Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
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The forest stretched out beyond her bedroom window as Lenore stared at the map on her phone. After securing Lenore's promise to drop off the permission slip, Fiona texted her a pin of Victor's address. It was just like he had said that first day in the cemetery—his house was really just on the other side of the forest. If you took a pencil to the map, you could draw a straight line from her home to his. It would be an easy walk.
But the path wasn't the issue.
Since she had gotten home, Lenore had been sitting in this same spot, on the built-in bench beneath the window. She had been just staring at the map and fidgeted with the edge of her sweater while the debate on what to do raged in her mind. She had told Fiona she would take him the form, but she could back out, and make up some last-minute excuse as to why she suddenly couldn't. Was it really so essential to make sure he got the form today? Probably not.
But, again, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was Victor.
The feelings she had discovered earlier today had yet to be processed. During class, she had done her best to shove it down and pretend nothing was wrong. Even now, she was fighting it off, pushing it to the edges of her mind. If she laid eyes on him like this, now, knowing what she knew, she didn't know what she was going to do.
But she would have to see him eventually... They had class together and a presentation. He was her locker neighbour. She couldn't put it off forever. There was no avoiding him.
Not that she wanted to...
Maybe, then, it would be better to get it out of the way.
She folded up the sheet of paper and stuffed it into her pocket before getting up from the window side bench and grabbing her jacket.
Outside, it had gotten much colder than when she had come home. The light of the day was quickly dying, and as the sun sank away, it took its warmth with it. Another reason not to dawdle. She pulled her coat closer. Thankfully the wind had calmed, with only a gentle breeze stirring the air.
Setting out down the path, Lenore found it was even darker inside the trees. She was glad she had thought to bring a small flashlight, though she kept it in her pocket for now.
The familiar path quickly led her to the edge of the graveyard. In the last days of autumn, with the trees stripped bare and the grass a pale brown, the place looked more like something from a movie, an abandoned haunting ground for something sinister. Lenore hurried through and kept her eyes down, watching her feet, so she didn't trip over some of the older, sunken headstones. She had to remind herself that even if this place were haunted, it would be by her own family, and she doubted they'd mean her any harm—
Creeeeeak.
The long, shrill sound echoed through the quiet of the forest, bringing Lenore to a stop. She glanced around, but she was alone as far as she could tell, though the darkness was closing in fast and made it hard to see much.
