Ridgewood Town

Chapter 13

Sophia

June 27

Saturday; 8:12

The moonlight shone over the trees, creating bizarre shadows. The stars glimmer strangely like casting spells and curses. The wind grew wild; getting colder and creeping into the skin like ice. The sound of twigs snapping and rustling of leaves travels around the woods. Three shadows ran fast as their footsteps hit the dry land loudly. They were panting, shouting in whispers as they hid from the moonlight.

“Are they still following us?” a woman in the group asked as she slowed her pace to look behind her back. Her hair was messily tucked in a bun. Her eyes shine as the moon lights on her.

“Mallory, stop looking around and just focus!” a man hissed and grabbed her hand. They ran at a pace, hand in hand, like they were afraid to let go.

“Nathan is right. Just focus on running, we need to get out of this town,” said the other man who was now running behind them. He stares at the two hands holding each other. Pain flashed in his eyes but he ignored it.

“Ethan, run faster!” Nathan called out as he pulled Mallory closer to him.

When they arrived at the lakeshore, the two men headed to the dugout canoe hidden under a pile of leaves while Mallory ran around to check the perimeter. All three were hoping nobody would see them. Despite knowing there is no easy way to get out of Ridgewood Town, all they could do now is hope. They should find where all this started. It's the only way out.

They never wanted to know nor ever wanted to know but it happened. The secrets behind the deaths and the missing people were discovered by them in secret. Mallory holds the pendant of her necklace. She was praying, hoping they could get out of the town safely.

“Mallory?” a hand brushes her shoulder, making her scream. The world seemed to stop when she realized what she had done. Etthan was dumbfounded to even speak as they stared at each other. In a few seconds, they ran fast to help the other men pull the canoe to the lake. They rode the canoe and started rowing forward.

“What the hell were you thinking? Screaming like you wanted them to find out.” Nathan asked her as he hit her head with the flashlight he was holding. He was never gentle, yet the woman clung to him. It irritates Ethan more.

“You’re hurting her.” Ethan said calmly, despite the rage he was holding. The two men stared angrily at each other.

“What is that?” Mallory asked, distracting them from lashing at each other.

The two men looked at what was ahead of them. The body of water halted when a huge wall was there, standing tall.

Flashes of lights suddenly came from above. Drones were flying, as guns were pointed at them from the sides.

A deep laugh echoed and when they looked at where it came from, it was from someone beside them.

“No one gets out of Ridgewood Town. No one!” says one of them. The person was smiling, pointing the g*n at them.

He saw it all. He saw it in the woods, under the moonlight. And he, too, was gone.

“What the hell is she posting now? I bet she’s supposed to post it on her writing account?” Laughter echoes in my room as Jean reads Ana’s latest post on her page.

“She really hit her head hard,” he chuckles as he rolls around the floor laughing. Peyton seemed to forget that Coover was right beside him all along. Ana is Coover’s friend after all. And she’s just living beside my house. She could hear what we were saying about her, I'm sure of it.

“I’ll ask her later,” Coover said, but a hint of laughter in his voice was visible. Now, I couldn’t hide my smile either.

“But doesn’t it sound scary? Like she knows something we don’t,” I said, voicing out the thought that was circulating in my mind. Jean, who had now composed herself, patted my head.

“You know what, Sophia? Ana loves attention. I’ve been her friend before, so I know her more than Coover does. I’m betting Peyton that what she posted was a lie," she said, easing my worries away.

Peyton, who heard what Jean said, rose from lying on the floor to hit Jean with the thing he first grabbed; Coover’s hand. Jean burst out laughing once again.

“You’re really going all out and not scared of getting caught,” said Jean, teasingly smiling at the hand holding each other. A smile escapes my lips too. And with the teasing, Coover tried to grab his hand back but Peyton's hold was tight.

“Oh. Sorry!” Peyton immediately lied. I saw him smirk when he tightly held Coover’s hand. Now I know that he was really into Coover after all and not into Ana. They make a cute couple.

“Alright, love birds, time to focus on things in our hands. Well, not on what Peyton loves to hold at the moment,” another teasing laugh echoes in my room.

Knock! Knock!

A series of knocks came from outside my door. The door came ajar and my mom was holding a tray of cookies, a plate of pizza, and a jug of cucumber juice. Another cup of warm milk was on the other side. She was smiling at us as she greeted everyone.

