I never wanted to move to Pinewood. The whole relocation was my mom's idea after dad left us last spring. She said we needed a fresh start away from the memories and the pitying glances from neighbors who had watched our family fall apart.
I was 16, halfway through high school with friends I'd known since kindergarten. But none of that mattered to her. She found a job as a nurse at the small medical center in Pinewood.
And just like that, we were packing our lives into cardboard boxes. Pinewood wasn't even a proper town, more like a collection of houses nestled against the edge of a vast forest that seemed to swallow everything around it. The trees were tall pines that blocked most of the sunlight, casting the entire area in a permanent twilight, even during midday.
Our new house sat at the very edge of town, the backyard ending where the forest began. You'll grow to love it," Mom said when we arrived. Her forced cheerfulness grading on my nerves.
"The air is clean, it's quiet, and Dr Patel at the medical center says the people here are great once you get to know them. " I didn't bother responding. I was too busy noticing how everyone we passed on the way into town had stared at our car with blank faces.
No friendly waves, no curious looks, just empty stairs that followed us until we turned the corner. School was worse. Pinewood High had exactly 117 students, and I was student number 118.
The building was old with faded posters on the walls and lockers that looked like they hadn't been replaced since the 1970s. No one bullied me, which would have been better than what actually happened. They simply acted like I didn't exist.
They spoke around me, their eyes sliding past me as if I were made of glass until Mia Roberts decided to talk to me during lunch on my third day. "You're living in the Franklin house," she said, sitting down across from me. Her hair was cut short, dyed a dark blue at the tips, and she wore a worn jean jacket covered in patches.
"I guess," I replied. "I don't know who lived there before us. " The Franklin's," she said, as if that explained everything.
"They left about 6 months ago. Nobody's wanted to live in that house since. " I put down my sandwich.
"Why? Is it haunted or something? " Mia laughed, but there was no humor in it.
"No, not haunted. Just too close. " "Too close to what?
" She leaned forward, lowering her voice. To the woods. To it.
Before I could ask what it was, a tall boy appeared behind Mia, placing a hand on her shoulder. "New kids don't need to know Mia," he said firmly. Mia shrugged.
"Alex should know the rules. That house is right on the edge. " "The boy, I later learned his name was Noah, studied me for a moment.
" "Fine, my place after school. But if your mom asks, we were working on a history project. " That's how I found myself sitting in Noah's basement that afternoon, surrounded by five other kids from school who had suddenly decided I existed.
The basement walls were covered with maps of the town and the surrounding forest with red pins stuck in various locations. Pinewood has been here for almost 200 years. Noah began pointing to the oldest map.
It started as a logging camp, but the loggers kept disappearing. They blamed wild animals at first, but too many people went missing. They were about to abandon the settlement when someone figured out the rules.
"What rules? " I asked. "The rules that keep us safe from what lives in the forest," a girl named Lily said.
She was small with thick glasses and spoke with absolute seriousness. "As long as we follow them, we can live here safely. break them and well, you don't break them.
Noah pointed to one of the pins on a newer map. The Franklin family's youngest son broke a rule last year. That's why they left.
My throat felt dry. What happened to him? The room went quiet for a moment before Mia spoke.
Nobody knows for sure. He went into the woods at sunset. That's rule number one.
Never enter the forest between sunset and sunrise. No, Noah corrected. Rule number one is never look directly at it if you see it.
Wait, I said what exactly is it? Lily pushed her glasses up her nose. Nobody really knows.
Some people call it the keeper. Others call it the forest walker. Nobody who's gotten a good look at it has ever been able to tell the story afterward.
But it's there, Noah said. been there longer than the town. My grandfather saw it once when he was a kid.
Said it moved through the trees like water through rocks. Mia handed me a small notebook. We wrote the rules down for you.
Keep this with you all the time, especially since you live so close to the forest. I opened the notebook and read the list. One, never look directly at it if you see it.
Two, never enter the forest between sunset and sunrise. Three, if you hear your name called from the woods, do not answer. Four, if you find stacked stones anywhere, do not disturb them.
Five, never take anything from the forest back to your home. Six, if you see it, get indoors immediately and stay there until morning. This is a joke, right?
I asked, looking up at their solemn faces. You're just messing with the new kid. I wish we were, Noah said quietly.
But everyone in Pinewood knows the rules, even if they pretend they don't. Even if they never talk about it. My dad's on the town council, Lily added.
