Chapter 9

A Chapter by CassieLynne

“Iz, how did you get here?” I asked ecstatically. Isabelle smiled at me sarcastically.

“Nowadays, we have things such as planes that enable people to travel long distances.” I hit her playfully.

“Seriously, how did this happen?” Isabelle sat down on my bed and pulled her knees up to her chin.

“Well, your mom called my mom, and she suggested that I come stay here once my summer school was finished. I was finished on Friday, so my parents were able to book me a flight. And now, here I am!” I laughed happily.

“I’ve missed you so much! Even though we stay in touch, it isn’t the same unless we’re actually together in person. I have so much to tell you that I could never express in an email.”

“So much? Like what?” Isabelle looked at me intently, curiosity in her eyes.

“I’ll show you later,” I whispered. “Right now we should go eat. I’m sure you’re starving after that long flight you had.” Isabelle rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at me.

“I ate while you were taking your sweet time outside. Tell me now!” She urged.

“Well, I can tell you, but I can’t take you there until tomorrow. There are some things I would like to avoid tonight.” I thought back to the look in Liam’s eyes as he told me I had to leave. “Let’s take the row boat out. I can explain it when we’re out on the water.”

The boat rocked side to side as Isabelle jumped in from the dock. She swayed for a moment, her body moving with the motion of the boat. Then she plopped down onto the seat and looked up at me.

“Alright, your turn. Hurry, jump in!” She smiled as I clumsily landed in the boat, water spraying up from both sides as the disturbed water splashed up into the air. I landed with a thud onto the seat opposite Isabelle, and she laughed out loud.

“Oh Audrey, I know I’ll have a great time here with you, Miss Clumsy.”

“Oh be quiet,” I said, smiling. “You can be just as clumsy sometimes!” I grabbed the oars and we pushed off from the dock, heading somewhat towards the middle of the lake. After a bit of hard rowing on my part, we finally were out far enough on the lake to talk privately. As soon as I pulled the oars into the boat, Isabelle attacked me with questions.

“What do you want to tell me? Is it a boy? And what do you want to show me?” Her excitement was enough to make the boat flip over. She stared at me curiously, eager to hear my secret.

“Well, yes actually, it is about a certain boy…”

“I knew it! What’s his name, and where did you meet him?”

I looked at her uneasily. “His name is Liam, and as for where I met him… Well, promise you won’t judge me on this?”

“Of course I promise,” she said, looking at me strangely.

“Okay,” I said, leaning forward a little. “Well there is this path outside my house that leads into the forest, so I decided to follow it and it led me to this strange clearing. As I was sitting in the clearing admiring the view, this boy all of a sudden comes out of nowhere!”

“Is he… safe?” asked Iz with concern in her eyes.

“That’s the thing. He’s extremely nice and easy to talk to, but there is definitely something different about him. Nothing dangerous,” I assured Iz as I saw her eyes widening even more. “Just different.”

“Well, do I get to meet him? I’d like to judge him for myself.”

“You can, but not tonight.” I said as I picked up the oars and began leading us back to the dock.

“Why not? C’mon Auddi, it’ll be fun!” she clasped her hands together and smiled, waiting for my response.

“I just don’t think it would be a good idea, that’s all.”

“Auddi, honestly, what could happen?” Iz said, raising her eyebrow sarcastically.

“Well… nothing I guess.” I said defeated. “I guess I can take you there tonight.”

“Yay!” Iz jumped up and gave me a hug, practically throwing us overboard.

“Okay, okay. Now sit back down before you tip both of us.” I said with a little smile. Iz sat back down and she babbled on and on the rest of the trip back to the dock. Man, how I missed this.

That night, Iz and I made preparations to sneak out of the house. We had searched the semi-unpacked boxes in the garage for flashlights and we were able to scrounge up two, complete with working batteries. We decided to lie in our beds as we waited for midnight to roll around. I was in my bed, and Iz’s bed was set up on the floor. We had grown silent waiting as the hours ticked by, and I began to believe that Isabelle had fallen asleep. I stared up at the ceiling and thought back to the weird sensation I had felt when I came into the house this morning. I had sworn there was something on the stairs, but I searched my mind and no reasonable explanation presented itself. I decided to forget about it and I turned over to the edge of my bed and peered down at Iz, squinting in the darkness to try and see if she was awake or not.

“Iz?” I whispered loudly. I looked up at the clock and it read 11:56.

“Is it time?” she whispered back, rolling over to face me.

“Yeah, we might as well get ready now,” I threw back my covers, revealing that I was still dressed in my clothes. All I needed was a sweater and I was set. Iz got up from the floor in her clothes as well, and we both grabbed our flashlights off of my dresser.

