Tragedy

A Chapter by Jessi

trag·e·dy noun - an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe.

I couldn't bring myself to continue reading the diary. I felt repulsive for invading the girls privacy. And not to mention the strange name similarity between the young girl and Emma

*Emma*, I thought

She obviously had lived around here for a while. She had to know some more information about any previous families that made the grave mistake of moving into this dump.

I soon decided that repetitively asking myself questions that I could not answer was not at all going to help me. I stretched my long, toned arms outward, letting out a long, deep yawn. I was still quite groggy from being interrupted from sleep so often last night. I dragged my exhausted body into the bathroom and stood in front of the bathroom sink. I turned on the faucet, choosing icy cold water in hopes of waking me up. I leaned down, using my pale hands to splash the liquid onto my face. After a few moments of repeating this process, I picked my head up and glanced into large mirror to find a dark disheveled figure standing right behind me. I jumped back, turning around to find absolutely nothing. I jokingly slammed my head against the cold bathroom wall,

"I sure am losing it..."

I let out a long sigh, returning to my bedroom to get ready for the day. I slipped on my black Vans, followed my changing into my khaki cargo shorts and a plain black t-shirt. I returned to the bathroom, making sure to look around before entering, and brushed my teeth before heading outside.

The first step outside greeted me with a cool morning breeze. It was humid, and the bright sun was trying its best to break through the gloomy clouds up above.

My first task of the day was to find Emma. With no clue of where her house had been, I concluded it must be close to the lake. My only bet was to start out there and then move my way around.

I took a somewhat familiar pat, the sound of birds chirping and other small animals scattering about all around me. For morning, the tall towering forest trees made it surprisingly dark. Someone walking through could mistake the time of day to be around sunset.

The crisp fallen leaves and branches crunched beneath my aching feet. All this walking lately was really starting to get to me, which I realized after my calves began to ache. I looked ahead to see the clear, blue lake up ahead filling me with a moment of relief that I actually managed to find it by myself. Maybe I would be able to find my place around here.

I decided to take a well deserved break. I took a set on a large tree stump, gazing out towards the lake. To my surprise, a figure came up behind me, covering my eyes with their hands.

"Guess who?"

They removed their hands, letting me turn around to find just the person I needed, Emma.

"Hey Emma, what are you doing out here?"

"Just thought I would come out to the lake and relax, you?"

"Well actually I was looking for you."

"Oh really now? Well don't I feel special."

"I have a question..."

"Yes?"

"Uhm...Emma, what is your last name?"

"Anderson... why are you asking me?"

"Uh... well... I um... found this diary in my room and well yeah, it was signed by you, wasn't it? Emma, are you um... ya know..."

Before I could finish she burst out laughing, throwing her thin body to the ground in absolute amusement. When she collected herself, she stood with a very serious look on her face. She stood on the highest tree stump she could find and announced;

"It is I, Ghost Emma! Here to haunt you until you grow weak and then devour your soul! Mwahahaha!"

She burst out into laughter again, leaving me confused, sitting there with a blank expression. She collected herself once more, and took a seat right beside me. She took my hand.

"Tyler, you sure aren't the brightest crayon in the box. I was named after my great grandmother. She lived in your house as a child, I'm sure that diary you found must be hers. Nobody has lived there since her and her brother moved out, and their parents passed away."

"So, you're not a ghost?"

"Well, if I were a ghost would I be able to do this?"

Before I knew it, her soft cool lips were pressed against mine, her arms wrapped around me. She slowly pulled away leaving me wide eyed in shock, looking like a complete utter idiot. I managed to stutter out,

"N-No... I suppose not."

She gazed into my eyes, a warm smile on her face along with a soft blush.

"Now, let's stop with the crazy talk and do something fun."

"No offense, but is there actually 'fun' around here?"

"Of course there is, when you have lived here as long as I have, you learn to make your own fun. "

"Then tell me what we're going to do!"

I stood up with a smile.

"Let's go.... swimming!"

"Swimming?"

I tilted my head to the side, a bit confused.

"There's a lake all for ourselves right here, why not?"

"We don't have bathing suits..."

"We don't need them"

"Uhm..."

With no doubt at all, Emma tore off her shirt and skirt, followed by her socks and shoes. All that remained were her pink lace panties with matching bra, and a silver locket placed around her neck.

I blushed a dark crimson, looking down, avoiding eye contact at all costs. She giggled and yelled over from the edge of the lake,

"It's underwear horn dog, it's the same as it would be if I wore a bikini. So look at me like I'm a person with clothes on, please."

I looked up, even more embarassed.

"Alright, alright"

She jumped into the water, splashing around. She yelled over once more,

"Strip and get in here!"

I chuckled, removing my t-shirt, shorts, socks, and shoes, leaving me in only a pair of 'Superman' boxers. She looked over beginning to giggle, finding my underwear choice quite amusing.

"Yeah, yeah laugh all you want. But when you need me to save the world don't come crying to me"

I did a joking around Superman pose, entering the cool water to join her. She splashed around some more, looking truly happy, which made me even happier. I glanced upward at the mountains, finding a clearly cut path upward.

"What's up there?"

"Promise me you'll never go up there..."

"Why?"

"People say it's haunted. Very bad things have happened up there..."

"Oh... Sorry, I was just wondering..."

"It's quite alright."

"Hey Emma, it's getting a little chilly, want to dry off and go back to my house and watch a movie?"

"Sure thing."

We removed ourselves from the water, both shivering as the cool late afternoon breeze hit our damp skin. We both made the mistake of putting on our clothes, only causing them to become soaked as well. We began the tiring walk from the lake back to my house.

Once we finally made it to the house, it hit me. *Shocker*, my parents weren't home. They really made no sense to me. Why move out to the middle of nowhere just to stay in town all the time. I ignored it, opening the front door to let us inside. We made it up to my room, still shivering.

"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom.."

"Alright, but uhm, Tyler?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow a change of clothes from you? Maybe a shirt and a pair of those weird boxers or something."

I chuckled, "Sure thing."

I walked over to my drawers, picking out a light blue flannel and a pair of 'Batman' boxers.

"Here you go, you can change in here. I won't step out of the bathroom until you say so."

I stepped into the bathroom, still a little freaked out from this morning. I quickly changed into a new black t-shirt and a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. Before exiting the bathroom, I yelled out,

"Emma, are you decent?"

"Yeah it's alright, you can come out."

I did as she said, yawning.

"I can't believe how late it already is..."

"Wait, what time is it?"

I pressed the home button on my phone to check for the time.

"It's exactly 8:23 P.M."

"S**t..."

"What?"

"I need to get home before he--"

"Emma it's dark, let me walk you home."

"No, no, no!"