They have a special budget just for forest management, but it's really money set aside for when people go missing to help with the searches and other expenses. I handed the notebook back, but Mia pushed it toward me. Keep it.
Memorize them. Your house is too close to simply ignore the rules. I took the notebook home, still convinced they were playing an elaborate prank.
Mom was working the night shift at the medical center, so I had the house to myself. I tried to focus on unpacking the last of my things, but I kept finding myself staring out my bedroom window at the wall of trees behind our house. The rules seemed silly in the safety of my room.
a creature in the woods. People vanishing. It was probably just a local legend used to keep kids from wandering off and getting lost.
Around 900 p. m. , I decided to prove to myself that the whole thing was nonsense.
I grabbed a flashlight, put on my jacket, and stepped out into our backyard. The air was cool and still. The forest loomed ahead, a black wall against the darkening sky.
I switched on my flashlight and walked to the edge of our property, stopping at the invisible line where our mowed grass gave way to the wild undergrowth of the forest floor. I shined my light between the trees, seeing nothing but more trees and darkness. See, I said to myself, nothing to be afraid of.
That's when I heard it. My name whispered from somewhere in the dark between the trees. Alex.
The voice was soft, almost gentle. It didn't sound threatening. It sounded like someone I knew was there, just out of sight, waiting for me.
Alex, come here. I felt a pull, an urge to step forward to find whoever was calling me. My foot moved forward on its own, crossing the boundary into the forest.
Then I remembered rule number three. If you hear your name called from the woods, do not answer. I backed away slowly, my heart beating faster with each step.
I kept my flashlight pointed at the ground, too afraid to shine it into the trees again. When I reached our back door, I fumbled with the handle, nearly dropping my flashlight in my rush to get inside. Once inside, I locked the door and leaned against it, breathing hard.
It was just my imagination. had to be. Maybe a bird or the wind through the trees had made a sound that my mind turned into my name.
But deep down, I knew better. I went to bed that night with the notebook on my nightstand, no longer thinking it was a joke. I lay awake for hours, listening to every creek of the house, every rustle outside my window.
When I finally drifted off to sleep, I dreamed of walking into the forest, following the sound of my name deeper and deeper until the trees closed in behind me, and I knew I would never find my way out again. The next morning, I was exhausted, but determined to learn more. At school, I sought out Mia during first period.
"I heard my name last night," I whispered when I sat next to her. from the woods. Her face went pale.
You didn't answer it, did you? I shook my head. No, I remembered the rule, but it knew my name, Mia.
How did it know my name? It knows everyone's name, she said simply. That's why that rule exists.
Has anyone ever answered? What happens if you do? She looked around to make sure no one was listening.
my cousin did 10 years ago. They found her shoes at the edge of the forest the next morning. Nothing else.
During lunch, Noah and his friends invited me to sit with them, and I noticed how the other students gave our table a wide birth as if we were carrying something contagious. People in town don't like to talk about it, Noah explained when I mentioned this. They think if they ignore it and follow the rules quietly, they'll be safe.
They don't like us documenting things. documenting? I asked.
Lily nodded. We've been keeping records, sightings, incidents, patterns. My dad has the official town records going back 50 years, but we know there are more that they don't include in the official count.
How many people have gone missing? I asked. That we know of?
23 in the last 50 years, Noah said. But there are probably more. People who broke the rules and their families just left town afterward like the Franklin's.
"What does it look like? " I asked. "Has anyone ever taken a picture?
" "Cameras don't work," Mia said. "At least not when it's around. Pictures come out blank or too blurry to make out anything.
Some people say it looks like a deer but standing on two legs," Lily added. Others say it's more like a person made of branches and leaves. My grandmother said she saw it once when she was young, and it looked like a tall man wearing a coat made of bark, but its face was just empty.
I shivered despite the warm cafeteria. And the town just lives with this. Why doesn't everyone just leave?
Some do, Noah said. But most people stay because they have nowhere else to go or because the town pays well for certain jobs or because they've convinced themselves that as long as they follow the rules, they're safe. After school, Noah invited me to join them for what they called border patrol.
Walking along the edge of town where it met the forest, looking for signs of the creature's activity. We're not going into the forest, he assured me. Just checking the boundaries.
It's still daylight. So, it's safe. We walked along the tree line, staying a few feet away from the actual forest.
