Authors: Colin Griffiths
It was pitch black as she drove into the lane deeper into the woods, her heart in her mouth, her hands shaking on the wheel, the rain still poured but at least the ground didn’t seem so sodden, it wasn’t cascading like a river, she couldn’t see ahead of her now, the road seemed to have disappeared, she stopped the car, her headlights appeared to be shining into the trees, she thought she might be safe here, she killed the engine, took a sip of the bottle of water that she had brought, she would have to wait, sit out the storm and access the situation when daylight came, she cursed and with a tear in her eye she settled down in her drivers seat for what was going to be a long evening.
‘Why is dad out in this weather’ asked Lily as she looked out of the window watching the storm, as she said it the sky lit up and the thunder clapped, Nathan was sat on the sofa, trying to drown the noise of the storm by putting his hands over his ears, it brought back to many memories for all of them.
Eileen didn’t answer instead she went into the kitchen and clicked the kettle on, Nathan curled on the sofa, still with his hands over his ears, Eileen felt for him, Lily wanted him to man up.
‘Want a cup of tea’ Eileen asked Lily, Lily had followed her into the kitchen, ignoring the offer of tea,
‘Well’ she said ‘where is he?’ the look on her face was demanding, Eileen noticed it, put her hand on her shoulder, she glanced into the living room to make sure Nathan could not hear, he was still lying there with his ears covered, Eileen’s face frowned.
‘MAM!’
‘He’s gone with the car lot man to look at what happens to the woods during the storm’ the look on her face told Lily she was concerned,
Lily thought about it for a moment, she didn’t like her dad being out there, she wanted to be there with him, she felt safe with him,
‘He’s an idiot’ she said as the door knocked, Lily and Eileen looked at each other wondering who could be knocking at the door in this weather, they both walked to open the door,
‘Fancy some company’ said Rebecca, she was stood there with Ivy and Samuel, they had only come from next door but they looked soaked, Eileen was pleased to see them and to have some company instead of fretting about her husband on her own, she ushered them in, Samuel went into the living room to join Nathan, he seemed pleased to see him, Eileen grabbed the wine and held it up for Rebecca to see, she smiled and nodded in agreement, Lily and Ivy went upstairs to Lily’s bedroom, they sat on the bed, Lily came straight to the point,
‘My dad’s gone out to see what happens during the storm, he’s trying to find a way out’ she said in a disapproving manner,
Ivy’s eyes widened ‘it’s dangerous out there in the storm’
‘I know’ said Lily that’s why I’m sneaking out to see where he is, do you fancy it?’ she asked Ivy
‘You bet’ answered Ivy without giving it a moment’s thought’
‘It could be dangerous’ Lily told her,
Again without a moment’s thought Ivy answered,
‘Can’t be worse then what I’ve got coming for me’ and Lily thought she was probably right,
They grabbed some coats out of Lily’s wardrobe, 10 minutes later, with the two boys playing games in the living room and the two mothers sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of red, Lily and Ivy found themselves out on the streets in the pouring rain, fearless and determined.
The two men chained to the fence could feel the wind picking up and the trees shaking as if they were going to up root themselves, the two men glanced at each other and embraced themselves, hoping beyond hope they would find some sort of answer to the fate of Underwood, then they saw something that they never thought they would see, the landscape around Underwood, the landscape that consisted of only trees began to move, slowly at first, it reminded them of a merry go round, they were stood in the middle as the apparatus spun, but they weren’t in the middle, they were close to the edge, they just hoped the chains would keep them there.
The chains were around their waist and were strong and sturdy, but both Tony and Peter could feel the force behind them, as the storm tried to push them into the tree’s, the chains were digging into them, the keys were left in the padlocks in case they had to open them quickly, but neither man would do that, neither wanted to head into the trees, it was far more powerful than they ever imagined, it was then that Peter believed that this place was not of this earth, there was no feeling like this when he entered Underwood, they had just woken up and there it was, he prayed there was no one on the other side tonight.
Lily and Ivy were walking up Waltwood, at that moment a fair distance away from the trees, but they could feel the wind as they struggled to walk, they grasped each other’s hands tightly as they proceeded, then they could see the trees in the distance start to move and for a moment the two girls stood still in fear as the trees picked up speed and the wind grew stronger, pulling them, pulling them towards the trees, just ahead of them they could see a house with a brick wall at the side, they forced themselves against the wind and manage to snuggle up against the wall, it sheltered them considerably against the wind and both girls gasped a sigh of relief, they huddled together, there body’s soaked to the skin.
‘We wait for it to calm a bit, then we go on’ said Ivy,
‘Thank you’ replied Lily, they huddled closer together,
‘About time this place found a bit of bollacks’ Ivy said and both girls laughed until the tears mixed with the rain.
Meanwhile Steve Duce was sat in his home in Elm, his mini bus parked up outside his home, he would stay awake during the storm. For he knew as soon as it was over, it was his job to pick up whatever it was the storm may have brought, when he did pick people up, a lot of the time they were glad to see him, but they had been caught in the storm and was not aware of their destiny, it was just his job to deliver them to that destiny, it was a good job, he sort of liked it, and he liked the No.64 bus that went with it, he hoped there would be a new resident today, it always made the new sheriff happy and he would always be well rewarded, he loved the summer storms, they were the best, there would be no homemade beer for him tonight, he had to remain sober and as he puffed on his cigarette he sat back in his armchair and thought of his rewards.
Delyn Brown closed her eyes and tried to doze, she had tried her phone again but the signal was completely lost, she didn’t want to look into the trees that surrounded her, she wondered if there any predators in there, she shivered as she quickly took the thought from her mind, she couldn’t remember being this scared before, she wasn’t sure whether she could reverse back down the road when it became daylight, if she couldn’t her plan was to walk down until she found a signal, then she would call her dad, her dad will help her.
