My name is Emily Burke. I grew up in a small town in southern Florida. To say I wasn’t the popular girl in school is quite an understatement. Quite honestly, I was an outcast. I wasn’t pretty, or funny, or charming. I was, for lack of other words, ugly, quiet, and weird. Not that I minded, I ate alone at lunch and never talked to anyone besides my teachers, that is, if they asked me a question first. My parents got divorced when I was only four years old, so I grew up with only my mother and I in a two-bedroom house. Needless to say, she was my only friend. Again, not that I minded, I was always a nerd and school was my main priority. I graduated high school when I was only fifteen. I enrolled in college not long afterwards. Since I grew up poor, I was determined to start my life and career. College went by fast with not many differences from high school. My grandmother passed away only two months before my college graduation and left me just enough money to buy a little house. Wanting to get out of the disgusting humidity that Florida had to offer, I started looking for houses in Virginia. When I found the cute three-bedroom cottage in the mountains not far from a quaint little town, I thought my whole life was falling into place, little did I know, it was actually about to fall apart.
After buying the cottage, I moved only a few days afterwards. My mom drove up with me to help me move what little things I did have. I didn’t need her help since the house was furnished and all I had were clothes and some dishes, but I think she was having a hard time with her only child moving so far away, so I didn’t argue. Plus, I was kind of excited to show her what a steal I had gotten.
When the GPS finally said “You have reached your destination!”, we were only at the beginning of a winding driveway that looked like it hadn’t been used in a decade. The grass was so overgrown it almost touched the windows on my blue Honda Civic. My cell phone rang, I didn’t even need to look to know it was my mom calling from her minivan, and I could almost see her worried look when I answered the phone, “Emily…”
“Mom, just wait until you see it. If it is anything like the pictures, you won’t want to drive all the way back to Florida!” I hung up before she had time to argue.
We reached the end of the driveway, and just behind the trees, it opened up to the cutest house I had ever seen. Maybe I was wearing rose-colored glasses, but it was beautiful, and it was mine. The windows looked as if they went from floor to ceiling, the house itself was made with the most gorgeous dark colored wood, and it had the biggest front porch I had ever seen. I hopped out of the Civic before I even had time to turn the engine off, “Mom! Look at how beautiful!”
Her jaw was dropping even further than mine, “Oh…. My…. Emily! You never cease to amaze me! This is more than I would have ever imagined!”
“Let’s go see the inside!” I grabbed her hand and let my feet float us both up the stairs to the front door. Opening the door, the living room welcomed us in all of its glory. The fireplace sat on the opposite wall with a mantle almost the size of my car! The spiral staircase sat in the right corner and they wrapped up to the three bedrooms that sat upstairs. The kitchen was to the left of the living room and was decorated with tile everywhere, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the counters, I felt like the Taj Mahal was deconstructed just to build my kitchen. The house was stunning.
My mother and I walked the house with our mouths open, touching every inch. When we were finally done admiring my new purchase, it only took us an hour or so to move everything inside. When everything was settled in, I used my grandmother’s teapot to make tea. We sat at the table that was meant for six and sipped our tea. “Emily, this house is huge,” my mother started, “how are you not going to feel lonely here?”
“Mom, I’ll be fine, I’ve always been a loner, you know that. You have been my only friend since I was little! And not to mention, I have your phone number and since I’m working from home, we can chat whenever you want,” I reassured her. I know she didn’t want to drive home, so I offered for her to stay the night. I didn’t want her taking that long of a drive this late at night anyway.
We finished our tea and headed to bed. I laid in bed for what seemed like hours just staring at the ceiling with the biggest smile on my face. I listened to the wonderful noises of the mountain wilderness, the crickets, the frogs, and the wolves in the distance, and I felt like I was finally home.
When the sun kissed my face that morning, I awoke more refreshed than I had felt my whole life. I ran down stairs and made breakfast. I was almost finished when my mom came around the corner. “Good morning, Emily, up so early?”
“Oh, yes! I slept so well last night, I woke up as soon as the sun rose! And I made us breakfast, I didn’t want you driving on an empty stomach. Sit down, I’ll make you coffee.” I mixed her coffee and her favorite vanilla creamer.
“I don’t know how you slept so well with those wolves howling all night long,” she said between sips of coffee and yawns. “They kept me up all night!”
“I thought it was lovely,” I finished the eggs and made her a plate, “like a lullaby.”
“Oh, Em, I’m so glad you are happy, I’ve never seen you smile so much.”
We finished our breakfast and I walked her out to her van. I set her GPS up for the Florida address she has had since she was first divorced, and kissed her good-bye. I stood in the front yard until her van disappeared around the first curve of the driveway, then turned around and walked into my new house to start my new life.