Noah showed me what to look for. Broken branches at unnatural heights, strange scratches on tree trunks, and most importantly, stacked stones. If you find stones stacked like this, he said, pointing to a photo on his phone of three stones balanced perfectly on top of each other.
Don't touch them. It's some kind of marker. We don't know what they mean, but disturbing them is breaking a rule.
We had been walking for about an hour when Lily called us over to a large pine tree at the edge of the forest. Its bark had been peeled away in long strips, revealing the pale wood beneath. "Fresh," she said, touching the sticky sap.
"This wasn't here yesterday. " Noah took out a small notebook and jotted down the location. "That's the third one this month.
It's getting more active. Is that normal? I asked.
It goes through cycles, Mia explained. Sometimes months will go by without any signs. Then suddenly there will be lots of activity for a few weeks.
And people go missing during the active periods, Lily added quietly. The sun was starting to sink lower in the sky, and Noah checked his watch. We should head back.
We don't want to be out here too close to sunset. As we turned to leave, I noticed something on the ground near the damaged tree. A small worn leather bracelet.
Without thinking, I bent down to pick it up. Don't. Noah's voice stopped me, my fingers just inches from the bracelet.
Rule five. Never take anything from the forest back to your home. I straightened up quickly.
But it could belong to someone. Maybe someone who went missing. That's exactly why you don't touch it, Mia said firmly.
It leaves things as bait sometimes. We hurried back toward town as the sky turned orange and pink. The others seemed to walk faster with each passing minute, their eyes repeatedly darting to the setting sun.
When we reached my street, Noah put a hand on my shoulder. Remember, stay inside after dark. Keep your curtains closed.
and whatever you do, don't look if you hear something outside your window. " I nodded, suddenly, not wanting to be alone in our house at the edge of the forest. "My mom works nights.
She won't be home until morning. " The group exchanged glances. "You can stay at my place," Mia offered.
"Tell your mom you're working on a school project. " I gratefully accepted, sending my mom a quick text that I was staying at a friend's house. She responded almost immediately, clearly happy that I'd made friends so quickly.
Mia's house was near the center of town, as far from the forest as you could get in Pinewood. Her parents were friendly, but asked no questions about how we knew each other or what we were working on. I wondered if they, like everyone else in town, preferred not to talk about certain things.
That night, as Mia and I sat in her room, I finally asked the question that had been bothering me since I first heard about the creature. Why does it let people live here at all? If it's so powerful, why doesn't it just, I don't know, get rid of everyone?
Mia was quiet for a long moment. Noah's grandfather had a theory. He thought it was like a farmer tending a crop.
It lets the town exist because it needs us for something. For what? She looked at me, her eyes serious in the dim light of her bedroom.
What do you think it takes when people disappear, Alex? It's not just taking them somewhere. Those people are never found.
A chill ran down my spine as I understood what she was implying. But as long as we follow the rules, we're safe, she added quickly. The rules are a kind of agreement.
as long as we respect them. It only takes those who break them and everyone's okay with that. Just sacrificing whoever makes a mistake.
No, of course not, she said sharply. Nobody wants anyone to get taken. That's why we're showing you the rules, why we patrol the boundaries.
We're trying to keep people safe. I believed her, but I also couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than she was telling me. That night, I dreamed again of the forest.
I was standing at the edge of our backyard, looking into the darkness between the trees. Something was there, watching me. I couldn't see it clearly.
Its shape seemed to shift and change each time I tried to focus on it, but I knew it was there, waiting. In the dream, it stepped forward just enough for the moonlight to catch it, and I began to see what it really looked like. I woke up with a gasp before I could see it clearly, my heart pounding in my chest.
The next morning, Mia's mom drove us to school. As we passed my house, I noticed something strange. A small pile of stones stacked neatly on our front porch.
"Stop the car," I said suddenly. Mia's mom pulled over, looking concerned. "What's wrong?
" I pointed at the stacked stones. Those weren't there yesterday. Mia's face went pale.
She turned to her mother. Mom, can you call Dr Patel? Tell him to check on Nurse Taylor at the medical center.
Her mother gave her a sharp look, then nodded, understanding immediately as she took out her phone. "What's going on? " I asked as we got out of the car.
"The stones," Mia said quietly. "They're a warning or a mark. Either way, it's not good that they're on your porch.
