It Lives In The Woods

Chapter Two

Chapter two

"There's no way in hell you're a mom Stacy! Come on, say sike right now." Stacy laughed, shoveling pepperoni pizza into her mouth, "I'm serious! I have a two year old named Alex, he's a very well behaved little man." They all laughed, shaking their heads. "Oh bullshit Sav, how do you parent him, do you cheer out his commands ? B E D what does that spell, BED YAY!" Noah teased, mocking her cheering days. "Oh fuck you Noah, what're you doing with your life hm ? Bee, Mouse and Andy are famous, Ava and Jamie are starting a family, and Tanner's a teacher, what do you do besides sell tools?" They all laughed like wild hyenas as Noah clutched his heart. "You bitch, you hit me right where it hurts, my ego!" Noah sat back in his chair, watching them all interact, just like the good old times when they were all inseparable, and he knew it was time to tell them the truth. "Yeah mom always said that it was Norah who was gonna make it big, become a model or something with all that red hair and attitude." The table immediately lost it's joyous laid backtone. Bee felt Noah's wide brown eyes,Norah's eyes boring into her, and her heart quaked under their weight. "I hate to ruin the mood, and as fun as it's been just to catch up, we all know why we're here." Andy sighed at his words, running a hand through his black hair. "Blue." Sav flinched like she'd just been hit and Jamie instinctively grabbed his right arm, and ran his fingers over the scar on his inner elbow. "He's gone Noah, why do we have to bring it up ? It won't do anything but upset us and bring back bad memories." Bee insisted, her insides churning like a storm. Noah cast his gaze downward, a sadness filling the deepest crevices of himself, "I lied on the phone, h-he's not, gone. He's back, I've seen him in the woods."

-2008-

The door to the abandoned house opened with an unsatisfactory creak and Bee felt goosebumps crawl up her spine like an unwelcome guest. "See Bee, it's just an old house, nothing to be worried about." Norah assured, closing the door behind them as Bee took small, baby steps inside, watching the dust swirl around them. "Who do you think use to live here ?" She asked, bending over to pick up a fallen picture frame from amongst the rubble on the floor. Norah peeked over her friend's shoulder, both examined the yellow, fraying, black and white photo in the frame. The hollow faces of a group of both men and women stared back at them, dressed in the long dresses and overcoats of the 1800s, the house standing behind them proudly. "I'm guessing they did, it's a shock the house is still standing, it doesn't look like anyones used it in years. This place should be falling apart." Bee looked around at the rotting wood, felt the smell of decay fill her nostrils, "I think it kind of is." Norah shrugged, throwing caution to the wind as she moved to the base of a long, winding stone staircase leading to the top level. "Come on Bee, these are stone so they won't give out." Bee shook her head, dread finding its way into her bloodstream as she looked up, into the darkness. "You go, i'll keep exploring down here." Looking back as an adult, Bee would regret this moment forever, the moment she let her friend stray off into the unknown by herself, the moment they awoke something bigger than the both of them. Norah rolled her eyes, annoyed by her best friends cowarderly words, and bounded up the stone steps, taking two at a time, her heart leaping with the anticipation of a discovery that would hopefully lead her on an adventure, if only she had known how wrong her hopes truly were. Norah was met with a great, immeasurable darkness when she reached the top of the staircase, and a smell that one could only describe as sulfur filled her senses, making her gag slightly. "I hope there's no dead animal up here," her eyes lingered on a single, old maroon handprint smeared across the wall, "or something worse." She thought, an inkling of doubt sneaking into her brain as she pulled out her flip phone and shined its dull screen light around like a beam of protection. The walls were covered in ghastly handwriting, like that of a mad man, Norah's blood ran cold as she read the inscription, that seemed to be in another odd, old language,