September 22, 202058Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MMFjHlXCw
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB0LFyjCbbi
Sarah and Aaron pulled up on Waterworth Road, a road that she had not seen in what felt like a lifetime. Her and her family didn't live in the house for long, yet it still was important to her. No fond memories were made in the house but she felt attached to the home and now she would see how it had fared in the short amount of time she had been gone.
"Are you sure you want to be here, Sarah?" Aaron asked.
Sarah looked to him and nodded her head. "But my husband doesn't need to know, okay? I don't want him to worry for me."
Aaron nodded his head and they proceeded to the front door. She slipped her key into the lock and felt it unlatch. She gently pushed the door forward and felt a slight puff of air hit her in the face, as if someone was standing in front of her and just blew on her.
She looked around, noticing that nothing had changed. Everything was as they left it the day they moved out. The couches were still covered in plastic, the tables had a very thin layer of dust, and the frames and pictures they had on the walls hung as they had a few months ago. Whoever or, better yet, whatever had been targeting must have known that the Porters were gone.
Sarah looked over to see Aaron standing in front of the living room window, looking out to the tree line directly across from it. "It seems, everywhere you look from this house, trees are there to meet your gaze."
She smiled and walked over to the fireplace, hearing a small wisp of air in the chimney.
"Do you not have the pleasure of seeing a tree from every window?" Sarah asked.
"Sort of," Aaron said. "Our house rests on a hill so we have a view of the mountains and the highway."
"Mountains covered in trees, you mean?"
Aaron chuckled. "Yes, so I suppose all we see if trees as well."
Sarah loved the large sprawling forest but didn't like what potentially lurked inside of it. They could watch from any tree, behind any branch of leaves, and Sarah would never know. The forest was thing of beauty that hid away the ugliness of the world. If the Faceless were real, as the Sheriff said, the only thing hiding their evil was the trees they lurked behind.
She stepped outside to the back porch where she saw her amazing garden still, somehow, in tact and flourishing in some parts. It was nowhere as grand as the mansion's garden, yet, this one was hers. Only she and Lillian ever touched it.
She looked out to the trees where she remembered the Faceless, or at least what she believed to be a Faceless. Sarah never saw its face but remembered the laugh that came from it. It laughed and pursued her and her daughter, looking as if it was levitating through the air. It was something that she never wanted Lillian to have to see, not in a thousand lifetimes. Yet, her daughter didn't seem phased by it.
Over in the grass was the spot where the deer was mangled. How such a terrible sight didn't scar Lillian for life was a mystery to Sarah. She could only hope that Lillian would forget about it .
"Well, everything looks roughly the same from how I remember it," Aaron said. "Did you want to head out?"
She looked out into the woods, expecting to see the Faceless man from the attack. Her eyes fixated on that one spot but nothing appeared. Finally, she sighed and turned around.
"Yeah," She said. "Let's go."
They began walking back into the house when a scream echoed throughout the forest. Only it wasn't a scream of pain or fear; it was a child's scream.
"What the hell was that?" Aaron asked.
"You heard it too?" She eagerly looked to the forest and opened up the camera app on her phone.
"Sarah, there's not suppose to be anyone out there. You can't tell me you mean to go out there?"
Sarah ignored him and rushed down the porch stairs to the gate on the far side of the yard. Aaron was hesitantly following behind her.
She held her phone in front of her and turned it on to record. "Come on!" She yelled to Aaron.
"Sarah!" Aaron yelled. She didn't stop, however. Sarah would find whatever it was that made that noise. Maybe it would give some kind of answer as to who attacked her family in July.
Eventually, she came on an open field and her heart sunk to her chest. Aaron quickly rejoined her, not paying attention to the field.
"You know Sarah... you would be a terrible partner to have in a horror film. I mean..."
Sarah grabbed his chin and turned it to the field. His words caught in his mouth and he was left with a dumbfounded look on his face. On the field was a large playground, accompanied by several children playing on it. There was no supervision. No adults, teenagers, or even a car or bike to suggest that these kids had someone here to watch them. They were all alone.
"Sarah..." Aaron muttered. "Why are there children here?"
"I don't know," Sarah whispered. "I've never seen this field before."
She inched closer to the playground but felt Aaron pull her back by the sleeve of her shirt. He gave her a look of concern before she jerked from his grasp. "Sarah, this isn't a good idea. We should head back to the car now."
But she couldn't go back now. She had to know why several children were on a playground by her home. When did this playground get here? Why did they build it so close to the Porter's home? Where are the parents?
"Ring a round the Rosie, pocket fill of posies, ashes, ashes..." The children sang.