After staring at the mountains through the windows while I finished washing the dishes, I figured I would go for a stroll.
I walked out the door and began heading towards what looked like a walking trail in the backyard. Just like the driveway, it looked like it hadn’t been used in nearly a decade, but I was determined to change that, so onward I went. The trail was dark from the tall trees that canopied it and the wind blew hard and cold. It seemed as if it went from noon to midnight in two seconds. I blamed it on the trees that were so much different than the ones in Florida and continued on my adventure. I was on the trail for about a mile when I came to huge oak tree with a trunk that had…. scratches all over it. Huge scratches. Some were almost five feet above my head, others were right at eye level. I ran my hand over them, my fingers fell into the groves, they had to be more than an inch wide and an inch deep. I had never seen anything like these. Rationalizing, I came to believe maybe a bear did it. Florida has small black bears, but in woods like these, the bears here must be much bigger. I had already decided to turn around before I stumbled onto the bear who made these, when I looked down and saw something shining. A necklace, not gold, not silver, woven leather with a charm that was almost producing its own light, a moon. I held it in my hand and no matter how many times I turned it over, the look that it was producing its own light never changed. I put it in my pocket and ran home. My heart raced faster than my feet and my breathing was heavier than my heart.
That was the first time I walked into my house and felt uncomfortable, but it wouldn’t be the last.
I decided to get my mind off the tree and necklace by finishing decorating my kitchen and putting all the dishes into places I felt were the most convenient. When I was finished, my mind was still racing so I figured I’d work on my computer and update my company website. By the time I was finished, the full moon was lighting up the living room from the huge windows. I closed my laptop and let my eyes adjust to the room and for the first time the necklace reentered my mind. It was still in my pocket and I allowed my hand to reach in and pull it out. It was almost as bright as the moon itself. And in the moment, I felt… I don’t know, a calling—a need to put it around my neck. And when I did that, I realized just how stupid I was earlier, of course there were bears here! Of course bears like to scratch trees! I’m in the middle of the mountains, I shouldn’t let animals scare me! And the necklace, geeze Emily, people have lived here before, a child probably lost it while she was playing! I felt so foolish for letting my first adventure into the woods scare me like that and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. So to redeem myself, I figured I’d go on the trail again! Right then! I walked out the door and headed towards the trail that had defeated me earlier. I took a deep breath, twirled my moon necklace around in my fingers, and stepped into the shadows of the trees. I continued on the path for what was almost twenty minutes, and the thought hit me, “Where the fuck is the tree?” It wasn’t this far and as far as I was aware I was still on the trail; I KNEW I was. I hadn’t ventured off of it, had I?
Just then the wolves that had sang me to sleep the night before, cried louder than I had ever heard. My heart jumped into my throat and my knees felt weak. “Oh shit, it’s almost midnight, and I have no idea where I am.” The trail was no longer under my feet, and I had no idea what direction my house was in. The only light my eyes could see was the artificial moon around my neck. The trees were so thick the real moon was nowhere to be seen. They cried again, this time even closer.
My feet began moving before my brain had time to react. I was running faster than I ever had before in my life. I just let my feet and instinct carry me… to my fate. My heart was pounding so hard I almost didn’t hear the feet behind me, but I DID hear them. THUD THUD THUD THUD The distance between my footsteps and the ones behind me were closing in. Suddenly I felt the sharp pain of razors on my back. I hit the ground, hard. My breath knocked out of me. My face in the dirt, I felt the blood drench my shirt. Then, a heavy pressure on my back, and a hot breath on my neck, saliva dripping on my body and oozing down. I felt the teeth sink into my neck. I closed my eyes and prayed this animal would kill me quick, but it had other plans. The next thing I know I was all alone again. My body felt weak, my shirt stuck to my body using my blood as the glue. I used all my strength to get up. I was at the edge of the woods, staring at my house. Thank god.
It took all of me to get up the front steps and into the bathroom. The mirror revealed the horror I could only imagine. My neck was shredded, my back cut so deep my ribs and spine were showing. I grabbed all the gauze from my first aid kit and wrapped myself as tight as I could. When I looked in the mirror again, I was a bloodied mummy. And… I was missing my necklace. “That bastard. Not only had he almost taken my life, he must have taken my necklace too.” And with that thought, my vision went black.
I awoke the next morning staring at the bathroom cabinet, the tile cold on my face. I blinked to adjust my eyes, and stood on my shaking legs. My eyes hit the mirror, I was staring at myself wrapped in bloodied bandages. I swallowed. “Fuck, I wasn’t dreaming.” I unwrapped the bandages slowly, careful not to pull off any scabs that had formed. But, there were no scabs. There were no wounds. Just bloody bandages at my feet while I stared a skin that looked as if it hadn’t been touched.