“Let’s go,” I whispered again. “Step lightly out there, my mom is a light sleeper.” Iz nodded and followed me as I headed for my bedroom door. I opened it quickly at first, and then slowed down as I realized it was a creaky door. Once there was enough room for the both of us to slip out, we walked quietly down the hall and headed to the top of the staircase. My parents’ bedroom was right across from the stairway, and I turned to see their door slightly ajar. I heard my dad snoring and I knew that they were both asleep. Iz looked at me, wondering what I was waiting for, so I gave her a small smile and we both tip-toed down the stairs. Once we were downstairs, the rest was easy. We went through the kitchen to the back door and I unlocked it. Stepping out into the warm night air was a huge contrast to the silence of the sleeping house. My ears became acute to all the noise around me.

“It’s kind of creepy out here, don’t you think?” I asked Iz, trying to make her reconsider. I really didn’t want to travel in the forest at night, with or without a flashlight. I didn’t want to run into whatever it was that I thought I saw in my house. I shut the door wearily behind me.

“No, I don’t think so. C’mon, let’s go!” she grabbed my hand and took off to where the yard led to the forest path. We stopped as we stood at the entrance to the forest.

“How about now?” I asked with a wry smile as I assessed her face.

She looked at me and smiled again. “It’s fine, please let’s just go.” I sighed in defeat as I switched on my flashlight. She followed suit and then we walked tentatively into the forest. We both fell silent as we observed the tall trees that rose up around us. I could hear raccoons chattering nearby and a picture of a savage raccoon full of rabies popped into my mind. I shook off the thought, telling myself that there was nothing to be afraid of.

“The forest is so beautiful at night,” Iz breathed as she continued to look around her. Her flashlight lit up the wall of trees as she shone it every which way.

“It is, isn’t it? It just feels like we’re being watched,” I said as the goose bumps rose on my arms.

“Don’t be silly, we aren’t being watched.” She skipped ahead and I walked faster in order to keep her close. “So, where are we going to meet Liam?”

“His house I guess,” I said as I thought back to his isolated shack in the depths of the woods. Again the feeling that we were being watched ebbed itself into my mind. I looked around wearily and rubbed my arms, hoping to make the goose bumps disappear.

“Wait, he lives here?” Iz asked with a skeptical look on her face.

“Yes, he does. And we are almost there, so keep walking,” I pointed towards the fork in the road up ahead. We took the path that led to his house, and walked in silence again. I hoped that Liam was there, and if he was, I hoped that he wouldn’t mind the surprise visit.

Suddenly, I heard numerous voices and I put my arm on Iz’s to slow her down. She looked at me quizzically and was about to speak before I put my finger to my lips. I squinted up ahead and shone my flashlight towards Liam’s hut. What I saw next astounded me so much that I dragged Isabelle behind the nearest bush and collapsed on the forest floor.

“Auddi!” she whispered in annoyance and tried to stand up. I pulled her back down again. “What are we doing?”

“Did you see all those men around his house?” I asked, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat.

“No,” Iz said, trying to look around the bush but then glaring at me as I yanked her back down again.

“Don’t! They might see you,” I said, exasperated.

“Who are they?” she whispered back in confusion.

“Let me look again,” I whispered back, peering around the bush and gazing in the direction of Liam’s hut again. There were at least a dozen men, all on horseback and all wearing old fashioned clothing. It almost looked like they were dressed as guards or soldiers, and they all sat idly on their horses, talking amongst themselves as they surrounded the hut.

“Look,” I called back to Iz quietly. She crawled up behind me and peered at the hut.

“What on earth?” She gasped. “Who are they and why are they here?”

“I don’t know! I have never seen them before and Liam has never mentioned anything like this before…” I stopped speaking as a beautiful woman in a long, medieval gown strode out of the house. Her black hair cascaded down her back in ringlets, and on the top of her head sat a silver tiara which glinted in the light coming from Liam’s hut. That’s when I saw Liam. He came out of the house and leaned against the door jamb, arms crossed. I couldn’t see his expression, but from his stance he looked very angry. The woman turned to face him and spoke in a menacing voice. It sounded like she was threatening Liam, but he didn’t seem perturbed. Liam dismissed her with a flick of his hand and, turning on his heel, stormed back into the hut and slammed the door.

The woman shook in rage, and then motioned for one of the men to come forward. A man that had not been in perfect view before strode up on his steed and I saw that in his hand he held the reins to a large, white horse. The woman quickly and gracefully mounted, which astounded me because of the height of the horse and of her long, flowing gown. Then she kicked her steed and they were off. They rode down the path behind Liam’s hut. I had never been past the hut before, so for a moment I wondered where the pathway led.

