The Willow Creek Chronicles- First Impressions Part Three
Well, I’m a little later with this post than I wanted to be, but not by too much! I’m not going to say too much here, but I do want to point out that this part is where it gets really interesting!
*****
Friday Night-The Party
A roll of thunder greeted Lizzy when she stepped outside. Storm clouds had shortened the long summer’s day, and it was getting darker by the minute. None of this bothered Lizzy right now. All of the people had exhausted her, and she needed some time to herself.
It was warm and muggy, and the smell of rain hung in the air, as if it could start pouring any second. Lizzy crossed the grass to the gazebo that sat next to the pond near the back of the church’s property. She skipped up the steps and sat on one of the three benches inside the gazebo.
It was a really beautiful view. The breeze created ripples in the pond, disturbing a pair of ducks in their floating. Off to the right, in the opposite direction of the church building, was a small wooded area. Many a day had Lizzy spent sitting in those trees with a book. Just behind the pond lay nothing but a cornfield, stretching far away to the horizon.
The light may have been dim, but Lizzy knew the view like the back of her hand. Willow Creek was her home, and she never wanted to leave it. It was such a peaceful place; nothing out of the ordinary ever happened, and she liked it that way. She would leave the adventures to the characters in her books.
Lizzy sighed in contentment and pulled her book and a book light out of her bag. She opened the book and clipped the light to the top. Even though Mrs. Jamison had snatched the book before Lizzy could mark her place, she still found her page easily.
She slipped back into the world of Regency England quickly. The gloomy rain clouds melted away, and all at once it was a sunny day in the English countryside. Lizzy rode in a carriage with Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. and Mrs. Gardner. They were on their way to Pemberley.
Lizzy looked out with anticipation for the first glimpse of the grand estate. No matter how many times she experienced this, the awe she felt was always the same. The carriage rounded a bend in the road and emerged from a parcel of trees.
There was Pemberley. It was the grandest house that Lizzy had ever seen. The grounds were immaculately landscaped, and the whole view was stunning.
There was an incredibly loud creak and thud that certainly did not belong to the glorious grounds of Pemberley. Instead, it belonged to the back door of the church. Lizzy sighed as she was pulled away from the story and found herself back in the dark gazebo. The view here didn’t seem quite so beautiful now. She glanced behind her to see who was coming out, but they were silhouetted against the light from inside the building.
The door slammed shut and the figure wandered about the yard with their hand in the air. “Come on, come on, come on, get a signal.”
Lizzy stifled a groan. Was she never to get away from Tia? She switched off her book light and hoped that Tia hadn’t spotted her. It didn’t seem like she had, but she was heading Lizzy’s direction anyway.
“Oh hey, Lizzy,” Tia said absently once she had spotted the other girl. She climbed up on the gazebo railing just behind Lizzy. Tia gripped one of the support beams with one hand and thrust her phone high in the air with the other. “I forgot how terrible the cell reception is here.”
Yep. It was a terrible thing, and totally justified moving halfway across the country. The thought crossed her mind, but she didn’t say it out loud. Sometimes Lizzy and her mouth were surprised by how sarcastic her brain could be.
“Ugh, fine.” Tia finally gave up and jumped down from the railing just as a roll of thunder rumbled through the air. “It’s starting to storm; we should probably go inside
Lizzy shrugged. “I don’t mind the storm.” That wasn’t completely true; Lizzy actually hated any kind of storm. But right now it was preferable to going inside where all the people were. “Besides, I’ll stay dry in here.”
A flash of lightning lit up the sky, and it was only a few seconds before thunder rolled again. “Come on, Lizzy,” Tia said. “Thunderstorms are dangerous. We should head back inside.”
“Fine.” Lizzy got up from the bench and slid her book into her bag. She started to follow Tia back to the church. Lightning flashed, and Tia cried out. “What was that?”
“Where?” Lizzy asked.
“There!”
Another lightning flashed, reflecting in the pond and lighting the whole area up for just a moment. Tia pointed ahead of them. There, in the empty space between the girls and the church lurked a hideous creature.
Tia squealed. Lizzy stared at the dim shape, her brows furrowed, until the next flash of lightning revealed that the creature was advancing toward them. It crept forward slowly on four unnaturally long legs, moving in a disturbingly unfamiliar way.
