by Matt Ryan
“I think I can as well.” Julie scowled at Lucas. “I’d be happy to help you out,” she answered the new guy.
“Thanks, Julie. I’ll hit you up after school and we can trade numbers.” Brent paused and glanced over them, his arrogant gaze passing over Joey and stopping on Lucas. “Next time, just let Julie speak for herself, pal.” He turned and walked away.
Lucas stared at Brent’s back. “Who was that? Some new kid?”
“Must be, I think I would’ve remembered him.” Julie fanned her face with her hand.
“Yeah, well, if you’re into looks and stuff.” Lucas folded his arms.
“Too full of himself. The balls on him to come up to a group like us, and hit on Julie.” Poly appeared annoyed. Julie smiled and looked like she just realized she was hit on.
“Yeah, the nerve.” Lucas looked vindicated as Poly took his side.
“You want me to rough him up for you, Lucas?” Hank asked sarcastically.
“Actually, I would.”
Hank laughed. “It’ll be okay, buddy.” Then his attention jerked to Joey. “Oh yeah, Joey has a story for us.”
Joey’s eyes went wide. He took a deep breath and looked at his friends. The more he ran it through his head, the more difficult it was to say aloud without sounding insane. “Something happened this morning when I took Bull for a walk,” he started, and then continued to tell them everything that happened.
When he finished, Lucas’s mouth hung open. “You’re messing with us right? Freaking Gollum is in Watchers Woods. For real?” he asked with skepticism
“There must be an explanation,” Julie said, examining the tater tot in her fingers. “The bean dip looked pretty sketchy last night; did you have a bunch of that?”
“It wasn’t the bean dip. I think that thing was after me—after us. It said, ‘They’re here, one is close.’”
“This is strangely familiar to when you told us about going through Watchers Woods and seeing witches,” Lucas said.
Joey had forgotten about that story. “No, I was like eight when I told you guys that. This time it’s for real.”
“What about when you told us you thought your dad was an alien?” Lucas asked.
Joey sighed. “Can you bring up a story where my age is in the double digits?”
Lucas put his hands behind his head and smiled.
“I’ve been through Watchers Woods several times and I’ve never seen anything,” Hank said. “I’ve heard of vagrants going through the woods though.”
“Maybe it was some homeless guy and his pigment-challenged pigmy friend,” Lucas hypothesized.
Joey breathed in deep breath and blew it out through his nose. “It wasn’t some homeless guy.”
“I believe you,” Poly said.
“Thanks, Poly, but it’s not just the two guys in the forest. Don’t you think our parents are acting weirder?”
They shared uncomfortable glances with each other.
“My dad’s acting stranger than normal,” Hank agreed. “He’s been showing me how to defend myself, like hardcore martial arts stuff.”
“Not sure how that fits in, Hank,” Julie answered.
“Just seemed weird is all,” he said and forked his chicken salad.
Poly leaned forward and motioned with her hand for everyone to do the same. Joey slid his plate aside and leaned forward on the table so he could hear. She brought her backpack onto the table and unzipped the front pouch. Looking around, she slowly pulled out a long knife and set it on the table. There was a collective gasp. Joey could not believe she had a weapon, and at school no less. She would be expelled, if anyone saw.
“What the hell, Poly?” Samantha blurted out.
“Why do you have a knife?” Joey whispered.
“My mom’s been acting strange this summer as well. I hear her talking on the phone with Trip and I think he convinced her to teach me self-defense.” She spun the knife in her hand and slid it back into the backpack.
“With knives at school?” Julie’s mouth hung open and she raised her eyebrows.
“Mom’s amazing with blades,” Poly bragged with a glowing smile. “Who knew?”
Joey stared at Poly’s backpack. “There’s something else.” He hadn’t planned on telling them. “My dad, last night, gave me a birthday present. Two hand guns.” He put his hand on the side of his face, rubbing his temple.
“What’s going on?” Samantha asked.
“You think this has something to do with what you saw in the woods?” Julie asked.
“I don’t know,” Joey said.
