by Nicole Smith
“Hayden, something about this doesn’t seem right. Why does Beth believe that this band of boys will be able to help her? They haven’t even reached their potential yet. Some of them don’t even know they are dead. I’m worried Beth may be diverting us,” Carlos didn’t take his eyes off Beth as he spoke.
“I was thinking the same thing. As soon as she spotted us with her I felt like she may have an ulterior motive for collecting us together. We have to try and talk to her. I really don’t think we have any other choice at the moment but to follow her. She is headed in the same direction we are going, to the Johnston farm. No one else seems to know what has happened. It’s like Natalie vanished,” Hayden held back tears as he looked ahead. His heart was breaking as each moment passed knowing Natalie was out there alone. He would not rest until she was in his arms again. He couldn’t lose Beth since she was the last one to see her.
“You stay at the back, I’m going to try and talk to Beth. If she bolts, follow her. I’ll be tactful. She knows who you are and will become immediately defensive. I think she might give me a chance,” Carlos explained as he walked toward the front of the group.
Hayden stayed back but he didn’t take his eyes off Beth. He was furious with her for all her actions. He was trying to understand why she would help Stella then have a change of heart and help Natalie escape, only to abandon her again when she is in even more danger than before. Is she trying to help her again or is she trying to give Natalie’s pursuers more time.
Hayden was trembling as he walked beside the group. They were quiet as they walked. Hayden couldn’t focus on all of them. Some of them were harder for him to see than others. They appeared blurry at times. He wondered how well Natalie would have been able to see them. He could get glimpses of their thoughts at time. He knew they were uncomfortable leaving the school. It’s the only place they have inhabited since they died. A number of them died together on a school bus heading to a football match. The bus was hit head on by a transport truck that lost control. Another died after falling out of a boat while fishing in cold, windy weather. The stories were keeping Hayden distracted as Carlos talked to Beth.
“Beth, can I walk with you?” Carlos asked calmly as he strolled up to her. She was moving quickly, but controlled her pace so the group wouldn’t separate.
“Sure,” she mumbled. Carlos was using his strength to try and gage her emotions. He could tell she wanted to run but her fear of not completing this mission she is on frightened her more. Why is she doing this? Something has terrified her.
“Is Natalie safe? The last time you saw her, is she safe, is she unharmed?” Carlos needed to know this first, before he asked her anything more. He tried to hide his fears from Hayden, but he needed some kind of reassurance that she is still okay.
“Yes, Natalie is alive and she is not hurt, at least not when I left her,” Beth mumbled again, not looking at Carlos.
“Who is after her?”
“I wish I knew. I am only a young school girl. I have no knowledge of this world I am being forced into,” Beth raised her voice only slightly.
“What world are you being led into?” Carlos continued questioning her.
“Another world, not the one you live in, not the one I live in but another one. One where I shouldn’t enter, I can’t enter,” Beth explained as she continued to walk, staring a head. Carlos was confused. Is she talking about dimensions? He had read about them before in science fiction books but never really thought much about it, since all the ghosts he ever encountered were here, in his world, or so he thought.
“Is Natalie in this other world or is she still here with us?” Carlos asked, although he feared the answer she would give him.
“The last time I saw her she remained here but I am afraid I don’t know now, I only hope we can find her. As much as you think otherwise, I love Natalie, just as you do. She is my best friend. I’m frightened by Stella. She can make us do things just by thinking it. I did my best to protect her. I tried Carlos, I tried,” Beth was starting to pick up her pace as she talked. Carlos knew they were getting closer.
Beth came to a sudden stop. The boys stopped at exactly the same time too. Carlos and Hayden didn’t. They ran towards the opening in the woods. Natalie’s coat was hanging on a tree. As soon as they reached it they realized immediately that she wasn’t there and hadn’t been for some time.
“I left her coat here to mark the spot where I left her. Something else has been here. I don’t know what, but it isn’t one of us,” Beth said as she looked into the woods, expressionless.
