Is She for Real? (14 page)

“Nate, do you think Lissa and Teddy might finally
make it official and let the cat out of the bag that they've had crushes on each other for years now?” Mrs. Carlson went on, pretending not to notice that Lissa had entered the room. Lissa just rolled her eyes, used to the teasing from her mom about Teddy. She looked expectantly at Nate to see if he'd join in the fun.

But Nate just stared out the window.

Teddy arrived and told Lissa how pretty she looked.

“You kids look great together,” Mrs. Carlson said as Mr. Carlson snapped away. They convinced Nate to pose for a few pictures with his twin.

Amid the clicking of the cameras, the sound at the window was unmistakable. It was a sound Nate and Lissa had heard often over the last five years, but this time it was louder and more insistent.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Tap, tap, tap.

Nate's eyes met Lissa's. After a moment, Lissa looked away.

Five years had gone by, and they had not grown used to it. Their parents had stopped reassuring them that it was just the wind, since their reassurances never helped.

The only thing that ever helped Nate was to put his hand in his pocket and touch the ring.

I'm sorry, milady
, he thought.
I'm sorry you can't be here with us tonight. I'm sorry I can't take you to the prom. Please believe me.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Tap, tap, tap.

Nate was so lost in thought that he barely noticed that Lissa and Teddy were already out the door. Feeling a little dazed, he followed them out to the car.

“Are you changing your mind?” Lissa asked hopefully as she stood next to the open passenger-side door. “I know Olivia would love it if you would take her.…” Mr. and Mrs. Carlson also shot each other an optimistic look.

“Um, no, I'm walking down to the beach,” Nate murmured.

His dad gave him a concerned glance. “Want some company?”

Nate avoided his father's eyes.

“No, thanks,” he mumbled. “I've got to do this alone.”

Shoulders hunched, Nate ambled down to the beach.

It was getting foggy and dark, and he couldn't see so well.

The moon was full and shining brightly in the sky, but he barely noticed.

He walked to the crooked tree and turned toward the crashing waves, his sneakers covered in sand up to the laces. But he paid that no mind. A large black bird swooped near his head. He didn't pay that any mind either.

He pulled the hood of his thick sweatshirt up over his head, stood in front of the roaring waves, and spoke softly.

“I'm sorry for all the days I went off fishing with my friends, milady. I'm sorry for every day I didn't spend with you.”

His voice grew louder, and he dug his hand into the pocket of his jeans to clutch the ring.

Nate continued, “I put away all your pictures, milady, and just kept this ring to remember you by. This ring that I slipped on your finger because I loved you so. But you were never the same after that.”

He paused, overtaken by sobs.

Please believe me
, he thought.

After a moment, he gathered himself, held the ring above his head, and hurled it into the sea.

“Who-whoo! Who-whooo!”

Jennifer Howard looked up. Was that an
owl
? How could it be that late already?

She kept moving, but she could feel a nervous knot growing tighter in her throat. She knew she shouldn't be out in the woods so late, all alone.

And yet she couldn't turn back. It was as if something were leading her—pulling her even—steadily down the trail, the very same one she'd hiked with her five cabin mates earlier that day. Yes, there was the fallen tree on which Sam had somehow done a whole balance beam routine. And there was the amazing giant mushroom that her twin sister, Ali, had kicked. It lay there now, bruised and broken, and for an instant made Jennifer
annoyed at her bunkmates all over again.

And then suddenly she noticed something she hadn't seen before. Right there, where the trail veered right at the stone marker, overgrown with ferns and other twisting, gnarled weeds, another path went straight. It was much narrower than the Old Stump Trail, but it was definitely a path … and it was clear that Jennifer's feet, at least, thought it was the trail she ought to take.

But where did it lead? The brush was so wild and dense that Jennifer could barely see where it was safe to step. Plus, whatever light was left in the sky was quickly draining away. There was nothing but eerie, ominous shadows ahead of her—and soon behind her, as well. She pulled out her compass to try to get her bearings. Her hands were trembling and she fought against her nerves to keep them still. She waited for the needle to steady and find its way north. It finally stopped and she discovered north was exactly the way that the trail led.

