Page 64 of The Woods

Tom: Besides that torn-up pile of clothes with the bloodstains, there was no sign of him. Longest search of my life. Whole time I felt something in there with me. Watching. When I finished my search, I turned to get out of there, and blocking the entrance was this thin figure. It just appeared out of nowhere. Like, materialized. Real tall, well over six feet, and it looked like it was wearing a black robe. It startled me so bad that I dropped the flashlight. It bounced away, shining in a different direction, and that’s when I saw another one. Not as tall. I could see long hair coming out from under the hood. It p-pointed a finger at me. That’s when I drew my gun. Before I could give a warning or fire a shot, I heard a hissing sound. The last thing I remember was feeling cold. Ice-cold. I must have passed out, because the next thing I remember, my fellow officers were standing over me. My flashlight was smashed to pieces, and my gun was back in its holster. Like I’d never drawn it all. But I did. I did draw my weapon when I saw that thing.

Cleo: Wow, Tom. You must have been terrified. Did any of the other officers see these figures?

Tom: No. I was the only one. It would have been better for me if someone else had seen them.

Cleo: And the symbols in the cave and the bones? What did police make of that evidence? Was there ever any connection made to Justine Gordon?

Tom: Not that I’m aware of, but that’s above my pay grade. I do know that forensics confirmed that the bloody clothes belonged to the missing boy. Found traces of animal blood on them too. [long sigh] I can tell you that the brass wasn’t interested in my report and didn’t follow up with me. I get it. They aren’t gonna waste manpower on the cave, because they got their perpetrator. Case closed. Justine Gordon confessed to the killings that night, though later, she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Now she’s locked up in the loony bin.

Cleo: And how did that make you feel, Tom? To have such a frightening experience and then be disbelieved by your colleagues?

Tom: [huffs loudly] Leave it to the experts, I say. Get to the bottom of it once and for all. I have no idea what that place was, but the bit about not being believed by the other guys? That didn’t feel too good. I transferred out of that detachment six months after. I just couldn’t take the constant ridicule.

Cleo: I’m sorry that happened to you, Tom.

Tom: Yeah, but I know what I saw. No one’s gonna convince me otherwise. There’s something in those woods. I’m not trying to justify Justine Gordon killing her family or anything, but something else is going on. Something evil. Maybe she’s not as crazy as everyone says she is. Maybe she knows something. Maybe she was just fucking afraid.

Alice pulls into the driveway just as the podcast comes to an end. Turning off her car, she sits and waits for her hands to stop trembling. Her brain is stuck on the part about the symbols in the cave. They sound like the ones carved into Polly’s floor. Did Justine Gordon carve those symbols on the bedroom floor and in that cave in the woods? she wonders. Or did it start before Justine Gordon? What did Libby say about the woman who lived here before the Gordons? Abandoned by her family, she started sacrificing animals, then disappeared? The questions are a swarm of angry flies buzzing in her head.

A banging on her car window startles her so badly she screams. It’s Geoff, standing there with a smile on his face, the one he seems to wear all the time now. Her mother is beside him.

Alice rolls down the window. “You two scared me,” she says. “What’s up?”

“Sorry, dear,” her mother answers. “We were just returning from a walk in the woods and saw you sitting here.”

“A walk in the woods together?” They nod in unison. “But why?”

“Why not?” her mother replies.

“Is everything okay?” Geoff asks, the smile turning to sincere concern. “You seem tense.”

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2023

Polly

“Hey, Pollypoo. Are you okay?” Sierra asks. “You’re as white as a sheet and you haven’t moved from that spot in, like, hours.”

Polly gives her head a shake and pushes off the counter, grabbing a dishcloth to wipe it down. “Sorry. My stomach’s upset and I haven’t been sleeping very well. I keep having bad dreams.” She doesn’t share with Sierra that she thinks the magic mushrooms she did nearly two weeks ago may have poisoned her. She’s felt nauseous ever since.

“Not surprised you have bad dreams and don’t sleep well.” Sierra picks at her nose ring. “You live in the murder house. Very bad vibes.” She snaps her fingers. “Speaking of, what would you say about a séance at your place on Halloween?” Sierra squeals like she’s proposing a shopping spree or spa visit.

“Umm, I don’t know. I have no idea what you’d even do at one of those.”

“I’ll take care of everything. You’d just have to let us in and be part of the circle.”

Polly wishes a customer would come to the counter to interrupt the conversation but it’s their slow time of the day. “I don’t know. Isn’t it bad to play around with that stuff?”

Sierra puts a hand to her chest dramatically. “Polly! Spirits want to be seen and heard. They want to tell their story. We would be helping those lost souls trapped in your house. We can free them.” Polly’s not sure, but she thinks she sees the shine of tears in Sierra’s eyes. “Plus, I’m going to document it all and use it for my application, so you’d be majorly helping me out.”

Polly shrugs. “Yeah, sure. I guess so.”

“Amazing! Now, we’re gonna need four people. We’ve got three with me, you, and Ethan. Can you find a fourth?”

“I can see if my boyfriend can come,” she offers.

“Boyfriend?” Sierra shrieks. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. I can’t wait to meet him.” A customer comes through the door, and she moves toward the cash register still talking. “I’m surprised he never shows up here asking for free coffee or anything.”

Polly moves things around in the bakery case to make it look fuller. “He’s kind of shy.”