Forest Secrets

Josh sat across from me and frowned.

"That could be just as bad as going itself." He replied reading the letter over and over again to himself.

"We'll just have to ride it out, pretend like nothing happened and never go back there again." I slumped down on a pillow and closed my eyes for a moment; I then saw the angry face of the man from the forest. I jumped up and started shaking violently and Josh reached over and put his arms around me, he looked at me with a concerned look in his eyes.

"What's wrong is everything okay?" He asked concerned.

"We have to go Josh, there's no way they will leave us alone if we don't." I gulped in a deep breath and glanced at the floor. "They have a way of getting inside our heads."

***

It was the morning, and Josh and I where both anxious about having to go back to the forest for the trial. We didn't have a plan or anything to get out of the situation. Andrea had woken up and we filled her in on everything that was happening and what we had to do that day.

"They said that you guys couldn't bring in a spell..." She said with a mysterious twinkle in her eye. "But, they won't know if I show up with one."

"That's too risky, I wouldn't challenge it." I said doubtfully.

"She has a point though, we go there alone, without a spell, and her and Chris show up with a spell and take over from there. I don't even know what they mean by a trial but they said one of us will be turned and the other will come back human." He looked at me and sighed. "And I won't let them turn you."

"I wouldn't let them turn you either, what happens if they do? Do you become one of them?" I wondered out loud.

"I think so, they know how strong we so want one or both of us on their side seem like something that they would go for, but it's dangerous."

"When did you guys need to go there for?" Andrea asked getting up and going through one of her drawers and came out with a book, she shoved it in her backpack and put on her jacket.

"The note says noon, so we have some time to plan." Josh said stretching.

"I'll come up with something, don't you guys worry; just...try to stall some time." She walked over to the door and turned and looked at the both of us. "Chris and I will figure this out."

Once she left the room I went over to my desk and opened my laptop, I decided to show Josh the message on my Facebook to see if he can figure out who it was from. He read it and blushed a deep shade of red and smirked slightly to himself.

"That was me, I needed to warn you but I didn't want you to know that it was me just yet; so I messaged you secretly." He confessed.

"Oh, well as long as it was you and not one of those weirdos then that's okay." I told him turning my laptop off and making my way over to the fridge. "Are you hungry Josh? It's going to be a long day."

"No, not really; I'm more nervous than anything." He answered.

I shrugged and pulled out a box of waffles from the freezer, "You're missing out." I laughed popping them in the toaster.

"Wow, rude." He laughed.

"Well I mean you can have some, but...you're not hungry so they are all mine." I giggled, which made Josh get up and reach behind me to try and grab the box from behind my back. He was about an inch or so from my face and I could feel my heart beating inside of my chest. But I pulled away from him and awkwardly looked at the floor.

He cleared his throat and went and sat back down on my bed, it was nearly 10 am and we only had two hours to figure something out.

***

*Flashback*

"Jewel Hamilton, do you understand what you have been sent to the office for young lady?" The high school principal asked me as I sat there nervously going over the events that led me there.

"It wasn't my fault!" I shouted loudly.

"Doesn't matter whose fault it was, you threw the first punch on Gracie Willow and that is not tolerated at this academy do you hear me?"

"Yes Mr. Huntsman." I hung my head down low and waited for my punishment to commence.

"Now, before I get to the punishment can you tell me what happened to cause the mishap between the two of you?"

"I was eating my lunch, minding my own business when she just came up to me and sat down. She was nice at first and we actually started talking to each other, then she brought up the incident with my father which upset me and I told her to shut up and well..." I couldn't tell him that I had read her mind and she had thought some very nasty things about my family, so I just said that she upset me.

"Is that when you punched her in the face?" He asked tapping his pen on the table.

I hung my head, "Yes."

"Two weeks of Monday and Friday detention it is, and if I ever see you pull another stunt like this again you're off the Student Committee board."

"Yes sir." I said leaving the office, bummed about the consequences I was receiving. It was Monday so I would have to go to detention right now, I had never been in detention before so I was indeed nervous; and if my Aunt where to find out I would never hear the end of it.

***

We had entered the forest, prepared to take action against whatever came our way. A plan had been made among Chris and Andrea, Josh and I had a plan as well; to go along with whatever happened and try and stall time. It seemed like it would do for now, until the others had come along.

"Shh, do you hear that?" Josh asked me pressing himself up against a tree. I steadied my breathing and heard a sharp whistling sound coming from deep within the forest. I nodded to him slowly followed behind him as he made his way through.

"There they are!" I heard a shout from the Forest depths; I turned and saw the man from the other day angrily making his way towards us with the others. He pushed me up against a tree and held a gun up to my head.

"If you move, or try to stop me; she's dead." He snarled at Josh who was ready at any moment to attack him.

"You let her go now."

"Not yet, come with us; we can't let another moment stray." He pushed me forward with the gun still pressed up against my head.

After a slow long walk we ended up back at the cabin we were kept captive in the other day, in the room there where about 5 to 10 of the other men dressed in long black robes. They had a circle of blood in the middle of the floor and shoved both me and Josh in the middle of it, on the outside of the circle was lit by red candles carved by strange symbols.

My arm was grabbed and I felt a searing pain go through me as a knife drove deep into my skin, I screamed out loud and got pushed onto the ground as I felt the blood drain into a bowl.

Josh reached out and grabbed my hand, "It's going to be okay, look at me."

"DO NOT TOUCH HER!" The leader shouted grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from me. "You two are forbidden to have contact!"

I felt weak from the blood loss and started to pass out, every time I would close my eyes I was brought back by a zapping feeling in my mind; it made me feel sick and terrified. The men once again had mixed their own blood into the bowl and had put it into a syringe ready to push it into one of us.

"Now, who will be the one to join us?" He paced back and forth between the two of us, I glanced at Josh who had a look of rage on his face; but kept eying down a mysterious door to the left of him. It was glowing a bright white color, and the other men didn't seem to notice it.

I felt Josh trying to communicate with me through my mind and for once I was able to let him in, he whispered something that I was unable to hear but I was finally able to read his thoughts.

'Once we get a chance, make a break for that door; I think I know where it leads. I'm pretty sure that's what spell Andrea and Chris where coming up with; just try and hold off and stay with me; don't close your eyes.' I nodded at his direction; one of the men had noticed us looking at each other and whispered something in the strange language and walked up to me.

"Don't... you...look...at him." He scowled, able to speak English.

The leader went up to Josh and lifted his chin up to look at him; he grabbed the syringe and jammed it hard into his neck; releasing the mixed blood into his veins.

"JOSH!" I screamed trying to get up to get to him.

'It's okay, they don't know this but I drank some of the spell before we left; their mixture isn't power enough to turn me. I did it so that they would think I was the one to turn, and they'd leave you alone.'

He closed his eyes and pretended to be passed out, the men released me; but I was still weak and could barely move and just as I was about ready to give up I heard a loud bang from outside and all the men ran towards the commotion.

Josh opened his eyes, 'Now's the time to run.'

I got up and ran towards the door, the light from the door had turned a deep blue as we got closer and closer to it; Josh placed his hand in mine and looked over at me.

"You ready?"