by Dani Swanson
Izzie stepped out of the closet and nervously looked over at Xander, engrossed in the movie. "Let's start it over, so you know what's going on.....whoa. You look great!" Xander had just noticed the black off the shoulder sweater that Izzie had put on over her yoga pants. She had high shin boots that she was wearing for the first time.
"Thanks, sweetie," She could hear the rumbling of the box grow louder from the closet and didn't want Xander to hear it. "Let's go now. I don't want to get sleepy on the couch, and then I won't want to go."
"Cool. Whatever you want, babe!" He got up from the couch, grabbed his coat, and headed to the door. He opened it and offered Izzie his arm. "My lady."
He stopped for a moment and listened as he could hear something vibrating in the apartment. "Did you hear that?" He pointed over his shoulder, holding his breath for a moment, listening for the noise.
"Just a vibration or something, I'm sure. It's fine." She smiled at him as she walked out into the hallway. He promptly shut the door behind them and started down toward Nathan's apartment.
12: Shadows of the Disco lights
The air was crisp. Izzie shivered in the night's air; she cuddled into Xander's chest as they walked down the sidewalk toward The Smokey Owl bar. The sun was almost set in the west, leaving a swirl of orange and pink against the stary sky. The moon was full and high in the sky. Nathan was chatting their ears off with a story of meeting a cute redhead at this bar the previous week, and he hoped that she would be there tonight. He said her name was Lila or something like that. Izzie wasn't listening as she watched all the shadows around the parked cars on the street, making sure that they were attached to the ground and not walking around by themselves.
“Where is he?” Nathan whispered as he looked around, trying to not draw attention to himself.
“I locked him in the closet.”
“What?” Xander looked to the siblings trying to hear what they were talking about.
“Nothing. Just talking about mom.” Izzie linked her arm through Xander’s, smiling up to him.
The Smokey Owl entrance was covered with large white lights in the shape of owls hanging from the building's rain gutter. The patio area behind a wrought-iron fence, which twisted in the form of vines growing out of the cement, had a few patrons enjoying cocktails on it. Muffled music from the inside, the bass at a high enough level that Izzie could feel its vibrations inside her body. She waited in line with the two of them. Her anxiety was high as she kept seeing things move out of the corner of her eye. Nathan noticed every time she jumped.
"Don't worry, Iz. I'm here too." Nathan whispered in her ear. He linked pinkies with her for just a second as he took the spot on her side closest to the street. She felt better sandwiched between these two large guys.
She nervously gave the bouncer her ID, and she had two large X's drawn on the top of each of her hands, marking that she was underage and couldn't be served. Izzie handed her keys to Xander to put in his pockets as they didn't fit into her tiny purse. The inside of the bar had a large dance floor with a stage for live music. Velvet benches lined the booths along the wall on the far side, and a large bar full of colorful bottles was across the way. The packed bar amazed Izzie with the colored lights flickering across the dark room. The dance floor even had a disco ball spinning above in a tacky yet fitting way.
"What do you think?" Nathan said with excitement as he wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulder. "Awesome, right?" He didn't wait for an answer as he led Izzie and Xander over to an open booth.
Izzie saw many people that she took classes with, and awkwardly smiled and waved at them when they walked by. She didn't know how to act in a social environment. "Girl, relax. Let's go do what we came here to do!" Xander took her by the hand and brought her out onto the floor. He held her close as they twirled in the lights. Izzie couldn't stop smiling, swaying her hips to the beat. "You're so pretty when you smile." He leaned down and kissed her. Izzie's heart swelled; she was the happiest when she was with him.
They danced for hours until they were sweaty messes. Izzie was having a great time until she saw a shadow dancing by itself – not attached to a body. Izzie stopped dead in her tracks. She told Xander that she felt dizzy, and she wanted to go sit down. They headed back to where they had left Nathan, but he was nowhere to be found. "He must have found the redhead," Izzie yelled over the music to her boyfriend.
"We'll make it without him." He winked at her.
