54. Couldn’t Know

When it explained to Allen who the friend was and what it needed, Allen wanted to say no. But, the more it spoke, the easier Allen became to convince. He was just a kid, after all. The plan was working well and Allen was almost convinced.

That night, he returned home, saying little to his mother as he took his dinner to his room. She’d become worried about him, worried about what he was doing in the woods, worried about why he’d shut down. She couldn’t know.

55. Enough Is Enough

That night, after Allen had stormed into his room with his dinner, Betsy sat down at the table and began to cry. Things had been going so well, but it was as though her son had changed before her eyes.

Where was her Allen? Betsy sat up and steeled herself. That was it. No more woods. No more weird behavior. Allen was her son, and she’d get him back. They’d be happy again. These are all she could think of at that moment.

56. 2 A.M., Again

“You’re done eating dinner in your room, you hear me?” Betsy said through Allen’s door. “No more woods, either. I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but it ends tonight. I’m worried about you.” Her voice cracked during the last sentence.

There was no response. Until 2 A.M. rolled around, and Allen got out of bed. Betsy heard him walk down the stairs, and she followed, footsteps soft in the night. It was so quiet she could hear the clock tick tock all around her.

57. Trance

Allen turned off the nightlights as he went downstairs, plunging the old mansion into darkness. The creaking of the wooden stairs echoed through the silence, and Betsy’s heart raced as she followed him, feeling an eerie presence in the shadows. She couldn’t fathom why he’d prefer such obscurity in the dimly lit house.

He moved ahead, seemingly oblivious to her presence, as if he was in a trance, guided by an unseen force. Betsy’s senses were on edge, an unsettling feeling of impending dread enveloping her, making her question the nature of the journey they were about to embark on within the enigmatic mansion.

58. 2:02 A.M.

“That was what the oven clock read.” Betsy watched her son walk into the kitchen. She frowned, her maternal instincts ready to spring into action if he expressed a desire to venture into the woods at such a late hour.  Her concern deepened as she observed this unusual behavior. “It’s alright,” he called softly out the door, his tone strangely calm and reassuring.

Betsy’s mind raced with questions, and she couldn’t help but wonder what her son was responding to and why he was offering reassurance in the quiet of the night. It was a mysterious encounter that left her with an uncanny sense of foreboding, a feeling that something unusual was transpiring just beyond the threshold of their home.

59. Step Aside

It was odd to hear that phrase, which sounded so antiquated, come out of her teenage son’s mouth. Betsy exchanged a puzzled glance with Allen, who simply stepped aside, a solemn expression etched on his face.  Betsy gasped. The figure that emerged was a spectral woman, shrouded in an ethereal glow, her appearance both haunting and mesmerizing.

“Who are you?” Betsy finally managed to ask, her voice quivering with a mix of curiosity and fear. The spectral woman regarded her with a mysterious smile. “I am the guardian of the woods,” she replied, her voice as ancient as the trees themselves. “And your son, Allen, has been chosen to fulfill a destiny that has been foretold for generations.”