It suddenly broke into an uneven canter toward the girls.
Tia screamed at the top of her lungs, and Lizzy grabbed her arm, breaking into a run toward the woods in the other direction. Tia screamed something about the dangers of trees and lightning, but Lizzy reminded her about the thing chasing them. It really didn’t help.
The downpour started when they were halfway to the trees. Wind whipped at their hair and clothes and threw raindrops in their faces. Tia tripped, and both of them went crashing to the muddy ground.
Lizzy spared a glance behind them as they scrambled to their feet. The creature was still after them. It was ungainly and moved much quicker than you would think to look at it. Tia and Lizzy sprinted as fast as they could, reaching the woods just as thunder boomed again.
They skidded to a stop behind one of the larger trees and stayed there trying to catch their breath. Lizzy peeked around the tree to check the creature’s progress. It’s pace had slowed, but it was getting unsettlingly close.
“What is that thing?” Tia panted.
“I think a better question would be, why is it after us?” Lizzy motioned for Tia to follow her. “Come on!” She yelled over the storm. She pushed through the underbrush deeper into the woods. Tia yelped and then hurried after Lizzy.
Lizzy ducked beneath a large branch and then checked over her shoulder. Tia was struggling through behind her, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. The underbrush rustled as she walked past Tia back the way they had come.
There was no sign of the thing that had been chasing them. Lizzy was puzzled. She tried to listen for any sound of its coming, but it was impossible to hear over the wind. Where had it gone? Something wasn’t right. There was something familiar about the creature; if Lizzy could just get a good look, she might be able to make some sense of the situation.
Lightning flashed, and the forest was lit up around them. The creature was definitely not behind them anymore. Lizzy sighed in relief.
And then Tia screamed.
Thunder rolled, and lightning flashed again. Lizzy turned around in time to see that the creature was now right in front of them. Tia staggered back and clutched at Lizzy’s arm. “Lizzy,” she whimpered, shaking her arm. “What are we going to do?”
Lizzy pulled herself out of Tia’s grip. There was definitely something strange going on. There was no way that the creature should have been able to get in front of them that quickly. Now, it stood completely still several yards away.
“Lizzy, don’t!” Tia grabbed at Lizzy’s arm again, but Lizzy shrugged her off. She crept ever so slowly toward the creature, and it advanced just as slowly toward her. Tia groaned and covered her face. “I can’t watch.”
Lizzy pulled out her book light and shone it on the creature to get a good look at it. It flinched, and stopped in its tracks. “What are you?” she whispered.
It had pointed ears and a long snout that held dozens of razor sharp teeth. It had a long body and a tail that almost doubled its length. Its long legs bent upwards at almost a right angle. The creature was so familiar, yet it was unlike anything that existed in the world. The gears in Lizzy’s brain churned, trying to figure out what was so familiar about it. Finally, it came to her.
“Tia, I know what this is!” she cried.
Tia lowered her hands and looked. “What is it?”
Just then, something flew through the air between Lizzy and the creature. It stuck in a tree just to Lizzy’s left.
The creature let out a moan and staggered backward, away from the thing in the tree. It began to writhe as if in great pain. After stumbling around shaking its head, it suddenly stopped and was still. It then vanished into thin air.
Both girls stood gaping at the empty space.
Lightning flashed, and a deafening crack seemed to shake the ground. It was followed by an incredible creaking groan. Lizzy looked around frantically for the source. Tia spotted it first. A nearby tree had been struck by lightning and was falling straight toward Lizzy.
Tia screamed, but Lizzy couldn’t move. Panic rooted her to the spot. Her mind was screaming, “Move! Move!” but her body had forgotten how. All she could do was stare as danger got closer and closer.
Someone slammed into Lizzy, shoving her out of the way just in time. The huge tree crashed to the ground where Lizzy had stood only moments before. She lay on the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Her heart pounded, and she pushed a strand of wet hair away from her face.
She was alive. Someone had saved her. If not for them, she would probably be dead. She looked around for her rescuer, but found that her vision was blurred.
