Chapter 4

Chapter 4

~

Devyn’s POV

After School

~

The school was now dismissed. I didn’t get to do anything but that's beside the point. Damon and I decided that we needed to meet together to devise somewhat of a plan.

We texted via the group chat, trying to be as discrete. We were messing with the government after all. For all we know, they could be watching us right now.

In the meantime, as we waited for Ginny’s and Oliver's arrival, Damon and I attempted to figure out where we would meet.

We obviously couldn’t meet in our bedroom. That was not an option for us right now.

We were again swept up, leaving us in thought. Neither of us said anything really, only the occasional greeting to acknowledge that the other was okay. Damon was surprisingly being serious. He knew the situation that we were in.

The room was filled with nothing but silence and the new tension that was built up because of the new form of stress and vivid thought that had taken us.

I was again knocked out of my deep thoughts, as I heard the doorbell ring.

Due to paranoia, I had taken the house key out of the flower pot. It was a bad hiding spot anyways. I could no longer take that chance anymore. Too much was on the line.

I quickly but calmly made my way to the door, Damon following close behind.

I grabbed my keys, Damon took his jacket. We walked right out the door, not saying a word. Everyone knew what the silence meant. They followed.

I honestly didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I needed to get this meeting over and done with. We all needed to know our next move. We needed a strategy that everyone would follow.

As we made our way to a path that led to the forest. It somehow looked familiar to me, yet I don’t remember ever being here. I could feel their somewhat concerned stares boring a hole in my back.

It was beautiful, to say the least. However, we didn’t have the time to admire such beauty.

As we moved we heard the branches creating creaking. We heard our feet shuffling through the detritus, squirrels chattering, leaves rustling, the wind whistling around the tree trunks which were disturbing the leaves.

“Not to be rude or anything, but where the hell are we going. We have been walking for hours” Ginny said, as I turned my head to see that they had stopped walking.

“First of all, it’s been 10 minutes, and secondly I would also like to know that information’’ Oliver said as the eagerness to know something could be seen and heard because of his body language and tone.

“I honestly don’t know,” I said bluntly. I mean there was no point in lying to them at this point.

“Aww, baby, no, that’s not gonna work,” Damon said. “You made me WALK, in the forest with, mind I say BUGS and you don’t know where you're going. For all, you know there are probably serial killers out here. I can’t die yet, I'm only 17”. he continued, now slightly pissed off at me.

“Trust me, please. We don’t have any other choice. What choice do we have”.

“I swear if you waste my time again,” Damon said as they continued to walk.

As we walked a little further we felt the cold air. The cold moves in only to meet the warmth of my blood. I felt it wash over my skin, again and again, only to be met by the beat of my heart.

As I looked up I saw somewhat of a treehouse. It looked as if it had been abandoned. It had a few little stone tiles that led to an old wooden ladder. To its opposite was a little swing tied up by a dirty old piece of string.

I took a step forward, looking up and down at the treehouse we somewhat found. I was about to climb up when I heard Oliver call my name.

“Devyn,” he said.

“What the heck are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!” Oliver continued as his tone changed from concerned to straight-up annoyed by the action.

“ What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going up there”.I said not breaking our gaze.

“Yeah, she’s right. It looks secure and abandoned. What could go wrong? We die? I’m already dead on the inside”. Ginny said as she climbed right up the ladder. I followed close behind her.

As we stepped on it, there were audible creaks and groans as we moved up.

When we got up there. We could see a little wooden table in the middle of the treehouse. Dusty pillows sat on the floor. A dirty curtain hung by the window to stop the sunlight from peeking through. Carvings were engraved on the walls, some of which seemed like they were ciphered and the others looked like someone had been counting down and they abruptly stopped. Books were scattered on the floor as if someone had just laid them there on purpose. They looked as if they were in some type of order. The books formed two slight circles on the floor. They were 13 to be exact.

As we looked back at the entrance, we saw Oliver staring at us.

“Where’s Damon?” I asked with a stoic look planted on my face.

He said he’s not coming up to this death trap and the only way you're going to get him to come into this hell hole is if Draco Malfoy, Arianna Grande, or his dead grandma is up here and we both know that’s not happening” Oliver said slightly dragging his words. I swear it sounded rehearsed. Knowing Damon he probably forced Oliver to learn his dramatic speech word for word.

“Well, he’s coming. Even if I have to drag him up here”. Ginny quickly got up and marched down.

Oliver and I stood there in silence, as we heard screams and yells. We hoped and prayed that Ginny wasn’t murdering our friend.

In about 5 minutes both came up. They looked ‘alive’ to say the least. That was good enough for me. The silence was then broken by Damon who had his arms crossed.

“ So are y’all just gonna sit here and sit here and stay silent or do y’all want me to leave. Unlike you people I now have something to live for”. Damon said, as he slightly started to get up. Ginny then put her hand on his shoulder letting him sit back down.

“If you leave now then the deal is off,” Ginny said, not breaking her gaze with him.

“But-” Damon began pouting as he sat back down.

“ What deal?” Oliver asked the two. Which broke their gaze with one another.

“Oh nothing” Damon started to smirk. ‘ I know exactly what's coming - I thought. “ It's just called mind your goddamn business. Now let's start, shall we?” Damon's smirk was now completely gone from his face.

I tried my best to not laugh. I knew it would make the situation worse, but God was it hard. I began to clear my throat.

“Okay now that we’re ‘All here’ we can begin”. I said looking at Damon who just gave me a nasty glare.

“We found somewhere that's good, right?” I said trying to clear the tension with optimism.

“ Yeah, but we still know nothing. I mean over time we will, we just have to take this one day at a time” Oliver said. I noticed the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. His hair went in his face as he fiddled with his fingers.

‘Since when is Oliver calm’ I thought to myself.

“Alright so, let's start with this treehouse”. Ginny said.

“Yeah, where did it come from. I mean it's perfectly fine to me, and it’s just lying there”. I said.

I honestly don’t think that this is a coincidence. I honestly think we were meant to find it.

It looks like it's been arranged perfectly. I mean come on ciphers, books scattered into two perfect circles on the floor, an ‘abandoned’ treehouse. I’ve watched enough criminal minds with Damon to know that much, and don’t get me started on the mentalist.” Oliver said with a slightly serious expression on his face.

‘Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.’ I said to myself.

“ I agree with Oliver,” Damon said with a stoic face. One of his hands raised and the other down as if he was swearing-in for a Court case.

“Then where do we start,” I said.