Two days ago, my parents went home and found that I had been sent to the hospital. I don’t know what they told them but they were so worried about me. When we went home, Ana was on our porch. She lied about finding me falling out of my window. She told them it was an accident and I slipped accidentally out of my window. And that she helped me get to the hospital after the accident. Her story wasn’t convincing, but Dad was the first one to believe her story. And now they have allowed me to have friends once again. They were so indulged that I became suspicious. My room wasn’t locked anymore. I’m feeling the freedom I had once again.

“Thank you, Mrs. Chase.” Coover stands and helps mom with the snacks.

“I should be the one thanking you for staying with Sophia. Why is Ana not with you, by the way? I haven’t thanked her enough for saving my daughter’s life," Mom said as she gave them a warm smile.

“She helped Sophia?” Jean asked, as she was about to laugh again. Before Mom could answer her, Dad called her from outside asking for help. She smiled at us once again and went out. The laughter Jean has been holding up bursts.

“She really dug herself out of the mess like we told her.”

“Well, she helped Sophia in a way. Right?” Coover asked, whispering. He seems shy and uncomfortable.

“But why is Ana not here anyway? If you’d like, I can call-“

“No.” Jean stopped me as I was about to give Ana a call. “We shouldn’t trust her that much. Have you read her post?”

The way she wrote that story was mysterious itself. Three people were planning to get out of Ridgewood Town and got caught. Who were they? And the one who witnessed it all was now gone. Who is he?

“It wasn’t Luis, right?” my voice almost broke as the words came out.

“You believe that post?” Peyton raised a brow.

“Ana never really posts anything like that. The way the post was written, that wasn’t the way she writes. Don’t you think her account was hacked?”

Everyone kept quiet after Coover’s question. We stared at the snacks in front of us, thinking deeply about what Ana posted.

“Hey, guys!” a cheerful voice called out from the window, distracting us from thinking. There she leans on her bedroom door once again. The bump on her head is now gone and she can smile cheerfully once again.

“Hey, Ana!” I smiled at her too as I walked to my window.

“What are you guys into? You seem to focus on snacks too much," she said, eying at the food.

“We’re actually talking about your post," I answered.

Her forehead creases in an instant. “What post are we talking about?”

“The one you posted last night,” Jean answered as she leaned on my window. Ana fishes her phone from her pocket. She was tapping and scrolling in haste and after a few seconds she was screaming as her eyes widened.

“I didn’t post anything like this!” She was jumping and seemed scared and annoyed. “Coover, I can’t open my page!” she calls out. Coover was fast at running beside me.

“What do you mean it was hacked?” he asked, his face painted with worry.

Ana shows the screen on her phone but we barely see anything from the distance. “I deleted it after what happened to Sofia because I felt bad about what I did. But look, now it’s back. And it even posted something! I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Why will we trust you?” Jean nonchalantly asked.

“Because I’m telling the truth. I’ve reflected on my mistakes. I even deleted my page. Please, believe me, it wasn’t me." She clasped her hand like she was praying as she pleaded for her innocence.

“We believe you. Stop screaming now. My parents might hear you.” I motioned her to come into my room.

“Do I jump to your window?” I felt dumbfounded by her question that I wasn’t able to answer her. I looked at her face but she looked like she was ready to jump any moment.

“What? Are you an i***t? They have this front door to use, you know?” Jean sarcastically answered. Ana just nods and walks. In a few minutes, I heard our doorbell ring and Ana was escorted into my room afterwards. She handed her phone to Coover as she continued to cry. I can only console her by hugging her. Jean wears her headphones and ignores her completely. I think they really had something in the past that was big enough that they hated each other.

“I can see what I can do with your account, Ana. I’ll talk to Dad about how it has been hacked so he can explain on your behalf.”

“I’ll tell Dad too.” Jean removed one of her earphones. “He might sue you for scaring the public.”

“Thank you for believing me. I swear it wasn’t me,” she said with her voice pleading.

A soft ding was heard.

“The page posted something again.” Peyton handed his phone to Ana. Ana looks at us once again before getting the phone.

“I swear it wasn’t me. I was here with you when it was posted. And my phone was with Coover.”

“The post seems to be warning someone.” Jean handed me her phone.

It was different from the last one. They posted a warning that I know was addressed to me.

The eye sees everything. The woods can hear. The water can see.

Don’t seek what has been hidden. They see you. They hear you.

Run when you can. Hide when needed. Don’t trust anyone in this town.

So, it wasn’t Ana that has been following me all along, but there was another person. It was another person but who?

I stared at the four people with me. I can’t read any emotions in Jean’s face. Peyton was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling as he was thinking deeply. Coover was tapping something on Ana’s phone. Ana was wiping her tears beside me. The story was posted. Was it true? Or was it a warning too? A warning… from whom?