Forgotten Photography ✔

Told You So

Evergreen made it home safely, and surprisingly the dreadful feeling that she had the past few days was gone. It was almost like it never existed to begin with, except for one emotion.

Paranoia. The feeling was so strong in the back of her mind that she couldn't rest for the night. When she met up with her mother, she came up with a story as to why she was gone for so long and what was wrong with her eye. The story was something along the lines of falling down the stairs and staying overnight in the hospital.

Evergreen couldn't sleep knowing that at any moment, someone would find her again. She was warned not to run, but she couldn't just leave everyone wondering what happened to her. Nor could she just leave all of her life lay stagnant.

Things needed to be done, and even while being in that house would have gotten her important clues, she needed to make sure everyone at home was safe before she could disappear like how they were planning.

Finally, she gave up on sleeping and opted out to walking to the gas station. The danger never changed no matter where she went, and she knew that when the time came for them to find her, there would be no stopping it.

The clock was ticking. Evergreen knew it.

When she turned the corner, she felt a tingling sensation crawl up her spine. Someone was following her. Evergreen decided to take a couple right turns to test her theory. She was correct, the figure was moving fast, and she couldn't afford to slow down any.

She made it to the gas station, but the feeling that she was followed did not leave her. She looked around and noticed the shady woman leaning against the slushie machine.

The woman was watching her every movement, Evergreen knew as she grabbed the nearest jerky stick and hurried out of sight to the coolers for some sweet iced tea. The feeling was stronger then ever, and she felt like throwing up.

When she approached the counter, the shady woman's desposition changed into a smile, making Evergreen realize the woman was the cashier. How could she be so stupid?

The paranoia was making her insane, she felt ridiculous. When she payed for her items, she left the tiny convenience store and started heading home. The man was gone, making her think that maybe he wasn't actually following her.

Evergreen went straight home, feeling like an idiot for being so scared for no reason. As soon as she got home she went upstairs and started munching on her snack, booting up her trusty computer.

She loaded up the gallery and remembered the images, pulling them up. Something about them was off. No longer was the weird corruption present, and to make matters stranger, neither was the woman.

"That's strange..." Evergreen thought outloud as she looked at the images. She could've sworn something was there. There had to of been, because there was no way she could of just made all of this up. Was there?

Maybe she had just dreamt it all up, maybe she was mentally ill. The man could've just been some dusty dirty homeless guy, maybe she had just walked out that way and suffered heat exhaustion that made her sick.

Perhaps she just created this whole adventure in her wild imagination from the lack of excitement in her tiny town. Of course, what else could it of been? Nothing that extreme would ever happen here. It was a simple disappearance case, not some crazy thriller.

Evergreen sighed as she layed down in her bed, finally dozing off. She regret doing so immediately however, being thrust into nightmares so terrible even the most insane individual wouldn't be able to handle it.

There was a bride and groom standing at an alter, the bride was beautiful, beaming. Perfect. But when Evergreen saw the groom, she was frozen in terror. Some sort of mutated monstrosity, not anywhere capable of being called a man. He looked like some sort of alien, a freak of nature. So unbelievable, Evergreen couldn't even comprehend his face. She never saw one. Certain that there was one and that she didn't want to bear witness to it, she refused to look.

Then she focused on the wedding guests. People she didn't recognize sat in the seats, and creatures equally as frightening as the lanky groom.

She didn't know any of them, except for two. The cashier at the gas station was amongst the crowd, but instead of looking cranky and tired, she sported a beautiful dress and sultry makeup.

The man sitting next to her caught her attention. It was the hooded man. But instead of the dingy clothes, he still sported a hoodie, but it was clean and looked ironed. He wore black, clean pants, and dark brown shined boots. Hardly recognizable. His face was still covered, as was the cashiers. Both of their masks looked clean and taken care of.

Evergreen was worried where this dream would take her, looking around the dreamscape. She focused on the bride, getting a closer work, and saw the long beautiful locks of brown draping from the elegant updo.

It was Maddison. She was gowned in a beautiful wedding dress, it was long and flowy, the wind picking up the lighter layers. It allowed for the best photographic moment, making Evergreen wish she could catch this moment on camera.

The beautiful scene changed however, when the groom slowly turned his head, facing Evergreen. She suddenly felt sick, and the scene warped into a series of events that caused our young photographer such mental anguish, it was starting to drive her insane.

She had nightmares of family deaths. Her mother falling down the stairs, landing in a mangled mess. Evergreen tried desparately to save her, but failed.

Tom was shot multiple times by an unknown assailant in the line of duty, once more was she unable to save her loved one.

Edgar was horribly dismembered, Evergreen in tears as she tried desparately to piece him back together.

Hades turned feral and was mauled by a bear, torn chunks of what was once her dog was spit in front of her. She wished the nightmare would just end, her sanity drained to its last little bit.

Suddenly, she awoke with a start. Somebody was in her room with her, this time, a woman.

"You're lucky, usually he does much worse. You're coming with me." It was the cashier from the gas station, and before Evergreen could protest, the woman picked her up, hoisting her over her shoulder, and taking her to god knows where.

Evergreen could care less about being taken, her mental stability was so shaken, nothing else mattered except rest.