What Lies Beneath

Chapter 5

For two weeks didn't dare step near those woods, suggesting we give it a wide berth as we walked home with the others. The trees that once provided a tranquil sanctuary, now looked like twisted claws waiting to pounce and tear at their prey. Even the sight of the creek flowing beneath the beams that held the sunburnt road aloft nauseated me, as it reminded me all too much of the ominous cold that seeped through my clothes and pierced my skin. The ghost of my muscles burning like an icy flame haunted me. But I wore my feelings well, dismissing them upon our leftover bruises and gashes. This wasn't exactly a lie, as while Min had indeed stitched us up rather nicely, the soreness lingered like an unwanted companion.

Ariel had no problem with this unspoken preference of staying away from the now cursed trees; as the last experience near them had left her much quieter and more wary than usual. Whenever she heard the slightest snap of a twig, or the muffled grunt of a student sneezing, she jumped where she sat, eyes wide and face pale. I was the only one who noticed, or knew why. Our peers were much too absorbed with words and equations leaping out at them from the paperwork that now seemed insignificant. Many days I would see Ariel just sitting at her desk, vacantly staring at her work as if it may wield answers if she stared at it hard enough, deep in thought, but not present in mind.

Me, while the beast-- I think that strange boy in my dream called it a reaper-- nagged at me, my nightmares bothered me even more. They were constant now, slipping the through the blackness of slumber, and twisting my subconscious with almost the same visions every time. I could still see the dark red liquid spilling onto the black, charred earth, just before it swallowed the empty, lifeless puppets that I once called my friends whenever I closed my eyes. I could still hear the bellows and wails of my tormentors ringing in the back of my head. The smell of imminent, yet ancient death still lingered under my nose.

I had taken to sitting awake at night attempting to remain awake and keep my bloodshot eyes open, trying to evade the monsters in my head. Or at least I hoped they were in my head.The only thing that has not yet returned to my cast of disturbing dreams, is the sudden appearance of those oddly dressed teens. It was rather queer though. I could have sworn a couple times I saw the faintest trace of a shadow slipping away from the windowsill, or glimpsed the flicker of a dagger as I passed the woods on the way home from school. But whenever I sought to find what it was, there was nothing. I had almost dismissed it as a normal dream; a way my head let me have the slightest relief from relentless nightmares.

But nothing was normal anymore.

Finally Ariel said one day, "Tell me something, Bi. Are you the least bit interested in finding out what happened in the woods?" The question was out of the blue. We were in gym class, waiting for our turn to use the grimy set of bars the school had dragged out from the storage unit. It still had a thick layer of dust bestowed by the dark mustiness of the place. I didn't answer her, pretending to be captivated by the sight of Patrick Mulborrow trying very hard to pull his excessive chin fat above the bar, next to Felicia Wilson who was doing it flawlessly. Ariel snapped her fingers under my chin, the sharp crack forcing me to face her. She had an air of casualty, but her eyes remained incorrigibly curious, gears were very clearly spinning in her head. "I suppose... I guess I want to-- well I mean..." I trailed off. "it would be interesting to know what that thing was, if we were more prepared." I said cautiously, the reaper and the conversation between that group of teens flashing in front of my eyes. I still didn't exactly know whose side those kids were on, if they were even real, but after dealing with Ms. Violet and the reaper, I wasn't too keen on trusting just anybody.

Speaking of Ms. V, she's been missing for the past week. Not that I was complaining. I was sick of her attempts to give me that stupid, dilapidated book. I didn't even know why it was so important to her, or why she was acting so oddly around me; shooting murderous side glances at me when she thought I wasn't looking, or trying to corner me whenever she could. I even complained to the secretary in the office, trying to gain an appointment with the principal so that he could perhaps give a random class examination. But she replied in that glazed voice that so many adults possess when their true focus is elsewhere, telling me that she was sure I was overreacting and the 'Laura' was a fine teacher. Still....it troubled me. She was creeping me out.