It Lives In The Woods

chapter nineteen

Bee looked around her, the heart inside her chest pounding rapidly, the sound filling her ears. "Andy ?" She called, throat tight with fear, she could feel him, it watching her. "Anyone?" She whispered in defeat. She hoped dearly the remaining four hadn't followed her and Andy into the woods, this is what Blue wanted, this is how he worked, like clockwork. She remembered the night Norah died, how cold and precisive he had been in choosing his victim, the game seemed so simple, yet no one could win. Would tonight be any different? Would they dare to escape these woods alive for the last time? "I can do this." She thought, trekking onward, trying to catch sight of Andy.
Meanwhile, deep in the woods Ava ran, despite Bee's hopes, it wasn't long before Noah came in after her, the three remaining women slowly following, but together. "What do we do?" Lily asked, her small frame quivering with panic. "We find Jamie and the others and get the hell out of here mouse, we are not dying here, not now, not ever." Stacy assured, taking Lily's hand in her own. "Are we close to the clearing ? That's where Blue had Jamie before, do you think he'd have him there again Ava ?" Stacy frowned, looking over to where Ava had stopped, her back turned away from them. "Ava?" Stacy called. Stacy's voice went in one ear and went out the other to Ava as she stared ahead, too emotional to choke out a response. Jamie stood in front of her, leaning against a tree casually, his curly brown hair blowing in the night wind, the fire in his eyes boring into her. "Jamie...Jamie is that really you?" She whispered. "Ava, Ava I know it looks like him, but that's not Jamie, not anymore." Stacy warned, standing beside Ava, staring at the same man. "I could reach him, Blue can't have a full hold on him, not while holding Paul too." Ava assured, ignoring Stacy's protests. Stacy whipped around in alert at a squeak she heard, but the mouse was nowhere to be found. "Shit, SHIT! LILY?!" She yelled, forgetting the problem with Ava, leaving her friend behind, in a row of trees, trying to come up with something to say, something to pull him out of the demon's grasp. "Jamie, I'm so happy you're okay, I was worried you'd never wake up." She confessed, approaching him cautiously. Jamie cocked his head at her, an act of curiosity. "Wakeee up, canttt wakeee up." Jamie spoke, his voice coming out in a cold hiss. Ava resisted the urge to retch at the sound of Blue's voice coming from her husband's body, desecrating his body in her mind, making it as unholy as the demon itself. "You can my love, you can wake up now, I'm here, we're here." She sobbed, holding her stomach in a symbolic gesture. She yelped in pain as he struck out and grabbed her by the throat.
"Theresss nooo waking up for Jamieeee!" He growled, squeezing her throat viciously. Ava closed her eyes, thinking back to the night they first kissed,
-2008-
It was the night of her party, yet Ava was not in the party mood, not that ever was. Tonight was particularly bad, she'd been egged on the way home from school, and she had struggled for hours to get the egg and it's shell out of her dreadlocks. Instead of socializing with the same people who had laughed, she chose instead to hide out in her own bathroom, head tilted back in the bathtub as she pulled the curtain so any people who came to use the toilet wouldn't know she was there, so no one found her.
