Chapter 8: The long road back to hell

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Chapter 8

The long road back to hell

 

 

     “Come Midnight! We’re goin’ back to town! We have some business to do there.” I yelled to him outside. I grabbed a backpack full of supplies in the corner and was set to go. I started to head off with Midnight.

     We had a long ways back to town; it was about eleven hours I think. That’s why I changed into my boots, a pair of short brown shorts and a white tank top. We first came to the river and had to cross it. It gave us a little trouble, a few fast spots and tiny whirlpools, nothing major. We were a little wet after.

     I kept on the way my compass said was right and stood strong on my decision. I ended up going through thorn patches, thick vines, and a lot of trees, since it was a forest after all. I also came across a muck filled swampy area, who knew that would be there? It was surprising. I got through it, but I was very dirty afterward.

     One of the last obstacles that I came to was a couple sets of cliffs that were definitely in the way. I started to climb my way up there and it was not an easy task to accomplish, I made it only like half way up and fell back down to the moist ground. It stung for a moment, but then I got back up and started back up again. I made it up fine this time, well. After slipping, falling, and catching a root that was protruding from the side. Then, I realized that I had to climb back down! That sucked even more!

     I started down and did pretty well. I was almost to the bottom and fell the rest of the way down. It was more painful than the other fall. I stood up and brushed myself off. Then Midnight leapt off the top of the cliff and landed directly on me. I collapsed to the ground from his weight. I stood up, woozy from the blow. I was bleeding a little on my leg, but it wasn’t too bad. “Watch it mutt!!!” I yelled at him. He lay down, looking pitiful. I sighed. “Sorry, but ya can’t do that! Be more careful, alright?” I said to him. He sat up, but kept his ears down, he looked at me with those puppy dog eyes he always used. I rolled my eyes and scratched his head. Then kept on hiking.

     We walked on for hours and finally my legs gave out. I had to rest at the next possible place I could find. That wasn’t too much further either. I came across a great oak tree with many strong branches and leaves for shade. It was beautiful and a brilliant shade of green. It had two roots above ground that went into a V shape. And in-between the two roots was a small-cleansed spring. It was a clear, shallow pool of refreshing, clean water. And believe me, I was parched!

     I dipped my face into it and lapped it up. I pulled my head out and shook off. Midnight came over and lay down on my lap. I stroked his head as I started to think again about things. I was kinda paranoid about the oak tree. It was where all of this mess started. It was where I heard the rumor.

     After all that, everything changed. I was a survivor and contender by then. Then I realized, I’m not a survivor, I was a coward instead. I hadn’t solved the problems. I had merely run away from them. As soon as I got back to the town, all my problems would be waiting to stare me down and stamp me out. I had come this far now. I wasn’t going back now. I was too close.

     We started walking and hit the town soon after. It didn’t seem too much different at glance. People stopped and stared as I walked down the road. It must have been weird to see a teenage girl and a wolf walking down the street. They all backed away and avoided us. But maybe it was because they remembered me from before I left.

     I strolled down the road to the house I use to live in. I went up to the door and hesitated briefly. Then I turned the knob and opened the door. I stormed in with one fist clenched and the other unsure. No one was in the living room, so I headed through to the kitchen. That’s where I found my mother cutting up vegetables for soup of some sort. She looked different. She wore a raggedy old gray stained sweatshirt and her hair was all a mess.

     “Julia!” I said in a strong mannered tone. Julia was her real name. She turned around, startled by the broken silence. Her jaw dropped in aw and a single tear fell from her cold dead eyes. “Amber!” she said, and ran over and hugged me. I pushed her off and she backed a way when she saw Midnight. He growled a little at her and showed his fangs as like a warning. “Midnight!” I yelled, “Sit and behave!” He obeyed at the sound of me.

     “Oh don’t worry, he won’t hurt you. But I have a problem, and it’s you!” I told her. She looked confused. “Your not my mother!” I screamed. My heart was racing and I was filled with pure anger at her playing dumb with me. “What do you mean sweetie? I am your mother so knock it off right now!” she said, looking me straight in the eyes. “Oh please! Come on! Drop the act already! I know the real truth that you kept from me. Your not my real parent, my real parents are dead and I doubt you’ll ever live up to what they were!” I was taking extremely heavy breaths by then.

     “Your right,” she started, “I’m sorry. I thought it be best if you never knew......” she said quietly as her thoughts faded out. My rage faded too. I slowly calmed and the mood in the room set back to normal. “How did you find out the terrible secret anyway?” She asked. “I found the letter explaining it in the wood pile in my cabin.” “Where?” she asked, not knowing what I meant. I thought for a second, then said, “come sit with me for a while, and I’ll explain it all to you.”

     I told her everything, well, almost everything. I told her things from going to the woods, to finding the cabin, to foraging everyday. I told her about the helicopter search party too. “Why didn’t you tell them you were there?” she asked. “I didn’t want to come home. I didn’t really want to be found either. I was afraid of what more I would find waiting for me.” I then told her about Midnight, since she kept nervously glancing back and forth at my sleeping canine. She didn’t like the idea of me having a pet that can kill me.

     Then I got enough courage to tell her about the rumor and then, about the ritual. “Why didn’t you tell me about this Amber? I probably could have helped you.” “The word probably was used. Could you have brought back my friends? Could you have brought back my boyfriend? Could you have brought back my reputation and what felt like my life? Could you have made the evil things go away? I doubt it. Besides, I was thriving in the forest.” I told her.

     “Well why did you come back then?” she asked. “Well, after I found the letter addressed to me, I wanted to come back and confront many people. But it was really a mean thing to do the way I as going to do it. Besides, it’s not like I’m staying long. I am going back.” I said. “You can’t leave! I have nothing left! You were all that I had. At least let me come with you!” she begged. “I don’t know about that. It’s pretty rough out there. You may not even make it back to my cabin. I’m sorry,” I said, with just a little bit of guilt.

     “I guess I do understand, it’s just, when you left, I pulled away from every on else. I did that because I was so hurt when you left and they said you were dead.” She explained. “I know, but I am going back. But, if you’d like, I can stay for the night with you.” “Yes, I would like that very much.” she said. So it was decided. I would stay for one night.

     I went up stairs and took a shower and cleaned up from my journey, I was a bit of a mess. After that, I didn’t end up going to sleep right away. I stayed up talking to Julia for a while after. We had tea as we sat in the living room. We talked just about stuff, kind of like catching up with each other after what felt like forever.

     It felt like old times when we use to talk when I was home at night. It was nice. But I wasn’t going to let that hold me back from not leaving and going back. No matter how nice it was to be “home”. We talked for hours until I finally got so tired that I was falling asleep while talking. I had had a lot of action that day.

     My mom practically ushered me into bed. “Your tired. Why don’t you go to bed now? Your room is exactly how you left it before you left. You know where it is, upstairs to the right. Now, you’ve had a long day, we both have. Go to bed now.” she said. She certainly though hadn’t had a longer day than me. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t about to argue.

     I walked sleepily up the stairs and fell into my bed. The sheets were cold and the room had the sweet old aroma of strawberries. The walls were covered in posters and such and the carpet was clean. It was exactly how I had left it. It was wonderful.

     I was a little happier after I had talked to Julia about all this and it was cleared up. I started to drift off to sleep and covered myself up with the red blanket because of how cold the breeze from my window. My final thoughts were of what I had to do the next day before I traveled back to the forest. It was gonna be a day to remember for a lot of us.