Wicked Cries (The Wicked Cries Series Book 1)

by Michelle Areaux

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  We stood on the edge of civilization and the past, glaring at the large barrier of trees that acted like a protective wall for what lay beyond. I wasn’t sure what we'd discover, if anything at all, but I was intrigued by the notion of what might be lurking deep within that forest. Noah sighed and took the first step forward. I grabbed his arm. "Are you sure we should be doing this?"

  "Yes. Aren't you curious about what's in there? What if Elizabeth’s journal is accurate and the rest of the documents are buried in a grave in there? Don’t you want to see it?" His voice was pleading for me to go along with him on his adventure. It was as if he were a small child, asking for permission from his mom.

  I hesitated before answering. Invisible hands pushed my body forward, and I knew it was Elizabeth urging me to take the plunge and be brave. After reading her journal, I owed it to her to uncover her secrets. I glanced back to catch a quick glimpse of long, flowing, brown hair in the night wind, and for the first time, knowing I was being watched made me feel better.

  Holding hands, the three of us took small, slow steps into the wooded area, careful not to move too fast. One moment I felt the tension in the air melt away, in the next I was brought rudely back to reality by blue and red lights as they danced against the coal black sky. The sound of footsteps approached, and a deep, male voice rang out, "Hey, you kids‒what are you all doing?" from the road. Before I even turned, I knew it was a police officer and his cruiser on the road behind us.

  "Great," Noah muttered under his breath.

  "What are you kids doing out here?" The officer was closer now, shining the light from his flashlight in our faces. Though I could make out little more than his silhouette, his voice he sounded like he might be in his mid-fifties.

  I could probably outrun him, I thought, and then quickly dismissed the thought‒I didn’t need any more trouble in my life.

  "Officer, I think my dog ran into the woods," Noah said, looking innocent. "We were just calling for him." His constant scheming had proven to be useful this time.

  The officer looked at me and Lucy, and we nodded our agreement with Noah’s story.

  "Well, you kids need to get back home. There's been a fire over at the town library‒any of you know anything about that?" He pointed his flashlight directly in my face.

  "Hey!" Noah yelled, stepping in between the light and my face. Though it was sweet, his act of chivalry was about to get him into a heaping amount of trouble.

  The officer stepped even closer to us, and I could make out the short beard on his pudgy face. His hand went to his holster and rested on the butt of a small pistol. "Son, you'd better step back now‒I'm not hurting your girlfriend." He spoke in a condescending tone that rubbed me the wrong way.

  I raised my hands in the air, like the do in the movies, to show they were empty, in the air in a sort of peace offering, trying my best to divert his attention toward me and away from Noah. "Officer, we drove through town a while ago and saw the fire, and while it is a tragedy, we don’t know anything about it. Honestly, we're looking for our dog."

  Noah shot the officer a pitiful glance.

  The officer looked from me to Noah and then to Lucy, taking a moment as if to analyze our faces, as if he were taking a mental note of what we looked life for future reference. "All right," he said at last, "well, just get on home. It's cold and too late for you all to be out." He turned and started to walk back to his cruiser.

  Once the officer left, I decided I'd had enough of this little adventure of ours. Even if we did find the spot, it could take us all night to dig up the contents of the hidden grave, and then what? Would we just pray what we found was legible or even helpful?

  "Noah, I'm freezing and tired. Can't we just do this in the morning?" I kept my face composed, but the anguish I felt showed through, I was sure.

  He nodded and turned to walk away. "I’m sorry‒maybe we should do this in the morning. It was a bad idea to try to do it now." He looked wounded, like a child who'd just been scolded.

  Lucy seemed relieved. She shrugged as if canceling our quest was no big deal and turned to follow Noah back to the road.

  We walked back to the road in silence. The temperature had dropped to an icy thirty-five. Each time we huffed or tried to talk, the words came out in large, puffy clouds. The fire was still largely ablaze, the air thick with smoke and ash, and the sky illuminated with orange and red streaks as large flames licked the night sky. The scene was devastating and sorrowful, yet oddly beautiful at once.