“I got it!” Lucas exclaimed. “Last night, Trip said he would never stop looking for us. I bet it’s this guy you saw in Watchers Woods.”
Julie frowned at Lucas. “When did you start to make sense?”
“Hey, I have my moments.”
“Well, what are we going to do about this?” Poly asked, leaning forward on the table.
Joey sighed and looked at Samantha. She’d been quiet since she heard him tell his story. “What do you think, Samantha?”
“I don’t like this. I think there is something bad going on. Maybe we should tell our parents about what Joey saw.”
“What?” Lucas said. “No. All they’d do is freak out and stuff us away in the storm shelters.”
“Lucas is right,” Julie added. “Remember when we were twelve and they got freaked out about some ‘tornado’? We spent the entire day stuffed underground. I checked the weather reports, there wasn’t a chance of a tornado happening on that day.”
Joey remembered it well. His mom wouldn’t stop shaking as she held him. There was not a cloud in the sky, so it hadn’t made sense.
“If we aren’t telling our parents, then what are we going to do?” Samantha asked.
“If this person knows anything about what happened to my dad, I want to find him,” Poly said. “I say we go to this stone tonight. We get our weapons and meet at Fletchers path.”
Fletchers path ran along the edge of Watchers Woods. It would be a good central meeting place. The woods were spooky enough during the day; Joey didn’t like the idea of being there in the dark. If he had his guns loaded, maybe he could protect his friends from that thing. It could be running around the woods right now or waiting for him in his house.
His friends didn’t completely believe him, he saw it in their faces. Except for maybe Poly. If this forest man and his dagger-carrying companion were part of what happened to their parents, then they had to pursue it. He was sick of looking at old newspapers and articles; he wanted to find out what really happened.
“We can tell all our parents we’re staying at Hank’s,” Joey said.
“Fine, but I’m bringing some of the fun to the party tonight,” Lucas said. “You know, just in case this silver thing doesn’t show.”
“I think it’ll show,” Julie said.
“Why’s that?” Lucas asked.
“Joey said it was attracted to scent and your particular odor, carries a long way.”
“Oh, ha-ha,” Lucas rolled his eyes. “I’m going out there to have fun tonight. If we can summon something from the depths of Watchers Woods, great. I’ll bring something to take it down.”
Joey frowned at Lucas. He didn’t know what he meant about bringing something to take it down, but he didn’t think it would be fun if those yellow eyes appeared in the dark.
“Is it cool if I invite Brent?” Julie asked with a poorly contained smile.
“Oh, that’s it.” Lucas flung a tater tot at Julie.
“Ugh, how dare you throw food at me?” Julie played shocked and appalled, but the hint of a smile gave her away.
The bell rung.
“I think we should go right after school.” Joey said in a hurry. Truth was he did not like the idea of being in or near Watchers Woods in the dark.
“Fine, let’s just grab our stuff at our houses and head out.” Lucas said.
“I’ll bring a blanket,” Poly said, smiling at Joey.
> “Okay, I’ll just bring my guns because there’s a silver thing with a huge dagger trying to get to us,” Joey said.
Lucas laughed.
Joey shook his head. He was starting to want Lucas to see this creature. Maybe he’d take him right to the circle and have him touch the stone.
The cafeteria filled with the clatter of trays and slapping trashcan lids. Joey stood and tossed his food away. Leaving the cafeteria, a hand touched his arm and he turned to face Samantha.
“I got another present last night,” she said.
“Don’t tell me your mom got you nunchucks or something?”
She laughed. “No, I wish. Nunchucks would be awesome. She got me a car.”
“What? No way. That’s unbelievable.”
“I was thinking, if we have some time tonight, maybe we can skip out on the rest and take a drive to the lake.”
His eyes widened. A trip to the lake, at night, in a car, alone with Samantha . . . that sounded much better than waiting for his friends to decide if he was crazy or not.
“Okay, yeah,” he tried to sound only mildly interested, but failed.
She smiled, reached out and touched his hand. “Well, I’ll see you tonight then.”