But the rule says not to disturb stacked stones in the forest. These aren't in the forest. The rules apply to stones at stacks wherever they are, she said.
And it never comes this far into town unless Unless what? She bit her lip. Unless it's marking someone.
A cold feeling settled in my stomach. Marking who? me.
Before Mia could answer, her phone rang. She answered it, listened for a moment, then hung up, her face even paler than before. Your mom didn't show up for her shift last night, she said.
Dr Patel says she never arrived at the medical center. Everything moved in slow motion after that. Mia's mom called the police.
Officers came to talk to me, asking when I'd last seen my mother, if she had mentioned going anywhere after work, if she had any friends or relatives nearby she might have visited. I answered mechanically, my mind still stuck on the pile of stones on our porch. After the police left, promising to look into it, Noah, Lily, and three other kids from school showed up at Mia's house.
They gathered in her living room, speaking in low, urgent tones. We need to tell him everything," Noah said. "Are you sure that's a good idea?
" a boy named Daniel asked. He was tall and skinny with curly black hair. "The more he knows, the more danger he's in.
" "His mom is already missing," Lily pointed out. "I don't think knowing more is going to make things worse at this point. " "Fine," Daniel conceded.
"But not here. We should go to the clubhouse. " The clubhouse turned out to be an old storage shed behind Noah's house that they had converted into their meeting space.
The inside walls were covered with maps, newspaper clippings, and handwritten notes. A large corkboard dominated one wall with red string connecting various pins and photos in a complex web. Sit down, Alex, Noah said, gesturing to a folding chair in the center of the room.
There's more to the rules than what we told you. What do you mean? I asked, my voice sounding distant even to myself.
Mia sat across from me, her face solemn. The rules we gave you are the basic ones that everyone in town follows. But there are other rules, older rules that most people have forgotten or choose to ignore.
Like what? Like how to get someone back? Lily said quietly.
I sat up straighter. You can get people back after it takes them sometimes, Noah said carefully. If you act quickly enough, if certain conditions are met, "And if you're willing to risk it," Daniel added.
"Risk what? " Noah hesitated before answering. "The agreement works both ways.
The creature allows us to live here as long as we respect the rules and provide for it when someone breaks them. If we try to take back what it's claimed, it might decide the agreement is void, Mia finished. I looked at each of their faces.
You think it took my mom, but why? She didn't break any rules. Are you sure?
Lily asked gently. The medical center is on the other side of town. To get there from your house, she would have had to drive past the eastern forest edge.
The most direct route would take her right past the old logging trail. Daniel added. It's the deepest part of the forest where the trees grow thickest.
Most locals take the long way around, even during daylight. I thought back to the previous evening. Had mom known about the rules?
Would she have avoided the forest edge on her way to work? I couldn't be sure. There's another possibility, Mia said hesitantly.
Sometimes it marks people who have a connection to the forest. People who belong to it in some way. What do you mean belong to it?
I asked. People who were born here, Noah explained. People whose families have lived in Pinewood for generations or people who reminded of someone it once took.
That's why we asked Dr Patel to check if your mom arrived for her shift. Mia said, "We wanted to know if she disappeared on her way to work or on her way home. " "Why does that matter?
" "Because it tells us which part of the forest she might have entered," Noah said. "And that affects how we find her. " I stood up suddenly angry.
"So, you're saying there's a chance she's still alive? That we can get her back? Why aren't we doing that instead of sitting here talking?
" Because we need to be sure, Daniel said firmly. If we go in unprepared, we could all end up missing. Or worse.
And because there's a price, Lily added softly. Always a price. I don't care about the price, I said.
She's my mom. Tell me what we need to do. The group exchanged glances, having some silent conversation I wasn't part of.
Finally, Noah nodded. First, we need to be sure it has her. And for that, we need to see its marks.
The stacked stones, I asked. Those are just warnings, Mia explained. When it actually takes someone, it leaves a different kind of mark.
Usually at the place where the person was taken. Noah checked his watch. We have about 5 hours until sunset.
If your mom disappeared on her way to work, the mark would be somewhere along the road between your house and the medical center. And if it was on her way home, I asked. Then we'd need to look on the other side of town, Lily said.
But let's check the route to the medical center first since that seems more likely. We split into pairs to cover more ground. I went with Mia, walking slowly along the roadside, checking every place where the forest came close to the pavement.
