Shadowood- H.S

six |6|

Song of the chapter:

Staying up- The Neighbourhood

Enjoy! xx

***

The woodlands that surround us grow thicker as we drive closer to the West end bridge. It is now completely dark outside and the temperature has dropped to the low fifties. My heart beats irregularity and my chest rises and falls in unsteady rhythms. As I inhale, my lungs fill halfway with oxygen before I slowly exhale. Jasmine drives us to the "back to school" party, talking about how much fun it's going to be, while my mind wanders elsewhere.

I can't get the image of the symbol, the two ovals leaning against each other with the small dot right below them, out of my mind. It haunts and encircles my thoughts, replacing all of my emotions with a strike of fear. Paranoia has settled in.

I stare outside of Jasmine's tinted windows, into Shadowood, straining my neck to catch a glimpse of something lurking in the dark forest, but not wanting to see anything.

"You totally missed the back to school party last year," Jasmine rambles on about her experience at parties. She's been talking the whole ten minutes that we've been driving, but I haven't listened to a single word that came out of her mouth. "The twins throw the best parties in town."

She continues to talk as I lean the side of my forehead against the cold window. As we get closer to the party, the street lamps and other cars begin to disappear, closing out the light of town.

"Drew brought the keg stand and was literally doing a hand stand on it," she laughs, then looks over at me. Even though I'm not looking at her face, I can tell that her facial expression has changed. I turn my head and look towards her, to see her frowning. "What's wrong? You seem really distracted."

I play it off with a fake yawn. "Oh, nothing. I'm just a little tired, that's all." I stretch out my limbs and twist in my seat, cracking my back. "That felt good."

She turns back towards the road ahead of us and accelerates on the gas pedal. "Well you better wake up, because this is supposed to be a fun night, and you're not going to have fun if you're asleep for half of it."

"Okay, okay." I smile at her and look out ahead of us. I begin to see a couple of bodies in the distance and the large white bridge that separates Bristol from its neighboring towns. Off to the side of the bridge lies Shadowood, quiet and illuminating a formidable darkness. I try to ignore it and the strange symbol, only wanting to focus on this party for tonight.

Jasmine parks her car by a ton of other vehicles across the street from the bridge, then we both cross the road to the party.

No one stands on the bridge though, only around it. Our generation doesn't really like to loiter on it. I remember when I was about seven years old, Tommy, a rude neighbor of mine, would tell tales of the bridge.

Tommy: Don't go on the bridge Melanie.

Me: Why?

Tommy: Because he'll get you if you stand on it for too long.

Me: Who will get me?

Tommy: You don't want to find out.

Tommy was a menace. He was the oldest kid in the neighborhood and practically fed on making us younger kids cry from terror. Luckily, he moved away after he graduated from high school and never came back to town.

"Let's get something to drink," Jasmine says, pulling me towards a large blue ice chest near the hood of a car. I nod my head and follow her to the chest.