Chapter 2

Jared felt the breeze brush past his face like a caress, soft but stinging the skin on his cheeks. He took a lungful of cold air, free as a bird. The sound of crunching gravel filled the air as Jared rode his bike down the trail to the middle of the road. The trail was thin and spread out just above the hilly slope ahead. Large trees towered on both sides like green angels, their bark glittering darkly.

Moonlight seeped through the clouds, bathing the road and giving Jared a little light. Silvery shafts of moonlight set the night on fire, illuminating the world in silver and black. 

Jared paused at the brilliance, briefly forgetting that he had to get home to start his Advanced Placement Biology assignment. In truth, he had always loved looking at the skies. It was one of the masterpieces of nature that thrilled his soul. He was even saving up to buy a telescope so he could look at the moon in all of its brilliance. 

"Oh my!" he whispered to himself as reality jumped at him like an animal, baring crooked teeth. He had to get home as fast as he could to avoid turning up like the small child he had seen. He hoped that the police would do something to apprehend whoever was behind the vicious murders springing up all over the place. 

The path winded on as Jared rode, watery moonlight illuminating just enough so that he could see where he was going. Jared wondered why the Sanchez had gotten their home so deep into Riverrun County that it was almost surrounded by towering trees and all manner of creeping things. 

It usually took half an hour from his house to get to Curtis's. It was easy for Curtis to get to Jared's place because his dad owned a car and could just easily drive him before leaving for work at the County Police Station just outside Oliveira Lane. Jared's mother, Hope, owned a little bakery in the heart of town, making magnificent goodies that Jared never got enough of. 

The track almost went on forever, and Jared skidded to a stop. The thought of cakes and croissants made him pedal faster, but his legs were tired already. Naturally, Curtis would walk him up the hill, and they would talk, but now he was all alone. Jared suddenly missed his friend's bubbly voice and personality. It was one of the things that drew them together when Jared had first moved in. 

Jared's legs turned as heavy as lead as he tried to pedal up the hill, but he kept slipping back, returning to the even ground. The scraping sound of the tires against gravel irritated his ears as he rode upwards, only for his tires to slip and slide back to the even ground. His muscles began to wear out as his heart thundered behind his ribcage. The image of the dead child slithered into his mind, sending chills up his spine. 

The wind howled, and the branches on either side of him creaked in the wind, their noises echoing down the trail. The moon had disappeared behind the clouds, leaving Jared in utter darkness. 

He pulled out his phone, trying to call his father, but he couldn't get any signal. He sighed, put the phone in his pocket, and wiped the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. The skies cleared again, and the moon cast its light on the trail, alleviating some of the fear that wrapped around Jared like a shroud. 

"I have nothing to fear," he whispered over and over to himself like a mantra, hoping for the best. He removed his glasses and cleaned the grime on them before straightening them on his face. 

Jared's eyesight had really deteriorated, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Corrective lenses hadn't worked, and there was barely enough money to feed the family and pay his tuition. He just had to manage them until he was old enough to get laser surgery out of town. 

Jared's alarm chimed, breaking the eerie silence of the night. The phone beeped over and over again, and Jared could hear it echo through the trees. It sounded out of place; the sound was distorted as it went through the trees. 

It was already half-past eleven.

Dread and trepidation writhed inside of Jared's stomach as he stopped the noise. Taking the trail would lead to other nerve-racking minutes of trying to get to the top of the hill with his bicycle. His dinner would probably be sitting cold in the refrigerator, waiting for him. He salivated at the thought of food, and his stomach growled loudly. He hoped it was one of his mother's special bread loaves that had a nutty flavor to it. 

There was only one thing left to do.

He made up his mind to take the shortest route possible, without having to strain his muscles trying to get to the top of the slope. It was the only choice he had in order to get home before midnight and get some food to appease his growing stomach sounds.

Jared laughed at the thought of his warm, comfortable bed, the soft bread from the microwave, and the chicken soup in the pot that called out to him. All he wanted after a long day of staring at the TV was a good night's rest. But not before he finished his Advanced Placement Biology assignment. 

The shortest possible route was the secret route that he and his best friend had found after the death of Mrs. Sanchez, Curtis's mother. Curtis was trying to get away from the pain, and he would run in the direction of the trees and lose himself until he found a path that led straight to Jared's residence. It was the only path that didn't threaten to tear his muscles and tire him down. 

Jared switched on the bike's lights, and the incandescent light illuminated the grove of oak trees beside him. The rotting dead leaves were scattered on the floor, forming a large carpet. 

A squirrel skittered along a massive wooden trunk before disappearing into a hole in the tree. It was probably retiring for the night, and Jared just needed some sleep. All he wished for at the moment was to sink into his comfy quilt and slip into good dreams. 

Jared closed his eyes and imagined the path in his head. He had walked together through it more than a dozen times now with Curtis, and it was second nature to him. The path started on the left, through the large oak trees that towered above him. It took a shortcut through the town's burial grounds and straight to Jared's house. 

The burial grounds didn't scare Jared in the least as he believed ghosts were a figment of one's imagination. And now, he knew that no ghost could haunt him. Only the living could. 

The air had turned cold and thick, making Jared wish he had grabbed a cardigan from Curtis's house. His teeth chattered with cold, and he clenched them together with as much force as he could muster. His glasses wanted to slip from his nose bridge, and he adjusted them, straightening them over his face as best as possible. 

He didn't want to lose the help of his glasses as he planned his next move. But that didn't matter anymore since he would reach his house soon. At least, he hoped. The police were probably swarming the whole place, so he was safe at least. 

Muttering a silent prayer, he plunged into the woods, pulling his bike behind him across the carpet of rotting leaves.