  A rustling noise behind me caught my attention. Lucy and Noah were busy discussing other ways we might get back to the woods. I turned to see Elizabeth standing there, alone, her hands covering her chest. Her face was pinched, like she was actively scolding me. I knew she was upset with us, maybe even disappointed, and I mouthed, "I’m sorry," as I walked away.

  To my utter surprise she spoke‒actually, it was more like a scream: "Help me before it’s too late," she said, before disappearing into thin air.

  When we got back to my house after what seemed like forever, we wasted no time getting out of the cold, night air. I threw off my jacket and gloves, went directly to the fireplace, put two large pieces of lumber into it, and struck a match. When it was lit, I grabbed three mugs out of the kitchen cupboard, and a carton of milk from the fridge. Lucy joined me in the kitchen, leaving Noah to tend the fire. She found a saucepan in the cupboard next to the stove and put it on a burner. I poured the milk into the pan, turned the stove on, and heated the milk until it began to bubble.

  When it was done, I added a scoop of hot chocolate powder to each mug and poured the warm milk into the mugs. Lucy helped me carry the mugs into the living room, where Noah the fire was a near- raging blaze in the fireplace.

  "Here." I handed one of the cups to Noah, and he looked up and smiled. We sat closely to the fire, watching the sparks as they flew up the chimney, each of us holding our mugs between both of our hands, warming our frozen hands.

  Lucy yawned and settled in on the large blue suede chair near the fire. I stood up and went to grab some blankets from the hall closet. Lucy was only half alert when I returned, and I used one of the blankets to tuck her into the chair. She smiled and closed her eyes. I gave the other blankets to Noah. He reached up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me down to the floor beside him.

  "I'm sorry about tonight." Noah gazed into the fire as he spoke. "It was a stupid idea to try to go into the woods at night." He wrapped the blanket tightly around himself.

  "Don’t be upset. We all agreed on the idea. We were all so eager to get answers." I wrapped the blanket tightly around my shoulders, like a shawl. My voice sounded bleak as I spoke. "I saw Elizabeth tonight, in the woods when we were leaving." I took a sip of my drink and snuggle into my blanket. "She asked me to help her before it was too late. I feel so helpless right now, like I'm somehow letting her down. I've never struggled this much to help someone like her."

  "I wish we could see her too," Lucy said. I was surprised she was still awake. "Maybe there's a way we could help both of you."

  "All of this talk about dead girls and cold weather is making me tired," Noah said. "I think we all could use to get some sleep. This floor's hard; can we move over to the couch?" Noah nodded at the overstuffed comfortable couch across the room.

  On the couch, Noah stretched his body, kicked off his tennis shoes, and propped his feet next to mine. He outstretched his arm, inviting me into his embrace. I leaned back so my head was on his chest, under his chin. His chest heaved as he breathed slowly. His body was warm, his chest solid, yet soft. It was the most comfortable place I'd ever been in my entire life, and I never wanted to move from the spot, wishing I could lay in his arms forever.

  The room was nearly black, the only light provided by the sparkling red flame in the fireplace. The night slowly crept in to surround us, and we all fell asleep there, by the warmth of the crackling fire.

  The next morning, I awoke refreshed and
soothed. Noah still had his arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly as if he feared I might have escaped in the night. Lucy was snoring in the corner chair, her body stretched into an awkward shape, the result of her having attempted to make herself comfortable as she slept.

  I yawned and stretched my legs. My sudden movement alerted him, waking him. His eyes slowly opened and he surveyed the room, squinting against the bright light creeping in through the windows. He smiled his enchanting smile and hugged me tighter when he realized I was still entangled in his embrace.

  "Good morning," I whispered, trying not to wake Lucy.

  He smiled, raising his head from the arm of the couch. "Good morning. I slept really well. Did you?" he asked, sitting up.

  I returned the smile and slide over to the other side of the couch. "Yes, I slept better than I have in my entire life." I felt embarrassed at the sentiment.