The others spread out to cover different sections of the route. "What are we looking for exactly? " I asked as we walked.
"It's different each time," Mia answered, her eyes scanning the ground and trees. "Sometimes it's a symbol carved into a tree. Other times it's a pattern of broken branches.
Once it left a circle of mushrooms around the spot where it took old Mr Gable. How do you know so much about it? I asked.
The others said most people in town pretend it doesn't exist. Mia was quiet for a moment before answering. My older brother was taken 10 years ago.
He was 16 like you. He went into the forest on a dare at night. After that, my parents wouldn't talk about him anymore.
They packed away his things and pretended he never existed. But I was only six then. I couldn't just forget him.
So you started learning about the creature instead. She nodded. Noah's grandfather knew the old stories.
He was town historian before he died. He taught us a lot. Showed us the old records that the town council keeps hidden.
And have you ever tried to get someone back before? Her expression darkened. Once three years ago, a fifth grader named Ben went missing.
We found the mark and tried the old ritual, but she trailed off. What happened? We were too late or we did something wrong.
Either way, it didn't work. And the next month, two more people went missing. We continued in silence after that, scanning the roadside carefully.
After about an hour, Mia's phone buzzed with a text. Daniel and Lily found something, she said, reading the message. Near the old logging trail turnoff.
We need to meet them there. We hurried to the location where the others were already gathered around a large pine tree just off the road. As we approached, I saw what had caught their attention.
a pattern carved into the bark, looking like a series of connected triangles forming a circle. This is it, Noah said grimly. It's fresh, too.
The sap is still wet. So, it did take her, I said, feeling numb. Last night on her way to work.
It looks that way, Lily confirmed. And that means we have until midnight to try to get her back. Midnight?
Why midnight? The old stories say the creature keeps what it takes for one full day before it's gone forever. Daniel explained.
Your mom disappeared sometime last evening, so we have until midnight tonight. What do we need to do? I asked.
Noah looked uneasy. It's complicated and dangerous, and like we said, there's a price. I don't care.
I repeated. Just tell me. First, we need to prepare.
Mia said, "We need certain things for the ritual to work. " "What things? " "Something that belongs to your mom," Lily said.
"Something personal with a strong connection to her. " "Her wedding ring," I said immediately. "She still wears it even though dad left.
She never takes it off. If it took her, the ring would still be with her. " "Something else, then?
" Noah suggested a hairbrush. Maybe something with her DNA on it. I nodded.
There's her hairbrush at home. What else? We need to mark ourselves so it knows who we are, Daniel said.
That requires blood. Just a drop from each of us. And we need light, Mia added.
Not flashlights or phones. They won't work in the deep forest. We need flames, lanterns, or torches.
I have camping lanterns at my house, Noah offered. And finally, we need a guide, Lily said, looking at me. Someone who has a connection to the person we're trying to find.
That would be you, Alex. Fine, I said. Let's get everything and do this.
There's one more thing you need to know, Mia said, her voice grave. The most important part of all this, what? When we find your mom, if we find her, she might not look the same and she might not act the same.
No matter what, you can't show fear or hesitation. If you do, we'll lose her forever. And possibly ourselves, Daniel muttered.
I understand, I said, though I wasn't sure I really did. We split up to gather the necessary items, agreeing to meet at my house at sunset. As Mia and I walked back, I couldn't shake the feeling that the others weren't telling me everything.
"Is there something else? " I asked her. "Something you're not saying?
" She hesitated. "The price I mentioned. It's not just risk, Alex.
If we succeed, if we take back someone it's claimed, it will want something else in return. Something of equal value. " Like what?
We don't know exactly, but be prepared to give up something important, maybe the most important thing you have. I thought about what that might be, and came up blank. After my dad left, taking most of our money and all of his affection with him.
The only important thing I had left was my mom, and she was what I was trying to save. At my house, I quickly found my mom's hairbrush, still with strands of her chestnut colored hair caught in the bristles. I also grabbed a photo of us together from the previous Christmas, our last holiday as a complete family, before dad left.
I wasn't sure if we'd need it, but it felt right to bring it. As I was about to leave my room, I noticed the notebook of rules on my nightstand. I picked it up, flipping through the pages until I got to the end.
There in small neat handwriting that I hadn't noticed before was an additional rule. Seven, if you must enter the forest at night, bring fire and never go alone. And beneath that, in different handwriting, eight, if it takes someone you love, you have one day to claim them back, but beware the cost.