The night ended at the bar closing. The lights came on, and the people who were left slowly shuffled out into the night.
They ran into Nathan outside; he had his arm around the shoulders of a little redhead. "You two good for making it home?" He raised his eyebrows.
"You said you would be here with me." The euphoria of the night was wearing off as she saw the movement of the night happening around them.
She felt Xander's hand go over her mouth. "Don't worry, bro. I'll make sure your sister makes it home safely." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead as he waved goodbye to Nathan.
She could feel her anxiety raising as they made their way down the walk. "What's wrong? You're being super quiet." She could feel his eyes looking down on top of her head.
"I just don't like being out in the dark very much." She shivered as she leaned into him. "I've never been good at being out at night."
They walked in silence for a bit, passing by the other college students on their way to their apartments. Two guys with their hoods up walked past on the street. A glint of silver flashed before Izzie felt tugging on her purse strap, and the two men were running down the street with her purse in hand.
"Hey! Stop!" Izzie screamed as she turned on her heels to watch them flee. She could feel a surge run through her that gave a burst of energy that came out of her hands, pushing the men farther down the street.
"Get back here!" Xander was running as fast as he could to catch them.
"Xander! Don't! Let them go!" Her voice carried through the air but met deaf ears as Xander disappeared over the horizon as he continued to chase the men. "Dammit, Xander! Come back!"
Izzie ran after them until her lungs burned. She breathed heavily as she leaned against a tree. For the first time in her entire life, she was utterly alone.
She was cold and tired. She wrapped her arms around herself and started back to the apartments. Hopefully, someone would let her back in the building. The otherwise silent night was interrupted by the rustles of branches from the bushes along the sidewalk. Izzie felt like there were eyes on her as she hurried her pace. "I should have stayed in the apartment." She said it out loud as she continuously was trying to call Xander on his cell. "Come on, dude. You have my keys."
The rustling of the branches started to grow more intense the closer to her place she got. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye again. She didn't dare to turn her head in that direction as she watched her feet. "Leave me alone." She whispered to herself. "Not tonight." She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. She only had a block to go until she made it to her apartment building. The leaves shook in the trees, the bushes, but there wasn't any wind blowing. The streetlights flickered, and everything else in the night seemed to stop including Izzie's ability to move. All the lights in the apartments went dark - there was no movement coming from the windows as if everyone else disappeared. She stopped and stared as shadows emerged from the buildings' corners, behind cars, and bushes. They swirled in front of her, spinning and turning as they merged, creating a ring around her. The black voids stretched, covering her completely. Izzie completely froze in fear and couldn't move a muscle as the shadows trapped her within the center of their being. She couldn't see the moon anymore as they started to move, dragging her with them - her silent scream lost in the void.
13: Hyde Park and the old elm tree
"Babe! Iz! I got your purse back!" Xander ran down the hallway of the student apartments. Being 3am, the only noise in the hall was the loud buzzing of the fluorescent lights. He
pounded on her door and yelled her name when he heard the jingle of Izzie's keys in his pocket. He opened the door and poked his head in; seeing nothing but an empty apartment, he ran down the hallway to Nathan's apartment. He banged on the door and called Nathan's phone three times before leaving a message.
"Nate! I can't find your sister. Her phone is off; she's not at her apartment - I have her keys and purse. Call me. Please!" He started to text Nathan with a 911 code added to it. He made sure that if Nathan had his ringer on, it would go off until he answered him.
He went back into Izzie's apartment and sat on the couch. He continued to try Izzie's phone to no avail. Her voicemail wasn't even picking up; it would only go to static after two rings. After a few minutes, that felt more like days, his phone rang. Nathan's picture popped up on the screen.
"I can't find your sister! Where are you?"
Nathan was running as fast as he could. His breath was heavy on the phone, and his heart was racing. "Why did you leave her alone? You said you were going home!"
