by D. K Lake
“Moment of truth.” Josh said, climbing into the van.
Us girls stood up and wandered over to the driver's side. Josh turned the key, the van grumbled but died almost instantly.
“Shit!” Luke said, rubbing the back of his neck, smearing grease everywhere.
“Once more.” Lane said, looking up from the hood.
Josh turned the key again but the van wouldn't even turn over. He gave up after three more turns of the key.
“That's a no then.” Lena said.
Then she opened the back door and starting handing items to Stacey.
“We should head out soon, we need to cover as much distance as possible while Alex is still mobile.” Lena said.
Luke slammed the hood and muttered a few curse words. Lane came over to me and we started organizing our bags, adding extra blankets and toilet rolls.
“All set?” Josh asked everyone as Lane slid the van door closed.
We all nodded in unison and started moving along the road. Luke and Josh both had a jerrycan in their hands.
We followed the road and walked for two hours straight. The weather was warm and I was starting to melt. I had my messenger bag over my shoulder and a carrier bag full of toilet rolls. Everyone sort of walked in their own little groups. Lena and Dan were at the front of the group about thirty steps ahead of us. Drew and Evan were in front of them, further away, little dots in the distance on the road. Josh and Luke walked side by side, Stacey walked so close behind Luke that every time he slowed down or stopped to look at the map she walked into the back of him. Lane and I stayed behind the group at our own pace. My legs were short and I wasn't in the mood to speed walk.
Up ahead, Drew and Evan had stopped at an abandoned car that was parked at the side of the road in the overgrown grass. As we got closer I could see it was one of those classic muscle cars.
“Sweet!” Luke said, running his fingers along the side of the car.
“'69 Chevy Chevelle.” Evan said, admiring the vehicle from the side of the road.
“You know your cars.” Luke said impressed, then the pair of them got into a full-on conversation about paint jobs, alloys, and other vehicle-related things.
I noticed Drew had made himself scarce. I couldn't even see him along the road anywhere.
I searched around in the back seat for anything, and Stacey found a packet of bubblegum under the front seat... and didn't even offer any to anyone. But aside from the bubblegum, the car was spotless. Luke had the hood up with Evan, but the car was long gone. It had sat for so long that the weeds had started to grow up under the car and into the engine.
“Come on, enough playing with the big toy, we need to go.” Josh said.
It took a few more persuasive words before Josh could pry Luke away from the car.
We started walking again and a tall figure walked out from the trees to the left. We all froze, but soon relaxed when we realized it was only Drew, he had fresh mud smears across his cheek and his hair was all ruffled. He looked like a little kid that had just come back from exploring the jungle.
“There's a house about a quarter mile up the road, it's well hidden away from the road.”
“Did you check it out?” Evan asked.
“Not yet, I only saw the outside through the trees, I don't even know if it's occupied.”
“Lead the way.” Josh said.
We followed Drew into the trees, but not too far in as I could still see the road from where we were walking.
“It smells funky around here.” Stacey said.
Drew looked back over his shoulder. “Smells like trees.” he said, and everyone chuckled and Stacey looked slightly embarrassed.
Two seconds later, she was at it again, “Why are trees so boring?” she asked, and we all looked at her.
What the...?
Was she actually expecting a response to that random comment?
“Someone just kill me now.” I muttered, and Lane laughed under his breath.
“They are just so brown. Why aren't the tree trunks pink or purple? Brown is so boring!”
“Why are you still talking?!” Evan said, glaring at her.
She quickly clamped her mouth shut from whatever ridiculous thing she was about to say next. Then she tried to be subtle about positioning herself as far away from Evan as she could while still staying close to Josh and Luke.
A nearby tree rustled and I turned around and looked up at the branches.
Just a bird.
It had been a while since I had been outside in the open like this. Every little sound... a tree creaking in the distance, birds chirping, bushes rustling, had me jumping in my own skin.
A pair of birds swooped down in front of Lane and me and I ducked out of instinct.