I slipped the notebook into my pocket just as the doorbell rang. The others had arrived, now dressed in dark clothes and carrying backpacks. Noah had the promised lanterns.
Daniel had brought what looked like hunting knives, and Lily carried a small first aid kit. "Are you sure you want to do this? " Mia asked me one last time.
"Once we go in, there's no turning back. " I nodded, clutching my mom's hairbrush. "I'm sure.
" We waited for the sun to set completely before making our way to the edge of the forest near the logging trail. As darkness fell, the trees seemed to press closer together, creating a solid wall of blackness. Noah lit the lanterns, the warm glow creating a small circle of light around us that somehow made the surrounding darkness seem even deeper.
Lily opened her first aid kit and took out a small lancet, the kind used for blood sugar testing. We each need to mark ourselves, she explained, pricking her finger and smearing a small amount of blood on her forehead. She passed the lancet to each of us in turn.
When everyone was marked, Noah handed out the lanterns. Stay close. Don't let the lights go out.
And remember the most important rule. Never look directly at it if you see it. We all recited together.
With that, we entered the forest. The ground immediately changing from sparse grass to thick soft pine needles that muffled our footsteps. I walked in the middle of the group, holding my mom's hairbrush tightly in one hand and a lantern in the other.
How do we know where to go? I whispered. You'll feel it.
Mia whispered back. A pull toward your mom. That's why you need to be the guide.
I concentrated, trying to sense anything that might lead me to my mother. At first, there was nothing, just the dark forest and my own fear. But after we'd been walking for about 15 minutes, I felt something.
Not so much a pull as a certainty about which direction we should take. This way, I said, turning slightly to the left. The others followed without question.
We walked for what felt like hours, though according to Noah's watch, only 45 minutes had passed. The forest around us grew stranger the deeper we went. The trees seemed to bend in unnatural ways, their branches reaching toward each other to form archways above our heads.
The ground rose and fell in subtle waves as if the earth itself was breathing. "We're getting close," Lily murmured. "I can feel it.
I could feel it too, a heaviness in the air, a sense of being watched from all sides. And the pull toward my mother was stronger now, more urgent. There, Daniel said suddenly, pointing ahead.
In the distance, barely visible at the edge of our lantern light, was a clearing. At its center, stood what looked like a massive tree stump, easily 10 ft across, with something lying on top of it. As we drew closer, I saw that it wasn't a stump at all, but a flat circular stone raised about 3 ft off the ground and on top of it.
"Mom," I cried, starting to run forward. Noah grabbed my arm, holding me back. "Wait," he hissed.
"Remember what we said. It might not be what it seems. " I forced myself to slow down, but kept moving toward the stone.
As we got closer, I could see that it was indeed my mother lying there, looking as if she was asleep. She was still wearing her nurse's scrubs, her purse still slung across her body. Her chest rose and fell with slow, even breaths.
"She's alive," I whispered, relief washing over me. "Don't touch her yet," Mia warned. "We need to complete the ritual first.
" We formed a circle around the stone platform, each of us holding out our lanterns. Lily took my mom's hairbrush from me and placed it on my mother's chest directly over her heart. Now, we each say why she should be returned.
Noah instructed, "Be honest. It will know if you're lying. " One by one, they each spoke about my mother, how she helped people as a nurse, how she had moved here to give me a fresh start, how she was my only family.
Now, when it was my turn, I found I could barely speak past the lump in my throat. "She's my mom," I said simply. "She's all I have.
Please give her back to me. " For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, my mother's eyes opened.
But they weren't her eyes. They were completely black with no whites or irises visible. Remember, Mia whispered urgently.
No fear, no hesitation. I swallowed hard and reached out to take my mother's hand. Her skin was ice cold, but I forced myself not to pull away.
"Mom," I said steadily. "It's me, Alex. It's time to come home.
" Her head turned toward me, those black eyes seeming to look through me rather than at me. When she spoke, her voice was hollow with an echo that didn't belong in the open forest. "The price," she said.
"What is the price? " I looked at the others uncertain. Noah nodded encouragingly.
"Whatever it takes," I said, turning back to my mother. "I'll pay whatever price is necessary. " A small, terrible smile spread across my mother's face.
The price is your place. My place? I repeated, confused.
I don't understand. Your place in the town? The voice from my mother's mouth explained.
