The Lost Colony

        No one could believe what had happened to her. It was a foggy afternoon on an island in Dare County, a girl named Ashley was traveling with her two best friends whose names were Shannon and Taylor. They were headed to a concert on the mainland when suddenly their car just turned off without warning. "Oh no!" Shannon exclaimed. "What happened Ashley?" Taylor had asked. "It seems the car won't start, its acting like if it was possessed," Ashley explained. "Nonsense, maybe the battery is dead. Taylor try and check if there are other cars on the road and ask for help," Shannon ordered. Taylor got out of the car to try and look for cars, but to no avail. "I can't see anything due to this fog!" Taylor yelled in frustration. "Maybe that gentleman over there can help," Ashley said as she pointed to a sinister silhouette in the mist. "Oh, I hope it isn't a murderer," Shannon said worriedly. The silhouette stepped out of the fog and revealed himself to be a man, he was young, but he wore very old-style clothing. "This is no place for you ladies to be out at this condition," the man said in a British accent. "Please, don't kill us!" Shannon begged. "No madam, I was just offering you some shelter from this nasty fog, there are some rooms available back at my village," the man offered. "Why thank you, see Shannon, you worry too much," Ashley said in a relaxed tone. The man signaled them to follow him and as they neared the village, the sounds of laughing children could be heard. When they arrived, the fog had lifted and was replaced with a sunny sky; there were children playing, men building houses and shops, and women were chatting by the well. "Why is everybody dressed like the 16th century?" Shannon whispered to Taylor. "I don't know, maybe they're Amish," Taylor replied. "Welcome to Roanoke!" the man said with a welcoming tone. "Wait, where have I heard that name?" Shannon asked. "Shannon, stop worrying and relax for once," Ashley said. "Guys, major emergency!" Taylor said. "What is it?" Ashley asked. "I have no signal!" Taylor said while sobbing. "Me neither, oh well," Ashley said without a care. "One of these days her carelessness will kill us," Shannon told Taylor. "Agreed," She replied. "So here are your quarters, feel free to stroll around until dusk," the man said before leaving. The girls went to explore the town: they talked to some townspeople, ate at a tavern, and listened to the laughter of children who played around town. Dusk was beginning to fall, so everybody retreated to their houses and so did the girls. "I love this little village, I could live here forever!" Ashley said. "I'd like even more if they have electricity and some decent signal," Taylor said. "Still, the name Roanoke, we talked about it in history class, but I forgot what was it about," Shannon said suspiciously. "Oh go to sleep worrywart!" Ashley said teasingly. The next morning they got up and were about to leave town when a woman approached them. "Here dearies, a present for you," she said as she handed Ashley a book with the name ROANOKE on it. They opened the book, but it was in blank. "Wait miss, the book is in..., huh?" Ashley said before noticing that the woman had disappeared. "Where did she go? And why did she give us this book?" Shannon asked. "Maybe it's a journal to write in, anyways let's go, I'm starving!" Ashley said. When they got to the road they checked if the car was working and it did. When they went to town, they went to mechanic first, but he told them that the car was fine. Confused, they went to the diner and proceed to talk about the village. "I loved Roanoke, that village was so nice!" Ashley said. "I still can't remember anything about Roanoke, why is that name so familiar?" Shannon asked. "Um excuse me, did you say the name Roanoke?" a lady from the next booth asked. "Yes, such a nice place, it was full of nice Amish people," Ashley said. "Oh dear, I don't know how to say this, but that place doesn't exist anymore," she said. "What? but we stayed to sleep there last night!" Taylor said surprised. Instantly, Shannon realized what the lady was trying to say. "Oh. My. God." Shannon managed to say. "What is it Shannon?" Taylor asked. "The Lost Colony of Roanoke, which was why everyone was dressed like that, because we were in the lost colony!!!" Shannon said. "Impossible, unless they were, well you know what," Taylor said in shock. "The book, Ashley!!!" Shannon ordered Ashley to get the book. When they opened the book it suddenly had writing and it looked like a journal. Ashley then proceeded to read from the book:

August 18, 1585

We the immigrants who had fled England to avoid persecution from the Catholic Church have finally arrived on a strange new land. We are the first of the European people to ever colonize this land and we shall dub it Roanoke. A strange old hag approached us and told us to leave or on the five year anniversary of the colony a major disaster will befall us all. We refused to leave as we are believers of the Lord and only he tells us when we should leave.

September 25, 1585

We were amazed to find other people in the New World, however they seem primitive and they hunted their food ruthlessly. We named them Indians as this was originally believed to be India by Columbus, they had primitive senses and traditions oh so very different from ours. It seems that they have beliefs that differ from ours, but they are friendly as they had shared food with us and taught us how to farm food.

August 3, 1590

It has been a while since I had last written on this book, I recently found it while cleaning the attic and we had forgotten the old hag's warning. If she could see us now, all the progress we have made. Still, it is almost the five year anniversary of Roanoke, I hope her warning was just a ruse to get us to leave.

August 10 1590

The Indians seem distant now, their faces look emotionless and barely even socialize with us, and I worry for their safety. Also I see that some of them are crafting some kind of masks, I wonder what they are for. Maybe it is a tradition they have for special events just like our anniversary, yet I have never seen anything like them. They look scary, but maybe it is for scaring bad spirits away? I feel nervous when I see them.

August 17 1590

Oh dear, the Indians are stalking us. Everywhere I go I see those scary masks and they are hiding in the forest just watching us go insane. The townsfolk are too scared to do anything due to the fear, and I think the old hag was right. The great catastrophe is about to happen and we can't do anything to save ourselves.

August 18 1590 11:00 AM

Alas, the Indians have started the great catastrophe. They started by killing all the men, forcing us to run and hide inside our homes, but they are burning them one by one. We were easy prey to them, the ones who took the guise as humans only to gain our trust and then slaughter us one by one. I and my two daughters took refuge in the forest and it is only a matter of time for them to find us. This is their domain, their hunting grounds, and we were their prey. May God bless our souls and the one of whomever reads my testament. Beware of those who pretend to be your friends, those are the ones who will-

"Dear lord, the time of the attack was one hour after we left. Let us go!" Shannon said. They got back to their car and drove to the place here Roanoke once stood, but all remained was an empty forest clearing and the sound of the howling wind replaced what was once heard as children's laughter. "What was the last line of the book? 'Beware of those who pretend to be your friends, those are the ones who will,' what does that mean?" Shannon wondered.

The End