"We were! Someone snatched her purse, and I went after them. I got stopped by the cops on the way back. I was only gone like twenty minutes, and I can't find her anywhere. Her phone isn't working, and she hasn't come back to the apartment. Do I call the police?" Xander was pacing the floor. "I don't know what to do, man."
"I'm almost to the apartment. Don't call the police; it won't do any good."
Xander heard the vibration coming from the closet just as he had before they had left for the night. "Something keeps moving around in her closet, but there isn't anything there."
The closet's scrapping noise was loud enough that Nathan could hear it on the other end of the phone. "I know what it is. I need you just to trust me and do what I say. I'm about two blocks away."
"What? What do you need me to do?"
"Okay, man, go over to the door and open it wide. Put me on speakerphone."
"What is going on?"
"Man, you're not going to believe me anyway. I just need you to trust me. Go in her closet and put me on speakerphone. " Xander obliged and hit the speaker button.
"Okay, bro. You're on speakerphone. Now what?"
Nathan's lungs felt like they were going to burst, and he couldn't run any farther. He was about a block away. Nathan slowed to a walk, looking in the bushes and every which way for a sign of his sister. "Okay, Zyon. I know you're locked in there. You need to show yourself to Xander. Iz is gone, and we cannot find her. I think the shadows took her."
There was a long pause that came after that as Xander just blankly stared at his phone. This had to be some sort of joke was all he could think of as he replayed Nathan’s words in his head. Then it started. The wooden jewelry box that was on the floor began to vibrate and move across the floor. There was a grumbling coming from inside the box.
"Nathan? Your sister's jewelry box is moving...what is Zyon?"
The apartment door flung open, and Nathan walked in, hanging up his phone as he shut the door behind him. "Zyon is a little man that is locked in that box. We need to let him out and get him to find my sister!" Nathan pushed past Xander and into the closet. He dropped to his knees and pulled on the latch on the box. The metal was hot to the touch; it illuminated as if a flame heated it before it crumbled to dust in Nathan's hand. The smell of burning char filled the air. He lifted the lid to expose the little green man, who jumped out of the box with such a force that he knocked Nathan backward onto his backside. Xander was still not able to see him and watched the spectacle of Nathan falling over on his own accord.
"What the hell did you do?! How did you let your sister go off by herself? Do you realize that it's a full moon tonight?" Zyon was out of the box and screaming at Nathan as he walked up and kicked Nathan in the shin. Nathan winced in pain. Zyon grew, wrapping his hands around Nathan’s neck.
"Man, what are you doing?! We need to go find your sister!"
"This is how we find my sister! Can you see him?" Nathan was pointing at nothing. "You need to talk to him, Zyon! He's the last one to see her."
"Nathan, you're losing it. I'm going out to find Izzie! I'm going to go down to the police station and get some help. This isn’t funny!" Xander had his hand on the knob and was about to leave when he heard the grizzly voice speak.
"Where is the exact spot you last saw her? The EXACT location." Xander slowly turned around to see a little green man, no taller than a three-year-old, standing next to Nathan sitting on the floor. "Take me to where you were. NOW!"
"What is that?!" Xander pointed at Zyon and backed into the corner. "What the hell is that?!"
"He is a boggle. His name is Zyon. It's a really long story." Nathan climbed to his feet, rubbing his neck. "Let's go to where you last saw her. Zyon needs to investigate."
All Xander could do is nod as he followed behind Nathan and the little man down the hall. "What....what are the shadows that you mentioned before? Is that a gang or something?"
Nathan pushed Xander ahead of him. "Walk faster, Xander, we're wasting time.... the shadows are exactly what they sound like. A shadow. Do you know that drawing on her fridge that we made as kids? The Winding Woods? It's a real place. That's where Izzie is actually from."
"You're not supposed to be talking about any of that, Nathan! You weren't supposed to leave her side."
"Me? You let her lock you in a box full of your junk in the closet! You should have been there with her the whole time! Isn't that your job?"
Zyon bared his teeth and growled like a dog. His panic was growing as he ran alongside the men. "She used her magic and locked me in." He said through gritted teeth.
