The Shaded

Chapter Twenty-Four

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

I seized my jacket from my closet and snatched the flashlight from under my nightstand.

I zipped myself up and slipped it into my roomy pockets.

It was time for all of this to end. I had no plan in place, but I knew in my heart that she had conjured lines over the remains of my soul, and she just crossed the last one.

I tiptoed over to the banister. There she was in the kitchen, lighting a candle with her matchbox as she sauntered out the front door.

I quickly scurried down the steps like a madman, every word that Elaine had mentioned over the past phone call echoing in my mind.

I opened the front door a small crack, just enough space for my scrawny body to slither through.

There she was, marching into the obscurity of the forest. I, along with my battery-powered, handheld light, crept down the entrance stairs to follow her along a faded pathway before my feet ceased to move from the ground.

I could've run away right at that moment. I could've. Fear was giving me a second chance, but Anger wouldn't tolerate any obstacles in his course.

There was no abrasive side to drag me into the face of treachery. There was all but one voice I could hear. One single voice. And it spoke to me clearly.

"She stole him from you... your own father..."

Those words ripped my feet from the ground under them. I marched straight into those woods.

She thought she could get away from me. She thought she would scare me off.

I held up my flashlight and kept progressing down the path, warily following her every move. I was in for it again but somehow managed to pull myself together. There was no backing out this time. My mind was sure of it. However, my feet disagreed again. They glued themselves to the fine dirt as I watched my "mother" fade into the darkness of the night, the sound of her feet crunching against the trail gradually vanishing away.

"Move! Move!" I softly screamed to myself. She was getting away. I plucked them off and sprinted forward.

If it weren't for the candle in her hand, I would have never found her. Thank god for candles and their impervious light. As I made my way down further, things began to change. The moon's gracious glow had died, and the only light sources in sight were my "mom's" candle and my trusty flashlight. The crickets had shushed, and so the wind. Utter silence took over the woods. I had to keep up with her. I couldn't lose that orange glow of that miniature flame. My feet were more thunderous than an elephant's shriek. I silently prayed that she wouldn't turn around.

Another orange glow I could see in the near distance. She stopped, and in front of her, a cluster of five figures in white robes approached from the blackness in the forest. They were each carrying a torch. She sauntered toward them slowly, stopped a few feet away from them and bowed.

"Have you summoned him?" one man asked, his voice a low grumble.

"I-I need more time. They're not ready yet," she replied.

"You still have not finished our request? The time is coming, and he is growing impatient!"

"Forty-eight hours, I promise I'll have it then. Gather the others. I'll be ready then. I promise!"

"Be quiet!"

"I don't unders-"

"SHHHH!" The man stood still and let down his hood; his face was concealed in darkness.