JOEY GLANCED BACK AT HIS house. He was far enough away. Pulling each gun from his bag, he holstered them one at a time. The weight of them pulled on the rig over his shoulders.
He almost wished his parents had questioned him about going to Hanks. He hated lying to his parents, and didn’t want to add another layer of sediment to their history of lies. Pulling the bag over his shoulder, he picked up his pace to Fletcher’s Path. It was only a couple miles away from his house.
Approaching the meeting spot, he saw what looked like smoke. It covered a large section of the dirt parking lot and the forest next to it. Joey jogged toward it and heard the roaring motor of a car. The car emerged from the cloud and then turned hard right, sliding sideways.
A person screamed in excitement from inside the car. He squinted and leaned forward, looking at the person driving. Poly had one hand on the wheel and the other sticking out of the window.
The car’s front tires spun and flung gravel and dust into the air, expanding the cloud filling the area. Lucas sat in the passenger seat with a huge grin.
Skidding to a stop, the dust cloud washed over Joey. He coughed and attempted to wave the dust away from his face, as he walked up to the car.
Poly shot out of the car. “That. Was. Awesome.”
Lucas climbed out, reached back and moved the front seat forward. Julie and Samantha stumbled out of the back of the two door Civic. Samantha scowled at Poly as she backed away from the car.
“My turn,” Lucas said.
“Hell, no,” Samantha said. “Poly nearly gave me a heart attack doing that. I can’t imagine what you’d try to do.”
“Hey, guys,” Joey said.
“Hey, Joey, you see my driving?” Poly asked as she skipped over to him.
“Yeah, pretty impressive donuts.”
“I wanted to do some e-brake slides, but Samantha got all motherly on us.”
Samantha crossed her arms. “When you get your own car, Poly, I want to be the first to drive it.”
Poly rolled her eyes so only Joey could see. “You see anything in those woods again?”
“Nah, nothing. But I’m telling you, I think it’s dangerous in there.” He looked at the woods.
“What can stop the six of us?” Poly tapped her fingers on her thigh strap holding a row of thin knives.
Hank walked through the settling dust, carrying a small bag over his shoulder. “Awesome car, Samantha,” Hank called out.
“Thanks,” Samantha replied with a smile.
“Great, we’re all here now.” Lucas pointed to Hank as he approached. “Let’s go check out this circle thingy,” he said. “Oh wait.” Flinging the car door open, he pulled out a bow and quiver. “You’re not the only one with something to shoot. I’ve been practicing all summer with my dad.”
“That’s a cute bow you got there, Lucas,” Poly said.
“Cute?” Lucas studied his bow. “What’d you bring, a bunch of kitchen knives?”
Poly sneered. “These are stainless steel throwing knives and if something gets close. . . .” She unsheathed a dagger from her hip.
“You wouldn’t get within a hundred feet of me with that stuff,” Lucas taunted.
“Well, when one of these silver things comes at us, I’ll leave it up to you to take it out.”
“If it’s real.” Julie looked doubtful. “And how do we even know if they are dangerous? We could be the first people on Earth to respond to an alien visitor. What if we attack and create a war?”
Joey gritted his teeth.
“Let me show you what I’ll do if one of those things comes at me.” Poly slid a knife out from her thigh and threw it. It stuck into a nearby tree.
“Nice, Poly,” Lucas said. He cocked an arrow and pulled back his bowstring, releasing it. The arrow flew into a distant tree. Lucas smiled with a smug face.
“What tree were you aiming for?” Julie asked.
Lucas glanced at Julie and shrugged. “The one next to it, but a tree’s a tree.” He leaned forward and stared at the arrow in the tree.
Joey pulled out his left gun and held it out. Everyone but Lucas watched him. He lined the sights and fired. The sound cracked through the forest and knocked some bark off a tree. Lucas jumped at the sound.
“Holy Christ!” Lucas said, holding his chest. “Don’t just shoot that thing without a warning.”
“You okay?” Poly asked.