“Shit me!” I muttered, pressing my hand to my heart.
“You okay?” Lane laughed, ducking down next to me.
“No... This was such a bad idea.”
Josh had slowed down and was already walking back to us.
“Alex?” Josh said.
“I'm fine.”
“The birds scared her.” Lane informed him.
“The birds?” Josh tried not to laugh.
“Yes, the birds. It was only a few days ago I watched Jasper being killed by them things, so sorry if I'm a little jumpy. I may be infected but that doesn't mean I want to get killed by one of them and end up getting my insides torn out.”
Ah, crap, did I really just say 'getting my insides torn out'? Out loud?
Josh lost his grin instantly and Lane helped me up off the ground.
“I'm sorry. I'm just used to the prison for safety.”
“Didn't know we'd domesticated you that much.” Josh grinned and nodded for us to follow him.
We came to an overgrown mass of weeds, ivy, and rose bushes, all tangled together and wound around the trees, creating a wall. I could just about see the top of the house on the other side.
“It's a wall of roses and ivy... a bit weird.” Luke said, dragging his knife down the middle of the ivy in front of him.
“It's the same all the way around,” Drew said. “But this is nature's doing, not humans, so there probably isn't anyone in there.” he added, lifting his knife out of its holder which he kept on his belt, and cutting down a tall rose bush. I didn't have any weapon on hand, neither did Stacey, so we both stepped back and let everyone else chop and hack their way through, I wasn't about to add injury to my already injured hands. Dan stood next to Lena, pretending to look busy, holding an ivy vine aside for her while she chopped her way through.
I picked at the bandage that Dion had wound around my hands and arms, they were itching so badly, I just wanted to rip it off and itch to my satisfaction.
“Stop scratching.” Stacey said, looking at me sideways while blowing a bubble with her gum that popped loudly.
“No. I can scratch what I want!” I snapped, before moving three steps away from her.
Obviously, my scratching was bothering her.
“Are you nearly done yet?” Stacey whined.
“Nearly.” Josh answered.
“If you're that impatient why don't you help?” I said.
“Why don't you?” she snapped back.
I scowled at her, when did she become so hateful. I was dying, I wasn't her enemy. Then I had to tell myself she was younger... and lived in the clouds with the fairies.
She huffed and crossed her arms. What was she doing here? I wanted to scream at her, yell at her, slap her. She annoyed the shit outta me, why did she have to follow us? If I was going to die I didn't want to die listening to her whine about everything from, the smell of the forest, to the color of bark.
“I'm through,” Drew said from somewhere inside the green jungle.
“Me too.” Josh said.
I was closer to Drew, so I picked my way through the hole he had made. I got my foot tangled in a vine and reached out to balance myself before I went down, and ended up grabbing Drew's arm.
“I g
ot you.” he said, helping me stand up.
Then he let go and crouched down near my ankle and untangled my foot for me.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” he mumbled quietly, before joining his friends.
I stepped out of the ivy and met Lane, he was trying to break free from the vines. I grabbed his arm and untangled the vines for him.
“It's like the forest of thorns.” Lena said.
“The what?” Drew said.
“Forest of thorns, from Sleeping Beauty.” Lena replied.
“Sleepin' what?” Drew grunted.
“Sleeping Beauty, when Prince Philip races to rescue Aurora...”
Drew and Evan exchanged a look.
“I wouldn't know, I never watched no Sleepin' Beauty.” Drew smirked.
“Let me guess, you were more into The Karate Kid and Ninja Turtles?”
“Yep, princesses, and princes are for girls, and I ain't no girl.”
Evan started laughing, soon followed by Dan.
Lena put her hand on her hip. “Dan watched The Notebook with me.” she blurted, and I tried to suppress a giggle.
“You made me!” Dan squeaked, going red in the face around his friends. “She bribed me with...with...”
“Popcorn, toffee is his favorite flavor.” she said, patting him on the back.
“Did she give you a facial and a pedicure at the same time?” Evan asked, trying not to laugh.
