-12:60 AM-
I can't help but wonder how this all happened. Here I am, stuck in an old tree house, hiding from the shadow that nearly terrified me to death, with a busted flash light, and a watch insisting that it's 12:60. I can just barely remember what happened today... Though I'm not sure if I even want to…
-2:30 PM—
I looked at my older sister, Anne, laughing. She had just had a panic attack when I told her it was Friday the 13th, for the first time in a long while. We were fairly opposite, she was the bright, fun loving, happy-go-lucky girl, while I was the introverted, darkness dwelling younger brother.
I had bet that she couldn't last an hour out in the woods after the sun set, though she insisted she could.
So now, I was bound to have a fun time scaring my sister, being in the place I love most. If only it had turned out that way…
-8:30 PM—
It had been dusk for about an hour now. I stood in front of Anne, holding out a flash light. Smirking, I shouldered my bag, containing a set of matches, a pack of batteries, a camcorder, and glow sticks, as well as a pocket knife in my jacket. Anne simply glared back, though I knew she'd felt reassured by the many light sources I'd thought to bring.
I made to open the front door, my sister's eyes growing ever so slightly. I smiled, and pushed open the door, leading the way to the giant forest near our house.
-10:00 PM-
I was surprised she'd made it this long; sure she would have bailed within the first 10 minutes, though she was apparently determined. Things had been going well, nothing bad happened, and I thought nothing would.
About five minutes later, I was proven wrong. Right at the exact moment as we passed a large, sinister looking tree, a loud snap was heard. Both our heads whipped around, looking in the direction of the sound.
I suggested that a branch maybe fell, or something of the sort, trying to assure the two of us.
Several more minutes of walking, and the snap sounded again, this time, closer. However, when I looked this time, I saw something. It could have been nothing, a trick of the mind, a reflection, but now, now I was paranoid.
They were eyes. A glowing set of eyes, just beyond the far side of the path. My breathing quickened, my skin grew pale, a cold sweat forming, much like when you wake up from a vivid nightmare. The eyes seemed surreal, following my movements with a dull grey gaze. Then the noise was even louder, the eyes growing brighter and brighter, every second, until they were pure white, like a bright star.
I took off running, Anne behind me, scared out of our wits. We ran for what seemed like hours, before we stopped dead in our tracks.
A shadow could be seen on the ground. The shadow being there wasn't scary, we were in the woods after all, rather than what it showed. It was a noose, the creature it held swinging in a hypnotic motion. When Anne looked up, she let out a high-pitched shriek. The animal was her pet cat, Mars, a small, thin orange Tabby. I was horrified, thoughts running rampant in my mind: who did this, why, where are they now? I let out a shuddering breath, and grabbed her hand pulling her along the eerily quiet paths.
-12:18 AM-
I stumbled, and tripped over my own feet, falling to the ground. Groaning, I slowly got up. It seemed quieter. My eyes shot open after a startling revelation.
Anne… Anne was gone.
I looked around, for the first time in my life feeling truly scared and alone.
I called out quietly, hoping that she just maybe wandered a little, though there was no answer. I could see hundreds of scenarios running through my mind, each one getting progressively scary.
Once again, a snap was heard, though this time it was accompanied by a soft whistle. I was so conflicted; stay here and look for Anne, or run from that… Shadow…
I shook my head, and ran. I ran as if my life depended on it, which, now that I think about it, it might have.
-12:49 AM-
I had managed to find an old tree house of mine, still in good condition. I started climbing, wishing so incredibly badly that the shadow thing couldn't climb.
When I made it up, I immediately slammed the hatch shut, pushing the random abandoned toys and chairs, trying to block the opening.
I looked at my watch. The cheap thing had broken, the analog time reading 12:60. I grabbed my flash light, which I had dropped in my hurry to move the furniture, and flicked it on. The thing was, it wouldn't turn on.
I sat down on the floor under the window, knees drawn up to my chest, face buried in my arms. I started to sob. Why couldn't I have stayed home? Why'd I drag us into this? Why didn't I leave after the first snap? Why'd I leave Anne? Why, why, why?
-12:62-
I lifted up my head. When I opened my eyes, I was met by two, white, glowing eyes, and a small, bright smile… Anne's smile…
"I'm glad to see you joined me." She held out a dark, shadowy hand. Then I notice that it wasn't just her hand that was dark, but all of her. I took her hand, and saw that my hand was dark as well, looking down, I saw that I was like her. My eyes were just as bright, my hair the same tussled mess.
I looked to see that the hatch was thrown open, at the bottom two crumpled, broken forms.
Then there was a bright flash, and the sound a glass cup makes when you drop it… And then… Then there was nothing… Just the dark forest…