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Chapter 33
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2022-08-31 00:18:59Related chapters
That Night in the Woods Chapter 1
NOAHI was only 3 years old when my dad killed my mom. It was more of an accident; he unintentionally left the stove open. The LPG particles kept dashing out through the holes of the stovetop; the moment mom lit up her scented candle, tiny flares transformed into a blaze that grasped the appearance of a galactic fire roaring at the lake before it. Jenny and I were squabbling about who would get the chance to throw the ball for Coco first, as she stood beside me wagging her tail avidly, expecting any one of us to pitch the ball in the air at any moment for her to tail. Dad perceived fumes rushing out of the window of our lake house from hundred yards. He hurriedly sprinted towards the house and unbolted the door, only to discover an inferno that had engulfed the entire residence from inside and was dashing towards the rooftop. Mom was scarcely visible to dad’s sight. He was continuously crying her name at the top of his lungs and strived to breach the barrier of flames a couple of time
Last Updated : 2021-08-26That Night in the Woods chapter 2
NOAH The meal I rustled up was narrowly edible. I placed the melamine plate, holding a gloomy bland fish, on the table before her. “I know it’s barely edible, but this is all that was present; no one lived here for over a long time, so we don’t have any groceries stocked.” “Oh, it’s more than enough. Thank you.” The girl sited on the couch wordlessly, consuming the fish flake by flake, unveiling no expressions. She was stern. Seeing her limp out of the house, I said, “It’s totally okay if you want to stay here until you can walk properly.” “Nah, I’m fine.” “You sure? The weather doesn’t look so appealing.” “I’ll be fine.” A dense layer of dark clouds concealed the sky; as the howling of gales worsened, she gradually diminished into the dark forest. I admired the hefty picture frame right before my eyes. It covered almost entire wall. I skimmed off the accumulated dust particles over dad’s nose. Life is a harsh truth; it abandons you with the last thing you ever
Last Updated : 2021-08-26That Night in the Woods Chapter 3
NOAH I took my shoes off and kept them on the porch. Mom's room door was wide open. The bed was empty. She wasn't there. Must've been to the bathroom. I took everything out of the bags and began preparing for breakfast. All of the crockeries were kept just as mom used to set them. But with a thick layer of dust. I spent more than half an hour washing a few dishes. That girl still hadn't come out. As time passed, my suspicion grew stronger that something was wrong. I hit an egg against the edge of the bowl. It was a mess. Reminded me of the time when dad smacked me in the face with an egg. I was eight. Jenny and I were playing Tag. Right when dad threw an egg at a cockroach on the kitchen wall, I ran in. No sane man would do that. Dad was sane. But he was paranoid about insects that could fly. I washed my hands and went to check on that girl. The bathroom door wasn't locked. There was no one inside. "Hey?" She was probably gone. I could see that she was reluctant to stay
Last Updated : 2021-08-26That Night in the Woods Chapter 4
NOAH 3 days later Glitter particles glistened on the dark fabric; the pattern was interrupted by a white glimmering sphere; its beams kissed the lake's water into the deepest grey. The scent from Wisterias, running my fingers through the velvety green hair of the land, and Ella’s giggles soothed my soul. Since we got married, Ella and I haven’t left the lake house. We don’t meet people. We only go to the grocery store and nearby places to get the stuff we need. That too together. She doesn’t let me slip out of her sight. “You never tell me about your family,” I said to her. “You are my family.” “Not me. Your parents. And sister,” I insisted. The more she refused to talk about them, the more curious I get. All I know is that she had a sister, who doesn’t talk to her anymore. Doesn’t even live in the same city. And her parents died when she was young. She doesn’t talk about the great times she had with them. Everybody has a good time with their parents. “There’s nothin
Last Updated : 2021-08-26That Night in the Woods Chapter 5
Noah The only subject for argument over these past months between us has been my refusal to visit a psychiatrist and Ella forcing me into it. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to ask for. What I needed to get peace. I wasn’t satisfied with my life. Even though I had a reason to. I could just ignore everything. And focus on my family. My wife. My future children. I didn’t know how to tell about my feelings. Feelings about Jenny luring me to meet everyone. But I hated it when she says that. I wanted to forget that I was the reason they died. I remember how she said to me that if mom knew she would be very disappointed. It was a mistake. Just a mistake. That cost me everything. And cost them their lives. I wiped my tears. My head rested on a squashy grey pillow while my eyes gazed out of the glass window at a lonely nightingale perched on a branch of the tree. Its head turned towards me; eyes set on mine. A moment later it cruised through the air scanning the ground below.
