Chapter Four

Benjamin skips school on Friday. I search for him everywhere but can’t find him. It’s strange sitting in class with an empty desk beside me. Subconsciously, I feel like something is missing, and I know physically it’s his presence. But there’s something else—something deep and hidden inside me that flutters each time our eyes meet. I can’t deny that. 

Why should I care whether he’s in class or not? Maybe part of me misses skipping. And today, I wish I’d skipped. Each class drags by slower and slower. My mind is in a complete fog the rest of the day. Teachers drone on with worthless garble, while I practically fall asleep at my desk.

I can barely place one foot in front of the other on my way home. This isn’t like me. Even though I’m tiny, I’m pretty sure I could stand up to hurricane-force winds…or so I convince myself.

No cars are in the driveway. All I can focus on is getting to the front door—getting there and inside to my bed.

The keys jingle in my hand as I pick out the right one. I can barely hold my eyes open. Inside, I make my way to the staircase, holding on to the railing for support. My iPod is turned on low, drowning out the day. I finally make it to my bed where I collapse.

Dizziness sweeps over me the moment before I plunge into a dark abyss. 

I’m running through the large, desolate lot that sits beside Randy and Beth’s house—so fast that my hair is blowing freely. The trees move like soldiers forming ranks at a battlefield; their branches linking together. They form a barrier between me and the edge of the forest.

“Who…dares…enter…our…ground?” Each word catches on the edge of a breeze, as if it takes great effort for him to speak.

“I’m Candra.”

Though no mouths move, I know they’re speaking to me. My legs tremble and I wonder how they’re able to say anything. 

The trees glance at each other. Their structures crack and groan when they move even a hair of an inch. The elder tree in front sizes me up and down. Behind him, I see several pairs of the now familiar glowing yellow eyes.

“I need to get to them!” I point beyond, for I can’t see their actual bodies; the forest is too dark.

“Hmm,” one of the trees says, grumbling. He glances toward his comrades on both sides. Time seems to have slowed drastically with each move they make. “Proceeeeed.”

The eyes move behind him and disappear. I have no clue where they went, so I begin to run. My lungs breathe in the fresh, crisp air; it’s exhilarating. Trees become one big blur, and the ground sinks a little each time my feet touch down. Easily, I dodge branches that threaten to mar my face and whip through my hair.

The trees come in and out of focus quickly. Their faces express concern, as they try to tell me something.

“What?” I ask.

But I’m moving too fast to hear them. My feet won’t stop when I tell them to; it’s like they’re being controlled by some higher power.

“Go…” I catch one say as I pass. Go where? They point in the direction I came from. Back to Beth’s?

I shake my head and yell, “I can’t!”

Their faces are full of sorrow. “Go…back…” they say. Moans rise from the trees, and their hollowed voices say the same words over and over again in unison.

I become frantic. Why are they telling me to go back? No sooner does that thought cross my mind than I halt at the bank of a tiny stream, my feet not stopping on their own accord. I glance all around me. The only source of light is the silver moon above. Something moves in the shadows, something dark and oppressive. Anguish weighs my body down as it moves closer. A faint outline appears—tall and black, human almost, with gleaming eyes. It stands on the opposite side of the bank.

“Who are you?” I try to get a better look at his face, but can’t make it out, even in the moonlight.

“I am everything here,” he says. “You don’t belong. Go back, Candra.” His voice echoes; its edge causes my whole body to shudder. I’ve never heard anything like it, so ethereal and dark at the same time.

I lick my lips and squint to try and get a better view. Still no luck.

“Why should I go back?” I ask.

I hear the words drifting around me and into my ears: “There’s nothing for you here. Go back. Those close to you will pay the price. You must leave,” he says. Before I can say another word, he backs into the shadows and falls to the ground, thrashing about, glowing eyes the only indication of where he’s located. A low growl erupts from the darkness.

I whirl and run back the way I came. Back through the trees that coax me to return home.

Beth’s standing in the front yard. Her hands are cupped around her mouth, and she’s screaming something. When I approach, I know what she’s yelling.

My name.

“There you are,” she says. “We were all so worried about you.”

“We?”

She lays her hand on my low back and guides me inside the house. Randy, Jana, Blake, Mom and Dad wait in the living room.

Each time I try to explain what happened in the forest, someone speaks over me. Their words are jumbled, and I have no idea what they say. A heavy fog rolls along the floor. My vision begins to blur.

Everyone fades out of sight.

I wake in a cold sweat and in my pitch-black room.