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I smirk to myself. I made sure to hide my small flashlight in the pocket of my shorts. I wait until Sam is sound asleep on the floor. It takes him a few hours to fall unconscious into a dreamless state. My eyes snapped to the window once I think of how I'm gonna meet my friends in the woods.
The window seems to gently open by itself, causing my hair to stand on end. I remind myself that it was getting windy out; hardly dwelling on the thought. I tip toe over to the window, heaving myself out the darn thing. I tumble to the ground since it's not that far up. I swear I catch a glimpse of glowing eyes, but my mind didn't rest a lot so I'm unsure.
I close the window, sneaking into the cluster of trees. I turn on my flashlight, thankful I don't have to search too long. I find Jughead, Betty, Archie and an unimpressed Veronica standing in a huddled circle.
"Sin, you made it!" Archie softly whispers, shivering.
"It shouldn't be this cold out." Betty states, earning a nod from V and I.
"Of course, I'd make it. What's this about?" I voice, upon capturing the stern look written on Jughead's face. I know when the beanie wearing boy calls us to a meeting in the middle of the woods on a camping trip; two things could be expected.
One: we were about to investigate/explore. Two: something is seriously wrong, and a plan was going to be devised to handle the situation or issue properly.
"The tale Cheryl was speaking. It's no tall tale. A boy died in the eighteenth century, well, a child, but nobody knows how for sure. His spirit was said to have lived on in the shadows. It's not all scary stories just for kicks." Jughead moodily voiced.
"His spirit takes the form of a mild-mannered teenager. He's said to be malevolent, and seems older beyond years." Betty spoke in a hurry with wide eyes.
Archie furrowed his eyebrows.
"Hence, his spirit has lived on since the eighteenth century." Veronica connected the dots.
"His shadow?" Archie asked, what I'd been curious about.
"His shadow is demonic. It takes the children of the lost or their souls to a far away land. If his shadow isn't with him it's good that it can't poison the spirit so he has the chance to move on, but if they reconnect then…" Jughead gulped, having trailed off in the middle of his rant.
"Then, his soul is lost for eternity." Betty offered, shrugging. Her, Veronica, Archie, and Jughead had been sure to bring their own flashlights which is how I found them.
What scared me the most is that I felt a separation was about to rise up in our group. A tale forgotten came to mind, putting doubt in my heart. "Whoa! Your story sounds a lot like that shady Neverland character crap!"
Jughead stopped moving altogether. His eyes had been scanning over the pages of a book in the dim of his flashlight. His eyes met mine in a hard stare, showing no sign of humor. He said nothing to wave the silliness of the thought away nor did the others.
"M's right, the mere thought is ridiculous!" Veronica finally sided with me after a few seconds of silence. She suddenly became alert, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Peter Pan? Come on?!"
"Even if it's false news, Ronnie," Archie began; frustrated with the night. He finished, "Don't play with what you can't see."
Betty nodded in agreement. "All it takes is one wrong move."
A chill rattled the treetops.
Is this all just a dream or are my delusions from lack of sleep finally getting to me? My eyes connect with the starry sky to find a star shining so bright; it must be burning all the others. I can't trace back to the mythology of the never aging boy, but I could have sworn the second star had something in line with it.
I tug on Archie, pointing a finger to the sky. "Is that part of your lore?"
Archie let his gaze follow me. He soon got the others eyeing the sky to find the myth proven to be true.
Jughead stashed his book somewhere in his serpent jacket. He had the urge to shine his flashlight around the parts of the darkened areas of the woods. His breath hitched in his throat, and he took hold of me along with grabbing his girlfriend.
All at once our eyes landed on a shadow with glowing eyes in the middle of the woods.
"We should probably return to safety." Archie informed us in a low whisper.
"Oh, I thought we were going to happily converse with shadows for the rest of the night!" I hissed in sarcasm, gaining a glare from Veronica.
Nobody got a chance to move until the shadow did then it's like our group lost all control. Our flashlights were dropped, flickering to a fade.
A scream or two came from Betty with Archie yelling for us to "Move!"
I grunted, falling into Jughead who blindly tripped over a root in the ground. I held my breath, saying nothing as Jughead pulled me closer into him. No, no weird crap. My mind wandered to Betty, having suddenly been snatched from our grasp.
How is that even remotely possible? The cool wind picks up harshly, revealing the green tint from the moon turning a rose pink. Once, we were sure the shadow had gone for the night; we moved from the hiding spot.
Jughead and I came across a horrible realization. The two of us were covered in fresh, dark red liquid. He was the first to shine his flashlight on where'd we been, to find a lifeless body.
"Who is she?" Jughead asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Most importantly, HOW DO WE GET OUR FRIENDS BACK?!" I screech, roughly grabbing his arm. I know I'm livable to have busted his eardrums, but my concern lay with our friends who were pretty much family.
Jughead pointed his flashlight in my eyes, shaking his head. He had an idea on how to get them back. "Your mother…"
"What does she…?" I trail off, locking gazes with the color of the woman's hair, eyes, and familiar clothes I hadn't seen in years. My breath hitches in my throat, causing me the urge to gag. "Jug, I'm gonna head to the cabin, and pretend this hasn't happened."
Jughead sighed; aware of my newfound initial shock.
I knew my mom was dead. I didn't know how, why or if her corpse made it into a casket.
"We're going to have to address this at some point, Sinclair!" Jughead shouted after me in the darkness. He didn't want to leave me alone, but I needed time.
I still had my step-father. "Whatever you say, Jones."
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