June 1, 2020
"Hee hee hee."
Edward shot awake before immediately feeling a headache. He scanned around the living room, not seeing anything but numerous unpacked boxes. "Sarah? Lillian? Are you down here?" He said groggily.
There was no answer. He was certain he had heard a little girl's giggle, or maybe that was just his dream. He squinted his eyes, peering out the window at the trees at the end of the field, on the other side of a fence. Miles of forests stretched on each side of their new home. It was beautiful but, also, eerie.
Pushing himself up off the couch, he walked over to the fridge and searched it for something to drink. His mouth was parched.
"Good morning daddy." He heard a little girl say.
He jumped, hitting his head off the top of the fridge. "Dammit!" He yelled.
A little girl stood behind him, holding a little sheep stuffed animal. She was smiling at him, making the gaps between her teeth visible.
"Don't scare me like that, Lillian. God..." He said, rubbing the top of his head.
Her smile died down a little, as she squeezed her sheep tighter. "I'm sorry daddy."
Edward looked down at her. She had blonde hair, like her mother - only more messy. She was a cute little girl with a scrunched up nose but, when he saw her, he saw Sarah and was reminded of her. He felt nothing but anger when he saw Lillian. She was an innocent little child who loved everything and everyone but Edward didn't love her back.
He heard the sound of an engine, the sound of tires screeching, and the sound of gurgling. His vision turned red and he could smell gasoline and... iron. He snapped out of it and turned back to Lillian.
"It's fine. Just don't startle me like that, understand?"
She nodded her head yes and ran to the pantry where a loaf of bread and peanut butter sat. She pulled out a toaster from one of the unpacked boxes and a butter knife from another. Edward watched her as she toasted the bread and spread peanut butter on it. She took it over to the table and began eating it while rocking her legs back and forth and shaking her head side to side.
"Mouth closed," Edward said, annoyed with the sound of her lips clapping together.
Footsteps came from the stairwell that sat in front of the main door and, soon, Sarah was in the kitchen with him and Lillian. She smiled at him and went for the pantry as well.
"Good morning, love. Did you have a nice night?" She asked.
He glared at her as she began to make oatmeal. She was beautiful, but Edward couldn't stop thinking about the college girls he saw last night. He and Sarah had once been college students too - at least before she dropped out and took on a job as a receptionist.
"Fine," Edward muttered. His thoughts turned back to the figure he saw last night. He still wasn't sure if he was just seeing things because he was drunk or if there actually was someone standing on the edge of the forest last night. They were as pale as the moon.
Sarah was still smiling at him, much to Edward's irritation. Lillian started chewing loudly again, and Edward felt his irritation grow.
"Mouth closed, I'm not going to tell you again," He said much louder.
The little girl looked at him and started shaking slightly. Sarah walked over to her and started rubbing her shoulders. "It's okay honey, just eat with your mouth closed, okay?" Sarah said, comforting her. "Like this."
She made silly faces, pretending to eat with her mouth closed. Lillian started giggling as she did. Edward rolled his eyes and walked back to the couch with a beer bottle in his hand. He peered out to the trees again, seeing the sun glimmer through the pines. It had a majestic beauty to it, one that would free him from any more conversation with his wife.
The sound of four legs running down the stairs caught his attention. Their golden retriever, Lucy, was running down the stairs and ran to Edward, licking his face and rubbing up against his legs. Lucy slept with Isaac at nights, meaning that he was now awake as well. The only family member that Isaac didn't see was their cat, Shaber.
"C'mere girl," Edward said happily as Lucy ran in circles around him. "Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?" He said as he rolled her to her back to rub her belly.
Isaac walked down the stairs, looking almost as groggy as Edward did when he awoke.
"How did you sleep, son?" Edward said, still petting Lucy's belly.
Isaac yawned and scratched his head. He had the same dark brown hair as his father, only he wasn't balding.
"Fine." He yawned. "I didn't fall asleep until late, though."
Edward let Lucy up and scratched her head. "Any reason you couldn't sleep?"
Isaac crinkled his lips and looked to the window. "I kept seeing little white blimps over the trees. They were weird," He said.
Edward chuckled. "Eh, probably nothing, might have just been something on your window."
Isaac shrugged. "I dunno," He said. He walked to the kitchen as well, with Lucy following him.
Edward looked over to the fireplace that sat at the center of the wall at the end of the living room. It was a grand stone fireplace that took up a majority of the wall. There were no logs in it, which gave their big gray cat, Shaber, free rein to start playing with the curtains on it.
He clapped his hands at the cat but it didn't listen. Shaber was a little jackass. "Shaber, no! Tsk! Tsk!" He yelled at the cat. It didn't move - it just kept biting on the metal. Edward stomped over to it, scaring it away. He closed the curtain and heard the sound of giggling, only this time from inside the chimney.
"What the hell?" He mumbled.
"What's wrong?" Edward heard Sarah ask.
Stopping to listen, the chimney went silent. All he could hear was the sound of air passing through. He turned to see his wife, who was holding her hands together and looking down at him.
"Did you hear that?" Edward asked.
"Hear what?" She asked, still smiling.
He glared at her once more. He hated that smile, never feeling that it was real. She only did it because she was guilty or to try and distract him. In truth, that smile once gave him butterflies in his stomach and made him feel in love. But now, he only felt anger. He hated that smile.
