It Lives In The Woods

Chapter Twentythree

Bee shook her head, sobbing hysterically, tears streaming down her face. "No, NO I WON'T!" She yelled, pushing back Noah to yell in Norah's face. "I will not sentence one of us to death." She said with a steely resolve, her jaw clenched in defiance. "You mustttt, you areeee both weak, yettttt strong. Oneee must dieee, or they allll dieeee." One single shadowy finger pointed across the cavern to where their friends lay, paralyzed in a pile of limbs. "You wouldn't." Bee defied, she knew Norah, better than she knew herself, she was the Queen B, until she was defied, that's when she began bluffing. Norah growled, and jerked her shadowy head upwards, Bee stumbled backwards as the five adults on the floor were lifted into the air by an unseen force, and held there, their limbs twisted in painful positions. "Just let Noah die Bee, he deserves it." Tanner growled through painfully clenched teeth. Noah grabbed Bee's arm,jerking her towards him. "He's right Bee, they need you. They don't need me, no one needs me." Bee stared at him through tear filled eyes, finality settling inside of her, she had made her choice. "You promised you'd protect me." She whispered, reaching out and caressing his face gently. Noah fought back tears of shame, reaching out and grabbing her hand gently. "So let me." Bee nodded, and leaned up to kiss him on his forehead. "Do you remember how much we all thought we needed Norah to survive, to thrive in our lives ? We were all so loyal to her, we were blinded by how efficient we could be on our own." she turned around and faced Norah, taking a deep breath. "I've made my decision Norah." The shadows on her face lit up like a thousand dark nights. Her friends all held their breaths, waiting for her to say Noah's name, The Preece family was cursed, but Noah deserved it, he deserved the power to eat him alive. "It's okay Bee." Noah said, trying to slow his breathing. "I'll do it Nor, I'll take your place. They don't need me."

"BEE NO!" Noah yelled, reaching out to yank her away from her fate, the fate that had been lying in the darkness waiting for her since the day she and her best friend decided to explore an abandoned house. But he was too slow, too late, the power was hungry for a new host, and it had found it. Norah howled into the darkness of the cavern as they all watched in horror, Bee could see them struggling, fighting against the power, Andy spraying blood around the cavern as he struggled like a caged dog to get free, even Ava's screams seemed to come in slower than usual as Norah lifted her best friend into the air, "You win littleee oneee." The stalagmites glistening on the cave floor were the last things Bee saw before the world went dark, before the world ended.

-2008-

The police had ruled Norah Preece's death a freak accident, just some dumb teenagers messing around where they shouldn't of. And the creatures attacking the school? It was labeled the biggest animal attack in Oregon history, all traces of Blue scrubbed clean. "This is BULLSHIT!" Stacy yelled, kicking a metal trash can over, sending food wrappings and receipts flying into the early morning air. It had been little over a week since Norah had taken Blue's place in The Ice Palace, one long hell of a week. "What did you think Stacy, that our parents would believe us ?!" Ava snapped, crossing her arms in defeat, leaning against the stone church. "Ava's right Stacy, we should've gotten our story straight before we went to the police like that. I mean what did we think they would do ? Form a demon control force task ?" Jamie asked, shaking his head, looking down at his broken arm. "I thought they would do something! Anything other than sit on their asses and watch as we bury our friend!" Stacy cried, biting her lip in frustration. They heard the church bell dong 10, and knew it was time. "We can talk about this later. After the funeral ?" Andy asked, flinching as he settled his crutches beneath him, his nub gauzed and slightly red from the blood attempting to bleed through. They all filed inside the church, avoiding the judgemental eyes from the pews, they knew, everyone blamed them for Norah's untimely death, but none of them knew the truth. The priest stood at the front of the church, Norah's closed casket behind him, a large picture of her smiling face next to him surrounded by a wreath of red roses, Norah's favorites. "We are gathered here today to say goodbye to an angel who has now returned home. We all know in our hearts that dear Norah is in a better place, that she now dwells in our creators kingdom. She suffers no longer. We all in Crescent Point will mourn Norah Preece's death forever, such a bright light now snuffed out, but in God our maker we trust. May Norah's sweet soul rest in peace. Now Norah's best friend since childhood has asked to say a few words, Bee ?" They all looked up as Bee rose from their pew in the front row, right beside the pew where Noah and his devastated parents sat, Noah detached from them, leaving a Norah sized gap between his mother and himself. Bee stood behind the tall podium, feeling so small, looking out at the whole town.