Haunting Grey

I'd asked my dad to wait in the car, saying I needed time at Nat's grave. So he left me alone, and she knelt down next to me, bowing her head.

"Can't you feel it?" she asked quietly. "Every time you enter the woods, it took something from you. First, it was me. Now, it's going to take you too." She looked at me. "It messes with your memories, with time, and you can't get that back."

I swallowed nervously, my heart pounding.

"What's going to happen to me?" My voice cracked. "Do you know?"

Natalie looks at me, her eyes sharp. "You're supposed to be with me, that's why I'm here, Grey. You're not well."

But I felt fine, and I told her so.

She laughed softly. "Your brain is tricking you. The woods have taken so much from you already. Your daddy should have taught you better, like my mom did."

"People become lost in those woods; some find their way out, but others aren't as lucky."

"If she taught you better, you'd still be alive," I snapped. "Goddamn, Natalie. Why didn't you listen to her?"

I'm shaking now, and my dad probably thinks I'm crying. I might as well be.

"Everyone told us to stay out of the woods, Grey," she said. "Your dad, my mom and aunt. And your mom would too, if she were still—"

"Alive," I finished for her. "Well, she's not."

Natalie's voice is soft, "She's here, with me. She wants to see you."

My head hurts so much that my vision doubles. "No," I said roughly. "She's not. You're lying to me again."

I want to grab her, to snap her neck.

Oh God.

I put a hand over my mouth, stand, and run toward the car. I'm close. I reach out for the passenger door, but before I touch the handle, something grips my arm, and I lose my balance. When I feel my face connect with the door, I see stars, then they wheel out of sight and there is only darkness.