“What do we do now?” one of the boys asked. Hayden searched around the area. He didn’t see any other signs that Natalie may have been there.
“It doesn’t look like there has been a struggle. Maybe Natalie ran away,” Carlos said as he looked past the first set of trees and saw a path.
“Let’s keep going. Maybe she had a head start,” he said hoping that something would turn up.
As they ran down the trail they came towards a dirt road. Hayden and Carlos walked side by side, ignoring the invisible group they were in. Hayden stopped a few yards from the first farm house they came to. He looked down at the dirt road and studied the foot prints.
“I know these are from Natalie’s shoes, I bought them for her,” he said excitedly. Carlos smiled as they picked up their pace. As they approached the farm house they noticed the yellow police tape. Hayden felt his heart stop. Carlos ran towards the house.
“It’s the Johnston farm house,” Carlos announced.
“Natalie! Are you in here Natalie?” he shouted. Hayden ran in behind him. In their fear of finding Natalie dead they lost control of their senses.
Beth stood in the living room as they entered. She was talking to the farmer. Carlos knew immediately that he recently died. Hayden ran through the house, completely missing the farmer’s wife sitting in the window seat in the upstairs bedroom, looking out the window into the woods. As Hayden ran back downstairs and entered the living room, he stopped abruptly as Carlos lifted his hand for him to stop.
“He told me Natalie left,” Beth whispered.
“When was she here and where did she go? What direction did she leave in?” Hayden shouted at the farmer. He acted a little surprised that Hayden could see him so clearly.
“She ran away when the police arrived. She thought she would be blamed for our murders,” he replied.
“Who else is dead?” Carlos asked.
“My wife is upstairs. She is afraid of me. She won’t come down,” he said with a grin.
“Where did Natalie go?” Hayden asked calmly. He knew that this ghost would become hostile if he wasn’t careful. He understood as quickly as Natalie did, that he murdered his wife.
“She ran back into the woods. My wife was watching her, but then she disappeared. The police stayed here for hours. I didn’t want to leave but my wife did. She is back if you want to talk to her. She is just upstairs,” he pointed up. Carlos didn’t trust him but they needed to talk to his wife, just in case she saw something.
“Beth, can you stay here with the boys, bring them in and wait for us here,” Hayden told her. The boys quickly entered the house and crowded around Beth. The farmer watched them enter his house, surprised by the number. He quickly backed up and sat in his chair in the corner, as he continued to watch them.
The stairs creaked as Hayden and Carlos ran up. Once they reached the top they focused on finding the other ghost. Hayden felt the air change as he walked back into the room he ran through earlier and pulled back the curtain by the front window. She sat on the roof of the front porch. The open, window seemed odd since she would have been able to go through it. He smiled realizing that she probably hasn’t grasped the fact that she is a ghost yet.
“Hi. My name is Hayden. Can I talk to you about a girl that was here earlier, a girl named Natalie?”
“You can see me?” she asked.
“Yes mam. Can we talk?” Hayden persevered.
“T
he police ignored me. They wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to tell them what happened,” she babbled on. Carlos was getting impatient. Hayden held his hand up to him.
“I will tell them what happened after you tell me where Natalie went,” Hayden persisted.
“She didn’t stay long. She seemed frightened by something. She washed the cupboard handles after getting a drink then she washed her glass. She left before I could find her a coat. All she asked for was a coat, she just asked for a coat. I was so surprised to see a stranger in my house. I moved a little too slow I suppose. Then my husband went and gave her such a fright. She went white as a ghost and she ran away into those woods,” she said as she pointed to the woods they just came from.
“Do you have any idea what time it was when she came here?” Hayden asked as calmly as he could. He wondered what scared Natalie so much. It couldn’t have been the fact that they were ghosts. Or the fact that he is a murderer. It may have brought back the memory of her father and he knew that would just have infuriated her, not frightened her. Possibly it brought back memories of her mother’s death. Or possibly Mr. Johnston knows what demon is chasing her and he told her so.
