Chapter 1

Elise walked at her usual leisurely pace, unconcerned about being late to school, that was until she saw the woman. Her clothes were disheveled, and her skin looked oddly pale, but it was the stillness that was wrong. People moved. Even when standing, they shifted, adjusted their weight from one foot to the other. This woman didn't. As Elise passed, the woman's head turned sharply, and her milky eyes locked onto hers. A flicker of unease passed through her, but she shook it off and kept walking.

Cedar Hollow High School stood at the heart of the quiet small town, where life was stagnant but the drama was anything but. 

As Elise pushed open the creaking double doors, the smell of cheap perfume, heightened hormones, sweat and cafeteria food assaulted her senses. Students milled about the hallway in cliques that seemed permanently etched into the walls of the building. 

To her right, a group of buff boys clad in football jackets crowded around one locker, roaring loudly with laughter as Devon displayed his latest 'most definitely inappropriate' achievement on his phone. She rolled her eye, painfully landing it on a couple, that was pressed into the shadowed corner near the janitor's closet, locked in a tight embrace that left little to the imagination. She turned away quickly only to see another group gathered near the water fountain. A boy with bright green streaks in his hair and a studded leather jacket gestured wildly as he recounted a story, his voice laced with expletives and exaggerated bravado. His audience, half-amused, half-bored, nodded in unison like puppets on strings.

And then she saw her.

Amari with her perfect smile, her perfect symmetrical face, her perfect grades and her perfect life. 

Her former best friend stood near the vending machines with her new group of friends, laughing together animatedly. 

Elise chest tightened, the old wound threatening to burst open, but she refused to let it, without breaking her stride, she turned her gaze sharply towards the door, her chest pounding in her ears.

The shrill sound of the bell reverberated down the hallway just as she reached her classroom door. A few stragglers sprinted past her, desperate to avoid another tardy mark, but she walked in with assuredly. Sliding into her seat at the back, she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

All too soon the door creaked open again, and Amari walked in with her throng of friends. Elise had forgotten they had this class together. Their voices were loud, unbothered and brimming with the easy confidence of people that knew they were being watched, admired and looked up too. Elise didn't look up right away, but she couldn't help catching fragments of their conversations as their voices were really loud.

"…the eyes, somewhat milky. And he was just standing there, not moving at all. It was genuinely so creepy!" A voice that sounded like that of Isla said, her voice dripping with a mix of curiosity and unease.

Ivy chimed in, laughing nervously, "Yeah, but it's probably just some old people thing, right? Like cataracts or whatever?" It sounded like she was asking for assurance, rather than asking about the situation.

"Old people just don't freeze like statues," Amari sharp voice answered, it was unmistakable. "It's something else."

Elise stomach twisted. She thought about the woman she encountered that morning. The strange woman was old too, and she wondered if there was a strange disease that was specifically targeting old people. Elise felt a strange unease settling deeper into her chest, like cold water filling her lungs.

When the bell rang for lunch, she slipped out of her chair with her backpack slung low over her shoulder. She didn't bother going to the cafeteria, instead she walked assuredly towards the staff's office near the back door. She looked around trying to check if there was anyone around to see her as she silently slipped out through the back door. 

All too soon she was at the edge of the forest that surrounded the school and was not surprised to see Marlowe. 

Marlowe was a friend she made after Amari and her suffocating betrayal, they met on a random day in a tattoo shop and bonded almost immediately over their shared distaste for the suffocating halls of Cedar Hollow High and the more infuriating people it contained. They didn't talk much, but their silent partnership had become a ritual.

The two slipped into the woods behind the school. The canopy of branches above them was dense, filtering the sunlight into patches of gold on the forest floor. The woods were their shortcut to town, a way to escape without being different.

It was her sanctuary, she loved the silent walks to the towns, the noises the animal hooves made as they ran over the forest floor. 

But today, the woods felt different.

It felt threatening.

Elise shivered despite the mild weather, her eyes darting to the shadows between the trees. She spotted movement in the distance, a dark figure, shuffling awkwardly through the underbrush. Her breath hitched, her pulse quickening.

"Did you see that?" She hissed, grabbing Marlowe's arm.

"What?" She asked, stopping reluctantly.

"That!" She pointed towards where she saw the figure. "Something's in there."

Marlowe squinted into the trees, then rolled she rolled her eyes. "You're such a chicken. It's probably just an injured deer or something."

"It didn't look like a deer…" she murmured, her voice trailing off.

"Come on," Marlowe replied, tugging her forward. "People are probably just getting into the Halloween spirit. I can promise you it's most definitely Callum trying to play a prank on us. We are not the only ones sneaking out. Relax."

Elise wasn't assured, she just couldn't shake the chill crawling up her spine no matter how she tried. "Have you heard about the… weird stuff people are seeing?" She asked Marlowe hesitantly, hurt by the fact that she was called a chicken and trying to avoid being called one again.

"Ugh, you're buying into that?" Marlowe scoffed, quickening her pace. "It's just small-town gossip. There is literally nothing better to do around here. And I'm sure it's someone or some 'people' trying to get into their Halloween spirit. It's such a shame everyone is going with the same theme this year."

Marlowe turned to face Elise, grinning mischievously, a challenge lighting her eyes. "Race you to the end of the woods!"

Before Elise could argue, Marlowe took off, laughing as she weaved between the trees. The low hanging branches slapping her unforgivingly didn't deter her one bit as she ran like the track star she was.

"Wait!" Elise called after her, glancing nervously back at the trees. She tried to see the figure again, confirming what Marlowe said but the figure was long gone now, but the memory of its shuffling movement kept her feet rooted for a moment too long.

Marlowe's laughter echoed through the woods, growing fainter. The idea of being left behind sent a surge of panic through Elise's chest. She bolted after her.

The wind rushed past her, tangling her hair and slapping her ears with a relentless rhythm. Her face burned from the exertion, and her heart pounded heavily. Leaves crunched beneath her sneakers, and branches clawed at her sleeves, but she didn't slow down.

The forest blurred around her, streaks of brown and green as she pushed herself to catch up. The laughter grew louder, closer, and she felt a flicker of relief, until they burst out of the woods and into the open.

The town stretched before them, but it wasn't the quiet, sleepy place they'd expected.

Cars were stopped haphazardly in the streets, their doors flung open. People were running, some screaming. Elise froze, her chest heaving as Marlowe skidded to a halt beside her.

"What the hell is going on?" 

Elise didn't answer. 

She had no idea either.

Her eyes were locked on the chaos unraveling before her, the uneasy feeling from the morning finally boiling over into cold, unrelenting dread.

And then, somewhere behind them, came the sound of branches snapping.