Andy

We followed our trusty “Biersack” basset hound into the woods. Him and CC whistled a tune I was not familiar with, so I just tagged along, listening to their song while observing the scenery.

I’d been in these woods hundreds of times as a child, almost every tree was familiar to me. However, it certainly darkened my innocent childhood memories to think that everytime I was running around out here barefoot with my friends, I may have been stepping on human remains, and never even knew about it.

“Are you sure they’re this far away from the last one?” I asked with concern. We’d been walking north for fifteen minutes and he hadn’t so much as stopped to investigate a rock.

“Yes,” Andy replied from ahead, as he grabbed onto a big, stalky branch above his head, using it to quickly hoist himself up into the tree, perching easily upon it to gaze down at us both on the ground. “I think that one just washed down the mountain with all the rain, though, maybe not. Hard to tell. There’s definitely something up ahead.”

“How much further?” CC asked, shielding his eyes from the rain to look up at the tattooed parrot in the tree.

“Quarter of a mile.”

“What?” CC demanded, “Are you serious?”

“What? Are you two already winded?” Andy asked with a wise-ass smirk on his face.

“We don’t have infinite breath, unlike some super-human creatures.” I told him, but his grin only grew. “Oh, the list of things I’m enjoying about this whole ghost thing grows every day.” he says proudly, “might as well get moving.”

He swiftly leapt down from the tree, and started walking north again.

“Was it really necessary to stop and grope the tree?” CC asked with amusement in his tone after we had all passed the previously scaled aspen.

“Don’t question my Spider-senses.” Andy snapped at him.

CC started to say something, then stopped and shook his head. He must have decided it wasn’t worth the waste of breath to question Andy’s logic.

“How can you tell there’s other skeletons out here?” I asked conversationally after a while.

“It’s hard to explain,” He admitted, looking up into the dripping canopy above us. “It feels like a magnent, but the feeling was only initiated after I touched the skull. Like a chain reaction or dominos, I just started to feel this pulling feeling in my gut, and it feels like complete dread. The feeling is getting stronger the closer we get.”

“So like a compass?” CC asked, stepping around a big rock in the path.

“Exactly.”

I noticed how quiet it got, and I looked around us. The rain was still coming down, but it was quiet. No birds flapping in the trees, no wildlife, and the trees... The trees were dead here. No foliage or signs of life.

Just as I took notice of where we were, Andy planted his feet, and we collided into one another.

“Hey!” CC shouted in annoyance.

“Shush!” Andy snapped, placing a finger over his lips, scanning the empty woods with sharp, alert eyes.

I stayed very quiet and still, controlling my breaths carefully. His eyes locked onto something I couldn’t see, and followed it across the woods. Whatever it was, it moved slowly, taking it’s time.

“It’s okay.” He finally said, relaxing slightly.

“We’re in the Dead Zone, aren’t we?” I whispered, so scared to speak any louder.

He nodded slowly, still looking ahead. “We’re almost there, though... They’re saying something about the graves, but it’s all mashed together. They’re all talking at once.”

CC looked like he was ready to piss his pants, and to be honest, I’m not far behind him. All I could imagine was dark, ominious shadows drifting silently around us, brushing against our arms, touching us without us knowing.

“There’s ghosts here?”

Andy nodded, “Lots of them. In fact, I’d be willing to bet they have something to do with the skeleton we found by Ash’s house.”

“How many do you see?” I asked quietly.

His eyes darted around as he took an estimate. “Maybe thirty, hard to tell. Definitely over twenty, though.”

I felt a defensive chill run down my spine, and I winced. “Are there any around us?...”

Andy looked over at me and CC and his eyes widened a bit, but he quickly collected himself into a calm composure. “Yes,” He said calmly, “Three of them, they’re curious of you.”

“Will they hurt us?” I murmured, trying to see signs of them pacing around us.

He paused, narrowing his eyes in concentration. “No.” He finally replied, “they’re just curious. Those ones won’t... But there are others, others who will. They’re desperate.”

“Andy,” CC whined, “can we just find that damn graveyard and go home?”

He nodded, grabbing my hand in his, CC grabbing my other. We moved in a line through the dead woods. The silence and tension was heavy, and it felt hard to breathe, like there was an unimaginable amount of grief in those mountains. The trees around us had seen too much.

“What kind of ghosts are they? Like how old?”

“A lot of them are easily from the early 1900’s, but there’s newer ones as well. None older than 1970, though.”

“How many malicious ones are there?”

“Maybe ten out of the bunch. They’ve gone mad.” He shook his head regretfully, “anyways, we’re almost there. It’s just ahead, ugh...”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, worried.

“That feeling of dread,” he winced, clutching his ribs with his other hand. “It’s unbearable.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“No, no, let’s keep going.”

“If you’re not feeling well, we should go-”

“No. I owe this to them.”

I stopped and his hand fell away from mine.

“What do you mean you owe it to them?” I murmured in confusion. His eyes widened a little.

“Oh...”

“Andy.”

He wouldn’t respond. There was something hidden in his eyes, and I could tell he’d never tell me what it was exactly.

“They... Helped me. I came here the night before we went to California, I was curious... They helped me learn more about these spiritual powers... But they can’t leave. They’re bound to the land because they died an unfair death.”

“So did you.” I whisper. The air is so heavy, my voice cracks.

“They were murdered here, Ash.” He tells me darkly, his voice taking up a new dark undertone. “It was never documented as a historical event, because no one ever knew. There was a man who lured people into the woods. Men, women and children of all ages, even the elderly, only to meet a cruel, slow fate. The man later hung himself in one of the trees so they could never leave the land. He holds the key to their souls, unless their bodies are properly laid to rest.”

I couldn’t breathe.

How was I supposed to respond to that?

CC looked sick and restless, his brown eyes creased in worry as they darted around the surrounding woods.

“Is the man here now?”

“No...” His forehead creased. “He’s gone now... They don’t know where he went. He’s free to go, and they’re stuck here.”

“Can we wrap this up and tell the ghost stories at home?” CC asked anxiously, jumping back and forth, switching his weight between feet. Andy quickly nodded, “Ready to end this?”

He hold his hand out towards me, and I hesitate, before grabbing it, and we walk forward, through the thick veil of fog, into the trees.

Notes

Don't be a spirit reader! Comment anything, any opinion. If you hate it, tell me, if you love it, tell meee. Help me improve.

Chapter inspired by One Last Night by Michael J. Langley and I Know What You Are, composed by Carter Burwell.
Actually, the entire score and soundtrack from the first twilight film has inspired a lot of the enviromental elements.

Shoutout!
- Batsy's Robin I'm glad you're enjoying it! ^,^