Authors: Nicole Smith
“Then why did she
leave
me alone in the tree and who i
s screaming in the woods?”
Beth
ignored my questions and continued on.
“
I don’t think your friend
Carlos
trust
s
L
uke
very much. I also heard Carlos
tell Hayden
that
he is
too
focused on just catching your father
and not about taking down the whole faction.
I’m not sure they trust each other either
.
Once they found out you were in the woods, captured by Stella,
Carlos
called in all
the Seekers that could get to you
. A
mazing
ly
there are quite a few
Seekers
in the city, a number of them
showed up in the woods. It didn’t take them long to fi
gure out where they took you. The onslaught
caught Stella by surprise. She quickly turned to run
,
with all her followers
closely behind
. The Seekers showed no mercy in their attack. I kno
w a great many from my school w
ere not spared
from this massacre,
”
Beth sighed.
“I’m sorry Beth,
”
I whispered.
“It’s okay. It would have
happen
ed
eventually
I suppose
. I ran
too
but I couldn’t leave you. I hid until I couldn’t see anyone around you
anymore
.
Just as I
approach
ed
the tree
again
Hayden appeared and lifted you up o
nto the branch. He laid you down
and began to
untie you when your fa
ther shouted at him from below.
‘Don’t touch her,’ h
e
yelled. Hayde
n swung around in a blur and tackled
him
before he even realized what happened
. He fou
ght him viciously
, but your father
seemed
almost demon like as he sh
ou
ted and swung a
t Hayden.
I couldn’t watch I was
so afraid for him.
I know
you
would be lost without Hayden
.
I can see
how much he m
eans to you. Hayden
eventually
escape
d
his grasp and led him further into the woods away
from you. I waited
for the noises of the battle to get further away before I went to
finish untying
you.”
I stood in shock
by this tale.
“
So y
ou don’t know if Hayden is okay? I have to go back to him.” I started
to run towards the woods again.
“Natalie, stop!
You can’t go back. If Stella is alive she will be furious. I
f she
catches you Natalie
you will never see Hayden
again
. Their home is a secret, it is v
ery well hidden. She will
keep you there
. Please, let Hayden come find you. I know where to take you. Pl
ease follow me.” Confu
sion swirled through my thoughts
. I needed Hayden and Carlos. I nee
ded to know they were safe.
“I can’t leave
them Beth. What if they need my help
? What if they make it
back to the tree and they can’t find
me? They might go back in pursuit of
Stella. I have to go back Beth,
” I cried
hysterically. I w
anted to be strong but my anger
and conf
usion
took over any rationale thought.
I didn’t know what to do.
“The Seekers will win Natalie and when they see you are out of the tree they will know you have escaped. I left a
clue
for them
,
”
she explained.
“What clue?”
“Your Saint Ambrose
pin
,” she said smiling.
“The high school
pin
? Is that where we are going?”
I asked.
“Yes Natalie. I know all kinds of hiding places in it considering I have
been living there for so long. Let’s go now. I don’t want them to catch up with us.” She grabbed my hand
as
we ran together through the ci
ty, ducking down alleys
wh
en people were in sight. T
hankful
ly there weren’t too many people out in the early
morning
hours,
the streets were fairly empty
. I breathed a sigh of relief when
I saw the cross on the to
p of the school.
Beth pointed
towards
a path that led
to the back of the school. I follow
ed after her. She appeared
to be
hiding us
fro
m the windows. S
omeone
must be
in
there
waiting for us. I quickly followed her
tow
ards a basement window. Beth went in first then opened
the window from the inside
for me
. I climb in and quietly close
d the window
behind me. Every
move Beth made she did with caution
, which I found odd considering she’s a ghost
. She
listen
ed
to t
he spirits upstairs
as we stood
silently
by the stairs
.
