Chương 6: Chapter 5: Aftermath

I rested flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling of my treehouse. Light flooded through the window in bright beams while I continued to think. I couldn't stop picturing all of last night in my head, over and over. It had all just… happened so fast. As the night had gone on, the faint sounds of sirens filled my ears. They got louder and louder, and they were all I could hear with the power in my treehouse gone. For the entire night, I stayed on the floor, in the dark, crying for what felt like forever.

Finally, finally, I was able to start thinking straight again. It wasn't until the soft glow of the sun poking its head past the horizon finally brought me back to my senses. I started to hear the fire trucks leaving the house, but I knew people were still on the property. I couldn't see out of the window from my position, but there were definitely others searching around the acres of land. Either they hadn't noticed my treehouse, or they assumed no one was there.

Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time I talked to a stranger, I didn't move from my position on the floor and just tried to make sense of everything. A piece of the shattered mirror reflected the light from the window back onto me. I looked towards it. I could see my face in one of the larger shards laying against the wall. Quickly, I turned away. I didn't want to see that thing looking back at me. That wasn't me. It was... something else. That was some monster those people were searching for last night.

How did they know? I kept asking myself, but the answer never came closer. I had no clue how they knew all of that information about me. A moment later, a thought occurred to me, as if the foggy veil had been lifted for a brief second. Pulling out my phone, I searched for "Colorado Springs". It was a vague search, I knew, but I still wanted to see if anything relevant would appear on my screen. The first result was an article about the snow storm. No surprise there.

Just below the article, there was something about an election. Not important. I scrolled down past a few other results until I caught a glimpse of a familiar sight. It was a photo of a dark alleyway, the same one from the other night. The text next to it read, "Is this the evidence for Bigfoot we've been looking for?" The article was posted in a local news site. Upon opening the link, I was taken to a video with a short paragraph underneath it.

Whoever had written this text, it didn't seem like they had any idea what exactly they were trying to convey. I clicked play on the video. It was hard to view through the cracks on my screen, but I knew what I was about to see. The video started just as everyone in the group I had approached was screaming. It was hard to make out, but I saw myself, mostly a blur thanks to the snow and dark alleyway. I wanted to stop the video, to look away…

but as I watched myself running away, I knew I had to see what had been recorded. It was a bit surreal, seeing the perspective of the group chasing me as they ran down the same alley I had. The phone was shaking so much, seeing anything was difficult. Once they made it out onto the street, however, the camera was still enough to see my face. I couldn't hear any words. The girl who was recording was breathing so loud, everything else was drowned out. I saw myself turn my head to the side as a light came into view.

I suddenly disappeared from the video as my body flew into the air when I was hit by the large snowplow. If I hadn't known what happened, hadn't known the creature in the video was me… I would have been sure it had died on impact. If the first hit by the snowplow hadn't done it, the second hit by the truck would have. I frowned, rewinding the video to play back the scene a few times. It didn't make any sense. I shouldn't have been able to walk away from that accident so easily.

After I watched the impact a few more times, I let the video continue. The man wielding the bat ran after the plow, but the girls went over to the truck. Whoever had been driving the vehicle had pulled over, not too far from where the impact happened. Lights from the truck came into the camera's view as the phone's operator moved to get a view of the car. As she walked around it, the damage of the impact was clear.

A giant indent on the front of the car was the first thing I saw, and as the camera panned up, there was a dent on the hood as well, plus a cracked windshield. I could hear the girl holding the phone asking the driver "are you oka–" just before the video cut out. Blinking, I went back to the start of the video again, but I paused it right before the accident. As I looked at my face, the version of me staring back into the screen looked confused, disoriented… but above all, absolutely terrified.

For a full minute, I just stared right back at myself. It was as if the terror in my face was creeping through the screen and taking hold of me. Suddenly, my phone started vibrating as Emily's picture appeared on the screen. I went to answer, but then I stopped myself. I had no idea what to say to her. So much had happened. What should I say? How could I possibly explain anything? What would she think? My mind paused, fearing the worst. … does she already know? Was she contacted by anyone?

I froze while I felt my phone vibrating in my hand. Eventually, it went silent, and the phone went back to the image of my terrified face from that awful video. Closing my eyes, I set the phone down. I knew it was silly–outright wrong, even–but I had hope that if I didn't acknowledge everything happening, it would all go away. I could leave my treehouse and go down the hill, and the house would still be there. John would still be there. All of it was nothing more than a terrible dream.

The moment I talked about it with someone, it would be brought into reality… a reality I couldn't handle. Instead, I kept my eyes shut, laying back down on the floor. The phone started ringing again, but I let it buzz in my hand. I didn't even bother to look at it. I knew it was Emily. She must have heard, somehow. Even though I felt guilty for not answering, I had nothing to say. It'd taken everything in my mental energy to navigate the last few minutes. Again, I was exhausted… so I just let the phone ring.

