The Ghosts of the Woods

Chapter 8

"Come on, we have to get out of here", Johnny says and starts walking towards the river in front of us. 

"No, wait, don't move", it comes out of my mouth, more as a scream than a warning.

"What's wrong Kathy?" Lucy looks at me shocked. 

I had never really raised my voice like that in front of my friends. "I'm sorry", I say, looking down at the floor embarrassed. "But this isn't the outside. This is still in the house. We are seeing what we would like to see. Your mind and eyes are playing tricks on us", I finish.

I look at Lucy, who is trying to work out what I just said in her head, and then at Johnny, who is looking at me, like he is about to say something really smart.

But he is interrupted by the ghost of Santa standing in front of us again. "Well done little girl. You are smarter than I thought you would be", he smiles sheepishly, and his horrible teeth are visible again.

'I am not a little girl', I think, but don't dare to say it out loud. Who knows what dead Santa would do? 

'Don't take him too seriously', Alea's voice rings through my head.

But before I have the chance to ask her why the hell, I shouldn't take him too seriously, because he is definitely creepy and the fact that he is a ghost and dead doesn't make it any better, the ghost interrupts my thoughts.

"It is time for you to reach your final test. No man or woman", he adds, pointing to me and Lucy in order not to be anti-feministic, "As I was saying, no man or woman has ever made it out of there alive though. So, I really wouldn't get your hopes up. And if you would rather leave, then there's the door." He points towards a door in the middle of the field. It's just a plain door, attached to nothing, standing in the field. Reminds me a bit of a fantasy movie or something like that.

"Let's get out of here", Lucy says without thinking. And before Johnny or I can stop her, she runs towards the door. In front of it she pauses quickly, without turning around. She knows exactly that no of us have followed her. It's like me and Johnny are stuck to the ground and can't move. Like statues, we just watch Lucy standing directly in front of the door.

She places her hand carefully onto the doorknob, relieved, when she realises that it is really and not just her imagination. Her grip on the doorknob tightens. Nothing is going to stop her from opening that door.

Suddenly I snap out of whatever I was thinking about and my feet are able to move again. I see the ghost's grin widen, as he sees Lucy place her hand on the doorknob. "No, stop Lucy. Don't do it. It's a trick", I scream, but I am too late. She has twisted the doorknob and the door swings open. All I can see is black on the other side. I try to run towards Lucy, but suddenly she vanishes into thin air and somebody blocks my way, taking me into a hug.

I start screaming her name over and over again, but she doesn't reply, because she is no longer there. 

"Hey, hey, Kathy. Calm down. I am sorry, but she is gone and there is nothing we can do about it now", Johnny whispers into my ear.

Tears are running down my cheeks and I just nuzzle into Johnny's chest that is now damp because of my tears. I am just happy that he is here at least. He is holding me really tightly, and caringly, like he is trying to protect me and wants nothing to happen to me.

I slowly calm down and he whips the last tears of my face. Then I turn to the ghost, who is still grinning.

"What have you done to her? Where is she?" I demand. I am angry and would love to kill this ghost on the spot, the only problem is, he is already dead. Johnny is still holding me, clearly feeling how tense I am and making sure that I don't decide to do something stupid.

"Now now, is that any way to talk to me?" he asks, still grinning. "She was not strong enough for the test anyway. I knew from the start. Don't worry though. For now, she is safe. And if you succeed in your last test, then she will be back with you unharmed. If you should fail though, which by the way is rather likely, then not only will you rot in this place and eventually die, but she will be killed by one of my finest ghosts. I would do it myself, but I'd rather not get my hands dirty", he explains, is grin not fading at all.

"You asshole", I scream at him.

"Now, let's not go there. Do you want to get out of here or not?" the ghost asks us.

"Yes, we'd like to know what the final test is", Johnny answers, before I can shout any more abuse at the dead ghost in front of us, who on the contrary seems to be enjoying it more than being offended by it.

"Right, here's your last test", the ghost says, and the room goes dark.

What do you think the last test will be? Let me know ;) 

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, let me know in the comments below what you thought of it!