“Weird,” breathed Iz as she took in what had just occurred. “Why were they dressed like that?”

I watched the hut curiously, as I had no answer to Iz’s question. When I was sure the coast was clear, I motioned for Iz to follow me. We sprinted to Liam’s front door and I rapped on it softly.

“What now?” Liam roared menacingly as I heard him walking heavily towards the door.

As the door swung open, I looked at him innocently. “It’s me,” I stated blandly, trying to smile. From the look on his face, I realized that coming here was the worst decision I had made in a long time.

His eyes searched my face, confused. “Audrey, what are you doing here?” I winced at the use of my full name, and understood that he was truly upset.

“I wanted you to meet my friend,” I said dejectedly, feeling more like a child than a seventeen year old. Liam surveyed Iz, who was standing silently behind me. For once, she had nothing to say. Liam looked back at me, his eyes softening slightly.

His voice was still hard as he said, “It’s not safe to be out here at night, Auddi. Don’t you listen to anything I say?”

“I know it was a stupid thing to do,” I said, sighing. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you…see anything when you got here?” He asked, looking past Iz and I.

“Who were those people?” Iz asked, words finally coming to her.

Liam looked at her, and a dark look crossed his features. “Oh no, Auddi. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This can’t happen,” he left the doorway and walked outside. “She told me not to let this happen!”

I gave Iz a warning glance not to say anything more as I followed after Liam.

“Who told you what? What wasn’t supposed to happen?” I ran up to Liam and stood in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. Iz still stood where she was in front of the house.

“You’re no longer safe, Auddi. She knows about you now,” Liam grasped my shoulders and stared intently at me, a mix of fear and wrath in his eyes. “She went to your house Auddi, do you know what this means?”

“No Liam, I don’t. You aren’t making sense. Who is she?” I tried to understand his expression; I tried to understand his words, but nothing was making sense.

“She doesn’t like people finding out.” He turned back to look at Iz. “She knows too! Auddi, she can’t know. I have to do something about this.” He let go of my shoulders and walked towards Iz. She watched him wearily as he strode towards her, a purpose in his steps. I watched the scene helplessly, frozen on the spot. I was confused; nothing he said made sense except for one part: “She went to your house Auddi, do you know what this means?” She had went to my house? Was that what I had seen on my staircase? Thinking back, that could have been a gown I saw in the darkness.

I snapped back to reality as I saw Iz hit the ground, unconscious. I screamed and ran at Liam.

“What did you do?!” I ran to Isabelle’s side and held her in my arms. Liam seemed like his old self again. He was no longer panicking and he stood over me with a calm expression on his face.

“Isabelle can’t know, so I made her forget what she saw tonight. She’ll wake up tomorrow morning and she’ll be fine. She won’t remember a thing.” Liam looked at me and frowned slightly as he noticed the tears forming in my eyes. “I should do the same for you, but she already knows about you, so it wouldn’t do any good.”

“Liam, I demand an explanation. Why does Iz have to forget about seeing you? And who is this woman you keep talking about. Is she the one we saw leaving your house minutes ago?” Liam reached over me and scooped Isabelle up in his arms. Her head lobbed against his shoulder and her arm dangled uselessly over his.

“Auddi, I promise it will all be explained, but right now we need to get Isabelle home. We have to make sure we don’t endanger her anymore than she already has been.” He began walking back towards the fork in the path. I followed helplessly, the tears flowing freely now and my mind buzzing with confusion and a newly discovered rage.

“Liam, I am coming right back here in the morning for answers. I don’t care what you say. I will be in the clearing first thing.” I sounded like a whining child, but I didn’t care, I was so upset.

My mouth dropped open in anger when I heard Liam chuckle. “Okay, Auddi, I’ll be there.” I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me or not, so I just followed him in silence, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my sweater. As I followed, I realized we were walking in the dark and decided to switch my flashlight on. Obviously Liam didn’t need it, but it made the situation feel more…normal.

“Where’s Isabelle’s flashlight?” I asked dryly.

“Don’t worry, it’s here,” Liam stated, amused.

“Your mood swings are really astounding, you know that?” I asked sarcastically. Liam didn’t say anything, so I just rolled my eyes and continued following him through the dark forest, the trees seemingly more tall and menacing than I had ever seen them. It seemed like ages before we reached the exit of the forest, and my house finally came into view.

“I’ll have to take her from here,” I said as Liam and I approached the back of the house. We both stopped dead in our tracks. The back door was agape and it swung slightly in the breeze. Suddenly, a new fear began inching its way up my spine and I just stood there, paralyzed.

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