The Woods Curse

Hide and Seek and Ghosts

Thankfully I had not hurt Jacobs jaw badly so we decided to clear up the rest of the pizza left on the table and then descend the ladder that led up from the forest floor to the wooden platform. As we climbed down one after the other the ladder creaked slightly but never gave an inch and eventually when I felt solid earth under my boots I gave a not very discreet sigh of relief. I really don't like heights.

Jacob was last to come down the wonky looking ladder and when he was halfway down I heard the distinctive cry of glee that young children give when they see someone they love. I turned immediately to find a boy no older than 7 with irrefutably dark hair sprinting towards us, at first I smiled like everyone else but quickly my grin faltered as I watched the boy run straight through a tree. Not around it but completely through it so that the bark passed in and out of the other side of his chest. Whats more, no one seemed at all bothered!! Then it clicked just as it had with Jacob when I realised he was a zombie, this kid must be a ghost.

Jacob jumped of the last few rungs and ran to greet the young boy, who at closer range, I could see had a fuzzy outline and if I concentrated hard enough I could make out the silhouette of what was behind him. 'Freaky' I thought although the boy was undeniably adorable. He ground to a halt just infront of Jacob with a huge grin spreading from ear to ear. "Hey Danny!!" said Jacob in a cheery tone with Danny immediately replying "Hi Daddy!!". If they could have hugged I think they would have but Danny seemed to have limited interaction with the real world. 

My heart melted at the apparent father-son bond between the 2 who were now busy playing a game of hide and seek with Max included. Anna came over to me, stretching her wings as she walked but being careful not to knock any branches, and stood watching the game beside me. "So that's Danny and as I am sure you have sussed out by now he is a ghost" She said without even turning her head. 

"Yeah, is Danny Jacob's son?" I asked inquisitively and this time Anna turned to look at me "Nope, but he may as well be. Danny is the newest one here and when he came Jacob immediately started to play the father figure , he has fallen in love with the kid completely. I said he should just adopt him but I guess he already has in an odd way. 

"So does that just leave Richard?" I asked and Anna nodded slowly. I could already tell there was something different about this Richard guy. I mean, apart from the fact that Anna has a very obvious crush on him. I decided to take the plunge and figure out what Richard was.

"What is Richard?" I said it as calmly as I could although I wasn't sure if I would like the answer or not.

"A vampire." Anna didn't swoon whilst talking about him this time, instead her face held a grave expression that showed something was definitely up.