Last Updated : 2021-08-26That Night in the Woods Chapter 6
NOAH Jenny placed the white tile marked ‘m’ on the cell of the scrabble board, between ‘e’ and ‘a’. “This is not a real word,” I complained. “Yes, it is.” Jenny and I were sitting adjacent to each other on the bean bag in our toy room. A white wooden shelf stood vertical to the teal wall. Jenny fancied a mermaid-themed room while I had my heart set on a football theme, consequently, dad had the workers paint one wall as I wanted and the one opposite to it according to Jenny’s liking. Dad heard us quarreling and came to the room. “Dad Jenny’s cheating. She is losing so she made up some word.” Jenny answered as she got to her feet and wrapped both of her hands around dad’s, “Tasha taught me this word and he doesn’t know it so he’s calling me a cheater.” Dad beamed at her and walked over to the scrabble board. “Oh, honey.” He twinkled. “you’ve got your ‘e’ and ‘i’ misplaced, and there’s an ‘m’ missing over there.” He swapped the places of ‘e’ and ‘i’ tiles with one anot
Last Updated : 2021-08-28That Night in the Woods Chapter 7
OLIVIA I opened the door and let the ward boys in. They unbolted the handcuffs, grasped both of Noah’s arms, and took him to Lane’s office through a narrow hallway. I could tell he was in anguish, in extreme agony. Lane is one of the senior psychiatrists at The Montana Mental Health Institution. He is a white bald man, who appears as a beast but has a heart of an angel. No one in this place is capable of controlling the patients in the way he does. I recollect a memory when we had a patient named Arthur Brown. He was huge and menacing. Nobody would dare to go within his reach, this man used to sit beside him when he was not handcuffed. To everyone’s astonishment, Lane would walk out of Arthur’s room alive and untouched. Noah sat in the chair before Lane’s desk, he seemed drowsy. His long grey sleeves reached till his fingers; he was staring at Lane with a piercing glare. “I’m going to spend the next couple of sessions interrogating you about your health and life. Is that okay wi
Last Updated : 2021-08-29That Night in the Woods Chapter 8
OLIVIA The moonlight scattered over the swaying ripples in the ocean. Melissa and I stood in queue anxiously waiting for our turn, as one of the families progressed inside, we advanced to the ramp. “Can’t wait!” Melissa squealed with exhilaration. Elena had returned from Sweden after seven years. We both are orphans; she was the first person to speak to me at Ramsdale’s Home for Orphans after Mrs. Clayden, the administrator, of our orphanage. That day is carved into my mind, to this date, when my younger sister Abigail and I were taken to that place. As we sauntered into the enormous hall a woman appearing to be in her late 40s approached us. A monumental chandelier dangled from the ceiling, it wasn’t lit. The walls were all painted off-white. A vast red plain carpet lay over the wooden floor covering only the center of the room. There were two gigantic doors on either side and a set of wide stairs before us that led to a narrow corridor. The place bore a resemblance to a palac
Last Updated : 2021-08-30
Latest chapter
That Night in the Woods Chapter 33
OliviaEzra, Alyssa, and I perched in the waiting area. I wondered if this was the hospital she worked at. But if she worked here, then why was she sitting with us and not on her duty? She probably was employed in some other hospital or a nursing agency. My heart was throbbing. Any of the veins attached to it could explode any moment sending me up there to God. Every time a nurse passed by, my body was ready to jump up to listen to what they had to say. Hopefully, they’d tell us that she’s alright now. And we can go meet her. And probably take her home with us a few hours later. My sight fell over Ezra’s fidgeting fingers. She appeared as anxious as I was. A faint smell of medicine which was continuously lingering around my nose grew stronger. I lay another glance at Ezra. She looked like her name. A nice middle-aged lady with short hair and a fair complexion. Which made me think if she looked like her name in her teens. I don’t know about other people but that is what an Ezra would
