All Good Things Come in Three’s Pt. 6
Moonlight illuminated the dense tree line, casting ambiguous shadows all around. Anticipation caused my body to shake, like I was shivering from the cold. I wasn’t cold though, in fact, I was running extremely hot. Reaching up to scratch at the side of my neck, I looked around nervously. Even though at this time of the night most of the town should’ve been asleep in their beds, I still searched the horizon for signs of life. The straps of the bag I wore dug into my shoulders. It seemed to carry more weight than just the items inside.
“Got everything?” Tori asked. She materialized from the fog, coming to stand beside me.
“I think so,” I replied.
Tori was carrying a backpack not much different from my own. The bag was bulging in many places, quite obvious that it had been filled to the brim. We were both dressed in dark clothes, hoping that we would blend in seamlessly with the night. In the front pocket of my hoodie was a long cylindrical piece of metal. I reached one of my hands to grip the flashlight, my fingers tightened around it like a prayer.
“You grabbed the map from the table, yeah?” Tori raised her eyebrow at me.
“Yes, Tori. I grabbed the map.” My voice was as cold as the air around us. I watched as the water vapor illuminated in the moonlight as I spoke.
We stood with our backs to Tori’s house. The eggshell colored siding appeared blue under the night sky. In front of us stood a massive wall of trees, so dense that it looked like there was no way through. I knew this to be false though, since at least two people were discovered within the forest just a few days prior. A cloud passed in front of the moon, further plunging us into the darkness. I gripped the flashlight hard, wishing that I could flip the switch on. Not yet, I thought to myself. Not until we made it to the other side.
As the soft blue light once again returned, I squared my shoulders. Taking in a deep breath, I put one foot in front of the other robotically. As each step brought us closer to Sumac Pointe, I chuckled internally. Whoever had named this particular section of the forest deserved a pat on the back. As the plethora of leaves rustled in the wind, they shifted to expose antler-like branches. If we had started our journey under the protection of the sun, I would have been in awe of the intensely red leaves. Instead, I was haunted by the ambiguity of the nature around us.
“So, do you have any experience using a compass?” I asked Tori softly.
“Not really, but I think I can figure it out…as long as I know which direction north is.”
“Maybe you should let me hold onto it,” I suggested with an outstretched hand. She plopped the metal circle into my sweaty palm. My fingers closed around the compass tightly.
Fallen leaves crunched underfoot as we finally reached the edge of the forest. Lifting one of my arms, I swept back the branches and stepped through. Tori followed close behind. One of her small hands gripped the lower part of my hoodie, holding on for dear life. I took a deep breath as reality set in. This was the first time I had been so far from home, and my first time breaking such a cardinal rule.
Unsure of what was waiting for us on the other side of the tree line, surprise filled me as we crossed into the unknown. I had expected to be met with something scary or life-altering, something that screamed ‘Stop! Turn back now!’. All that waited for us was thick vegetation and the croaking of frogs. I felt my shoulder slump in relief. There was no danger here, at least not yet.
“Silas, can we turn on the flashlight yet?” Tori’s voice wavered with audible fear.
“Not yet, just a little further.” I felt her hand tugging on my hoodie as we carried on walking.
“Please,” she pleaded.
“Just close your eyes,” I whispered back. “As long as you keep holding on, I’ll lead you through.”
“Uh, were you dropped on your head as a baby? There is no way in hell I am closing my eyes. Do you want me to trip and break an ankle? Wanna take a go at this alone?” Tori battered me with a rapid fire of sarcastic remarks.
“Fine, then,” I relented and took the flashlight out from my pocket. “If we get caught cuz we turned it on too soon, I’m placing all of the blame on you.”
“That’s fine with me,” Tori snapped back. “Asshole.”
As my thumb found the switch on the side of the metal casing, I flipped it to the ‘on’ setting. The wooded area around finally transformed into something our brains could digest. Ambiguous shapes and shadows finally had a tangible and unwavering form. Aside from the various sumac trees that surrounded us on all sides, there wasn’t much else we could see. The song of the frogs that lay hidden in the underbrush continued to drone on and on. An unrelenting harmony of amphibious origin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sound like that before,” Tori finally relinquished her grip on me.
“What? The frogs?” I chuckled.
“Those noises are coming from FROGS?” Tori’s shock was apparent. “I thought it was insects, maybe cicadas?”
“Oh no, it’s definitely not insects. This may be my first time being so close to the source, but I’d notice this sound just about anywhere.”
As the conversation slowly died off, it was replaced by a comfortable silence filled with the crunching of twigs and leaves. Panning the flashlight slowly from one side to the other, I watched as the circle of light followed the motion of my hand. As I looked farther ahead, I noticed something different about the landscape. The trees were starting to grow more sparse, noticeable gaps forming in the thick vegetation.
When we stepped into the narrow clearing, I stopped. The snap and crack of our previous footsteps was replaced by the crunch of rock on rock. Pointing the flashlight at the ground, I felt my eyes practically bulge out of my head. We were standing atop a gravel road, too perfect to be anything but the work of men. The road stretched farther than my light could reach on either side, seemingly disappearing into the aether.