Jamie had come to this party as a means of escape, escape the pain he was burdened with after hurting Stacy, and escape the nagging fear that followed him around, day in and day out, the sinking feeling that something was coming. The first hour of the party had gone well, he had drinks with his friends, cheered on a game of beer pong, and even danced with Andy and some of the other basketball players, but all that goodness stopped the second he felt cold vodka dripping down his chest, stinging his eyes. "YOU ASSHOLE!" Stacy yelled drunkenly, tossing the cup at his too. "What the hell Stacy?!" He cried, rubbing at his eyes in pain, but it was too late, she had already sauntered off somewhere else to stir drama, the damage was already done. Jamie, embarrassed by the whole situation and excused himself, rushing to the bathroom to rinse the alcohol from his eyes. Ava jumped slightly where someone barged into the bathroom, neither knocking nor caring about the couple making out in the corner. "Hey dipshit, knock next time!" The boy snapped, taking his girlfriend and leading her out of the room. "S-sorry." Jamie called after them, shutting the door and locking it for good measure. Ava, recognizing his voice, peeked out slowly from behind the bath curtain, watching as he took his drenched shirt off, and turned the faucet on, bending over to splash water in his eyes. Ava smirked with amusement as he coughed and sneezed, water going up his nose painfully. Jamie froze in fear, hearing the giggle from behind him. "Is someone there?" He called, turning around with a frown. Ava sighed and pulled the curtain back, cheeks turning darker from shame. "Hey there party animal." Jamie sighed and shook his head incredulously. "Do you hate me too?" He asked, crossing his arms over his pale, flat chest. Ava frowned uncertainty up at him. "Hate you ? Jamie, why would I hate you?" He shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. "Everyone seems to hate me after I broke things off with Stacy." Ava snorted slightly, struggling to sit up in the slanted tub. "That's a stupid reason to hate you. It's none of my business what goes on between you and Stacy." Jamie felt relief for the first time that day, and grinned down at her. "You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that." Ava smiled shortly, and looked up, annoyed by the feelings that always swelled up inside of her whenever Jamie smiled at her like that, feelings she'd been ignoring for weeks now. "So why are you in here ? Isn't this supposed to be your party?" Ava rolled her eyes. "Just because it's at my house doesn't make it my party. It's everyone's party, my house is just the setting." Jamie laughed, "Oh Ava, you always make things seem so angsty." Ava smirked. "So why aren't you out there enjoying your new freedom ?" Jamie sighed, and motioned to his shirt on the floor. "Yeah Stacy kind of ruined that for me, plus my vision. I think I'm going blind. Can vodka to the eye make you go blind?" He teased, watching as she laughed. "You know for a nerd, you're pretty funny. It's so weird, we spend almost everyday together, but I feel like I don't know you at all anymore. When we were kids you were just the shadow that followed Noah around, you were always so shy." Ava confessed. Jamie looked away, "Yeah well, I just don't do well with other people. But you're right, being in a group is a lot more isolating than it seems. But hey we have right now to talk right?" He asked, squishing into the bathtub, putting her brown feet in his lap. Ava laughed, "I guess we do, what do you want to talk about?" Jamie grinned, "Do you really believe in witchcraft?" They talked for hours, about things light, and things dark. About what they thought of the people downstairs, what they thought of Blue, how Ava' s parents are never home, how Stacy would never forgive him. The hours ticked by without notice, the people disappeared, and soon, the house fell quiet. Ava laughed at something he had said, and the two finally fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of the night. "I guess I should be going, the party sounds over." Jamie said with a frown, stretching with a groan, his joints popping from being squeezed into the bathtub for the last five hours. Ava nodded, trying to hide the sadness in her eyes. "Yeah I guess." She stood up to climb out, and tripped over her numb feet with a squeak of panic as she saw the ground rushing towards her. Jamie caught her in his skinny arms, his bare skin warm against her arm. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her, still cradled in his arms. Ava could never tell after that why what happened next happened, was it the lack of sleep ? The feeling of emotional closeness they felt after deep conversation ? Or some underlying feelings they'd developed in between basketball games and movie nights ? But when she leaned up and kissed him, they both knew, this was right.
-2020-
"Do you remember that night we first kissed when you asked me if I hated you?" She wheezed, the corners of her eyes darkening from lack of oxygen. "I still don't. I never will, even if you kill me and our child right here, right now. I could never hate you Jamie, I love you." Ava stared into the blue fire that lit up his eye sockets, and watched, with shock as the fire died out, and his grip on her throat slackened. "Ava?" Jamie whispered, horror twisting his face as he saw the fingerprints, his fingerprints bruising into his wife's throat. "Jamie!" She sobbed, throwing her arms around him, crying into his shoulder as the two hugged. "I thought I'd never talk to you again." Jamie sobbed, taking her heart shaped face in his hands, kissing her forehead. "I'm right here my love, I've always been right here." She cried, smiling through her tears. Jamie looked around in alarm. "Where are the others ?" He asked, turning back to her. "I-I don't know! What do you remember ?!" Jamie clenched his jaw, his brown eyes burning with anger. "Everything. But most importantly, I know who let Blue out." Ava flinched like she'd  been struck, "Who, you mean.." Jamie nodded with a stiff frown. "One of us. I know this is the last place you want to go right now, but we have to go to The Ice Palace, that's where he's taken our friends." Ava frowned, but nodded, "Okay, lets go."