K-Hoes

The Weeping Woods

"At exactly 8:00 AM on Monday, be in her office. Don't be late, okay?" the secretary warned sharply as he turned to leave.

Slam!

Jude threw his body against the door, shutting it with a heavy thud. He let out a frustrated breath. "Oh man... Greer, why did you even come here?"

"Bobby came here too," Greer complained, crossing her arms defensively.

The room instantly filled with the sharp tension of argued words as they went back and forth. Amidst the bickering, Bobby’s gaze drifted toward the dark corner of the room. She looked hesitant, as if desperately wanting to step back into the shadows of that spot, but she forced herself to freeze. Arlo caught her tracking the corner and followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Bobby, let's go," Greer said abruptly, grabbing Bobby by the arm and dragging her out into the hallway.

"Bye," Jude muttered dryly, slamming the door behind them. He rubbed his temples, letting out a weary sigh. "These girls..."

Arlo didn't say a word. He just stood there, staring intently at the corner Bobby had been watching.

Meanwhile, at the funeral, the atmosphere was suffocatingly bleak. Anna and her mother stood directly at the front of Charles's grave, their bodies trembling as they sobbed and paid their final respects. The rest of the family gathered in a somber cluster behind them, while Mr. Agreste stood off to the side, his expression unreadable.

At the very back of the crowd stood Cleo, silently watching. Bitter resentment over her uncle’s death burned fiercely inside her, but she kept her face carefully masked in stone-cold indifference.

A few hours later, the crowd began to thin. Guests offered their final condolences to the grieving family before trickling away. His colleagues wished the family the best and quietly excused themselves.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Agreste," Anna's mother said softly, her voice hollow.

He offered a grim nod before turning to leave, his entourage of men flanking him as they stepped into his waiting car.

After a whole day of relentless crying, Anna looked completely lifeless. Her knees buckled, and she slowly sank onto the cold, unforgiving concrete of the chapel floor. Seeing her cousin break down, Cleo walked over and quietly sat beside her. Anna immediately leaned her heavy head onto Cleo’s shoulder.

Watching them from a short distance, Anna's mother felt a sharp pang of sadness. She stared at the two girls, a heavy dread sinking into her chest as she wondered what the future would hold for her daughter.

A week later.

"So, what do you think they'll do to us?" Arlo asked Jude as they walked across campus, meeting up with Bobby and Greer.

"I don't know. Probably make us clean their floors," Jude replied gloomily.

The four of them walked together, heading toward their meeting with Chandler. As they crossed the courtyard, a sleek black car pulled up to the curb. The doors opened, and two girls stepped out—Anna and Cleo. They were finally back.

Cleo’s eyes remained fixed ahead, completely ignoring the group as she kept walking.

"Let's go," Jude muttered, breaking the spell.

Bobby and Greer kept their eyes glued to Cleo's retreating figure before finally turning around to head inside.

"Oh, good morning, children!" Chandler greeted them, a broad, unsettling smile stretching across her face the moment they walked in. "I heard a rumor that you brought girls over to your place."

The group collectively went silent, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Okay," Chandler continued, her smile widening. "Have any of you been to the back of the school?"

They exchanged wary looks.

"No? Well today, children, you are going to be there."

An unexpected spark of excitement rushed through Greer and Bobby. Behind their backs, their fingers subtly brushed together in a secret, thrilled touch. Jude, on the other hand, just rolled his eyes in sheer annoyance.

They followed Chandler out to the rear grounds, Bobby and Greer practically skipping with energy. But the moment they arrived, the girls gasped in unison. "Whoaaa..."

The area was a disaster. Thick, aggressive weeds had completely taken over the courtyard, growing so dense and tall that the path was virtually impassable. They stared at the choked landscape, wondering how many years it had been since this place last saw a baseline cleaning.

A group of groundskeepers marched over, carrying heavy, sharp tools and dropping them with a metallic clang onto the dirt.

"Now, get to work, children," Chandler said, her tone dripping with mock sweetness.

The teenagers weren't surprised, but a collective wave of annoyance washed over them.

"Pick them up," Chandler ordered, turning on her heel. "I don't want to see a single weed left by the end of the day." She walked away, a faint, mocking laugh trailing behind her.

They looked down at the rusted tools. Arlo didn't hesitate; he was the first to pick one up. Without a single word of complaint, he began hacking away at the brush. His movements were fluid, precise, and surprisingly professional. The others watched him in wonder before remembering—he was from the countryside.

Shaking off their surprise, they grabbed their tools and joined him. Greer and Bobby, always loving the novelty of experiencing new things together, giggled and laughed as they swung their blades. Jude was absolutely miserable, his blood boiling at the thought of missing his classes for manual labor.

But as Arlo chopped through the dense foliage, his blade suddenly faltered. He stared down at the severed leaves, a strange familiarity gripping him. He hesitated, his breath catching in his throat.

His eyes widened in pure horror.

The unique shape, the distinct veins... these leaves looked exactly like the ones he had spent hours rendering in his painting.

"STOP! STOP!" Arlo shrieked.

He dropped his tool, collapsing hard onto his knees as a violent sob ripped from his chest. The trio stopped in their tracks, staring at him in utter bewilderment.

"These are people!" Arlo cried out, tears blinding him as he rocked back and forth on the dirt. "We are hurting them!"

Jude and Greer exchanged looks of complete disbelief, shocked by his sudden outburst. Bobby, however, froze. Having a deeper familiarity with the supernatural, a chill ran down her spine—she actually believed him.

"My father..." Arlo choked out, the words dying in his throat as he wept uncontrollably.

In his mind, a horrific memory flashed with violent clarity: a roaring, blinding fire, a woman trapped inside screaming as the flames consumed her, and a man whose flesh hardened, twisted, and rapidly turned into solid wood right before his eyes.

Jude, entirely fed up and annoyed by what he assumed was a mental breakdown, ignored the warning. He raised his tool and went to cut another stalk.

Arlo scrambled to his feet, throwing himself forward to beg Jude to stop. The trio stood paralyzed in the overgrown yard, staring at each other in total confusion, completely blind to the dark secret hidden right beneath their blades.

Arlo lunged forward, grabbing Jude’s wrist just before the sharp edge of the tool could slice into another thick, twisted stem.

"Are you losing your mind, Arlo?" Jude snapped, wrenching his arm free and wiping sweat from his forehead. "They’re just weeds! If we don't finish this, Chandler is going to keep us out here all week."

"They aren't weeds!" Arlo’s voice cracked, tears streaming down his face as he desperately shielded a large, leafy cluster with his own body. "Look at them, Jude! Really look at them. The veins in the leaves... they're bleeding."

Bobby stepped closer, her supernatural instincts kicking in. She knelt beside Arlo, her fingers hovering just above a freshly cut stalk. Instead of clear plant sap, a dark, thick crimson fluid was slowly oozing from the wound, staining the soil. She gasped, dropping her tool. "He's right. Jude, Greer, stop cutting. This isn't normal vegetation."

Greer’s playful mood completely vanished. She shrank back, instinctively reaching for Bobby’s hand. "What do you mean it's not normal? Arlo, what happened to your father?"

Arlo choked back a sob, his mind flashing to the horrific imagery of the fire, the screaming woman, and his father's flesh hardening into rough, agonizing bark. "He changed... they change people into this. If we chop them down, we're killing them."

Jude stared at the bleeding plant, his annoyance instantly warring with a sudden, chilling dread. He looked back toward the school building, realizing why Chandler had sent them to this specific, forgotten corner of the campus. It wasn't a punishment detail. It was a cover-up.