“He let me paint his toenails.” Lena grinned.
“What! You said you'd never tell anyone.” Dan said horrified, then he stormed off toward the house in a grump.
“He's such a pussy.” Drew said, looking at Dan, waiting for him to hear.
“I heard that... you hillbilly.”
“Wow, what a comeback, Dan,” Drew said, jogging to catch up to him. “Wait up, let me go first, you might chip a nail.” Drew said.
“See, now look what you've started.” Dan said to Lena.
She giggled and stuck her tongue out at him as she skipped past.
The rest of us followed them toward the house, which was actually an old cottage with stone walls, a rickety chimney, and a thatched roof. It looked like something from a Disney movie. I was half expecting a witch to pop her head out of the window.
“This looks, um...” I started to say.
“Creepy.” Lena finished for me.
Drew was the first one to reach the front door, soon followed by Evan. They both stood either side of the door, inspecting it, like it was some foreign creature. Evan had to tear a load of cobwebs away from the door handle before he could touch it. Evan turned the large door handle and to everyone's surprise, the thing turned. Evan pushed the large door open, it creaked loudly and I cringed from the noise, then he quickly ducked inside. Drew was right behind him with his crossbow at the ready. We all waited quietly, looking around at the weird, vine wall and overgrown garden of weeds and roses.
A minute later, someone tapped on one of the dusty windows. It was Evan waving at us to come in. Luke and Dan walked in through the old-fashioned, wooden door, followed by Josh and Stacey. Lane and I looked at each other skeptically, I was curious as to what was inside the little, old cottage. Lane had to actually duck down to get through the front door.
“I can't believe this place, it's so Morticia Addams.” Lena said, walking in behind us.
The ground level was an open layout. A small kitchen area with pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, and a table with two chairs. A tall glass cabinet sat against the back wall full of different size jars, I could see most of them were labeled and looked like herbs. On the other side of the cottage was the living room which had an old, dirty-looking fabric chair with a dusty blanket thrown over the back. Everything looked neat and organized, it definitely felt like a woman had lived in the cottage. I wandered around the kitchen looking at all the different jars on the window ledge, all full of herbs, and other ingredients. There was another cabinet beside the glass cabinet, I opened the two wooden doors and just stood there for a minute, staring at the random contents in the jars.
“Check the bathroom cabinet for medicine and medical supplies.” Josh said to Luke, and Luke jogged up the stairs.
“This place is actually giving me the heebie-jeebies.” I said, picking up a glass jar that had eyeballs inside, sloshing around in some misty liquid. “Who the hell lived here? Are these human eyeballs?” I asked.
Josh turned his lip up in disgust and quickly lifted the jar out of my hands.
“I don't know, but let's not touch that again, don't want to break the jar.” he said, carefully placing it back on the shelf.
Lane came over to my side and looked at the various jars. He looked as confused as I was over the disturbing contents of some of the jars.
“Yes 'cause the moment I drop it, the voodoo magic will be released into the world and bring forth an army of walking dead, oh wait, that already happened.” I said, smirking at Josh.
“Guys!” Luke said, running back down the crooked, wooden stairs. “There's, like, a tiny bed upstairs.”
“Tiny bed?” Lena said.
“Yeah, tiny bed, like, really tiny, maybe a dwarf or midget size bed... Am I allowed to say midget? What about tiny person or small person, or is that offensive?”
“Well, I don't know, does it offend a tall person when you say, oh, Alex, yeah, she's over there, by that tall person.” Josh said, and everyone turned around to look at Lane and me.
“Lane, are you offended?” Josh asked.
“Ha ha.” Lane said, and placed a jar back on the shelf.