As she sat in her seat with her eyes closed, the rain beating on the car felt soothing as she fell into a restless sleep.
The trees were really spinning now almost unrecognisable as trees by both of the men who remained chained to the fence, for in front of them was just a whirl, something either man thought would never happen, Tony had never seen it before and in a sense he wished he wasn’t seeing it now, as the suction from the trees was pulling at his body as the chains dug deeper, he clung to the fence with his fingers seeking extra support, he hoped it wouldn’t last to long for the chains would break his ribs, he never knew it was going to be like this, he thought about the powerful entity they were taking on, there was no going back now.
Peter dug his foot into the ground trying for extra support as he lay sat against the fence next to Tony, he had never seen a phenomenon like this and had no idea what was about to happen, looking at the trees spinning was making him feel sick, he tried to look at the ground in front of him as he dug his feet in further and the rain pelted him, then he heard a crack, Tony heard it to and looked towards Peter, both men looked at the fencing Peter was chained to, it was coming away from the concrete post such was the suction, panic rose on both men’s faces as the fence holding Peter started to break away.
Peter only had one choice, the fence wasn’t going to hold him and he didn’t want that fence chained to him, he found the padlock and released the chain from around his body, and at that moment he wished he had said his goodbyes and told his family how much he loved them, the next thing he felt was being lifted off the ground and hurling towards the trees, Tony just looked as his new friend disappeared, it had all gone wrong so badly wrong, he gripped the fence tighter hoping he wouldn’t suffer the same fate.
Lily and Ivy sat huddled against the wall, they were some distance away from the trees and the walls was still protecting them from the wind, which now seemed to be easing as the rain became lesser, once they were sure that the worst of the storm had gone, they would continue to the top of the estate to find Lily’s dad.
They held hands tightly, two people from two different worlds bonded in a moment of terror, and a friendship that will last a life time, however long that life was.
Delyn didn’t know how long she had slept or if she slept at all, it was the morning sunshine shining through the trees that awoke her, for that moment it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, as she looked out of the car windows, she could see no road in front of her or behind her, her head was still in a whirl and she wondered how she managed to drive through the trees, she was hot and sweating as the sun had warmed the inside of the car, dressed in a purple dress that ended above the knee she got out of her car, her sandled feet sunk into the mud, but just in front of her she could see some huts, and that’s where she walked with just a purse and a phone feeling thankful that she was still alive, chastising herself for thinking the worse, upset with herself for missing her best friends hen night, she thought of ways to make it up to her as she walked.
Tony Griffiths had unchained himself from the fence but he had been sat in the same position for a while, his ribs hurt from the pressure of the chain, but he was sure nothing was broken, the landscape had changed but the old army huts still remained in the same place, after a while he stood himself up slowly and carefully, his body had stiffened up, he couldn’t remember ever aching quite as much as he did now, his clothes were surprisingly dry from the morning sun, he started to look around, he started looking for the body of Peter Ford, but he could see no body and his heart sunk as he realised his friend had been taken by the trees, he was thinking of what he could say to his family, both men were sure there was a way out, the theory being that as someone enters then there has to be a way out, the same way they came in, Tony still believed that, he wanted to believe it, he turned to walk to Hawthorne to explain to Peter’s family and was surprised to see two girls stood in front of him,
‘Where’s my dad’ asked Lily, she noticed the look on his face and she didn’t like it’
Tony gave the best answer he could think of as his heart sunk,
‘I think he got out’ he told the girls,
‘That’s impossible’ said Lily gritting her teeth, ‘he would not go without us, now tell me where he is’ she shouted.
‘He wouldn’t leave her’ shouted Ivy and for a brief moment Tony wished he had just stayed in his car lot drinking beer and smoking cigarettes and watched the storm from a distance.
‘I don’t think he meant to’ Tony replied and as he said it he heard the sound of the bus coming up the road, he grabbed both girls and they hid behind the shrubbery in front of the army huts and watched Steve Duce pull up in the No.64 bus and step onto the pavement.
The three people hidden and the driver of the bus watched as the beautiful Delyn Brown emerged from the woods, her clothes now covered in mud, and just one thing went through Tony’s mind, ‘
he got out, he must have got out’
Steve Duce was a bit disappointed to see the young girl, he didn’t want to take another young girl to the sheriff, but he had a job to do.
Delyn was pleased to see the strange man stood beside a mini bus, as she walked towards him she was also pleased to see the houses, it looked a strange place with lots of trees, she realised she must look a mess, and was wondering what the man must think of her walking out of the woods dressed like that, the early morning sun was strong and she was glad of that, it gave her a sense of security as the memories of the storm were slowly diminishing, she smiled as she walked towards him.
‘You can’t let him take her’ whispered Lily to Tony,
Tony didn’t need telling that, he thought the girl looked in her late teens and would immediately be used as a breeding machine, she appeared alone therefor had no family to help her, he was her only chance, Tony whispered something to Lily and ran from behind their cover.
He was at Steve Duce in a second, at this time Tony Griffiths still didn’t know what he was going to do, even as he done it he wasn’t sure it was really him, Steve never saw him coming, Tony could only see one alternative as he put his arm around Steve’s neck and forced him to the ground, Lily and Ivy came running out towards the girl, Lily kicking Steve in the balls before Lily and Ivy grabbed an arm each of Delyn, Delyn screamed in horror or fright, she thought it was probably both,
‘Its ok’ said Lily to Delyn trying to reassure her, ‘he’s a nasty man, he was going to take you, we can’t let that happen’
Delyn let out another scream, she had no idea what the girl was on about, and she tried to struggle free but the two girls held her tight, as if her life depended on it, which it probably did.