Records of the Forest (Completed)

Decisions Made Are Chances Lost

3:48am

Rowan stared helplessly at the clock. Haider had agreed to her plan. He went off to find Jack and someone to open the gate in backyard. All five of them were going to meet at four. They would go into the woods and then Jack would lead them to friendly territory of nothing was found.

3:49am

She had eleven minutes to decide.

There was a very, very real chance she wouldn't be coming back. Already she had a bruising mark around her neck, dreadfully painful glass cuts on her knees, and a deepening feeling of dread. It could only get worse. She or someone she loved could die.

3:50am

Anne. They had made such easy friends, which was unusual. She had always had a difficult time talking to people, much less becoming friends. It's almost like it was meant to be. Like fate. Rowan felt discomfort stir in her mind. Was this some sort of magic? Where her and Anne just pushed together, forced to become friends? Was their friendship not real? Were her feelings towards Anne... Not real?

3:51am

Was this whole move put into motion by someone? If so, was it the shadows? Haider's friends? This whole town was one giant mystery and it was no coincidence that she was put here. Haider and Jack talked as if she had been chosen for something. The key. That had to be it. But if so, where was it? And how did it fit into this whole puzzle? How did she?

3:52am

Rowan sat up, quietly moving around the room. She put on warm yet comfortable clothes. Clothes she could run in. Quickly she went downstairs. She could hear her dad's snores through the walls. Her mom's sleep-talking. And all of a sudden Rowan was hit with the sudden urge to cry. What would they do if they knew? What would they do, they think, if she didn't come back?

3:53am

Her parents had always done what they thought was the best for her. Loose weight to feel better, go to choir competitions to get better. And she had tried to do the same, but this...? This would do nothing but hurt them no matter the outcome. Rowan's hand hovered over the knob of the back door. She didn't have to do this. It was the right thing but there was no inclination, no reason, for her to risk her own life for the sake of something  she didn't understand.

3:54am

But she wanted to.

She couldn't explain it. But she knew, deep down, this wasn't something she felt like she had to do. It was something she wanted. She wanted to help. Maybe this is what Jack meant. She was a child, rushing headlong into danger not for some moral reasons, simply because she wanted to.

3:55am

She had five minutes to decide whether or not she was ready to die.

With tears in her eyes, she quickly wrote a note, taping it to the door where her parents were sure to see it.

3:56am

Making sure not to make any noise, Rowan grabbed a hunting knife from her father's stash, attaching the holster to her belt. Just in case.

3:57am

She quietly grabbed her small backpack, filling it with food and supplies. Anything she might need.

3:58am

Two minutes. Anything else? This could be her last chance. She could loose everything with one choice.

3:59am

In a last minute decision, she grabbed one last post-it note and wrote exactly four words.

"I love you- Rowan."

She put it on top of the first note as she ran out into the cold, dark morning. Would that note be enough?

4:00am

It had to be. It needed to be.