“No, I think I need to go back home and change my underwear now.”
“Good thing your mom brought you an extra pair this afternoon.” Joey laughed. “Sorry man. I thought you were looking.” He holstered his gun.
“Freaking ear is ringing now,” Lucas whined, covering his ear.
After the dust settled, they walked into Watchers Woods. Joey kept his right hand near his gun. His friends laughed and joked around as they walked deeper into the woods, but he kept silent, his attention on the edges of visibility.
He led the way toward the stone. On the ground, he spotted a path ahead. It seemed familiar. Was this the path he’d taken this morning?
“I think we should be quiet,” Joey urged.
Samantha nudged up against him. He wished they could have just taken the car ride to the lake and forgotten about the things in Watchers Woods, but he had to find out who the man in black was, and the silver creature with him.
She looked at him. “You think we’re close?”
He looked at those brown eyes. Did he really just bring them all to see what he saw? Panic built as he studied Samantha’s face. He turned back to his friends. Julie typed into her phone, Lucas inspected the string on his bow, Poly raised an eyebrow and tapped her fingers on her knives, and Hank’s head pivoted around as he searched the forest.
“Yes,” Joey said.
He turned back and faced the path ahead. The stone was close and a deep fear had begun to creep in. He thought about taking the path to the right, it led to his house.
“I don’t think we should have come,” Joey spoke out.
“I agree. We don’t get any cell coverage out here.” Julie frowned.
“Oh no,” Lucas protested. “I need to see this circle.”
Joey stared at the path ahead. It would only be a few minutes to get to the circle. “Fine, but let’s be quiet for the rest of the way. That thing could still be around here.” He sighed and walked down the path leading to the stone. He spotted Bull’s paw print over an anthill.
“Hello?” a man’s voice called out.
Joey stopped and looked at the man standing in the middle of the path ahead. He wore a black jacket and jeans. He smiled and waved a hand. Joey adjusted his jacket so the man couldn’t see his guns.
Samantha and Poly stood next to him and Lucas sneered at the man.
“This the g
uy from the circle?” Lucas whispered.
“No.” Joey didn’t recognize him.
The man approached and stopped within talking distance. “What are you kids doing out here?” His gaze swept over them with a weak smile, plastered on his face.
“We’re hunting rabbits,” Lucas said.
“You look familiar, what’s your name?” The man stared at Joey.
“Joey.”
The man winced and looked at the ground. He brushed back his hair, pulled out a tablet from the inside of his jacket, and started typing. Joey spotted it for a split second—a gun, holstered to his side.
With wide eyes, Joey tried to send a warning to his friends. He mouthed the words to Samantha, but she shook her head in question.
“Joey Foust?” the man confirmed.
“Yes. How do you know my last name?”
The man took them in again, passing over each of them. “I don’t suppose your parents told you who I am?”
Joey raised an eyebrow and glanced behind him. This man knew them. This man had a gun. He’d brought his friends to danger. He leaned close to Samantha’s ear and whispered, “Go tell our parents about this. This guy has a gun. Run.”
Samantha looked shocked. She glanced at the man and then to Joey.
He urged her with his eyes to run. “Run,” he said between his teeth.
Samantha turned and ran.
“Wait,” the man called out. “Whoa, Joey, you don’t need to point that at me.”
Joey kept his shaking hand on the gun. The heavy steps of Samantha running faded away. She’d reach the car in a few minutes and get to his parents’ house in a few more. Within ten minutes, his parents should be here. He just needed to keep his gun trained on the man until they did.
The man raised both hands. “I wish I could explain everything to you kids right now, but we don’t have time. They’re moving around us as we speak. We need to get out of here.”
Joey mouth twitched with words. “Who are you?”
“My name is Harris.”
“I KNOW YOUR PARENTS, JOEY. Your dad, Minter.” Harris looked at Poly. “Opal is your mom, isn’t she? You look just like her.” He smiled and this time it reached his eyes. “And from that bow you’re holding,” he said to Lucas, “I’m guessing Rick is your dad.”