"Magic? Shadows? What are you saying?" Xander stopped in his tracks at the exact spot where Izzie's purse was taken from her. A scrap of the fabric of her bag was still lying on the ground. "Did someone drug me? Am I dreaming all of this?"
Zyon walked up to him and scratched him with one of his long nails across the back of Xander's hand, breaking the skin. The wound quickly filled with blood. Xander yelped. More so from surprise than from pain. "Did you feel that? Are you dreaming? If you are, I promise I'm part of your nightmare." Zyon was digging through the bushes, looking for anything that gave him a clue on which way they went. "There is nothing here. The shadows took her. I can't believe she didn't listen to me."
"Where did they take her?" Nathan searched the gutters and the bushes, looking for any sign that she had been there.
"They took her back to the Winding Woods. They're trying to break the curse."
"Where are the Winding Woods? I've never heard of that place."
"Xander, stop. We'll explain when we're on the way if you want to save her. Zyon? Where do we need to go?"
"We're going to have to go back. I need to go back to that park where they found Izzie....what do they call it? Hidden Park? Place?"
"Do you mean Hyde Park?" Nathan had stopped going through the bushes and walked over to Zyon.
"Yeah. I think that was the name of that place. It wasn't far from your parent's house."
"Let's go," he pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "Xander, I understand if you don't want to go with us. It's a lot to take in all at once. We can tell you the story on the way."
"He doesn't need to go! You only need to get me to the park, and I will take it from there." Zyon started back to the apartment to get to Nathan's car.
"I'm going with you. That's my sister. I promised to protect her just as you did."
“Yeah, a fine job you’re doing with that.”
"I'm going too," Xander interjected to their argument.
"You don't need to," Nathan held his hand up in protest to Xander.
"Yes, I do. I love Iz, too."
They got into Nathan's car and started the three-hour drive back to Hyde Park. It gave Nathan plenty of time to explain Izzie's strange past and the magical creature they were riding with. Xander felt like he was in a surreal daze.
"You two stay in the car. I'll go get her." Zyon was out of the car and he
aded into the park as the sun was rising.
"You make it sound like you're just popping into the store to get some juice, man. We're not waiting for you not to come back to the car." Xander was out, following close to Zyon, as was Nathan.
"You're going to need us. I remember the stories from sitting on the porch swing. I'm going with you, too. You're going to need both of us."
Zyon stopped and started to rub his temples. "Okay. What powers do you two have? Seriously. Where is your sword? Or a gun, I’d settle for a gun at this point. What are you going to do against the creatures of the woods?" The men shrugged at each other - they didn't have an answer for the boggle. "Exactly. I am from the Winding Woods. I have been around all of them my entire life. I know what to do if a witch shoots a fireball at me or an elf shoots an arrow or if the Grimalkin tries to enter my kingdom. I can't babysit you while I'm looking for Iz."
"We are strong and smart. We can hold our own. Let's get going." Xander pointed off to the park. "How does a family park get us to your home?"
Zyon gave up. He knew that they might come in handy fighting against the shadows. Especially since there may be many more shadows in the Winding Woods, he didn't want to face Phantasma on his own either. He let out a sigh and then led the charge deep into the wooded area of Hyde Park.
Toward the back of the fenced-in area was a huge elm tree with twists in the bark that created gnarly knots covering the base. There was one spot where three of the knots looked like a heart. "Touch all three at the same time."
Nathan reached out, took three of his fingers, and pressed each of the knots simultaneously. The tree rumbled, and there was a smell of sawdust filling his nose as the tree's bark folded in, creating an opening that went into a void. "Get in there if you're going." Zyon gave each of the men a push on their legs.
Xander gave Nathan a look of trepidation before entering the darkness. The little bit of light that they had disappeared with the rustling noise of the entrance shutting behind them. The damp smell of mildew was the only thing that they could smell, and the hard surface they were walking on beneath their feet was all they felt as they blindly marched forward, following the sound of the boggle's footsteps.