I left Lane, Luke, and Josh discussing short and tall people, and wandered upstairs. Lena, Stacey, and Dan were sniffing herbs, and Evan was lost in the cupboard under the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, I found three oval, wooden doors. One led into a miniature bathroom, even the toilet looked miniature, the wooden beam ceiling was slanted and even at my height I had to tilt my head to get to the bathtub. The bathroom cabinet had nothing of interest, dried lavender and a bottle of tea tree oil. The second door was already open, inside was a small room with a sewing machine and materials, I didn't bother to look around, it all looked very neat and organized, but nothing that was useful to us. Not unless I wanted to take up knitting or volunteer to mend the holes in Drew's pants. The third door was ajar, I pushed it open and walked into the bedroom. The room consisted of two beds on opposite sides of the room, one standard size, single bed, and one very short bed, both neatly made, with patchwork throws hanging over the end of each bed. There was a small table with a black lace tablecloth, and a vase of dead, dry flowers on top. There was a single window with black nets hanging up, blocking the light. I walked over to the window and lifted the nets and tied them into a loose knot so the sunlight could filter into the room. Outside all I could see was trees.
I looked back around and walked over to the dresser, I opened the top drawer. It was full of black lace, and long, beaded necklaces neatly laid out. The second drawer had only one item of clothing inside, a black shawl that smelled musty, I left it where it was and opened the third drawer, which was empty.
I closed the drawer and thought I'd try the closet instead. I opened both doors and found what I could only describe as a pair of black wedding dresses hanging up. They were identical in length and detail. I shook my head, wondering who could have lived her before, maybe a strange widow that only wore black, or maybe a short person. Whoever lived here was long gone now. The last piece of furniture was a dressing table, with a wooden stool, tucked neatly underneath. The mirror had cobwebs trailing from the corners and up the walls. There was a colorful variety of perfume bottles, I picked one up and spritzed a small amount in the air, and sniffed.
Mmm.. Jasmine.
Then I went a little over the top and spritzed myself all over. There was a flat box laid out on top of the dresser. I leaned over and lifted the lid, inside was a single black feather, and four different pendants neatly placed in the box. On
e pendant had a little vial with something red inside. I didn't like to guess what the liquid was, it was red so I had some idea.
One was a locket which I couldn't open to see the picture inside. Another had a weird symbol on I had never seen before, and the last pendant was a glass domed, full moon pendant with a silver chain, the inside was all misty with greens and blacks. I picked it up and looked at it curiously as it dangled in the air. I had never seen anything like it before, it looked old and so unique. I held it up to my neck, admiring it in the mirror, it stood out against my pale skin... but there was something about it... I felt oddly drawn to the pendant.
I suddenly noticed another reflection in the mirror which made me jump and sent my heart pounding in my chest.
“Do you always lurk in doorways?” I asked, looking at him in the mirror as he leaned against the door-frame.
Drew didn't reply, and just stared at me in the mirror. I looked down at the box, wondering why he was staring at me like that, it was kinda creepy. There was a loud thud at the bottom of the stairs, followed by heavy footsteps clumping up the stairs, a few seconds later, Stacey pushed past Drew and into the bedroom, like a bull in a china shop.
“Excuse you.” Drew muttered, before jogging back down the stairs.
She walked straight over to me and peered over my shoulder.
“Ooooh pretty,” she said, taking (more like snatching) the pendant from me.
Within seconds, she had the thing undone and refastened around her neck.
“What do you think?” she asked, looking in the mirror.
I think it makes you look fat... is what I was dying to say.
“Eww! Is that blood in that vial?”
“Probably.” I said, turning my back on her and leaving her on her own.
“Okay, this place is really freakin' me the fuck out. Can we please go now?” Luke said.
“Yeah, there's not much here anyway, just 'erbs and crystal ball shit.” Evan said, opening the front door to leave.
“Stacey, come on, we're leaving.” Josh called up the stairs.
We all formed a line and shuffled out through the door, one by one. Stacey bounced out the door a moment later, the full moon pendant still around her neck. I let it go and didn't bother to say anything. I wanted to rip it from her neck, but I knew realistically she was going to get more wear out of it than I was. I caught Drew eyeing her strangely, more like watching her, he had his eyes on the pendant, and he was looking at her with some sort of confused scowl.
