The Abnormals: Book One

by Isabelle Sorrells

  “What the—? He’s not angry? Is he dumb or what? Does he not know what we did to him?” Lily laughed at Alex’s stupidity. Alex noticed Josh and Lily staring at him. Alex looked up at them and waved with his left hand and smiled almost sarcastically before going back to the game.

  “Ugh! Does he even know that was us?” Josh asked irritably.

  “Oh, he knows! He knows,” Lily said, sneering.

  For the rest of the game Lilly and Josh never got a hold of the ball. Alex always seemed to be there whenever they were close to it and he always managed to kick it away from their grasp. Their shoes never touched the rubbery black and white ball again that day.

  NINE

  Monday, Alex returned to school with a healed and bandage-free hand. At the end of the day, Alex found the others conversing nervously outside. They all had anxious expressions on their faces, almost as if a bomb was going to go off unless they did something illegal. This wasn’t the first time Alex had seen this. The students had been acting this way the whole day. Nervous, scared, and jumpy.

  “So, where are the ghosts?” Alex asked as he walked up to them with a smirk.

  “Alex! Oh my gosh! I’m so glad you’re here!” Brooke let out a sigh of relief.

  “I wasn’t going to leave without you.” Alex raised an eyebrow.

  “You haven’t heard?” asked David.

  “Heard what?”

  “Someone went into the woods because of some stupid dare. We didn’t see you much this afternoon, so we thought it was you— especially the way you were looking at the woods a few days ago,” replied Mark.

  “Okay, so someone went into the woods. What’s so wrong about that?” Alex asked before adding with a smirk, “also, just because I was looking at the woods, doesn’t mean I was planning on running away and camping out there for the rest of my life.”

  “Rarely has anyone who has gone into those woods come out,” David replied, ignoring Alex’s comment. Alex was about to protest that it was only a rumor before he was interrupted when the principal began speaking through the PA system.

  “Everyone listen carefully. Nina Wellington has gone against the safety regulations and ventured into the woods. We are going to send a rescue team in. Until then please stay away from the woods, go home, and school will be cancelled tomorrow. I hope this will serve as a reminder that these rules are for your protection, and it would be wise not to go against them. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.”

  After the announcement, everyone followed their instructions and headed for home. Conversations centered on rumor and gossip. As his friends continued their conversation and gathered their things Alex scrutinized the woods. He watched as a large-amount of people in bullet proof vests holding guns and flashlights formed a line around the perimeter of the woods on the right side of the school.

  “Why are they sending armed men in? That’s a bit extravagant, don’t you think?” Alex asked.

  “We told you there are dangerous animals in there and we don’t know what exactly ‘they’ are. Anyone who’s been lucky enough to survive can never remember because of trauma. But each time someone survives, they end up going straight to the hospital. That, we all know for sure,” Brooke said as she pulled her books out of her overfilled bag to reorganize them and make the load feel lighter.

  Alex continued to stare at the woods where the search team entered until he saw something flash bright yellow in the corner of his eye. Alex whipped his head to look over on the other side of the building at the very edge of the grassy field. Flapping in the wind, on one of the trees at the very perimeter of the woods, was a bright yellow blur. Alex dropped his backpack and walked toward the woods and stopped at the tree.

  Mark turned to face Alex to inform him that they were leaving. To his dismay in Alex’s place, he found Alex’s bookbag lying on the ground. Mark looked up and saw Alex standing at the edge of the woods opposite the rescue team. Oh no. Mark knew Alex too well to know what he was about to do. But Mark wouldn’t let him. He wasn’t about to let his friend walk to his death. Alex took a step forward. Mark dropped his backpack next to Alex’s and started running. Alex wasn’t going to take another step into those woods. Not while Mark had the ability to stop him. Alex was the new kid. He was ignorant of the dangers that would lead to his actions. His friends noticed the boy’s absence and soon realized what was happening.

  Alex could hear the others yelling for him to come back. Without looking up from the branch, Alex turned his body slightly and beckoned with his hand for them to come over.

  “Alex, stop!” Mark shouted at his friend, thrusting his hand out in front of him.

  Alex spun around in time for Mark to grab his collar and yank Alex to the ground.

  “What do you think you are doing?” Brooke screeched.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Nicole yelled, putting her hands on her hips and staring at the boy on the ground in front of her.

  “You’re crazy! Absolutely crazy!” said an exasperated David as he threw his hands up in the air.

  “You can’t go in there, Alex! You’ll only get yourself hurt!” Mark warned.

  “You’re being way too dramatic,” Alex said.

  “Better that than dead!” Mark replied.

  Alex said nothing as he stood up and turned back toward the tree branch. They all followed Alex’s gaze toward a dirty ripped yellow ribbon tangled in a branch.

  “Nina’s ribbon…” David trailed off.

  “So it is hers. I thought as much,” Alex yanked the ribbon out of the tree. “The rescue team went the wrong way. We are just going to have to go after her ourselves.”

  “Not a chance! If we go in there, those woods will be our grave!” Nicole explained.

  “Sounds fun!” Alex smiled.

