Hidden In The Shadows

Standing alone, she looks out into the expanse of trees. Her body shakes slightly from the nerves she is trying to ignore, her mind telling her to run while her heart tells her to continue. The young woman begins to walk forward hesitantly, the cold air wrapping itself around her like a shroud of ice. Her eyes linger on the rows of graves she passes, until eventually she reaches the edge of the forest. She should run; she knows she should run, but her body won’t allow her to. Someone is following her.

Soon, soon, she will tell them that she knows they are there. She continues into the trees, branches outstretched and welcoming her into the shadows. A few moments later the thundering sound of a wolf’s paws hitting the ground as it bounds into the trees causes her to turn around sharply. She watches something disappear into the forest.

This is hopeless, she thinks, and she abandons the twisted branches for the open grey sky. She will not discover anything today.

Back home she drops backwards onto the sofa, feeling annoyed that yet another trip has ended and she still knows nothing. Why would they run from her? She looks down at the news articles, each one etched in her mind with indelible ink: she knows she has to live with these images until she gets answers.

The next morning she awakens, her body aching from spending the night stretched out on the sofa cushions. She goes to work mindlessly, ignoring everything as she always does, completely focused on the answers she hopes to uncover tonight. She works because she has to, not because she wants to. She could be using this time to search, to find proof, to find anything which might help her find him.

5pm finally comes and she leaves work quickly, her feet carrying her to the cemetery without much thought needed. When she arrives she can feel a presence again. She will get the answers she needs today and nothing will stop her. In the distance she hears the snap of a twig breaking; her head jolting to face the direction of the noise in the hope that he will come out of the shadows. Although she doesn’t know the identity of her mystery follower, something is telling her it’s a man. Nothing happens.

“I know you’re following me,” she says as her eyes narrow, waiting for him to reveal himself. “You may as well come out and tell me why you’re following me.” Despite knowing that this person could be dangerous she remains defiant and unafraid. She hears movement and the man – definitely a man – starts walking towards her. He is nothing like what she expected. An involuntary smile spreads across her face as her eyes take in the figure before her: His dark hair matches his hazel eyes, and the thin t-shirt he wears outlines his well-defined muscles. How isn’t he cold?

“You shouldn’t be out here, it’s dangerous. You don’t know who you could meet in these woods.”

She laughs, too loudly to sound normal in the calm of the trees, but she’s been coming here for months and never had any problems. Inside, though, she knows he’s right. There’s something strange happening here, just never to her.

“Then what are you doing here? Why are you following me?” She looks at him expectantly but he just shakes his head.

“I’m just making sure you get out of here safe, that’s all.”

She nods, knowing he’s hiding something. That isn’t all he’s doing here and they both know it. Why is he here so late? She has a reason to be here; is he here for the same thing? Is he trying to find something? Someone?

“I can get home safe all by myself, thanks. Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself than me?”

“Look, I don’t know why you keep walking through here or what you’re hoping to find, but maybe from now on you can walk around somewhere else?” He is praying that she listens.

“No thanks. I have to say, I’m surprised we’re both still alive, here or wherever else.” She is; she shouldn’t still be here. He looks at her surprised, her eyes seeing it clearly, so she continues. He obviously knows something and so he must be able to give her some sort of answer.

“I’ve read enough to know that something’s going on here. People disappear from this place; bodies show up with no cause of death. I thought it was all rubbish at first, just something invented by some journalist, but then it happened. Then he happened. He went missing from this exact spot, seen walking in but never seen leaving. This isn’t the only place in this town it happens, either. So why do I get out unscathed every time?”

She doesn’t understand. She’s been coming here for months and the only constant thing seems to be this man. What if he’s the reason these people go missing or die mysteriously?

“Look, I’m just trying to make sure no-one else gets hurt or goes missing. Promise me you won’t come back here at night: it isn’t safe, and you’re making my job a lot harder.”

She nods. Something is telling her he’s right, it’s been telling her the same thing since before she even spoke to him, since Dan went missing. Every day she’s been here his presence has screamed at her to run, to get out, but she never did, despite the persistent soundtrack of low growls and footsteps which admittedly terrified her a little. She had to keep coming back; she had to find out what was really happening.

“Okay, I won’t,” she lies, knowing she will return to find the answers she needs about Dan. There’s no way she can give up on him so easily, she owes him more than that.