Shadowood- H.S

nine |9|

Song of the chapter:

Yellow Flicker Beat- Lorde

-

"I want you to come into Shadowood with me," he says.

I stare at him. I blink once, then I blink twice. He stares back at me, not a single muscle in his body moving. Then my eyes narrow down to his before I start to smile.

"You're not serious."

My grin continues to grow, but his doesn't seem to show. He's not serious though, he's joking with me, just a funny joke. People don't just go into Shadowood free will, making it their own choice. People just don't do that. "Yes, I am," he says.

I smile harder and rest a hand on his shoulder. His body temperature matches the coolness of the air outside, somewhere below the balance of hot and cold. "Harry, come on. You're not going into Shadowood."

"Melanie," he mocks my tone. "Yes I am going into Shadowood." His eyes narrow down into mine. There's a certain soft quality behind his light eyes, something that looks almost innocent, like his eyes portray an innocence. "And I want you to come with me."

Something flips in my head, like the flip between laughing and serious has suddenly been switched. Suddenly I don't feel like smiling or laughing anymore. He actually wants to do it. He actually wants to go into Shadowood. "But why?" I ask.

He sits back, against the part of the swing bench that supports your back, and stares out at the houses across the street. "I'm not sure." I watch his facial features as they harden and his jaw becomes tense, as if remembering something that sparks an emotional memory deep down inside.

"I'm confused," I say. "Why Shadowood? What are you trying to get at?"

He raises his fingers up in the air, as if he were a conductor about to conduct his symphony into a complication of vigorous notes and runs. "Shadowood, think of it as the universe." He stretches his fingers out and wiggles them, sort of like jazz fingers. "And Bristol is the earth."

I stare at him, trying to understand what he's getting at, but so far I have no clue. "The universe surrounds earth, just as Shadowood surrounds Bristol. You see, we have some knowledge of the universe, physical features, temperatures and such, but really, we have no clue what's really out there, and I mean way, far out there. We only have surface knowledge of what we've been told, no firsthand experience or knowledge. Yes some people have wandered into the first five hundred feet of the forest, but no one has really landed on mars or Jupiter. Aren't you at least a bit curious about what makes Shadowood so daunting, so intimidating?"

I imagine myself walking into Shadowood, walking straight in the bushy green land and venturing to the heart of the forest, where most people only see from the images created in their heads from their own vivid imaginations. I have always wondered what gives Shadowood its reputation. What is it about Shadowood that has everyone scared out of their wits? I've always thought about going into Shadowood, but never fully thought that I may consider it one day.

After what finally seems like an hour of silence, of just Harry and I sitting on the bench, staring at nothing, I finally say, "I'll do it."

"You'll do it?"

"I'll do it, I'll go into Shadowood with you."

-

That night, after everyone else in the house has fallen asleep, I open the Non-Fiction, history book that I bought at Novel Nation, Murder Trial. I reread the prologue, refreshing my memory on the Adams that settled in the small town in the mid seventeen hundreds. Once I reread over the words Pagans andcult, I shudder. The words alone haunt me.