Chapter 11
ELEVEN
AIDEN
Why did I have to volunteer to chaperone Parents’ Night?
Well, no. I didn’t volunteer as much as I was volun-told to do it. When Principal Morris needed someone to supervise tonight’s events, make sure all the parents were settled, wait until the school was empty, and lock up after, I didn’t immediately jump to my feet to do the task. Instead, he just stared at me, as one-by-one each teacher gave an excuse as to why they couldn’t, leaving only me.
“Aiden can do it, right?”
“Aiden, of course you wouldn’t mind.”
“That’s the sort of thing Aiden does.”
So, like the weak sniveling idiot I am, I agreed.
“Sure, it’s no hassle.”
“I’d love to.”
“Count me in.”
As I lock up the front door of the school, shivering at the icy cold breeze that nips my skin, I curse myself again for being so stupid. Not even stupid but completely fucking spineless. Just like with everything in my life, I get no say. I’m just here, meandering along my life, waiting for someone to wind up the crank in my back so I can clap for them.
You’re pathetic, Aiden.
The lock is a bit tricky, and my glove-covered fingers fumble to try and loop the final chain around the fence. It doesn’t help that the street lights seem to have dimmed since I came out here, just a trick of the light the falling snow causes. My breaths are coming out in puffy clouds the longer I try to get this lock on, and I’m growing frustrated. Fuck everyone for making me do this. Fuck myself for not standing up for what I wanted. I was supposed to put fliers up after school to try and find Zeus today, so now I have to spend another day without my best friend.
Why don’t you just end it, Aiden?
My fingers move faster, almost as if they’re being chased. Rushing to escape my own thoughts. I need to knit and put on my favorite show, snuggle under the blankets and eat some cookies. I’ll feel better once I’m showered and in my favorite pajamas.
Finally, I get the lock to click into place, sighing in relief as I take a step back. My fingers feel numb and like they’re going to fall off as I take my car keys out of my pocket. I had to park a bit down the road tonight, so I pick up my backpack and start the trek, but I’m not scared.
Nothing ever happens in this town. Juniper Ridge is a tiny island located just off the coast of Juneau near Sitka. It was founded by a bunch of rich people that I guess wanted a place to gather like-minded individuals and all be wealthy together. Not many people come to visit because there’s nothing much to see besides gated communities and wilderness. Because of that, our crime rate is startlingly low, save for the couple of people each year that go missing in the thick forest that covers most of this island.
I see my car at the end of the deserted road but falter for a split second when the street light illuminating it goes out. I’m not scared just… wary of the dark. There’s a reason there are plenty of adult night lights in my home. I’d rather bask in the sunlight than be trapped in dark corners, unable to see, unable to breathe, unable to?—
“Don’t cry, Aiden. It’s okay.”
My breath hitches when I hear a crunch just off to the side. I turn my head quickly but there’s nothing there. Nothing but black emptiness in the clearing staring back at me. Still, I stop. My fight or flight is nonexistent. When faced with imminent danger, it’s like my bodily instincts aren’t wired for self-preservation. I’ve never been a brave or particularly strong person. The only things I fight are within myself but even then, every day is a losing battle.
The shadows seem to move in front of me, taking on a form I don’t know. Almost like a chilling ghost haunting the British moors. Darkness breeds more darkness, and it’s all just a trick of the light.
I still don’t move.
I start to shiver and not because of the cold. It’s like all my senses are heightened. I can feel the crunch of the ground underneath my feet, the whistling in the silent air in my ears, the taste of dread on my lips.
I feel so very small and so very vulnerable—weak—but not like I’m used to feeling. This is more predatory as if I’m a small rabbit being hunted by a mountain lion. Like I’m a fish itching to get caught, swimming itself into an early grave.
Something in the darkness twitches. Like a static that fills my vision, startling me back to myself. I feel the invisible arms of something otherworldly wrap around me, urging me to join the darkness, fall off the cliff I know is just a few feet away past the clearing.
Do it, Aiden.
Just one jump.
“Fuck,” I mumble under my breath, uneasiness pooling in my gut as I realize what I’m doing. “I’m going fucking crazy.”
I shake my head, wiping my sniffling nose as I high tail it to my car. Shower, pajamas, knitting, and cookies. That’s what I need. I smile, breaking my face in an unusual and unnatural grin, trying to bat away all the negativity and daunting pressure I feel push down on my shoulders.
Once I get into my car, I don’t feel safe anymore. I feel watched. Like something is tip-toeing its slithering figure toward me, the long unnaturally contorted limbs of a beast clawing through the earth to get to me. A wicked and inhuman grin dripping from its maw.
I’m tempted to slap some sense into myself. This is why I don’t like being alone in the dark. It’s too easy to let my mind wander to the stuff of nightmares. Nightmares I don’t need.
Not when I’ve lived my own and barely survived.