Haunted | Daryl Dixon

2. Treehouse

The air was sticky with humidity as Evelyn shuffled through the woods, exploring more of the uncharted territory.

It had been three days since she and her father had moved into the new house, and he currently had three of his friends over.

Evelyn was quick to dip out the back door when they arrived. They were always making weird comments she didn't understand and laughed too loudly. So she much preferred the great unknown of the woods to being stuck in the same house as them.

She had realized from a young age that if she was uncomfortable with anything or anyone, it was probably for a reason. Even if she didn't exactly know what that reason was. Which was why steering clear of her fathers friends seemed to be the most appeasing option.

The girl hopped from one foot to another as she trekked through the woods, trying to see how long she could balance in doing so without toppling over.

"What're ya doin'?" A voice startled her into losing concentration, making her fall down onto the dead leaf-ridden ground with a small 'oomph'.

Evelyn's head whipped up to glare at Daryl, who stood a couple yards away, looking sheepish for making her fall.

"Are you followin' me or somethin', Darlina?" She snapped back instead, slightly embarrassed that he had seen her fall.

He scoffed, all traces of ashamement disappearing from his face and being replaced by the hard look Evelyn had noticed him wear whenever he was feeling the need to be guarded.

"I ain't followin' ya." He cut a glare at her, "It ain't as if you own these woods, ya can't just blame me for followin' ya if I was just takin' a walk like you, princess!" He threw the last part in her face like she just had by calling him 'Darlina'.

The girl rolled her eyes at this, quickly hopping up and brushing dirt from her pants, "What even is there to do here?" She asked suddenly, the change in topic making Daryl's eyebrows fly up for a brief second, "All I see is trees and dirt! There ain't no playground in this neighborhood, so what's there to do?"

Daryl was silent for a moment, studying her, "I have a treehouse not too far from here." He informed her after a moment, the reason for him telling her evidently unknown to both of them.

She lit up nonetheless, the corners of her lips lifting up slightly at his words, "Really?" She asked with poorly contained excitement, "Can I see it?"

True, she had acted in no way towards this boy that would possibly suggest that he would be even remotely interested in showing her, but he nodded after a moment anyway, "Sure." Was all he said before turning around and walking in the direction of which he came, as if her sudden change in attitude hadn't almost given him whiplash.

He didn't turn to look at her until she was able to scramble over, falling into step beside him as the two of them walked through the woods, the sounds of nature being the only thing to accompany them other than each other.

It didn't take long to reach their destination, roughly four or so minutes, but when they did, Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks, staring up at the treehouse in awe.

Sure, there was probably nothing even remotely spectacular about the thing, but it was the first treehouse that Evelyn had ever seen. It was just some planks of wood put together to make a box and some extra wood nailed to the tree trunk as a makeshift ladder.

It was still in the woods, though closer to the houses then the two kids previously had been.

"My dad built it for my big brother, Merle, when he was little." Daryl said offhandedly, not even realizing what he was saying until the words slipped out, "He said he couldn't remember if it was the soberest, or drunkest day of my dads life."