"Tess?" A familiar voice sounded out from below my treehouse. I opened my eyes, wincing silently as the sun shone directly into my vision. It had been several hours since I had let my eyes drift open, only vaguely aware of the warmth of the sun slowly moving as time passed. I rolled onto my side, turning away from the light.

"Tess?" Came Emily's voice again, "Can I come up?" I didn't want to see her. I didn't want to see anyone, much less talk. Wherever I went, whatever I did, I kept causing problems. Why couldn't all of it just stop? Slowly, I reached over to the hatch, turning the bolt lock into place with a loud clunk. Hopefully she got the message: I didn't have anything to say and I didn't want company. I turned onto my side once again, just laying there. It felt like my thoughts were in a fog.

Words and phrases would burst through the haze as I tried to catch them, but just as I tried to snag them in my hands, they would somehow slip away. They would float through my fingers and into the sky above me. They would leave me with nothing but a sharp pain of anger, sadness, confusion… frustration… and worst of all, fear. They would be replaced again, one after the other, never staying long, but never ending. I felt paralyzed. I felt as if I could do nothing. Emily was quiet, but I knew she was still there.

That was fine. She could wait. Another few hours passed as I sat there, engulfed in my thoughts. As the sun started to set, I heard Emily speak up again from underneath me.

"You went into the kitchen cupboard, got yourself another hour, and you gave half of it to me…" I opened my eyes. I recognized the song she was singing. We used to sing it together years ago. She kept going, "We sat there looking at the faces of these strangers in the pages 'til we knew 'em mathematically…" Reaching over to the latch, I undid the lock to my treehouse. Emily must have heard the click of the bolt, because she stopped singing.

I slowly stood for the first time today, reaching up to the wall and pulling one of my six string guitars into my hands. As I sat in my chair, the latch opened and I saw Emily. She had bags under her eyes. It was clear she was exhausted… and she'd been crying, too. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. I tuned the guitar while she pulled herself into the treehouse, closing the latch behind herself.

"Tess…how did this…" Rather than let her finish, I started playing the tune to the song she had been singing, picking up where she left off.

"They were in our minds, until forever. But we didn't mind, we didn't know better…" Emily sat down next to me and joined in the song. For that brief moment in time, I was able to forget everything. All that mattered was making beautiful music and singing my heart out. Everything felt normal again. When the song finished, Emily moved in close, hugging me gently. I didn't know how long we sat there, but eventually she let go. I didn't want her to…but I also knew it wasn't fair of me to not tell her what happened.

"... they were looking for me." I said, barely above a whisper. Emily held my hand, a concerned and sympathetic look on her face as she asked, "who was looking for you?"

"I don't know. They just showed up." I shrugged weakly, looking down.

"I didn't know what was happening. John told me to hide. He got into a fight and I ran…" I could feel the stinging pain of fiery tears welling up in my eyes again, but I kept forcing the words out.

"He got caught in the fire…I couldn't save him." I gulped, holding back a sob, "No! No, I could! I could have! But I just…something happened, I remembered…something…and I just…" I was stuttering, and my sentences weren't coming out right. Every word felt like it was getting shoved around by other words. Nothing sounded right. My thoughts were disappearing back into that haze.

"Shh…" Emily whispered, hugging me once more. I just cried into her shoulder, unable to stop myself. Everything just…hurt so much…and the confusion made it that much more painful. Eventually my shaking and tears stopped, and Emily quietly spoke.

"It's getting pretty cold out here. Do you think we can get going?" I looked out the window. The sun was mostly gone, and the room was starting to get darker, too. Without any electricity, it was only a matter of time before I wouldn't be able to see anything. I stood, taking a look around the treehouse, trying to figure out what I should carry with me.

"We can come back for all of it later." Emily offered. I thought for a moment.

"... where are we going?"

"Well…we can't stay here. I was thinking I'd take you home with me." A quick flash came into my mind: a picture of myself sitting in a small house, years from now…not being allowed to leave.

"How long?" I asked. Emily shook her head.

"I, um… Tess, I don't really know, but we will figure it out together, I promise you." She smiled, but it was definitely forced. I may not be good at telling one person from another, but I knew that face she was making. She was just as lost as I was. I gave a light nod, opening the hatch and jumping to the ground, landing on the snow. Emily took a little longer as she climbed down the ladder to join me. We made the trip back to what was left of the house in silence.

The moon was nearly full, rising further and further into my vision and away from the horizon. As we got closer to the house, I felt a familiar knot in my stomach. I wanted to be anywhere other than here, but it had to have been where Emily had parked her car. Approaching the house, I looked the other way. I didn't want to see it. Maybe if I didn't acknowledge any of it, that refusal to believe would be enough to make the belief come true. Even so, I couldn't deny the smell of burning wood as we approached.