“Was this road on the map?” I asked Tori.
“On the one my dad hand-drew? Or on the ones I found in town?” She returned my question with ones of her own.
“Both?” I wanted to clarify that I was talking about the maps from town, but then I processed what she said. “There’s another map?”
“Sorry for holding out on you. I thought I had told you about it already, but I guess I only did so in my head.” Tori reached into the side pouch of her backpack and produced a folded up piece of cardstock. “To answer your question about the maps from town, no. As for the one my dad drew, kind of?”
As I held the light steady, Tori unfolded the thick piece of paper. Using her thigh as support, she smoothed the map out before sticking it within the illuminated circle. Using the compass rose scribbled down at the bottom left corner of the page, I turned to face the correct direction. Based on where I approximated us to be, and where the map was telling us to go, we had been heading in the wrong direction.
“Is that a road?” Tori pointed towards what I would have assumed was a child’s drawing of a creek or stream.
“Uhhh,” I held the paper closer to my face trying to decipher the crudely drawn map. “I think so?”
Based on the way the gravel road was placed on the map, I came to the conclusion that Fernview originally had one more circle. The rocky path we were currently standing on was most likely a service drive that connected the sixth and seventh circles. Instead of crossing the road, the better option was to follow it. I checked, and double checked the map one last time before tucking it away.
“Do you think it's good to be so exposed?” Tori’s head whipped around wildly as she scanned the surrounding area.
“Oh, good point.” I said moving off to the right hand side of the road.
We kept ourselves tucked as closely to the sumac trees as humanly possible. Every so often we would stop, checking to see if we heard the crunch of gravel, or the engine of a car. The fact that the road wasn’t completely overgrown with plant-life, told me that regardless of the rules, the road was still in use. Every time we paused, singing frogs was all we heard.
“Do you think we will get there soon?” Tori groaned. “It feels like we’ve been walking forever!”
“I hope so,” I pulled the map back out. Double checking that the compass still pointed in the orientation we wanted, I nodded my head in approval.
Previous to tonight’s events, I had thought the sixth circle to be a lot smaller than it truly was. The ring of forest that surrounded the town hid a lot more than any of us ever realized. As we continued on our journey I couldn’t help but wonder if all of this was intentional. If so, to what end? That was when I saw it, an unmistakable break in the treeline. We had finally made it to the end of the path. Afraid of what waited for us on the other side, I switched off the flashlight and grabbed Tori’s hand.
Expecting to run into an invisible wall, I took each step cautiously. My ears, constantly searching for any sound that might announce the arrival of someone else. The only thing I heard was the sounds of our own footsteps, and the frogs. With the flashlight no longer on, the only lightsource we had to work with was the moon. Unable to control the passing clouds, we stopped each time the illumination disappeared. Like playing the most unfortunate game of red-light, green-light. The culmination of the nerves and physical activity caused our palms to sweat.
Just as the moon reappeared, Tori let out an audible gasp. Towering in front of us was a large cliff face. The way the rock had eroded made the precipice look like a stack of partially folded towels. Although the crag was jutting out in all different directions, it looked surprisingly sturdy. Once my eyes had finished taking in the enormity of the nature-made structure, I focused on the base of the cliff.
“Oh my-” Tori cut herself off. “Goodness, we finally made it.”
“Sellers’ Mine,” I whispered, mostly to myself.
Just as I was about to keep walking towards the mine entrance, Tori stopped me by tugging on my hand. I was unsure why she wanted me to stop, but decided to follow her suggestion anyways. Letting go of her hand, I turned to face her. As the moon reappeared from behind yet another cloud, I was able to see Tori’s face. The whites of her eyes reflected the light as they widened to the fullest extent. That was when I finally realized what made her pause.
“Silas? What happened to the frogs?” Tori’s voice was so hushed I struggled to hear it.
Once we had left the dense woods and stepped into the dry, rock filled clearing…everything had gone silent. The only sound I could hear was the thump-thump of my own heartbeat. It pulsed so loudly in my eardrums that it made me feel sick. I stifled the urge to whimper in fear, reaching for the flashlight instead.
“I- I dunno,” I whispered back.
Flicking the switch up with my thumb, I watched as yet again the flash light sputtered to life. It lasted for all of thirty seconds before flickering and turning back off. Feeling the fear inside me grow, I slammed the hunk of metal against my palm. Thankfully it turned back on, and stayed on. Nervously reaching out beside me, Tori slipped her hand back into mine. Her grip was tight and unwavering.
“Don’t let go, okay?” Tori whispered, her shoulder bumping into my upper arm.
“Promise,” I squeezed her hand twice.
As we approached the base of the cliff, wooden signs in various states of decay littered our path. Most of them were painted with various phrases like ‘THIS AREA OFF LIMITS’, ‘DANGER!’, or my favorite ‘TURN BACK NOW’. The last sign on our path to the entrance of the forbidden area was the oldest among the group. Most of the letters were so eroded by weather and time that they were practically illegible. ‘Sellers Mine’, we had finally made it.