Her glassed had come off in the fall. Her book light was gone from her hand as well. Lizzy felt around on the ground frantically, hoping she could find either. She squinted, but everything around her was a blur.
A vague shape appeared in Lizzy’s vision, and it took a moment for her to realize it was a hand reaching down to help her up. She squinted up at the face belonging to the hand, but couldn’t make out an identity. “My glasses,” she said weakly.
“You can get a new pair, we need to get out of this storm,” the voice said.
Oh. It was Tristan.
Lizzy took Tristan’s hand and let him help her up. “Come on,” was all he said, but there was a sharpness in his voice that was often present when he talked to Lizzy.
Lizzy could practically feel his annoyance now. He probably thought she was an idiot for running around in a forest during a thunderstorm. But how was she supposed to explain the reason?
“Wait,” she said. She motioned behind her. “There’s something over there I need.” She couldn’t see exactly where it was, so she described it. “It’s stuck in a tree over by the one that fell.”
“What is it? And why do you need it? We should get out of the woods as soon as possible.”
Lizzy shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what it is.” She didn’t know if Tristan would believe this next part. “It stopped whatever was chasing me and Tia.”
“Chasing you?” Tristan’s voice betrayed his surprise. Nevertheless, he went over to check.
“Oh my gosh, Lizzy!” Lizzy was hit out of nowhere by a hug and a bombardment of words. “Are you okay? I thought you were going to die! And then Tristan saved you!” Tia sighed dramatically before a rumble of thunder startled her and she clutched tighter at Lizzy.
Lizzy wiggled uncomfortably in Tia’s grip. She patted the other girl’s back awkwardly, wishing Tia would let go.
Tristan approached them then. “That’s some sort of metal arrow in the tree. It’s a wonder the lightning hit another tree instead. Needless to say, we are not taking it with us right now.”
Tia let go of Lizzy so suddenly, that Lizzy wobbled and had to fight to keep her balance. Tia then threw herself at Tristan, quite literally. “How on earth did you find us?” She asked her arms around his neck. “It’s so lucky you got here when you did; you saved Lizzy’s life!”
Lizzy staggered closer to the other two. She could barely see and she had no desire to get separated from the others right now.
Tristan carefully extracted himself from Tia’s grip. “Mrs. Watson asked Sam and I to come out and check on you two, and when we stepped outside, we heard screaming.” He shrugged. “I just followed the sound and found you here…” His voice trailed off as he made a realization. “Oh no… Sam.”
He took off at a run back towards the main church yard. “Tia, help Lizzy!” He called back over his shoulder.
Tia cocked her head and looked questioningly at Lizzy. Lizzy motioned to her face. “Lost my glasses.”
“Oh! I thought something was different about you.” Tia grabbed Lizzy’s hand and took off after Tristan. “Come on!”
The next half a minute was the longest of Lizzy’s life… so far. Until you’ve been dragged, half blind, by someone running through a thunderstorm, you have never known true terror.
Finally, it was over. Tia slowed to a stop right next to the pond. Lizzy could hear splashing, and see a figure standing on the dock. “Did someone fall in the pond?”
“Looks like it was Sam,” Tia said. “Tristan’s pulling him out right now.”
They headed to the gazebo, and the guys met them there.
“Are you out of your mind?” Tristan was scolding Sam as they climbed the steps into the gazebo. “I told you to stay out of the pond.”
“What are you talking about? You dared me to jump in!”
“I said, ‘you’d have to be insane to jump in a pond during a storm’!”
“Yeah, that’s a dare!”
Tristan sighed. “Sit down, Sam.”
Sam sat obediently on the bench next to the one the girls sat on. He flashed a mischievous grin their way, which disappeared at Tristan’s glare.
They stayed in awkward silence for several minutes, three of them sitting down while Tristan stood glaring at them like they were disobedient kids. All four of them were soaking wet, Si a little more so than the rest. The thunder and lightning were over, and the wind had died down considerably. The rain still fell in a steady shower.
The silence continued on for much longer than was comfortable. At this point, Lizzy had pretty much accepted the fact that she was always going to be the awkward nerdy girl from high school. If the embarrassment on Tuesday wasn’t enough to cement that reputation, running around during a thunderstorm certainly was.