“
S
omeone is her
e that i
s not supposed to be,” she whispered
as she
grabbed my arm and pulled
me towards a closet door. I open
ed
it and step
ped
inside. Beth s
hut
it quickly
behind me. She pointed to a
small latch
on the wall, down by feet. I pulled open a very small and narrow
door. I began to crawl through
it. As I
crawl
ed,
I
could
see a
dim
light ahead.
“Beth, where are we going?” I whisper
ed
to her.
“Don’t worry
it is just a small old janitors work room I discovered years ago.
”
“But the light, did you turn it on?”
I asked.
“I must have left it on. S
ometimes I like to have the lights on
, don’t ask
me
why,
”
she grinn
ed.
I stood up a
s so
on as I could without hitting my head
.
I began to wor
ry about Carlos and Hayden finding me again
.
“I can’t stay here Beth. They won’t be able to find me
down here.
I have to go
back
upstairs. I need to watch for them. What if
they get here and ca
n’t find me?
I don’t know where they’
ll
go next. Beth please, let me go,
” I
began to panic as I turned back toward the
tunnel again only to find Beth
blocking the
entrance
.
“I’m sorry Natalie, but I can’t let you act hastily. I know someone is up there. I think it might be Stella. You can’t go out there alone
, especially with
out
your
weapon.
” I didn’t even think
about my Kris. I padded down my pockets and realized it must have been taken
from me
.
“Listen to me Natalie, Hayden
will
find you. Please try
to
rest. I
t has been an exhausting night for you
,
”
Beth ordered.
I si
ghed, reluctantly accepting her
advice for now. I
walk
ed
over to a bench
i
n the middle of the room and
laid down on it
.
“J
ust for a minute,” I whispered.
As
I closed my eyes all these
strange images and voices
ca
me rushing into my head.
I deciphered Stella’s voice telling me
s
he has been watching this school for weeks. She
has known
Beth
for a long time
and
now
she
is
extremely
interested in
our
friends
hip
. Stella
told me she
knew we
were
com
ing
back her
e. She knew Beth would bring me here if she c
ould. Stella
has wanted Beth to join her for years. She felt so close
to getting her
until I
showed up. Now she doesn’t know who she wants more. She
has
decide
d she needs us both. Stella believes my
ra
re gifts will help her immensely. J
ust
by
being
so close to a living person that can se
e, hear and touch ghosts
amazes her
.
I can tell by her thoughts and
the
energy she’s emitting
that she
is
becomin
g frantic, crazed
even
. With me,
maybe she can learn how to affect the living, possibly e
ven kill them. I can feel her thoughts moving, she is moving. S
he
is walking
up the stairs to the top floor. Many of the others have followed her here. They are roaming the halls
, searching for us
.
A vision of
Stella
standing
in the window on the top floor
, looking out appeared in my mind.
S
he is
wait
ing
for someone
.
I awoke
, open
ed my eyes and sat
upright on
the bench. Beth watched
me closely
.
“Someone is coming?” s
he whispered
. I
nod
ded
.
“
I know
and Stella is waiting for them upstairs,
” I told her
, but I could tell she already knew
.
I could sense Stella’s anger
.
S
he
has released some of her fury on
the students surrounding her.
“Come now!” she yelled
to her followers.
They gather
ed
around her quickly.
“
I need our
visitors
taken care of. I want them gone,
”
she screamed at
them.
Stella headed for the stairs. She raced
down to the basement
,
with
in seconds she
appeared
in the dark
,
listening for
her pursers
.
I
still felt
her presenc
e
in my head,
she is aware
of Beth
lingering
down here
with me now. A smile crossed
her face. I can see through Stella’s eyes,
look
ing
around
for us in the dark
,
growing increasingly
confident that we
are both down here. She approaches
the closet door and walks through
it.
She flies through
the crawl space and
enters into the little room.
As she looks around
she
believ
es that we
have vanished
. She
searches for any kind of exit
I may have taken
. She knows Beth could have
just
go
ne through the walls but
I
am
limited in
those
abilit
ies. Just as she begins to search
she hears screa
ms from her followers upstairs.