Duskwood Mysteries

Part 1

"How far is too far when it comes to a person's life?" Jake had texted. I didn't know the answer then. He didn't know it either. But then what happened with Richy changed everything . What had happened with Richy? Was he hurt? Was he .... Dead? No no no Jade. You have to do something. Now.

I quickly tried calling Jake. But of course I couldn't. Who could I call? The cops? No.. what would I say and would they believe me? Jessy or Thomas or Cleo or Dan or Lilly? I quickly search the contact and placed the call. 1 ring... come on pick up. Second ring... pick up pick up. Third ring....please please pick up. I suddenly heard a voice, "Hello? Jade? Is that you?" "Oh thank God you picked up. Lilly... Richy is ... he is... Oh God it was horrible." "What happened to Richy?" panic crept in her voice. Deep breaths Jade. Ok I need to tell her. "Lilly, Richy was in the forest and he heard some screams. He called me while he went to investigate and I saw him fall down. I think... he got attacked... Lilly... I..." I cried, tears streamed down my face. It was getting hard to breathe. "Richy got what? In the forest? Where? Who did it?" Lilly seemed To get in the mood of an interrogation. "Lilly listen to me. You have to help Richy. Please." I said putting as much calmness in my voice as possible. It wasn't a time to panic. Richy needed our help right now. "OK Jade but can you tell me where he is exactly?" Lilly asked. "Probably near the cabin where everyone was headed to.. Please hurry." I urged. "OK ill call the others and we'll get to him. I'll call you back." Lilly hung up. I quickly texted Jake.

To Jake:

Me: Jake, Richy got attacked. Get back to me soon.

I paced around my apartment, not knowing what to do next. Things were getting out of hand. First the attack on Jessy and now Richy? I had to do something. I stared at my phone willing it to ring. I wish either Jake or Lilly would get back to me soon. If Jake did I could ask him to pin point Richy's location. That would help Lilly and the others. But the thought of my friends going alone in the forest where Richy's attacker was sent chills down my spine. We were in over our heads. How would Richy be. Sweet Richy. He just wanted to help and keep everyone safe. The image of him on the forest ground bleeding.... No no Jade. Don't think about it. Richy will be fine. He has to be. The buzzing of my phone jolted me from my train of thought. I quickly picked it up. 1 new message from Lilly.

Lilly: Jade we are heading to the forest to get Richy. We tried calling he isn't picking up.

Me: Did you try calling his friend who owns the cabin?

Lilly: Richy did not give us that number. Jessy is trying to find that out. Jade do you know where he could be based on what you saw?

Jade: No... I don't know. It just looked like a lot of trees. I mean I did not see a landmark. I'm sorry 😞

Lilly: Ok... ummm I'll text you later then.

Jade: Lilly please be careful.

Lilly did not respond. I think she must have gotten busy. I stared at the clock. It would get dark soon. My friends would be in the forest at dusk. It was dangerous. But then Richy was God knows where. I just couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to any of them. I couldn't just sit here and wait. I grabbed a bag and carefully packed. I'm sorry Jake I know I promised but I have to go to Duskwood.

En route to Duskwood, next morning 0900 hrs. I looked at the map that I had sprawled out on the car's dashboard. The physical map... an actual paper map. I did not want to tip off Jake by using Maps on my phone. I know it was wrong to hide this from him but I knew he would talk me out of it. I relayed my doings from the last evening..

The thought of going Duskwood was already in my head when I had seen Richy fall to the ground. Some part of me however was expecting Richy to be fine. Maybe it was like the attack on Jessy. Maybe the attacker just wanted to injure him. I was half expecting a cryptic text from Richy asking for help, saying the attacker was long gone, that he had tried to get hold of the attacker but he was too fast for him. But the thoughts crumpled when Lilly said she couldn't reach him. Maybe he had lost consciousness. The maybes in my mind was literally causing it to explode. I felt extremely foolish for letting the others go to find him all by themselves. What were we thinking? We were in too deep. I had finished packing my bag and had quickly walked to my friend, George's house. He lived a few blocks down the street. I knocked on his door. He opened the door and was surprised to see me. Of course, normally when I had to meet him I would text him beforehand. Being an impatient person, I never liked waiting until someone opened the door after I knocked so I used to text him to open the door in 4 minutes as that's the time I would need to reach his doorstep. "Jade, what are you doing here?" he quizzed. "I need your help George. My friend is unwell and I need to go there." I said. Well it wasn't a total lie. "Oh im so sorry Jade. Yes how can I help? What happened?" he said with a strong concerned look. My heart ached. I just wanted to spill and tell him everything. George trusted me completely and here I was probably going to break it. "Umm I was thinking of driving to my friend's town but my car isn't starting, so I thought of renting a car but I cant find my ID. Could you help me rent one out please?" I said trying to be as convincing as possible. George stared at me for a few seconds, it could have been the distraught look on my face that made him say, "Ok Jade, calm down please. You can take my car. Here" he said grabbing the keys from his console table. "No George that's really nice of you but you may need your car. I don't know how long I will be and I cant cause you any inconvenience." I said quickly. 

I saw the wheels turning in his head. Logically I did make sense. I was expecting more questions or suggestion namely taking the bus or train or maybe even a cab but that didn't happen. He sighed, "Ok Jade, I guess there is no way I can convince you to take a public transit. So lets go." He said. I followed him to the car carefully avoiding eye contact, hoping he didn't notice my lie. We sat in his car and started driving to the rental car service. "So what happened to your friend?" he quizzed. I looked straight ahead and said, "She was in an accident." I said. It was close enough. "Where is she?" he asked again. "Springdale." I said mentioning a far away town on the opposite side of Duskwood. 

I was getting more and more nervous about the interrogation he was putting me through but then he asked, "Jade are you sure you want to drive there? I mean you are in a shock. Wouldn't it be safer to take a train?" Tears welled up in my eyes. I was lying to my friend. And even in those lies he was worried about me. Who is heartless enough to betray such a friend's trust? Me I guess. "I have to pick up her mother on the way. She is too old to travel by herself and besides I don't think I could get a ticket without an ID." I said hoping to end the conversation as we were now pulling into the rental car parking lot. "Ok Jade. Ill get the car just stay here alright?" he said. "George could you get me a map as well?" I asked. He gave me a strange look. "Just to be safe I don't want to get lost." I continued before he could ask anything. He nodded and walked towards the car rental kiosk. I heaved a sigh of relief. I couldn't risk taking a public transport. It would leave a trail. I hated betraying George's trust but it had to be done. How far is too far when it comes to someone's life? I guess this far. George returned after a good 10 minutes, handed me the keys and a few papers. He asked me to be careful, drive safely and let him know as soon as I reached to Springdale. I told him I would but to not panic if I didn't because it would probably mean that I was held up somewhere. Whenever you get the chance, he had said.