Finally, Tristan turned to face the girls, breaking the awkward silence. “Care to explain what you were doing in the woods?” As if to emphasize the situation, a rumble of thunder sounded from far away.
Lizzy and Tia looked at each other. How on earth were they supposed to explain? Lizzy was trying to come up with something that wouldn’t make her sound like a nutcase, but Tia beat her to the punch.
“We were chased by a monster,” Tia blurted out bluntly.
Tristan’s stance shifted, and although she couldn’t see clearly, Lizzy was sure that one eyebrow was raised skeptically. “Lizzy?” he said, waiting to hear her side of the story.
She just shrugged helplessly. What else could she say to make him believe them?
“A monster. Really?” He shook his head and started pacing back and forth. “Okay, I’d expect Lizzy to get run away with her imagination, but Tia, that’s not like you.”
His words felt like a slap to the face. It was true that she sometimes got lost in her own dream worlds, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t separate them from reality. She knew for a fact that she hadn’t imagined the creature. How could she have when Tia had seen it too?
Tristan was saying something about the difference between fiction and reality, and Lizzy had an idea. She had recognized the creature; its identity could either save the situation or send it completely off the deep end. It was a risk, but she was going to have to take it.
Unfortunately, Tia had taken even more offence at Tristan’s words than Lizzy had. “I know what I saw,” Tia spat at him. “I was scared half to death, running for my life, and now you’re trying to tell me it didn’t happen?”
Lizzy said quietly, “Hey guys.”
Either no one heard her, or they were ignoring her. “All I’m saying is that you probably saw some sort of wild animal, and in the storm it looked like a monster,” Tristan said, his words calmly steady, but Lizzy picked up an almost imperceptible note of annoyance in his voice.
She tried interjecting again, but Tia kept flinging angry words at Tristan who expertly shot down each of her emotional outbursts with logical explanations.
Lizzy got caught up in their argument, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them as if watching a tennis match. Tristan had a point. It was highly unlikely that they had actually seen a monster, although Tia had a point too. The creature was unlike anything Lizzy had ever known.
Except, that wasn’t true. She knew exactly what it was, and it was imperative that she put an end to the doubts. She tried one more time to attract their attention. “Hey guys?” But she was still too quiet and her words were lost in the jumble of Tia and Tristan’s argument.
“HEY!”
Silence fell and three heads swiveled around to look at Si. He hadn’t said anything since sitting down and honestly, Lizzy had kind of forgotten he was there.
“I believe Lizzy was trying to say something,” Si shot Tristan a look that Lizzy couldn’t quite decipher.
“Sorry, Lizzy,” Tristan said quietly.
Tia muttered something under her breath and then fell silent.
Si nodded at Lizzy. “Go ahead,” he said encouragingly.
Lizzy cracked her knuckles nervously. She could feel all six eyeballs on her now, and the words she had been planning to say completely escaped her. All she could think was how embarrassing it was to have to have someone else speak up for her. Oh, she was grateful, but embarrassed nonetheless.
She did the best she could to gather her scattered thoughts, staring at the white wood flooring of the gazebo to avoid the eyes she knew were on her.
“So there’s this book,” she began. No, that wasn’t a good place to start. “I mean, the thing in the woods was-” That wasn’t right either. She let out a frustrated huff.
The silence was deafening. They were all waiting on her. Why was it that she could quote someone else’s words with such ease, but her own words came out such a mess? Wait, that was it!
Lizzy inhaled deeply, and then started reciting words. “‘The creature was long and slim; its limbs wiry, although it carried itself close to the ground. A long tail doubled its length. The thing’s coarse fur was grey, though it was so caked with dirt and mud that it appeared mottled. Wide slavering jaws held rows of razor sharp teeth that struck fear into even the most ruthless hunter.’”
Everyone was silent, obviously not understanding the significance of what Lizzy had just quoted. “That’s the description of the main monster from the book Danger in the Wild. It also completely fits the creature we saw in the woods tonight,” she explained. Everyone still looked a little dazed, although Lizzy didn’t have anything else helpful to make them understand. So she just added quietly, “It’s from page 42.”