Hey
, she thought, her mood suddenly brightening. Directly north was Camp Hiawatha, their brother camp across the lake! What if the trail was a shortcut to the boys' camp? That would be the find of the century. Wait till she told the other girls! Now she
had
to keep going,
she told herself, if only to see if the trail took her there.

She picked up her pace and pushed through the branches, trying not to get too tangled in the jutting roots or dead tree limbs. At last she burst out of the woods and into a clearing. She stopped at once and looked around.

The clearing, she could see, was about the size of a softball diamond and bathed in a misty, greenish light. The only structure was a lonely-looking, small log cabin that had to have been a hundred years old. The door dangled, cockeyed, from its hinges beneath a roof that looked ready to fall in. Of the two windows that she could see, one was broken and one was roughly boarded up. Clearly, nobody had occupied it for a very long time.

And yet it somehow didn't seem empty.

Jennifer took a half step toward the cabin.

Then paused. Something didn't feel right.

Her blood felt cold all of a sudden, as if her heart had turned to ice.
I shouldn't go any further
, she told herself, backing up, and before she knew it she was running away. But wait! She slid to a halt and her head whipped around in search of the path. All she could see was a solid black wall of trees.

The trail had disappeared.

Plus, it was night now, she realized. Way too dark to see into the woods. The clearing was somehow still glowing, but all it around it there was nothing but shadows and she could only imagine what was in there, watching her. One step in the wrong direction could mean getting lost, or injured, or worse. And who knew how long it would be until someone found her. It could be too late by the time they did.

Okay. No problem
, Jennifer thought, holding up her compass and trying her best to keep her head. South. That was all she needed to know.

But when she looked down, the needle was spinning. She guessed it was just her trembling hands. But no. Her hands weren't shaking any worse than before. In fact, they were still, she realized. The needle was spinning all by itself.

Anxious, she tapped the side of the compass, but that didn't seem to help. She gave it a shake and willed it to stop already and do what it needed to do. But the harder she stared at the needle, the faster and faster it turned. Jennifer listened and could even hear it making a tiny, frantic “whirr.”

Now her hands were trembling. Her whole body was, in fact.

“Who-whoo.”

Startled, she jumped. Then she closed her eyes and caught her breath. It was the owl from the trail.

“Whooo.”

Or was it?

She slowly turned back toward the cabin, not sure if her ears were playing tricks. Could it be that the call was coming from it?

“He-hello?” she softly called. She took another step into the clearing, and this time she didn't stop. There wasn't just something in the cabin. There was someone. Maybe that someone could help her find her way out!

“Hello?” she called again as she reached the door. She listened, but there was no answer. She waited and almost knocked. But then she noticed the broken window there right beside her. What if she simply peeked in instead? She leaned over. What remained of the glass was too caked with dirt and grime to actually see through. But the jagged hole would work, she guessed. She leaned in closer and peered through.

Was it?

Yes, it was!

There was a person sitting in there with his back to her and a hooded sweatshirt pulled down low over his head. It was a boy. At least she thought so, but she wasn't completely sure.…

That is until he pulled the sweatshirt back and slowly turned.

His face was pale and boyishly handsome, but it was his eyes—or lack of them, really—that Jennifer saw first. Where his eyes should have been, there were laser-like beams of greenish light. They shot straight through her and she shrank back. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Her blood, her lungs, her whole body felt numb.

Run!
she tried to tell herself.

But she was too terrified to move.

Finally she managed to scramble away from the window, not knowing or caring which way she went. It didn't matter to her anymore what might be lurking out in the dark woods. She needed to get out of that clearing, she knew, as fast as she possibly could. But she'd barely run ten yards when she felt a sharp tug on the back of her shirt.

She stumbled back, afraid to turn, but she could feel a laser-like burn on the back of her head.

“Don't ever come back,” said a low, haunting voice in her ear.

And that's when the scream finally spilled out of her throat.

Bethany's friends search everywhere for her after she disappears from the beach, but she is never found. Can YOU find these hidden words? Words can appear up, down, backward, forward, or diagonally.

 

BEACH

BURIED

CEMETARY

CREEPOVER

CURSED

DREAM

EMPTY

ETCHING

LADY