  "I did too. I could sleep like that forever," he retorted, still flashing his brilliant smile. I wouldn’t have a problem if Noah wanted to stick around forever‒it would be nice. We were in sync with each other, he was already like my better half, and though it had only been a short time, I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

  I stood up and stretched my arms. My stomach began to growl. It reminded me I was parched and in dire need of food. "I'll go make us some breakfast," I told him and left to go to the kitchen.

  Noah followed, placing his hands over his mouth as he yawned. I took a container of eggs and milk from the fridge and made some scrambled eggs in a skillet on top of the stove. I placed six pieces of wheat toast into the toaster while Noah took out the butter and jam and set them on the kitchen table. I showed him where the plates and glasses were in the cupboard, so he could set the table. Lucy soon joined us, awoken by the noise we were making in the kitchen.

  "Good morning, Lucy," I said as she walked into the kitchen. "Did you sleep well?"

  She nodded as she scanned the kitchen for coffee.

  "Noah was beginning to put on a pot of dark roast if you want some?" I asked, noticing her near- zombie-like state.

  Lucy smiled, nodded, grabbed a kitchen chair, and sat down.

  "When do you all want to go out today?" she asked, staring out the kitchen window at the bright morning sky. The clock over the stove said it was only eight in the morning. My parents wouldn’t be home until Sunday, so we had all day today to plan and take action.

  "Let’s eat breakfast and then we can go out. We need to do it early, before too many people are around," Noah said, setting silverware on the table. I served up equal amounts of scrambled eggs and toast on each plate, and Noah poured each of us a cup of coffee. We ate breakfast together, chattering on about the police officer the night before and how silly we were to go searching the woods in the dark of night.

  After breakfast, we cleaned the kitchen, and Lucy and I went upstairs to change. I offered her some of my clothes and she took a shower. I set Noah up, so he could take a shower in the guest room, next to my parents’ room. I handed him one of my father’s San Diego Charger sweatshirts, some soap, and a towel. He thanked me and disappeared into the bathroom. Lucy took her shower first as I picked out a pair of jeans and two warm sweatshirts for us to wear.

  While they took their showers, I retrieved the journal to take with us into the woods. Maybe I could scan it for hints as to where exactly the house had originally been. As I waited for Lucy to finish, I skimmed the pages I'd once cried over. It was a beautiful disaster that I held in my hands and I had to know more about it. Sitting there, alone, I felt a cold hand land on my shoulder once more. I knew who it was before I turned around.

  "Hello, Elizabeth," I whispered. "I knew you'd come to me eventually."

  "Yes, I had to be sure you could hear and see me first. Others have not been able to help me the way I know you can." Her voice was soft and low, little more than a subtle whisper.

  "What do you mean, the others?" I asked.

  "You didn’t think you were the only person in the world who can communicate with the dead, did you?" She seemed to almost laugh.

  "Well…" I began, pausing to consider if any of it was real. "I never really thought that there could be others like me. I've been dealing with people like you for so long, I guess I'd assumed it was just me."

  "No, you are not alone," she stated very matter- of-factly. "But you are the only one with whom I have been able to enter their dreams. That, to me, is very interesting, and I am not sure why. I think it means your gift is stronger than you think."

  My gift? No, this is more like a curse, I thought. "I've never experienced the dreams before, like I do with you, either. What does it mean? What do you want?" Why can’t you just tell me the answers? The other night, you could've just told me and it all could've ended." My voice had begun to rise, but I needed to make sure I stayed calm‒I didn’t want Noah and Lucy coming in just yet.

  "I need for you to‒" There was the sound of thudding footsteps, and she suddenly disappeared again.

  No! I wanted to scream. I almost had my answer! I was so close!

  Noah practically stomped into the room, stopping in his tracks when he saw my expression. "What?" He asked, giving me a strange look back. He popped a piece of candy he'd found in his pocket into his mouth, making him seem sort of child-like.

  "Nothing. I just thought I'd found something that could help us." I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about my conversation with Elizabeth. I'd already shared so much with them, I felt like I needed to keep just a few secrets to myself.