Keeping my gaze down as we got closer to Emily's car, I saw a series of large tire tracks in the snow. They must have been from the fire trucks. I stopped. There was a different set of marks there, too–a smaller tire and a heavy groove. It had to be the SUV as it drove off. Next to the groove were two sets of footprints, one large pair of feet and one smaller. My eyes followed them slowly until I looked at the burnt remains of the house. This was the first time I had seen the house after everything had happened.

It was only a vague remnant of what it once was. It was where I had grown up… the only place I'd ever really known. Now, here it was, a black pile of rubble on the ground, with only a few parts still standing. John's truck was in the garage, most of which was collapsed onto the vehicle. Only one wall was still standing. The chimney was still in place as well, bringing back all the memories I had with John and Emily… all the times we'd sat around the fireplace and sang together.

Now all of it was completely unrecognizable, aside from the few things still standing to remind me what used to be there. Against my better judgment, I looked upwards, right where my room was. Nothing was standing, but I could still visualize the shape, suspended in the air above the rubble. So many years of my life had been spent in that cube… it felt wrong for it to be sitting in a heap like this. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, standing there, trying to remember everything about the house.

It was as if I had to lock it into my memory now, or risk losing it forever. I couldn't feel anything, as if my emotions were turned off while I took in the scene in front of me.

"Did they find him?" I asked. Emily had come up next to me a moment ago, standing at my side.

"They did." She said, sitting down in the snow next to me.

"They called me after they found him. They weren't sure what caused the fire…"

"An oil lamp," I said, interrupting her, "he threw it at the stairs to give me time to escape, but they grabbed him." After not being able to say anything correctly at the treehouse, now the words were coming with ease. I knew I should feel…something. I should feel more. Instead, I didn't feel anything, as if it were happening to someone else and I was only an observer. None of it felt real.

"Did you see them?" Emily asked. I shook my head.

"I just ran." I felt her hand take my own, pulling me out of my thoughts. I finally tore my gaze away from the charred remains of my house as we walked back to her vehicle. As we started to pull away from the house, I felt something bump against my chest. Looking down, I noticed the chain of my necklace going down my shirt. I reached down, pulling it free and holding it in both hands while Emily drove down the driveway, then out onto the road. I knew this place now, but I didn't want to see it.

Instead, I kept my gaze on the crystal necklace in my hands as Emily drove.

"I remember that," Emily said, noticing me looking at it, "I had nearly forgotten about it, to be honest." I looked up at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. It felt like I'd been asking that question a lot, lately. I knew she didn't want to talk about it, but it was one of the questions going through my mind since I'd found out.

"I…couldn't…" She said, gripping the steering wheel a little harder. There was something she didn't want to tell me; I could feel it. Although I kept my eyes on her, I wasn't sure what else to say. Luckily, she broke the silence.

"John didn't want anyone to know about you. He was afraid you'd be taken away from him or…something. For all he knew, they would have experimented on you." She paused.

"He loved you. He didn't want to see you get hurt." I couldn't help but notice she didn't answer my question.

"But why didn't you tell me? Why'd I have to find out on my own?" The same heat from the night I had talked to John was returning…that same anger. It seemed like I was still being lied to, and I couldn't understand why they would continue the facade. I trusted them…but it felt as if they had betrayed me.

"We planned on it, I promise." Emily responded, "we were going to, but…Tess, I…I don't know what to say. The day never came. We kept pushing it back; it never felt like the right time." A moment went by before she softly finished her answer.

"I'm sorry." As Emily looked up at the road again, I looked at her. She looked upset, with the situation and with herself. I knew she was telling the truth. Deciding to stop asking questions for now, I looked down at the necklace again as we drove in silence. I wasn't even sure what else to say…

The car suddenly started slowing to a halt. I looked up, noticing Emily pulling the car into a parking lot next to a small building. As I continued to take in the scene, I realized the building was in the middle of nowhere. It didn't look like a house, but it wasn't like I had seen many.

"What's this?" I asked as Emily put the car in park.

"This is where I work. I called out today after the fire department called me, and I called out with an emergency for the next few days, but there are still some things I need to grab before we head to my house." She opened the door, stepping outside.

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Can I come in?" I asked, before she could close the door. She had talked about her job so many times, and all I could do was imagine what it looked like. This might be the only chance I would get to actually see it.

"Um…" She said, looking towards the building, "... everyone should be gone by now…" Turning back to me, she answered, "... give me a moment. I'll see if anyone is still inside. If it's empty, you can come take a look. Does that sound good?" I nodded, pressing my back against the seat as Emily closed the door. I watched her make her way to the building, then opening the door and heading indoors. A minute later, she leaned out the front door and gave me a thumbs up, waving for me to join her.

I practically jumped out of my seat as I opened the door and quickly made my way over to her. I was excited to have something interesting to take my mind off of everything, even if it was just for a few moments.