That Night in the Woods Chapter 32
OliviaThen“Then his toes were minced. It was so--““Wait, hold on. Why are you watching those movies, Alyssa?”She gazed at my hands over which smeared the foam from the dish soap. I stopped scrubbing the plate for a moment and looked her in the eye. That was so messed up. We were barely able to keep an eye on her. “It was on the TV,” her volume dropped.“Not everything that they show on the TV is for you to watch.”I sat the plate in the basin after sponging, then reached the foamy sponge to the bottom of the blender jug.“But I didn’t have anything to do. You’re always busy doing something. We don't even go out anymore.” Her tone was getting whiny. Like it always does when she sees me serving dinner. Abruptly, a river of things that enrage me seeped into my brain. Yes, my brain was striving to make itself understand that she was a little child. A little child who was boiling my blood at the moment. Who was setting me on fire. I didn’t want this either. I wasn’t fond of washing d
That Night in the Woods Chapter 31
Olivia Then Two Months Later I stood before the stove, the sole of my foot resting on the side of my knee. As the bubbles started appearing over the pancake, I stuck the spatula beneath it and flipped it over. The pancake liberated a sweet and buttery aroma, only because I added butter essence. But, it would taste like crap. I could only make scrumptious pancakes using the mix. But they were way too expensive. We were running out of money. Dad’s bank accounts had been emptied. And after mom’s medicine, we only had a couple of hundred dollars left at home. She wasn’t in a condition to work. She could barely get out of bed lately. The future appeared dark to me. We hadn’t heard about dad since the cops took him. Mom could barely take care of herself, and Alyssa and I were left on our own. The stress, of how everything will end up, was catching up to me. The ringing of the house phone tore through my eardrums, making the sizzling noises unnoticeable. I set my foot on the ground, flip
That Night in the Woods Chapter 30
OLIVIA20 years ago“When your parents tell you to back off, you back off Olivia!” mom scolded me with one hand on her waist and the other holding her phone.“But--““I don’t want to hear any ifs and buts, young lady. What if someday your dad has to bear the consequences of your actions like this? Huh?” she interrupted.Alyssa gazed at us. I shot a glance at her. She was petrified. “I’m sorry.”The hand on her waist went down with a sigh. She dialed a number on the phone and walked into another room. Guilt engulfed me as mom’s words sauntered into my mind. I just wanted to be a good daughter. I wanted to protect him like he provided a shield for us. I knew my father was innocent. ****Mom had been strolling around the house, with the phone in one hand tapping her nails on it. Alyssa perched on the couch, peeling the skin on her lips, staring at mom. My stomach grumbled. But I was too stressed to eat something. “It’s okay girls. Don’t worry your dad will be alright.”Mom sat beside
That Night in the Woods Chapter 29
NOWNOAHElla lay curled up in bed. A white mushy blanket wrapped around her, eyes squeezed shut. I drew open the curtains and went back outside to grab the breakfast tray and bouquet of roses, which I ordered this morning. Holding the tray in one hand and flowers behind my back with the other, I gushed, “good morning WiFi!”She wrinkled her nose, cheeks raised up, a pout on her face with a hint of a smile.“No,” Ella shook her head, “No.”“No?” I asked.“Yeah--no.” She let out a chuckle.“I thought you’d like some breakfast in bed, with a thing I got here in the back.” I raised an eyebrow and beamed at her. “About the WiFi thing silly.” I knew she was talking about the ‘WiFi’ thing. I adored how my cringe pet names wrinkled her nose every time. She rested her back against the bed’s headboard, still enveloped in the blanket. I placed the tray before her, in which sat a stack of perfectly cooked souffle pancakes. Perfectly cooked according to her, overcooked in my opinion. She love
