The Purgatory Creek Diaries

June 3

Today I went to the clearing. I skipped out on 4th period to be able to get there with enough time to explore in the daylight and not be caught by my parents or anyone else. They aren’t going to be happy to learn that I left school early, but I’ll figure out an excuse later. The bag I packed was still in the car where I left it, I was relieved that it wasn’t found. I immediately unlocked the car and slipped into the driver’s seat since I grabbed the spare key in the morning before school so I could leave right away once I got to my house without causing a delay due to looking for the keys or anything else I might need.

As I approached the entrance to the dirt trail, I felt a surge of fear. I had to fight the urge to turn the car around and go home, the unknown in this case is scary because no one knows if this is a one-time event or merely the beginning of something bigger. If it’s only the beginning nothing good would come from me recklessly rushing in and possibly becoming a victim myself. Despite my fear, I turned the car down that narrow path and made my way to the clearing. Branches from the nearby trees and bushes nearly touched my car as I slowly rolled along and I prayed I didn’t get any scratches or damage that my parents would notice. Finally, I pulled into the clearing after what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only about 10 minutes or so. The clearing is large with trees hanging over the wide opening, a fire pit in the middle, a large rock pile off to one side, and surrounded by densely packed trees. It’s both beautiful and eerie. Its far enough from civilization to not alert anyone no matter how loud the parties were; no doubt this is the exact reason for its desirability. After parking the car and pocketing the keys I began to walk around and look for anything that could offer me a clue as to what happened to Erica. It was surprisingly clear of trash and other abandoned objects; I later found a large metal bin someone brought to be used as a trash can which seemed rather thoughtful for a partying crowd. Exploring further I noticed some items stashed in openings in the rocks, it was mostly half full alcohol bottles and some baggies of stuff; none of it surprising and not what I was looking for.

As I was snooping around the rock pile I heard someone say my name from behind me. I jumped from being startled and turned to find one of my classmates emerging from the woods. It was Adrien, we have astronomy together 2nd period and he’s also a member of the new family in town. At first, we just stared at each other once he entered the clearing and didn’t immediately start talking, I think he was surprised to see me there as it’s not my normal hang out. He has a peculiar eye color, and it causes me to stare at him every time our eyes meet at school or when I see him outside of school. They’re that interesting shade of brown that almost looks gold, like a dog or wolf’s eye, and they seem to almost glow in the way they catch the light. I don’t know much about his family since they’re new to the area and mostly keep to themselves, I’ve also never spoken to him before. He belongs to the clique of jocks and preppy kids, and I mostly just keep to myself.

After staring for a few moments he breaks eye contact, laughs softly, and begins walking over to me. I find it hard to breathe because the hot jock boys never talk to me, but maybe it’s because we were alone in the clearing with no one to witness our interaction that he felt comfortable approaching me. As he got closer, he asked me why I wasn’t still in school and I told him I didn’t feel like staying the whole day and wanted to be alone somewhere quiet for a while. He chuckled softly and seemed to nod in approval, which is really the only appropriate response since he was apparently skipping out on the last period of the day as well. I was surprised when he told me he was sorry to hear something bad happened to my friend, that it must be hard for me, and he understands why I would want to come to the last place she was seen alive. He went on to say that being here likely helps me to feel closer to her. He’s not entirely wrong in his assessment, but I’ll never admit that to him and I don’t want him knowing what I’m up to – at least not right now. The rest of the conversation was mostly talking about school and the town, frankly it was fairly boring and I started to wonder why so many girls fawned over guys like this. He finally caught my attention when he started talking about why his family moved to Purgatory Creek. Apparently, his brother got into some trouble with a girl where they previously lived and they needed to move to get away from the drama. He never said anything specific about what happened, but my gut feeling was that it had to be pretty bad for them to completely uproot their lives and move to the middle of nowhere. When I asked where he moved from he just shrugged and said it was just some small town in Wisconsin I’d likely never heard of and then he abruptly said he needed to go. I’m guessing it was because he didn’t want me asking too many questions. As I watched him walk off into the woods a greater uneasiness settled into me. Why is he disappearing off into the woods in the direction opposite of town? There are no roads out in that direction and I’m pretty sure that’s the direction Erica went the last time she was in the clearing. 

After debating the idea for a while and shifting back and forth on my feet I decided to follow him and see if I could find out where he was going. I kept a good distance between us so he wouldn’t see me following him and was mindful to pay attention to landmarks and direction so I could find my way back. He kept on going through the woods, never stopping and I started to notice the light was fading. It always gets dark quickly in the woods due to the tree cover even though it’s still plenty bright outside of the trees. I stopped and looked around at everything to take in the scenery and get my bearings. Aside from the setting sun the forest looks and feels timeless, like a living time capsule. When I looked back to find Adrien he was gone. I’ve managed to keep him in sight for the whole walk so far and now he just vanished… I got spooked and decided to head back. By the time I made it back to the car it was almost too dark to see much in the woods and I was grateful to get back when I did. I had a flashlight in my bag, but I forgot to grab it before heading into the woods early. I’ll have to be mindful in the future to not make that mistake again. I would’ve been in hot water if I had gotten lost, at least with the bag I packed I would’ve had some supplies and things to survive for a couple days if I did get lost.

I managed to make it home before my parents and hurriedly parked the car and entered the house. I keep thinking about how quickly Adrien disappeared and oddly enough he never made a single sound the whole time we were walking in the woods… there were sticks and things everywhere, who can be that quiet and get away that quickly? The visit to the clearing today has given me more questions than answers and I hope I’m able to find the truth of what happened out there soon. I’ve decided to keep the bag packed and in the car so it’s ready at a moment’s notice. I have a feeling this won’t be my only trip into those woods to look for answers and I need to be better prepared for future explorations.