  “Not funny, Alex! We’re serious!” Brooke scolded.

  “I can see that. If what you say is really true, it will be Nina’s grave as well. That ‘rescue team’ will never find her. Besides, it could be fun!” Alex turned back around and stepped onto the leaf-covered ground. “Are you coming?” he called.

  Mark sighed. “Wait up! We’re coming!”

  The four of them quickly rushed beneath the shade of the trees after Alex. The woods around them were dark, which seemed impossible by how bright it was outside. The sky disappeared above them and a cold breeze flowed past them, causing their shoulders to shake from the change in temperature.

  “Why didn’t that girl just turn around when she saw how creepy this place is?” asked Brooke, gasping.

  “Pride? Maybe she wanted to prove that she could complete the dare,” Mark suggested.

  “Or she couldn’t find the way out. Look behind you,” Alex pointed behind them and they all followed his gaze. What they saw behind them was not the edge of the woods against the school field. Instead, they only saw more woods.

  “Where’s the school?” David asked, worry clear in his voice.

  “I don’t know. It’s so dark in here. I can’t see any of you,” Mark replied.

  “Here. Take this,” David reached in his backpack and pulled out a flashlight and handed it to Mark.

  “You brought your backpack?” asked Nicole.

  “Yeah, you left all your backpacks! Someone has to be prepared,” David replied.

  “And you just so happened to have a flashlight?” Nicole inquired sarcastically.

  “I always have everything someone would need for survival. You never know when you might need it. For all you know, you could find yourself stranded in the wilderness with nothing to help you survive,” David replied defensively. “Sometimes I even bring medium-sized fold-up tents. Just to be on the safe side. And the occasional sleeping bag.”

  “You have a problem.” Nicole rolled her eyes, choosing to give up this debate, knowing full well it would be better to leave the subject as it is. The trees
began to grow thicker the farther they progressed. Not soon after the trees, fog drifted to the ground, darkening the path ahead of the flashlight.

  “Stay close!” Alex called.

  “The flashlight isn’t showing as much effect anymore. The fog is too thick.” Mark swiped the flashlight across the fog around him, proving his point.

  “I see something,” Alex said suddenly. He ran to a jumble of thorns and pulled out a purple backpack. The fabric was tattered and was caked in mud.

  “Is this hers?” Alex asked, holding it up for the others to see.

  “I don’t know. So many people have gotten lost in here. It might be someone else’s. Check inside and see if any of the stuff in there has her name on it,” Nicole said.

  Alex unzipped it and looked inside with Mark shining the flashlight over his shoulder.

  “Nina Wellington… Yeah. It’s hers,” Alex confirmed, pulling out a lunch box with her name etched across it in black marker. Alex shoved the box back into the bag and they glanced around for a possible path she could’ve taken.

  “What is that?” asked David. The fog had begun to clear a bit and they were able to see a few more yards ahead. He nodded over to a large opening under a boulder with vines drooping down from above.

  “It’s a cave! Leave it alone. There might be a bear,” Nicole exclaimed.

  “But she could have gone in there,” David argued.

  “It’s possible. It doesn’t go in too deep.” Alex began to walk toward it. He was a few feet outside of the cave when a muffled cry bounced off the walls.

  “Waampfh..!” David started to scream.

  Nicole shoved her hand over David’s mouth before his scream could get any louder.

  “Would you be quiet! If she’s in there you’ll scare her! Hello? Nina Wellington? Are you in there? We’re here to get you out!” Nicole shouted into the darkness.

  Silence.

  “Well, that was a huge waste of not only time, but our lives as well! We are doomed!” David threw his hands up and turned around, starting to walk away.

  “No,” called a faint voice from inside the cave.

  “What?” David asked, stopping short. His hands stayed in the air.

  “No,” repeated the voice.

  “What do you mean ‘no’?” David called, turning back around, dropping his hands.

  “It’s too dangerous here! There are monsters! They’ll come after you. They don’t want you to leave.”

  “Seriously? We come to help and this is what we get for thanks? I don’t see any ‘monsters’ here do you?”

  “No,” the voice responded after a moment of hesitation. “That’s because they only show themselves if you try to go back!”

  “Please, just come out so we can talk to each other face to face! Then we can talk properly,” Nicole demanded, clearly irritated.

  There was a long silence until a blurred silhouette of a girl emerged from the shadows. The girl’s hair was ratty and full of leaves and twigs knotted into her hair. She was wearing a muddy ripped T-shirt that looked like it could have been white but it was so soaked in muck that they could barely tell. She was also wearing black mucky shorts and only one sneaker. Her other foot was swollen around the ankle and covered in mud.

  “What happened to you?” David asked in surprise.

  “I fell into a large pile of mud and sprained my ankle. What? Too ugly for you?” the girl hissed.

  “Is your name Nina?” David ignored her sass.

  “Who else would I be? Yes, I’m Nina! You shouldn’t have come in here! Your fates are sealed! You are dead. Just as I am. If not now soon enough.”

  “Maybe someday, but not today,” Mark said, furrowing his brows.

  “We’ll think of something. So when did you say these ‘monsters’ will come?” asked David.

