And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 8

Emmett and I went from floor to floor. We moved in a fast and strategic manner down the stairwell with me in the lead. 

There were a few bloodwoods on some of the levels, but we navigated around them with a lot of patience. It took hours to get down just a few floors.

We stopped at the 7th floor to replenish some supplies and scavenge a bit. According to Emmett, supplies were low in the community room. I had to be prepared to share.

The 7th floor was mostly untouched, other than a few scratch marks on the wall. Blood stained the carpet but it was nothing like the other floors. 

I tried a few doors. They were locked. 

Emmett found an unlocked apartment. When he eased the door open, it creaked. We froze.

We'd been so careful as to not make any sounds this whole time. I held a hand up to him and waited.

Nothing. Maybe it was too quiet of a creak. In my heightened state of fear, even the smallest of sounds were deafening. He opened the door the rest of the way and went inside. I kept watch outside.

A door across the hallway peeped open. My grip on the spear tightened. I turned the weapon towards the door.

The face of a young girl appeared. Her bright brown eyes gazed at me with such disarming innocence, I relaxed a little. I slowly approached her.

"Hey," I whispered, hunching over to be at eye-level. She looked to be about eight years old. And such a small thing.

"Hi," she whispered back. Her eyes darted around. She was looking for bloodwoods. She knew about them.

"Where's your mom and dad?" I asked. I stole a glance at the apartment behind the girl. From this angle it looked pretty clean. Something was off about this little girl.

"Hawaii," she said.

"Oh really? Who is looking after you?"

"Starla. She's my cousin."

"Where is she?"

The girl's eyes flickered with terror. "She left."

I gulped. I knelt all the way down. The girl closed the door a bit more, not trusting me. "When was this?"

"Two days ago I think."

"And she hasn't come back?"

The girl shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes.

"How about you come with us and we'll go look for her?"

The girl closed the door a bit more. A knowing expression flashed in her eyes. "I'm not supposed to leave."

"My name is Dani," I said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jade."

Emmett returned from the apartment, sporting a backpack full of supplies. He kept his distance from me and the little girl. I was grateful he found some non-bloodied clothes to change into.

"See, Emmett there is looking for his sister too," I told her. "We hear that there are a lot of people in the community room downstairs. Why don't you come with us? I promise to stay with you the entire time. I promise."

I held out my hand to her. Reluctantly, Jade accepted my hand. I stood up and offered her a warm smile, which she did not return.

"You need to grab anything?"

Jade shook her head. "I just want to go to Starla."

I exchanged glances with Emmett. He shrugged. 

I turned to head back towards the stairs but Jade pulled at my arm. She pointed further down the hall, where it veered to the right.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I was too scared, but you promised you would stay with me." Jade didn't look at me. Her grip on my hand was stiff. 

Suddenly, Jade pulled me down the hall. I let myself get dragged by her, to see what this was all about. I kept my grip on the spear tight. Emmett trailed closely behind. He had the camera-taser in his hand, ready to use.

At the turn of the hall, Jade halted her advance. She let go of my hand.

My heart sank into my stomach. I lost all feeling in my feet. Emmett fell back against the hallway wall behind us.

At the far end of the hall stood a bloodwood. Another one with mutilated, stretched, bloodied human skin. It faced away from us, standing against the wall.

Emmett vomited.

The bloodwood turned around toward us. Its black oily eye peered at us from beyond the torn eye-opening on the human's face. This used to be a woman, young looking. Now she was reduced to gore.

"Starla!" Jade said. 

Before I could grab her, Jade broke into a run towards the bloodwood. I reached. I missed. And I understood. In the blink of an eye, it all made sense. 

Jade knew about the bloodwood, about Starla. Her mind was broken. Who knows what ran through her head those two days she was alone. She was too scared to leave the apartment on her own. 

Now she was running towards the thing that used to be her cousin. I started after her, but Emmett tackled me. We both hit the floor with a hard thud. 

Helplessly, I watched Jade's leaping footsteps carry her closer and closer to the bloodwood. Her bare feet were silent against the carpet. 

The way the branches stuffed and stabbed through the arms and fingers, it looked as though Starla herself were welcoming Jade. But the trunk split and Starla's body tore apart.

The bloodwood greeted Jade with an open mouth.

She didn't even scream.