“At ten thirty she entered my house, because I had just sat down for my mid-morning tea,” the lady continued.
“It’s been eight hours. Let’s go while we still have some daylight left,” Carlos ordered, feeling frustrated by their lack of information.
“I saw something go after her Hayden,” she whispered as she continued to stare in to the woods.
“Who went after her?” he asked, frightened now.
“What went after her is the question you should be asking. It wasn’t human. It wasn’t dead either it was something darker. It appeared to be a dark cloud that followed her in to the woods,” she shuddered then closed her eyes.
“Thank you,” Hayden said as they raced out of the room. Downstairs, Beth stood surrounded by the boys but the farmer wasn’t there.
“Where did he go?” Carlos asked.
“He went outside,” one of them replied. Hayden ran out the front door and stopped on the first step of the porch. The farmer stood in the front yard holding a shovel. He must have dug this hole before he died. He placed his gun in it and then began to try and fill it with dirt.
“Why is he doing that?” Hayden asked Carlos as they walked by him.
“I don’t know,” Carlos replied as they stopped and looked back at the farmer. He stopped shoveling and leaned on his shovel, looking up at the sun as it began to make its decent.
“It’s the eyes. They are watching us. I wish they would just come and take me. I can’t stand the waiting. Don’t worry about your little friend, Natalie. She is safe from the eyes. She is hidden from their sight still, but her demon is looking for her and when it finds her she will be completely lost to you. Even one of your ghost friends that chased her here is afraid of her demon,” the farmer warned as he continued burying his gun.
“Which ghost friend is that?” Carlos asked.
“A woman was pursuing her before she made it here, but once she saw Natalie’s demon she went the other way,” the farmer mumbled as looked back up at the sky.
The boys from the school stood on the porch and waited for Beth to instruct them. They were looking up at the sky too. Hayden felt a shiver run through him. He couldn’t help but wonder what demon Natalie ran from and why did it chase her.
“Let’s go. We have to keep moving. Natalie ran back into the woods. We have to go now. Where is Beth?” Hayden was ready to go alone if he had too. Carlos walked back into the house. Beth was sitting with the farmer’s wife. They appeared to be enjoying a conversation. She was laughing and smiling.
“Are you coming Beth?” Carlos asked, already knowing her answer. Beth just shook her head and kept talking to the woman.
CHAPTER FIVE
Hayden and Carlos led the boys quickly through the woods. Most of them in the group were beginning to realize their true strength and speed. Some of them even ran in quick sprints where they would actually pass Hayden and Carlos, but they quickly slowed due to their lack of co-ordination. Hayden tried not to smile. He knew they would probably not stay locked up in that school once this journey ended. They kept going even though there wasn’t a trail or signs of Natalie in front of them. The sun is starting to set now and their spirits were beginning to sink as well.
“I thought we were so close to finally finding her,” Carlos sighed as he stopped running and ran his fingers through his thick black hair. He looked over at Hayden, who began to slow his pace as well.
“I felt the same way. I don’t know how far she would have gone or if she is even going in this direction. She may have been running in a panic she may have switched directions. I don’t know if we should continue going straight or if we should double back in case we missed something. Maybe she has decided to rest for the night somewhere,” Hayden was rambling on because he felt so useless and frustrated.
“I think your right. I don’t think she came this way. I’m not sure, just an instinct. Let’s turn around and pan out to cover more ground, just in case she is resting somewhere,” Carlos said as he thought about what the farmer told them. If Natalie did have something, some demon chasing her and it caught her, the farmer said we would not be able to help her. Why wouldn’t we be able to help her? She isn’t dead, because the farmer said the eyes didn’t see her. What could this demon possibly do to her?
“HAYDEN! CARLOS!” one of the boys shouted. Hayden reached the boy first. He fell down on his knees and began pulling a pile of tree branches off of a body. Carlos gasped as he reached him and began frantically helping him.
