Watchers - Chapter One

Watchers

Chapter One

The boys, no older than fifteen, had wondered too far. The thrill of walking through a graveyard was always too much for the younger ones of the town, but they never stayed within the confines of the cemetery wall. The garden was large, the house was small, and the old lady who inhabited the old vicarage never strayed outside to stop them. She stayed in her living room, surrounded by clutter that kept her safe. The children of Littlebridge knew this, and ran amok through her garden. Though there was nothing they could damage as Lydia no longer tended the grounds. No one did. The grass had long ago grown too tall, it was now tall streams of golden hay, and to walk through it would be impossible.

“What’s over there?” One of the boys called.

Far beyond the cemetery, and ruins of the old church, sat a forest. It was thick with growth and brush, making it almost night inside. The voices called in a whisper, only carried over in the gentle breeze that whipped around them. One of the boys heard the whispers, an enticing voice beckoning him to come and see.

“There’s something over there,” he shouted to his friends, and ran off.

His two remaining friends watched on as he ran ahead. The wind picked up, and bellowed towards them, they too heard the voices and ran to investigate. Standing at the edge of the woods, they stared off into the darkness just wondering what was in there.

Ben watched on from the sunlight strewn deck of the house. The boys were too close and he knew there was nothing he could do. They were not his to take care of.

The boys were nervous, the darkness held some eeriness that made their hair stand on end. They looked at each other, egging each other to go first. But, none would. The wind picked up again, the voices turned from gentle whispers to shrill screams. It was that time of day where the sun was moving around the trees causing the shadows cast to move. Ben watched the darkness glide around like the hands on a clock, each second the boys stood still the shadows moved closer and closer, until the silhouetted of the tall Oaks engulfed them one by one. Once they were out of the sunlight it didn’t take long for their silence to become screams of pain and horror.

All Ben could do was turn his back and try to block out the noise, though it didn’t last long, it never did. When he turned back the boys were gone. Every trace of them had disappeared just like their calls for help. They were gone now, and they would not be coming back, and still there was nothing anyone could do. Ben sat on the top step, watching the trees dance and sway in the wind. Tonight would be a dark night, and that was not a good thing.