Nobody responded right away. The boys were probably still skeptical, very likely even more so, and Lizzy couldn’t blame them.
Tristan finally broke the silence with an unexpected question. “Is that the book you’ve been trying to read all night?”
The fact that he’d noticed caught Lizzy off guard. “No, I’ve been rereading Pride and Prejudice,” she said sheepishly. I haven’t read Danger in the Wild since eighth grade.”
The other three stared at her in shock once again. Was that going to become a regular thing? “Wait, eighth grade?” Tia questioned.
“Is that a problem?”
“You remembered the exact description!” Tia exclaimed. “That’s not normal, Lizzy!”
“Yeah, remembering that after five years is a little surprising,” Tristan agreed.
“It’s impressive,” Si said admiration in his voice.
Lizzy had never really thought much about it before. Her memory had always been good; she’d never thought of it as abnormal.
“Okay, we can discuss Lizzy’s memorization abilities later,” Tristan said. “Back to the current situation.” He turned to address Lizzy. “You’re saying that you and Tia were stalked by a fictional monster.”
“That’s about the gist of it,” Lizzy said weakly.
Tia was hesitant. “I mean, I know what we saw, but there’s no way it can really be the thing from the book, right? Maybe it was just some animal that looks like the thing from the book.”
“There are no animals that look like that!” Lizzy burst out in frustration. She took a deep breath and started again, more calmly. “In Danger in the Wild, the Creature was a failed genetic experiment, a lab accident. There has never been anything like it that exists in the world.”
“Look,” Si said, trying to keep the peace. “It was dark. Maybe you just didn’t see it clearly?”
“I know what I saw, and even though there’s no conceivable way for the Creature to actually exist, it was here.” Lizzy rubbed her hands over her face in exasperation.
The others exchanged glances with each other, seeming unsure how to handle Lizzy. Usually, Lizzy only let her emotions show around people she was comfortable with. That category had never included Tia, Si, or Tristan. Seeing Lizzy something other than awkward or daydreaming was new for them.
“Did the book say anything about the mutated lab rat thing being able to disappear?” Tia asked.
“Did you just say ‘mutated lab rat thing’?” Si said at the same time Tristan said, “Now you’re telling me it disappeared?” Tristan looked to Lizzy for confirmation.
She nodded slowly.
Without her glasses, it should have been impossible to see, but somehow Lizzy could tell that Tristan was rolling his eyes at her.
It hurt that Tristan wouldn’t believe her. She wasn’t a liar, and she hated when people treated her like she was one. Sometimes the truth was just hard to believe.
No one moved or said anything for a minute. The wind had died down completely, and the rain was now barely a drizzle. The clouds had parted, and a sliver of moonlight cast an eerie glow across the landscape. Finally, Tristan said, “Let’s just go inside now.”
The other three followed him out of the gazebo in a silence that you could almost feel. Lizzy lagged behind the others. She wished there was a way to fix the tension in the group, but that would require more words, and all of hers were spent.
She headed after the others, but her stupid blurred vision wasn’t making it easy. She missed a step on the way down from the gazebo, and lost her balance. A hand reached out to steady her.
“You good?” It was Si. He helped her down the rest of the way.
“Thanks.” Oh, he probably thought she was such a klutz. Lizzy tried to avoid making eye contact and noticed moonlight glinting off of something in Si’s hand. “What do you have there?” She asked.
“Oh, nothing.” He shoved whatever it was into his back pocket. “Guys, wait up,” he called ahead and Tristan and Tia paused to wait for them. They all filed into the church through the back door.
Most of the guests had left in the time the teenagers had been outside. Those that were still around were busy tearing down tables, putting away food, and cleaning up all remains of the party.
Lizzy’s mother began fussing over the four of them as soon as they walked in. “Oh, you kids are all wet. Why didn’t you come in when it started to storm? Sarah, get me some towels from the kitchen.”
In that moment, they silently made an agreement not to mention what had happened outside to anyone else. How could anyone else understand when they barely understood it themselves?
*****
Ooh… weird, right? Don’t worry, it’s going to get weirder! But in a good way! I love to hear any thoughts on this part!
Thanks for reading, and be sure to stick around for the next part!
~Jadyn