Lands of In Between |Book 1|

Chapter 4

His lips turned down, and a crease appeared on the bridge of his nose. "What did you see today?"

Then, after taking a deep breath, she blurted out, "I saw a ghost today."

"And ten years ago?"

"I watched the same person get murdered ten years ago."

He waited expectantly for her to go on.

Trembling and stomach twisting, EIlie felt like she'd already stripped herself bare. Her mouth opened, but she honestly had nothing else to say. She stared at her drink, debating whether or not to continue. The words were right there, waiting to tumble out, but years later, Ellie still could not describe the feeling of watching two people die in pools of their own cold blood.

Memories hit her like flashes of lightning.

Blood had gushed from Molly's nose. Naked, she tried to crawl away until a knife sliced across her throat, and her movements became slow and jerky—and then they stilled. Dead on the ground, anyone who wanted to get to the car had to step over her body. The terror and pleading from Nick, as he watched on while Molly was killed, ceased instantly when the knife was used again on his throat. Elle could still see his arms and torso tied up against that tree, guts and blood covering parts of the trunk where his head had almost been decapitated. 

Frozen in time, both their eyes were still glassy and wide with fear when she and Ash scrambled away like cowards, shaking with the shock and horror of it all. 

A sharp slice of pain tore through her chest. She could not say any of that out loud; she never had, and she never would. "There was another victim with her, but I didn't see him today—just her—and I have no idea why," was all she added.

"What did she look like?" He seemed to be interrogating her.

"Like a normal high schooler except pale and ethereal. Honestly, Molly looked exactly as she did the last time I saw her—same brown hair, the same braid, same type of sweater."

His eyes studied her cautiously as if he didn't fully believe her words. Ellie herself couldn't fully believe the words either. Too much had happened in Redfield—

"You're scared of the woods, aren't you?" he asked.

Ellie stared at him, surprised at his question, and then looked toward the ceiling. Acknowledging her fear of the woods seemed minimal compared to anything else he could have asked, so Ellie answered truthfully. "Yes, ever since that night. It's like something dark inside calls to me," she said.

"Calls to you, how?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I can't explain it. It's like a tight tug around my chest, luring my body forward."

Curiosity seeped into his eyes. His pupils seemed even bigger, crowding out the stark blue of his irises. "Was this ghost near the Dreamcatcher route?"

"How did you know that?" she breathed.

He pointed to the book again. "The Land of the Dead has many names, and there are entrances rumored to be all over the world—most of them in forests or mountains. It's said to be a place where the dead continue to watch the world of the living and from which they sometimes return."

"Are you saying I was by an entrance earlier? That's... I don't believe it."

"Why?" he pressed.

"Science says otherwise."

A pause. "Perhaps."

Ellie stared at him a moment, trying to decipher his meaning. Despite mentioning that some myths were rooted in truth, she didn't think any of that was even possible. And yet... after today, her mind was more open. If anything, it made for good stories.