"Nothing," He said, looking back at his cat, who was now biting one of the boxes sitting on the ground.
"So I was thinking that, since your new job doesn't start for another week, we could go on a little hike with the kids and Lucy and see what it's like?" Sarah asked.
"I think I'm going to take Isaac with me to go get some firewood," Edward said, not looking at her.
She shook her head quickly. "Yeah, yeah. That's fine. I'll see if Lillian wants to help me pick some flowers or something."68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnej3bzLj2
68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72CwNf8uGe
Edward didn't respond, but kept blankly staring into the fireplace. She waited behind him, waiting for him to say something, but was met with silence. She walked away, much to Edward's relief.
Again, Edward peeked his head into the fireplace, looking up into it, but saw nothing. He didn't know where the giggling was coming from.
He noticed Isaac walking up the stairs. "Isaac, when you're done with your breakfast, join me outside so we can get some wood for the fireplace."
"Alright, dad," He heard echo in the stairwell.
Anything was better than spending time with Sarah and Lillian. Despite having a new house, he didn't want to be in it if they were going to be in it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He sat on one of their lawn chairs, sipping down the beer he grabbed. His head was throbbing but he chose to ignore it and stare off into the trees. By his side was a chainsaw and a small sled to haul the logs back on.
Edward pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and scrolled to his brother's name, Jordan Porter. He stared at it for a minute before pressing call. The phone began ringing and he stared down at it, watching it.
Several rings would go by but there was no answer. He let it ring numerous times before it went to voicemail. He wanted to ask his brother if what they saw last night was real but it's possible that he wasn't awake yet. Before he could press again, he heard the back door shut and his son walk out, squinting from the light in his eyes. His skin reflected the light but his skin wasn't quite as white as Edward's. Unlike the women in the Porter household, Edward and Isaac looked more like pale ghosts, whereas Sarah would spend decent portions of her day sunbathing. Lillian, as well, was tanner but didn't need to sunbathe to look that way.
"How long is this going to take?" Isaac asked, still shying his eyes away from the sunlight.
"It shouldn't take us too long, just long enough to enjoy some time out in the woods and get out of the house," Edward said, smiling at Isaac.
Isaac shrugged his shoulders and kept his hands in his pockets. Edward picked up the rope to the sled and handed the chainsaw off to Isaac and they made their way to the gate that led into the forest. Massive pine trees stretched out as far as he could see and very little sunlight could be seen. It was dark, yet beautiful. He could hear nature thriving, from the birds chirping to the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.
Edward felt at peace. It was just him, his son, and nature.
"How are you liking the new house, son?" Edward asked as they proceeded into the forest.
Isaac, again, shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you not like it?" Edward asked.
Isaac stared at the ground. "I mean I think it's a cool house and the forest is nice but I'm going to miss all my friends," Isaac said. He was a junior in high school and was working dishwashers at a sandwich shop before they moved. Isaac looked at Edward. "Plus, this place has shitty... I mean... crappy service."
Edward placed his hand on Isaac's shoulder. "You can always make new friends at your new school. We can also get you a job at one of the gas stations that is nearby."68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBErbaWnHfU
68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Jhn0o7iao
"I can't drive though," Isaac interjected.
"Me or your mother can give you a ride before our shifts," Edward said. He was going to be working at the Hallington Sawmill while Sarah would be working at a daycare that was in the town of Matthewsville, by the school.
The town got its name from a man named Jacob Matthews, who built numerous hotels throughout northern Idaho. He disappeared without a trace but was responsible for bringing a substantial amount of people to northern Idaho, thus being revered with a town named after him.
They walked a bit further until they reached a tree that Edward deemed to be perfect but also far enough from the house so that it would take them a while to get back. He grabbed the chainsaw from Isaac and, before he could rev it up, he heard his phone ring. He set down the chainsaw, pulled his phone from his pocket, and saw the caller ID - Jordan Porter.
"Just give me a sec, alright?" He said to Isaac.
Isaac shook his head and Edward a bit further into the trees. "Hello?" Edward said.
"You called me?" Jordan asked.
Edward looked back over to his son, who stood there, looking all around him at the trees.
"Yes, I did, I wanted to talk to you about last night."
There was a brief pause and a bit of static. It was a surprise that his cellphone was even working this far in the woods. "Listen, Ed, it's alright. You don't need to apologize for what happened last night. I know what you're going through, but I'm here for you. However, it's been seven years, Ed. You have to learn to let it go," Jordan said.
Edward felt taken back. He knew that he was drunk last night but he wasn't calling to ask for forgiveness. No, he had no intention to stop drinking and he wasn't going to let it go. His life has been a never ending slope and he would always blame her for it.
"I'm not calling about that. I'm calling about what we saw last night. You know..." He paused and looked back at Isaac once more, who was now looking at the ground, pushing rocks out of the ground with his foot. "The figure we saw," Edward finished.
Again, there was a brief pause. "Well, there was a lot of people at the bar last night, Ed. You're going to have to be more specific."
Edward rubbed his forehead and let out a small sigh. "You pulled over last night, on the highway, and showed me it, Jordan. Don't you remember? It had some dark clothes on and a head that was milky white. He was just standing at the edge of the woods." Edward said a bit louder this time.
There was no pause from Jordan this time. "I have no idea what the hell you're talking about."
68Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVR5mBxofbQ
