But just after she handed in the money, Ms. Vann turned back to me.
"Just for your information, Byron's getting better. You should visit him," she said. I remained in my seat as she left the building, bells jingling over her head. Well, that was something I was going to avoid. But I sighed. I had definitely thought he was going to die, so I guess it was good he was alive. Then I thought back to how I had cried the day before. Okay, let's just forget that. It's too embarrassing to even think about, so I threw it in my mental trash can. I was starting to get really angry at Byron. Why did he make me cry anyway?! Jerk. 
So with that thought, I stood up, threw my half-empty milkshake in the trash and walked out the door. I saw the forest looming in front of me. I wasn't scared of it, I was scared of what had happened there. Or rather, what had happened underneath it.
That was when I suddenly had an idea. If I could find the hatches, I could show them to the society members and we could know exactly where they were. Mr. Brenton or some other adult could go down there with a rope attached to the opening, and he could kill the monster. Or something like that. But, anyway, I wasn't really thinking ahead. I just wanted to kill that stupid Penny Ingram.
I walked along the edge of the forest until I got to Maple Row, which was on the other side. I passed the backs of buildings as I went. Again, I wasn't scared of the forest, but it was just better to see some civilization instead of trees all around. But when I came upon Maple Row, I entered the forest right behind the Diamond residence without looking back. I was determined. I carefully watched where I stepped, making sure that I didn't step on a hatch. For all I knew, Penny Ingram was watching me from the trees with her creepy controller device, waiting for the right moment to send me straight down the rabbit hole. All I could remember about the hatches was that they were made of metal, but they opened both ways and were flat to the ground. The one I had originally fell through had to have been disguised somehow, though. They were probably just covered in leaves and stuff.
But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find a single hatch anywhere. I wandered further into the forest, but still found nothing. Soon I decided that this idea really was trash and I should go back, but something caught the corner of my eye. I swiveled around quickly and squinted at what I saw in the distance. It looked like a small, dilapidated cottage. I barely ever came into the forest, so I didn't think it was anything super weird. But still, I watched a lot of horror movies, and this was like every horror movie ever. Whatever. I walked towards it. When I got closer, I noticed a large red P spray painted on the wall near the door. I stiffened. Penny. It was probably just a coincidence, but I'm not one to back down on my instincts.
I walked closer to the door. This wasn't scary, I was just looking for answers. I threw the door open, and I don't know what I was expecting, but it was not what I saw. There was only one room in the house, and it was empty except for one chair. There was a little boy, looking to be about six or seven, tied to the chair. He looked absolutely terrified. This had to be Penny's doing. I quickly rushed into the room, but before I could do anything, Penny Ingram emerged from a back door that I hadn't seen. She was still wearing her torn waitress dress, and she was holding a device in her hand that looked like a kid's hastily created science fair project. There were two buttons on it. She pressed the second one, and the ground under the boy gave way. I ran out as fast as I could, trying not to hear the loud crack of the chair breaking or the little boy's scream.
Suddenly remembering that there could be a hatch anywhere on the ground, I climbed up a sturdy-looking tree. Now, I hadn't had much experience with climbing trees, but as far as I knew, Penny didn't have a weapon. I sat on a thick branch and looked down through the thicket of leaves that were pulling at my hoodie. I knew Penny knew I was up here, but she just took a glance at my tree and walked back inside the cottage, closing the door behind her. I held my breath for a minute, but she didn't come out with a giant axe or anything, in fact, she didn't even come out at all.
After what seemed like hours of waiting, I decided to climb down the tree. I counted to three and hastily shimmied down the tree, not caring about the leaves sticking in my hair or the branches tearing my hoodie. I ran as fast as I could away from the cottage, not knowing or caring where I was going. I ran for my life, not even looking back once. I finally emerged from the trees and I stopped for breath, wondering why Penny hadn't chased after me. I hadn't seen her leave the cottage. I noticed that I was back behind the Diamonds' house. I ran along the edge of the forest again, going back to the diner. It was really  the only place I had.
When I arrived, no one else was there except for the staff and an elderly couple in the corner. It was eerily similar to yesterday, and better yet, Suzie Bell-Hix was my waitress.
"What would you like today?" she asked, smiling. I hadn't realized it before, but Suzie was the only waitress who was actually nice to me.
"I'll take a kid's menu," I said. Suddenly an image of the little boy flashed in my head. I tore my mind from the thought and instead focused on the paper menu a confused Suzie was handing me. She placed a pack of crayons next to it and walked off to help a woman who had just entered the diner. I looked down at the kids menu and flipped it over to the blank white side. The only reason I got it was to draw on it, anyway. I never told anyone about my secret love of drawing, but really, the only thing I could draw were weird sketchy portraits. Most of them were of random people I saw at the diner, so they were kind of creepy, but I had a whole stack of Destiny's Diner kid's menus hidden in my closet. I grabbed the red crayon and just started mindlessly drawing. I needed to do something to get my mind off what had just happened. I immediately knew I had to tell the society. I snapped out of my trance and stood up, ready to leave, but when I looked down at the menu, I stopped.
It was a sketchy, bad picture, but I could sure tell who it was. It was Byron, but the creepy one from my dream, covered in blood. I didn't know what was going on in my mind to draw that, but I just crumpled it up and shoved it in my pocket. I walked outside of the diner and noticed that Byron's car was gone. His parents had probably came and got it yesterday after he was taken to the hospital. I sighed and remembered what Ms. Vann had told me. There was no way I was going there without someone forcing me to. He was making me angrier every second, and I didn't even know why.
I walked to a bench in front of the diner and sat down. I pulled out my barely-used phone from the seemingly bottomless pocket in my hoodie and called Mr. Brenton. He picked up immediately.
"Hello, Dakota. Do you...uh, need something?" he asked. I never called him, so he sounded really worried.
"Yes, actually. I need to tell you the truth about what happened yesterday..." and I told him the entire story, even the part that happened today. It was much lengthier than the version I had told Mayella, and I probably shouldn't have been discussing it out in front of a popular diner around lunchtime, but whatever. Most people thought I was a weirdo anyhow, so they would just think I was telling a creepy story.
"Dakota, I know you're probably going through a lot of stress right now, but thank you for telling me about this. We need to find answers to this mystery before somebody else gets hurt. Oh, and there's something that happened to me too," he said after I was done. Oh my god. It had to be Penny Ingram. It had to!
"The Ryland news team interviewed me about what happened yesterday. I made up a story about you and Byron going on a walk in the woods and finding Carmen, and I said that I didn't know how he got hurt. I told them that you weren't available for interviewing, but I have a feeling Byron's parents might want to talk to you after seeing the news tonight," he said. Oh my god. This was almost worse than Penny Ingram. I was on the news! My parents would watch the news and so would Byron's parents and everyone else in Ryland! Even if they hadn't interviewed Mr. Brenton, I still would've been on there. Ugh. I bet my parents were going to question me about "going on a walk" with Byron, and if his parents came... they were going to be disappointed. After all, they were wealthy, and my house was just a dirty mess, and so was I. And my family. I barely knew the guy! How the heck was I turning being from a shadow in the corner of the room to being on the news, involved in one of the most "exciting" events to ever happen (publicly) in Ryland?
"Dakota?" I suddenly heard in my ear. Oh, god. He had been talking that whole time I was thinking about the disaster that lay ahead of me.
"Yeah, I'm here," I said.
"I'm gonna order an emergency meeting. Right now," he replied.
"Okay," I said, hanging up immediately. I shoved the phone in my pocket and began the walk from Destiny's Diner to Green's Groceries. Man, I was getting some exercise today. I really needed a bike!
***
I was sitting in my seat at the meeting place, and for once I was early. I watched as the others filed in and sat down. Mr. Brenton walked up to the podium when everyone had arrived. Every seat was full except for his and Byron's. I grimaced at the empty chair next to me. Both because it wasn't filled and because of who usually filled it.
"Today we have many important announcements to make. First of all, Dakota Sycamore is here to fill you in on the events that occured yesterday during the investigation, and the reason that Byron is not here. She also experienced another event today, which she will explain immediately after," he said, looking straight at me. Oh, god, I had to speak? I walked up to the podium and he sat down. It was then that I realized that I had never been up here before. Eh, it was nothing special. I really did prefer sitting to standing, anyway.
"Hi peeps," I started. Okay, what the heck was I doing? But I continued on and told the story for the third time today. When I was done, I sat down and Mr. Brenton returned.
"If anyone has any questions or has anything to add, please do," he said. Lenny Lloyd raised his hand.
"I know some information about the cottage Dakota was speaking of," he said. I perked up and listened closely. If this had anything to do with Penny, I swear... I hated that child-killing waitress and her dumb pet shadow with a passion.
"A long, long time ago, when Ryland was first built, it belonged to some old hermit who lived out in the woods, but he died in 1999, and it has been out there crumbling ever since. I've been in there, and I've never seen no trap door in the bottom," Lenny said in his usual grumbly old voice. I sank back into my chair, disappointed. I knew he was right, because Lenny Lloyd knew all there was to know about the history of Ryland. Not a very interesting history, mind me, but he was a necessary part of our society.
"Alright, if that is it, I have to go over some things. First of all, Dakota, I need you to go over the missing child files and find the little boy you saw," he said, walking over and handing me the file. I looked through and finally found him. His name was Martin Yang and he was only 6. Now I really was going to kill Penny with my bare hands. She killed 6 year olds just to give her deranged pet some food? Who the heck was she? I decided that I needed to investigate this later.
"This is him," I said, pointing at his file and handing the folder to Mr. Brenton.
"Martin Yang," he said. "Age six. Did anyone know him?" A few people mumbled in agreement.
"I knew the Yangs. They were nice, and they were always really proud of Martin," said Emmy Satsuki.
"Martin was a really good kid," said Ms. Bearer. "He lived in my neighborhood and he would always say hi to me," I almost got tears in my eyes, but not really. I never did. (Except for the time that was currently in my mental trash.) Why the heck would Penny kill a kid this innocent?!
"I have another reminder. From now on, no one is allowed to go into the forest unless you have a partner and a phone with you, and you should try to avoid it anyway," Mr. Brenton suddenly said. Well, I had already decided that I was never going in there again, even before I was told I had to bring another person with.
"Everyone, please try and find whatever information you can on any of these events, or Penny Ingram. Meeting dismissed," said Mr. Brenton, and everyone started leaving. We always left one at a time, and one person would stay on watch to make sure that nobody saw us leave. Today, Marina was on watch, and she gave me a sympathetic smile as I left. I didn't need that. I didn't want anyone to feel bad for me. It was my fault that I had gotten myself into this in the first place. Well, actually, it was Byron's, but I'm not gonna blame everything on some poor injured kid. Wait... not some poor injured kid. Some rich injured kid who I was really mad at right now.
***
I was at my house, dreading the approaching family dinner. My dad was finally home from his endless work schedule, so we were going to have a "proper" family dinner tonight. Like that would ever happen. I prayed that they wouldn't turn the TV on, but of course, Dad did. He never got to watch TV anyway, so wouldn't some depressing local news be fun?
I walked downstairs and I could already hear the TV blaring ads. My mom was making microwave dinners (her best cooking), and Davis was sitting in his high chair, looking grumpy, as usual. I wondered if he would grow up to be like me. My dad was on the couch, still in his work clothes. He practically lived in that one threadbare suit.
"Hi, Dad," I said gingerly as I walked towards the couch.
"Hi, Dakota!" he said, giving me a hug. I immediately went as stiff as a board. Man, I really needed to get used to these. Or maybe I'll just avoid them. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
"Dinner's ready!" sang my mom. She was in a good mood for once. Well, that was about to get ruined. My dad and I walked up to the rickety table and my mom placed our favorite microwave dinners in front of us. I mean that sarcastically. My mom couldn't cook, but she couldn't even choose good microwave foods either. I wasn't feeling very hungry, so I watched as my family ate. Davis was bawling as my mom attempted to feed him crushed-up carrots. He looked exactly like my mom, with black hair, dark brown eyes, and ochre skin. My dad was the odd one out. He had red hair, blue eyes, and freckles. I got my dad's eyes and bone-pale skin (or maybe that was just from staying inside all day), but that was about it. But then my dad looked up from his dinner.
"The news is back on," he said, looking towards the TV. Oh, no. When I looked at the screen, my fears had come true. Next to the news anchor, there was a picture of Me, Ms. Vann, Carmen, and Mr. Brenton coming out of the woods, Byron's body draped over Mr. Brenton's shoulder.
"Yesterday, local teenager Byron Anderson was found with a large wound in his stomach in the forest near Maple Row. Formerly missing 11-year old Carmen Diamond was also found, similarly wounded in the arm. They were found by Richard Brenton and Mayella Vann, and were reportedly with Dakota Sycamore, who was uninjured. We have interviewed Mr. Brenton about this occurrence, and here is what he has to say," said the news anchor. My family suddenly looked at me, and I froze. But their eyes soon drifted back to the TV.
Mr. Brenton said exactly what he had told me; that Byron and I had been on a walk in the woods and that we had emerged with Carmen and called for help, and that he and Ms. Vann were the closest nearby. My parents' eyes focused again on me, but before they could say anything, I ran upstairs to my room and locked the door, leaving my untouched food and shocked family behind. I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes, ready for another restless night.