I tried to wrap my head around it. It happened. I KNOW it did. The blood was there to prove it my necklace was still gone. I KNOW it happened. It had to. I wasn’t crazy.
My phone rang and interrupted my thoughts. “Mom” displayed on my phone. I picked it up and had to swipe to answer three times because my hands were so shaky. “H-h-hello.”
“Hey, Em, I was just calling to let you know I made it home safely. Are you okay, hun?”
“Yeah…. Yeah, I’m fine. Just woke up. A little tired.”
“Oh, okay. I tried calling a few times last night to see how you were.”
“Yeah, I must’ve fallen asleep early, tired from all the moving. I’m sorry, Mom.”
“It’s okay, honey, I understand. As long as you’re okay.”
“Yeah. I’m fine, Mom.”
“Okay, baby, go back to bed. Call me later! I love you.”
“I love you too, Mom. Bye.”
I felt bad lying to my mom, but I couldn’t tell her. What would I say? It would only make her worry.
I stared at my reflection for what seemed like an hour. I felt like I was still dreaming. My skin wasn’t touched. And… my eyes looked different. They were always a light brown, but now they seemed almost yellow. I couldn’t make sense of anything. “It must just be stress,” I decided. And walked into the kitchen to make some breakfast.
As I rounded the corner, I could smell everything. The refrigerator was closed, but I smelled the milk, the eggs, the Coca-Cola, the tomatoes, the cheese, even the plastic that everything was contained in. Without even opening the refrigerator door, I could tell you the milk was in front of the Coke, the tomatoes were in the bottom left drawer, there were seven eggs left, one was almost rotten and it was the third one on the right, and the cheese was in the middle on the top shelf. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore. At least not for what I had.
I was never a crazy vegan, but since I was about ten, I was a vegetarian. But this morning, I wanted meat. I grabbed my keys and decided to head to the small town to get some sausage, or bacon, anything to satisfy my craving.
The drive was shorter than I thought it would be, or maybe I was just lost in my own little world. I could hear the birds’ wings flapping, the tires of my Civic crushing the twigs, the gas fueling my car. I was lost in the sounds and almost didn’t notice the town I had entered.
It was small. A pharmacy, a grocery store, a few shops here and there, and that was it. I pulled into the grocery store and walked inside. Before entering the sliding doors, I knew there was a total of eleven people inside. Five were woman, and three of those women were on their period. Six were men, three were shopping and the other three were in the back office.
I felt everyone’s eyes on me as I walked in the door. I guess I should’ve expected that. The town was small and they probably haven’t seen anyone new in years, but it made me more on edge than I already was. When the woman behind the counter said hello to me, I almost jumped. “Hey,” I responded like a shy five-year-old.
“You must be the new girl who bought the Jefferson’s cottage! I’m Ms. Dempsey, but you can call me Jane.” She had to be no older than thirty and she was quite the eye-catcher, but the smell of her period made it hard for me to smile back.
“Yes, I’m Emily, it’s nice to meet you,” I grimaced.
She must have noticed my expression, because her smile faded quickly, “Well, if you need anything let me know.”
I nodded and headed towards the meat section. I haven’t smelled something so wonderful in all of my life. Hamburger, sausage, chicken, pork. I got one of each. Jane checked me out without another word. I barely closed the car door when I ripped into the meat and ate it right there. Good thing the town was small and not another soul was outside, or I wouldn’t have just been the “rude girl”.
I drove home satisfied, my stomach smiling bigger than ever. I hadn’t really thought much about the night before since eating, and I was beginning to feel happy again. I parked the car and walked up the steps, when my foot kicked something on the porch. It hit the wall and bounced back. A little box. I picked it up. It was wrapped in brown paper and white string tied into a bow. I looked around the yard, but no one was in sight. I shrugged and figured it must be a house warming present and walked inside.
I sat on the couch and untied the string. On the other side of the brown paper was a note:
“Hello Ms. Burke,
You are probably wondering who I am, but I’m afraid we have already met. You are probably wondering about your new world. The smells, the sight, the cravings. But, my dear Emily, you have quite a lot of learning left to do. Meet me at the tree at midnight tonight. Don’t be late. I don’t like it when people are late. I will explain everything to you, Emily, do not worry.
Welcome to the family,
George”
My heart sank.
Upon opening the box, what was inside made my heart sink even more. My necklace.
Submitted October 04, 2016 at 01:44AM by idontlikeusernamesyo http://ift.tt/2dM1kXn nosleep
No comments:
Post a Comment