The Haunting

Necromancy Senses II (Chapter Twenty)

I started to apologize, but she held up a hand.  "The past is just that, it is the present we must worry about right now."

I nodded in agreement, and stepped down the last stair.  All the sudden we were swarmed by people, Chloe's Aunt Lauren pushing herself to the front.

Her face immediately paled when she saw the state of her niece.  "Wh-what happened to Chloe?"

I started to open my mouth to respond, then she ripped Chloe from my arms, and cradled her to her chest.

I stepped over to help her, but she hissed, just like a cat, and stepped to the left. "This is your fault!  If you ever touch Chloe again, I will skin you alive."

I stepped slowly away from her, and other people started to swarm around Chloe.  I stepped back, again, and I saw that Simon was there.  I turned to him, and I was surprised to see him glaring at me with such hatred that I almost felt the dagger he was trying to stab at me with his eyes.

"Lauren is right, Derek.  This is all your fault."

I stared speechlessly after him, and when I tried to reach out, he slapped my hand away. I pulled my hand back, my mouth agape wondering why he had done that.  

I saw Claire shooting me a “steamy” gaze, and as she walked passed me, she trailed a blood-red fingernail down my back.

I looked around again, to see of anyone had noticed, and I saw Tori standing there, sending a calculating look towards Simon, and a disgusted one to Claire.  When they were out of sight, she strutted over to me.

"Normally I would say, 'I told you so', but these extenuating circumstances would never allow my moral code to vocalize it.  Follow me."

I gave her a strange look, and she glanced at me haughtily.  “I can sound smart when I want to!” she said defensively.

So she walked away.  So I followed her.

*****

How long had she been wandering this depressing, creepy forest now?  It had at least been an hour.  After she had walked through the doorway, she had run into this huge forest that seemingly had no end.

She blew her unruly bangs out of her face, and trudged forward, again.  Then, for the first time in an hour, she heard footsteps that weren't her own.  She smiled and stepped forward, for an instant excited that she wasn't alone anymore, then she remembered she couldn't trust anything.

She stepped forward again, but this time with cautious curiosity, rather than blatant excitement.  A twig snapped underfoot, and she cringed, not wanting the sound that reverberated throughout the forest.

She followed the set of footsteps that seemed to get farther and farther away, until she hit a little cottage.  It was a little house, with a wooden roof, and little sprinklings of hay scattered about.  It looked kind of like a medieval barn, if you squinted really hard.

Slowly she approached the house, and when she knocked on the door, a quaint old lady answered.  She looked to be in her mid-forties, and had a pleasant face.  “oh, dearie me!  now what have we here?  It seems to be a little lass.  Come in, come in!” she cried.

Chloe looked around nervously, and hesitantly stepped inside, and a barrage of warmth attacked her.  until then she hadn’t even noticed that she was cold.  Now, shivers wracked her body, and great shuddering breaths were expelled.

She blew into her hands, trying to warm them, when suddenly a great quilt was thrown over her.  She almost collapsed under the sudden weight, but managed to stay upright.