Never to return to Pinewood. Never to see these friends again. To leave and forget what you have learned.
I hesitated. Leave Pinewood. That had been my deepest wish since we'd arrived.
But never to see Mia and the others again. Never to know what happened to this town, to these people who had tried to help me. Hurry, Daniel urged.
You need to decide. I accept, I said firmly. I'll leave Pinewood and never return.
Just give me back my mom. The smile widened, showing too many teeth. Done.
Suddenly, my mother gasped, her back arching as if in pain. Her eyes squeezed shut, then opened again, normal this time, her familiar hazel irises looking up in confusion. "Alex," she said, her voice her own again.
"What's happening? Where am I? " "Mom," I helped her sit up, hugging her tightly.
"We need to go," Noah said urgently. "Now. " I helped my mother off the stone platform.
She was unsteady on her feet but able to walk with my support. She looked around at the forest and the other teenagers with confusion. What is this place?
Who are these people? Friends, I told her they helped me find you when you got lost. That's when we heard it.
A sound like wood cracking, branches breaking. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once. Run, Mia shouted.
We ran, half-dragging my confused mother with us. The forest seemed to close in around us, branches reaching down as if trying to grab us. Our lanterns flickered, threatening to go out, despite the fresh fuel Noah had added before we entered.
"Keep moving," Noah called from the front of the group. "Don't stop for anything. " "I don't know how long we ran.
" Time seemed to stretch and compress randomly in that place. But eventually the trees began to thin and I could see starlight through the canopy above. Finally, we burst out of the treeine.
All of us panting and sweaty. We were on the edge of town, though not at the same place we had entered. My mother slumped to the ground, exhausted and still confused.
"Are we safe? " I asked, looking back at the dark wall of trees. For now, Lily said.
But you made a promise, Alex. You have to keep it. I know, I said.
We'll leave as soon as we can. Tonight, Daniel insisted. You need to be gone by sunrise.
My mother looked up at me. Alex, what's going on? Why do we need to leave?
I'll explain everything on the way, I told her. But Daniel's right. We need to go now.
With help from the others, we managed to get my mother back to our house. While she showered and changed, I quickly packed what little we'd unpacked since moving in. Mia helped, working silently beside me, neither of us looking at each other.
When we were finished and my mother was resting on the couch, I finally turned to Mia. I'm sorry I dragged you all into this. She shook her head.
You didn't. We chose to help. and we do it again.
Will you be safe after what we did tonight? As long as the price is paid, the agreement holds," she said. "Once you're gone, things will go back to normal for Pinewood.
" "Normal," I repeated. "People occasionally disappearing. Everyone pretending not to notice.
It's not perfect," she admitted. "But it's our home. We're trying to make it better, trying to understand the rules better so fewer people get taken.
I wanted to hug her, but something held me back. Perhaps the beginning of the price I'd promised to pay. The separation that had to start now.
Take care of each other, I said instead. She nodded, tears in her eyes. You, too.
By 2:00 a. m. , our car was packed, and my mother was alert enough to drive, though still confused about what had happened.
As far as she knew, she'd gotten lost on her way to work and been found by me and my friends. I didn't correct her. Some things were better left unexplained.
As we drove away from Pinewood, I looked back one last time at the town and the dark forest that surrounded it. In the distance, I thought I saw five figures standing at the edge of the trees holding lights, but when I blinked, they were gone. My mother reached over and squeezed my hand.
"Where should we go, Alex? " "Anywhere," I said. "As long as it's far from here.
" "And does this have anything to do with those weird stones someone stacked on our porch? " "I meant to ask you about those. " I felt a chill at the mention of the stones, but pushed it away.
Just a dumb prank, I lied. Nothing to worry about now. We drove through the night, putting miles between us and Pinewood.
My mother still had questions I knew, and eventually I would have to come up with better answers for her. But for now, it was enough that she was alive, that we were together, and that we were leaving that place behind. As the sun began to rise, painting the sky with streaks of pink and gold, I felt something leave me.
A weight I hadn't known I was carrying. The price had been paid. My place in pinewood was gone.
And with it, I hoped any claim that forest creature might have had on me or my family. But sometimes late at night, I still hear my name being called. And I still remember the rules.
Especially rule number three. If you hear your name called from the woods, do not answer. No matter how far we go, I don't think I'll ever forget that rule.
Yeah.