The closer she got to the kids, the worse she felt. It was like her lungs were being squeezed, her stomach was turned upside down, and her throat closing in on itself. A distinctive cold feeling began overcoming her.
"Are you my mommy?" A little girl said.
Sarah looked over to her and saw that her left eye had a small gash across it. She tried to control the fear that was gripping her. "No, honey, I'm not your mommy."
The little girl looked to the ground with a look of disappointment. "Aww, that's too bad. I really miss her. If you see her, could you tell her that I want to go home? The playground is boring."
"Of course," Sarah said, her body beginning to tremble.
"Thanks!" The little girl said as she skipped back into the sandlot.
"Hey," Aaron said, grabbing onto Sarah's shoulder. "We really need to go."
She nodded her head and turned her head away from the children. Before she could be on her way, she heard a lady yell "Tabitha!"
Aaron and Sarah both looked back to see a lady, roughly their age, with black hair and a simple white shirt, calling for one of the little girls. They looked at a girl, who had braided brown hair, running over to the lady.
"Mommy!" She yelled. "I missed you."
"Go get in the car. Now," The lady said.
The little girl's smile faded as she walked off into the woods. It made Sarah a little sad but she quickly lost the sorrow when she noticed that the lady was staring directly at her. It wasn't a simple glance or accidental stare. The lady had her whole body pointed towards Sarah and seemingly looked right into her soul.
Sarah noticed all the children cocking their heads and turning to her as well. Then, the lady began laughing manically.
"Okay, Sarah, I'm not even joking. We NEED to go. Now!"
She couldn't agree more. Only, she couldn't move. Her whole body was paralyzed from the overwhelming fear that had taken over. The lady began walking towards Sarah and Aaron and, directly behind her, emerged a figure in a black suit. Its head was as white as an eggshell. As it came closer, Sarah noticed that it was missing the features of a person. It had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth, and no hair. It was the Faceless.
Aaron pulled Sarah, giving life to her legs.
"Run!" Aaron yelled.
They both dashed past trees, over roots, and through bushes to get away as quick as possible. She had never felt so much fear in her life as she did in this moment. They were able to reach the back yard relatively fast and Sarah began having flashbacks to this moment only a few months ago. Only this time, she didn't have to worry about protecting her children. If anything, perhaps Aaron could protect her.
Both Sarah and Aaron sucked in several deep breaths before laughing, feeling that they were safe. She took one look behind her, seeing nothing following. In all reality, Sarah knew they weren't safe, even if they were inside.
"Yeah, I guess you could say I would be bad in a horror movie," Sarah said.
Aaron laughed a bit harder, still trying to catch his breath. "You think? I don't think I know very many people who would just stand and watch a bunch of demon children twist their heads to stare at them."
Sarah remembered that movie that Edward refused to watch, The Exorcist. That was the first thing that came to her mind when she saw those kids twist their necks. Edward didn't wish to curse the family, so he kept everyone from watching it. That didn't stop Sarah, though, as she watched one night while he was sleeping. Perhaps Edward was right, maybe that movie did curse them.
"Well, I'll let us leave now. I think we've had enough fun for one day."
"Just like that?" Aaron asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... we just saw that. Like we both just saw what were probably ghosts. You just want to leave and forget that that just happened?"
Sarah remembered the blank face of the Faceless. Aaron likely didn't see it. "And what would we tell people, Aaron? That we just saw a ghost lady and ghost children on a playground right next to my old house? My husband would question why I went back here and would want to know why I went with you. Equally, my family and his boss would wonder the same thing. The sheriff can't do anything about it and that's really all the people I can talk to before they either don't care or start to think I'm crazy."
She pulled out her video recording and stood next to Aaron. "Watch this."
It started with them running through the forest to the open field. However, there was no open field. There were no children, no swing sets, no lady, and no Faceless. It was only trees and more trees behind that.
"That's... that's impossible," Aaron said.
Sarah looked to him. "You've lived here longer than me Aaron. I think you already know that nothing is impossible around here."
Aaron nodded his head and they returned to the house. "Sarah."
"Yes?" She said.
"Why are you taking this so well? You act as if seeing possessed children and a lady from hell is normal."
"I guess I just found it fascinating. Don't you?"
"I can't say I do," Aaron replied.
Sarah looked back to the forest one more time and wondered why she, herself, was fascinated. There was that brief few minutes of fear but now she felt nothing. She remembered the Faceless once more and then the woman. The hair was black but the woman's face looked like Sarah's. She was horrified at first but now, for some strange reason, she was comforted. She shook the thoughts through her head and joined Aaron in his car.
She wasn't sure she was ever going to come back to this place.
58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSDsNGYMVb
