Secrets of the Willow

Chapter3 -Tall tales.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come? It’ll be good for you to get out for a bit”. I voiced to Kate as I dabbed a tint of deep red lipstick on my lips.

“Thanks for the offer, but I have studying to do”. She replied in her usual mousey voice as she sat on her bed and began opening her books.

“Kate, you’re always studying, and when you’re not in class, you just stay cooped up in here”. I pointed out to her as I turned away from the mirror to look at her.

“Hanging out just…. It just isn’t my thing”. She said with a slight shrug.

“Do you think that might be because you haven’t even really given it a chance? My friends are nice, I think you’d really like them”. I commented as I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

“No, it’s ok. I think I’d just prefer to stay here”. She responded, only glancing up at me before focusing on her books again.

“Ok”. I said with a heavy exhale. “Well you have my number in case you change your mind”. I replied before getting up and walking out of our room.

Kate was my roommate. She was sweet, docile and barely made a noise. Half the time I’d completely forget she was even in the room with me. She always kept to herself and seemed too timid to ever really come out of her shell. I was always so relieved she was my roommate though, I’d take her any day over most of the girls here on campus. The amount of squabbles they had or ruckus they caused just seemed like a nightmare to me. Natalie had been paired with a girl, who not only had bad taste in guys, but constantly snuck them into their room, which meant Natalie spent half the time sleeping in the common room. Yas was stuck with a girl who always took her things and didn’t know the meaning of cleanliness.

I walked out of the building and made my way to the back of all the buildings to the far side of the field where I could see a glimmer of orange flickering away in the dark. The boys had already set up a small campfire and even from a distance I could hear their laugher and chatter.

“Finally! Here she is”. Josh announced as I approached them.

“You want a beer?” Luke asked as he popped one open and held it out for me to take.

“Thank you” I replied as I took it from him and sat down next to Yas and Natalie on one of the fold out chairs that the boys had managed to sneak out from the storage room. “Good job on the fire, boys”. I complimented in delight as I felt the warmth of it on my legs.

“What took you so long?” Yas asked as her blonde curls bounced when she turned her head to look at me.

“Well, I was trying to convince Kate to join us”

“Eugh, I’d never want to go anywhere with my roommate. She’s seriously getting on my last nerve!” Yas commented in return.

“Same here!” Natalie added. “I’ve actually had enough now, so I’ve put in a request to switch rooms”.

“Oooh, I’ll put in a request too, and maybe we’ll be able to get a room together!” Yas suggested excitedly.

“Oh my gosh! Yes, you should do it!” Natalie replied with the same enthusiasm.

“Ok, everyone ready to roast some mellows?” Luke asked the group as he started to dig through his black backpack.

We all nodded and replied eagerly as he slid giant marshmallows onto sticks and passed them along to each of us.

For a moment we sat quietly as we hovered our mellows over the fire and listened to the flames crackle and fizz, watching our mellows begin to soften and melt. We were so engrossed in what we were doing that a sudden rattle along the campus fence just behind us made us all jump with a startle, as me, Yas and Natalie all gasped.

At the same time, every one of us whipped our heads around to look in the direction of where the noise came from, but with hardly any light this far out on the field, we could just barely see the metal fence.

“What the f**k was that?” Yas stated as we all still tried to see if there was anything out there.

“I don’t know, I can’t see anything” Cyan answered as me and the girls all gave each other a wary look.

“Me neither. It was probably just a racoon or something”. Josh added as we all relaxed again and bought our focus back to the fire.

“Maybe it was… you know”. Darius spoke up as we all started to eat our mellows.

“What?” Natalie asked hesitantly.

“Well.. you know… something from the forest”. He replied as he glanced at us all.

“Don’t even start with that, it’s not funny”. Yas retorted as she started to fidget worriedly on her chair.

“I didn’t say it was, but for all we know it could be”. Darius replied as the rest of the boys kept looking over their shoulder at the fence.

“Nothing is going to attack a group of people! Stop trying to scare them”. Luke rebuffed as he shook his head at Darius.

“Do you think it really could have just been a racoon?” Natalie asked as she looked at us all for reassurance.

“We’re fine”. Luke responded with a nod as he looked at her convincingly. “Nothing has happened for a few years now anyway, so it’s highly likely it was just an animal”.

“Actually, that’s not entirely true”. Darius responded with a sigh.

“What do you mean? What’s not true?” Yas asked with a concerned frown.

“Well, I spoke to my parents last night, they phoned me to tell me not to go anywhere off campus alone. They said that a week ago a fourteen year old boy went missing and then two days ago another guy went missing. In their own words they literally said to me that they think it’s happening again”.

“You’re lying! You’re just trying to scare us”. Natalie retorted adamantly.

“Well, whether you think I’m lying or not, just do me a favour and don’t go anywhere alone, ok. For your own sake”. Darius advised with a genuine look of honesty on his face, and I could just sense by the way his demeanour softened that he wasn’t lying at all.

“I wish I didn’t have to agree with my boy here”. Cyan spoke up as he took a gulp of his beer. “But he’s right. My brother text me a few days ago telling me about the fourteen year old who was taken”.

“You got to be fricking kidding me”. Yas replied in a quiet, shaky voice.

“Have any of your parents thought about leaving?” I asked the group curiously.

“Yes, many times”. Josh answered as a few of the others all nodded.

“It’s not that simple though”. Luke chimed in. “You need to get a town pass from the mayor before you can just pack up and leave”.

“What? A pass? Why does he get to decide if people leave or not?” I questioned with confusion.

“He likes to make sure no ones trying to flee if they owe a debt or done something that they’re trying to run away from”. Luke replied as he ran his hand with frustration through his hair.

“But surely it’s still worth getting a pass to get the hell out of here”. I responded as I looked at each of them, and I could see in their eyes, that neither of them really wanted to be in this town.

“If you have a clean slate, perhaps”. Luke answered. “But even then, it can take months to clear someone for a pass. That’s if you even hear back from the mayor”.

“How do you know so much about it?” Natalie questioned with interest.

“Because my parents tried twice. The first time it was rejected because they owed a doctors bill, so they paid it off as quickly as they could. They both worked more hours and every extra penny they made, it all went to paying it off. As soon as the bill was paid, they applied for the pass again. They waited for weeks and heard nothing, so they called his office, went there to try and see him in person, but even when they did manage to speak to him he just kept promising he’d sort it, but that was two years ago and… well, we’re still here".

“It’s so wrong”. Yas commented in a whisper as she nestled into Natalie’s side.

“It is in a way, but then it also stops people being screwed over by someone that wants to cut and run from something. I guess the mayor just tries to keep things running as best as they can”. Cyan said with understanding.

“Well, I think it’s best we all promise that neither of us will go off somewhere alone”. I said to them all as they all nodded with an agreeing smile and replied with a promise.

After scaring one another with the fear of the forest, we’d managed to turn the conversation around and had a few laughs and jokes and continued to drink the several cases of beer the boys had brought along. But at times through the evening, I did feel a wave of annoyance that even now, my parents still didn’t feel the need to phone me and tell me what was happening back in town like the other parents had.