“Natalie,” Hayden shouted, as he lifted her up into his arms and kissed her face. She was so still in his arms. Carlos couldn’t stop the tears from falling. He held one of her hands and felt the coldness. He pressed his finger against her wrist to feel for a pulse he was sure would not be present.
“Hayden, she is not dead. Put her down quickly, I have to listen to her heart,” Carlos ordered through his tears. Hayden gently laid her down and placed his cheek above her mouth, hoping to feel a breath. It was faint but it was there.
“Her breath is extremely slow and shallow. We have to get her to a hospital,” Carlos said as he stood and noticed the boys standing back from them.
“She is alive. We have to get her back to the city,” Carlos told them, but they didn’t look at him, they were looking past him at something in the woods.
“What is it?” Carlos demanded. He couldn’t see anything. One of the boys looked at Carlos then focused his glare on Natalie.
“It’s the eyes. They are watching us. They are protecting someone just beyond the trees,” he stammered before he suddenly stiffened and looked at Hayden.
“The farmer was right, you can’t help Natalie now. A hospital can’t help her either. She will only return to her body when she escapes from her demon,” the biggest boy in the group spoke as though in a trance. His face appeared expressionless and his voice possessed an odd, almost hollow sound, like he stood in a tunnel. Hayden jumped up and stood in front of him.
“Is Natalie with you? Is she okay? Is she alive?” Hayden questioned him frantically wanting answers before this trance ended.
“Natalie is on her own journey. The eyes are watching her now but she is not dead. She is fighting her own battle now. I suggest you leave her body here. If she makes it through she will need to be able to find it quickly,” the boy said as he shook for a few seconds then looked blankly at everyone standing around him.
“What?” he asked. He seemed completely unaware of what just happened between him and Hayden.
Hayden walked back to Natalie and cradled her in his arms. She loved it when he held her like this when they were alone. He wasn’t going to let her go now. He would hold her until she returned. Carlos collected himself, wanting to hold her himself, but knowing he couldn’t.
“Hayden, I’m going to head back. I’ll retu
rn with supplies. I’ll bring food and water. A tent, some blankets. It’s bound to be cold tonight. Is there anything else you can think of?” he asked.
“I can’t think Carlos. I can’t lose her. Call Clive. See if he knows anything about this.” Hayden kissed Natalie’s forehead and cried.
~~~
The trees were becoming denser the faster I ran. I didn’t know where to go. Something is coming for me. I felt it wash over me. The warm breeze surrounded me. I listened as it flowed around the trees in a strange, unnatural way. It is here for me and there is nowhere else to run. Visions of Hayden holding his arms out, wanting to hold me, consumed me. I felt the tears pour down my face. My breath slowed and the woods went dark.
Trickles of rain fell on my face as I awoke in the middle of a field. I stood up quickly and glanced around. It looked oddly familiar. Have I been here before? I began to walk towards an old, abandoned house. There’s a rusty tractor parked behind a collapsed shed that seemed familiar. As I walked around it I almost stepped into a large hole but I quickly pulled my leg back up and froze. I reached down to the ground and moved the grass away to discover the holes a large dog dug up many years ago.
“More than ten years ago,” I whispered. I knew this place well. I walked slowly toward the old house. The windows were boarded up. The grass grew tall but dry all around the house. I couldn’t tell where my mother’s garden used to grow. I walked up onto the porch and opened the door. It creaked as I entered. I walked around the dining room and peaked in to the kitchen. A flash of my father’s dead friend lying on the floor startled me. I continued to walk down the hall into the living room.
“No, it can’t be!” I cried. My beautiful piano was still in here. It looked exactly like I left it. I walked over and lifted the cover. I placed my hands on the cold ebony keys. I began to play as though it was only yesterday. I loved the sound. I was reminded of the day it arrived here. My father had called me from the bottom of the stairs, holding some kind of chair in his hand.