  “They come when you go back. And you better be careful, boy,” Nina hissed harshly. “Sarcasm won’t get you far in this reality.”

  “Then we’ll just go forward,” Alex said.

  “Oh! So you can talk,” Nina said, rolling her eyes.

  “You said they come when you try to go back, correct?” Alex asked.

  Nina nodded.

  “We’ll just go forward then,” Alex said as if it was common knowledge.

  “We are going to die and you’re making jokes?” Nina huffed.

  “If you have any other ideas, I’m open to them,” Alex started walking forward but Nina stopped him.

  “Are we really going that way? It’s full of thorns and prickers!” Nina warned.

  “Yep!” Alex walked into the thorny bushes.

  Finally, after hours of walking they found an opening and stepped through it, the light from the sun blinding them. They ran out and flopped down on the grass, realizing that they were out of the woods. Yes, it took them hours and they were scratched, cut, bleeding, and their clothes were torn. But they made it. The next question was, where had the woods led them too?

  Alex sat up and looked around to find out where they were. They were on the other side of the field where the search team had first gone in. Alex looked over to find the entire search team sitting on the steps, tending to injured men. They all got up after they caught their breath and walked over to the principal. Once she noticed the group of kids coming out of the woods all she could do was stare at them with clenched fists and fire burning in her eyes.

  “You went into the woods! To find Nina?” she growled. “Even after I specifically told everyone not to!”

  “We aren’t everyone,” Alex said simply. The principal took a deep breath and unclenched her fists.

  “How did you do it?” she asked.

  “We saw her ribbon over on the other side of the school and knew the search team went the wrong way. We couldn’t tell them because they already went inside,” Mark replied.

  “Then how did you get out? All of the men who had gone in have come back severely injured! Thank God that they came back at all.”

  “Well, that’s easy!” Alex spoke up in a cheerily ironic voice. “We just kept going forward.”

  The principal ignored Alex’s ridiculous reply. Rolling her eyes, she brought a walkie-talkie up to her mouth and spoke into it with an authoritative tone, narrowing her eyes at Alex when she finished. “Nurse, we have six kids here who need to be tended to. Check to make sure none of them have any concussions while you’re at it.”

  TEN

  The next day the superintendent called off school for security reasons that had not been revealed, giving Alex and the others time for another day of freedom to wander around the city. They met up a few blocks away from the school to discuss what they were going to do that day. But their plans were delayed when someone was running a bit late.

  “Hey, guys!” David yelled as he waved his hand back and forth to capture their attention, running up to them all the while. “Sorry I’m late. My mom had me do a boatload of chores! Where are we going to take Alex today?”

  “Wait. Chores?” Alex asked, placing his hand out in front of him in order to keep them on that subject. Confusion and panic coated his voice.

  “Yeah. So what?” asked David. Alex’s eyes widened in surprise before he started to take off in the opposite direction at full speed.

  “Where are you going?” Mark called after him. Alex didn’t answer. Mark and the others started to chase after him as he ran. When Alex finally got to his destination, he flung the door open and ran toward the kitchen of his house. The others caught up to him in the kitchen and watched as Alex paced around frantically.

  “Whoa! Alex what in the world has gotten into you?” Asked Mark. Alex stopped pacing and looked up at them and sighed.

  “Okay… So do you remember when I decided to go home instead of hang out with you guys?” Alex asked.

  “You looked like you were about to
pass out from exhaustion,” Nicole pointed out, crossing her arms.

  “I found a note on the fridge that said my family went camping and wouldn’t be back until next Monday. It also said that I needed to do my chores. And I didn’t even do that!” Alex said. “I’m sorry but I can’t go with you guys for today.”

  “We can help you if you want. We didn’t have anything planned for the day anyway.”

  “You don’t have to keep planning things,” Alex replied.

  “What chores do you have to do anyway?” asked David.

  Alex sucked in a breath before he began. His family forced him to do all the work around the house without showing him the proper way to do it, resulting in a number of injuries and a lot of learning experience.

  As Alex listed the chores, Mark allowed his mind to wander.

  He surveyed the house around him. Next to the front door were stairs that led to the second floor. In front of the door was a long hallway with a table next to the wall beneath the stairs with a phone and numerous papers lying across it. Above the table, on the wall, were photos of what Mark assumed to be Alex’s mother, father, and sister. On the other side of the hallway was a large opening that led to another room with a grey carpet, a couch, table, television, and fireplace.

  At the end of the hallway was the kitchen. From the hallway, Mark could only see a part of the large round table and the stove. Once inside, he could see long counters on either side of the stove with cupboards lining the walls. On the right end of the kitchen was a pantry built into a wall and refrigerator. Beneath the stairwell was another door that Mark figured was the basement.

  Before Mark could look around any longer, David snapped him out of his little world and brought him back to the conversation. They quickly discussed what job each was to take on before heading straight to work on the heavy load of chores Alex was to do. Alex walked with Mark to the garage to grab the ladder to do his job and found that the garage was packed to the ceiling with boxes from the move; so it took them both to fish the ladder out.