  Lucy finished in the bathroom and then it was my turn. When I was finished, I dried my hair and met Lucy and Noah in my room.

  They were looking through the journal.

  "Sadie, do you want to take this with us?" Lucy asked, holding the book in her hands.

  I nodded as I grabbed a pair of boots. "I think it could help," I said.

  We rushed downstairs, put on our coats and gloves, and went out into the cool morning air. The sun gave us slight warmth in the still frigid air as we walked down the street to the woods. At the edge of the road, we stopped to admire at the large oak trees standing in front of us, making the woods look much larger and somehow more inviting than they had last night.

  We made sure no one was around to see us go into the woods. When the coast was clear, we held hands and took our first steps into the woods and into what felt like another realm. The canopy over top of us blocked out most of the sun. Bare branches and scattered leaves waved in the slight wind. Thick roots crept over and wove into the mossy ground, threatening to trip us as we walked, and we had to keep our heads down to avoid falling. Tiny animals rustled in nearby bushes; I tried not to jump at each and every noise.

  I held the journal tightly against my chest. Noah had let go of my hand and was walking ahead of me, and Lucy staggered closely behind‒we'd decided it would be best to walk single-file by then.

  "Noah, how deep do you think these woods are?" I asked, surveying the vast openness around us. The woods seemed to extend forever in every direction from our vantage point.

  "I’m not sure. If we continue to walk straight, I believe we'd eventually hit the harbor," he said, sounding confident. "Probably ten miles, or so, that way."

  We continued to walk, breathing louder and harder with every step. The icy air made it that much harder to breathe comfortably.

  "Sadie, look ahead, do you see that?" Lucy pointed to a clearing in the woods, between the trees with a strange building in the middle it, surrounded by a small iron fence.

  Noah turned around to look at us, his face beaming with excitement, and we practically ran over to the building. It was a small cottage which could only have had one room inside, at best. Thick ivy snaked its way around and through the iron fence barricading the cottage.

  We stopped in front of it. I opened the journal and turned to the page I'd marked where Elizabeth described the strange woman in the cottage in the woods‒it was just as she'd described. A strange wind picked sud
denly up, blowing through the trees, and whipping my hair into my face.

  Noah took a few steps forward. "Come on, guys. This is it!" He reached out, took the iron gate in his hands, opened it, and stepped into the small yard, leaves crunching beneath his feet. He motioned for us to follow. I hesitated before entering, taking a breath or two to gather my courage from deep within.

  Lucy and I held hands as we followed Noah into the yard. The door of the cottage was closed. The knob on the front door had rusted. Noah peered into the cottage through the small window near the door. He pressed his hands against the cold glass, wiping away the film that had collected on the window over the years.

  "Girls, come here and look."

  Lucy and I walked over to join him at the window, standing on our tip toes to peer in. Inside the cottage we could see, a lone table standing in the center of the room, which was dark, so we couldn’t see much more.

  Noah went over to the door. He hesitated before taking the knob in his hand. He turned to look at me, and I noticed the glimmer of fear in his eyes.

  There was a loud creak as he pushed the door open. I held the open journal open in my hands, reviewing the details Elizabeth had given of the cottage's interior. Noah stepped inside, and Lucy and I followed closely behind. A thick layer of dust seemed to weigh down the air inside, making it hard to breathe, and I coughed as I struggled to take it in.

  There was a black cauldron in the far corner of the room, its bottom still covered in a thick layer of ash. Leaves and other debris were strewn about the wooden floors that creaked with each step we took. We walked farther into the heart of the beast.

  Suddenly, a wind blew into the room, and the journal seemed to slam shut of its own volition while still in my hands. I looked up to see Noah and Lucy staring fearfully at me. My eyes grew wide and I could practically feel the blood drain from my face as fear set in. I wanted to turn to run out the door and leave the haunted woods behind. We shouldn’t be there, I thought to myself, but I was frozen in place, my feet refusing to move.