That Night in the Woods Chapter 28
NOW OLIVIA Tracy gazed at a band of white light over which sat a cluster of uncountable stars. As I ran my eyes down from the top, the dark blue tint altered into a dull purple. With descending height the hues kept on changing, from purple to a rose beige to the lightest shade of yellow. All of that sat over a dark tone of the blue-greyish background. The Milkyway band before our eyes walked as slow as a person stuck in quicksand. We were in a planetarium. They cast a Milkyway band over the ceiling, which appeared domed, tricking everyone’s eyes that it was real. I found it fascinating that humans were able to see what lies light years away. And the accurate projection of it was spectacular. It was one of the items on Tracy’s bucket list, to go stargazing. Even though doctors said that we could, I was paranoid. I didn’t want to risk her life by taking her more than a hundred miles away from the hospital to a star-gazing sight. Her condition has gotten worse as compared to the week
That Night in the Woods Chapter 27
OLIVIA 13th August, Monday, 1990 My eyes opened up to the beams of sunlight crashing in through the window. Alyssa was still asleep. I got to my feet and drew the curtains shut so that she did not wake up by the bright light. The clock struck nine in the morning. My stomach was grumbling. I didn’t have dinner last night. I could eat a horse and still be famished. I opened the door and shut it gently as I walked out of the room. My eyes caught dad grinning from ear to ear, holding moms hands, leaning over the kitchen countertop. I rubbed my eyes hard and widened them to make sure it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t! My heart did a backflip. I was euphoric that he was back. And he was alright. At least physically there was no visible damage. He has been gone for a long time. “You look ravishing, honey.” Dad’s smile widened.”I missed you girls.” I sprinted into the kitchen and hugged dad from the back. “I missed you too dad. Where have you been?” I asked him. He turned around and hugged
That Night in the Woods Chapter 26
Noah It had been over a month since Olivia yanked my heart out of my chest and chopped it into a million pieces. It still is divided into a million pieces that I have scattered now. I wasn't prepared to believe her. My mind wasn't ready to believe this atrocious truth. I just wanted to sleep. I didn't want to feel anything. I didn't want to feel this air engulfing me. This mushy bed, I was sitting on. The body my soul dwelled in. I just wanted to stop. Stop feeling everything. Every time I hear her words heat of anguish arises in my body and soul. The fury takes over. I couldn't control myself when it happened two weeks ago. I slammed the door shut pounding my head over it, expecting the physical pain to put an end to that agony inside of me. It didn't go away. I smacked the glass window with my bare hands until the shards of glass punctured my hand. It still didn't go away. It won't ever go away. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to hurt myself for believing she existed. I wanted t
That Night in the Woods Chapter 25
Olivia Sunday 24th June 1990 We were having the time of our lives. Alyssa's fifth birthday was right around the corner when she desired to go to Hawaii. She didn't say that she wanted to go to Hawaii. Last Friday, we were sitting on the patio after dinner. I rested my head on the armchair's backrest, with one hand over my bloated stomach, holding back a burp because mom taught us that it was discourteous to let out a loud belch around people. I couldn't help cramming that delicious salmon and sweet potato wedges in my mouth. Dad swiped through the images of travel destinations on his tablet, racking his brain that what will be our destination for the family vacation. We go on vacation twice every year. On my and Alyssa's birthday then Mom and Dad's birthday each year alternatively. While he was swiping through photos of some of the eye-catching places in Hawaii, Alyssa, who was dangling over the armrest of Dad's chair, pointed at one of the pictures and screamed with excitement, "I
