Devils Roses 01 - Cursed

be following me. I decided thinking about creepy people following you, was not the smartest way to enter the woods.
    The trees on the North Coast were huge, big was what you called a tree at half its size here. The trees, in the woods that Shane called a yard, were massive. I felt the forest air hit me like a ton of bricks as I entered. It was freezing and damp. I crept along looking all around me.
    I decided camping out in a quiet spot was my best plan. Then, like a rabbit hopping into a trap, I would be able to see him, but he wouldn’t see me.
    I crept through huge ferns and old man's beard covering the branches. The forest thinned out remarkably, once you were inside of it. The canopy of the huge trees was a filter for the light; not a lot of other small trees and bushes could grow. Moss and ferns didn’t need light to prosper. The forest on the North Coast always reminded me of Jurassic Park. The air was clean and pure but colder sometimes by five or six degrees.
    I found the old tree fort Shane had constructed once with his friends and hid at the base of the tree next to it. There was a small bush surrounded by several huge ferns and if I sat still long enough, I could probably see his ghost. I climbed into the bush and fluffed the ferns around me.
    I pulled my jacket tight around me and drew the hood up around my head to cover my blonde hair. The black jacket helped me to blend into the bush and massive trunk. I settled back on the dirt, leaning against the tree and sat still. I turned my phone to vibrate and waited.
    I wanted to say I was a peaceful enough person, that the calm of the forest and the small noises it made throughout the day, were relaxing. Instead, I felt on edge, hiding in the forest, watching for either a ghost or a stalker.
    I heard a crunch after ten minutes, fifty feet back toward the house. I stayed very still as it came closer.
    I felt my heartbeat increasing, as the noise got louder and louder. I wanted to close my eyes and become invisible or blink my way back to the safety of my own room. I was terrified, as the sound got loud enough, I swore I could feel the vibration of the branches breaking. I knew for an unexplainable reason, the noise was not the ghost. I needed to fear whatever made the noise.
    I heard it breathing. It was out of breath or nervous like I was. I knew the bush covered me, but if it got close enough, it would be able to see me.
    Its pace slowed to a step every minute as it scanned the forest behind me somewhere. I knew what it was doing, even if I couldn’t see it, and I knew then that it was a danger to me. Somehow I knew it was the person who drugged me, and I started to panic as I realized there were only a few feet between him and me. If I could get a glance of his face, I knew I would know him. He and the not-Wade guy were different people. I sensed the evil coming from this person. I knew everyone in our town that was near my age, and there was no way someone was at the party that I didn’t know, at least a little. I waited to see his face when he came around the trees. I could know my attacker and text it to Shane before he got me.
    His steps sounded like they were on top of me, I wanted to dash from the woods screaming, but I knew my dash was more of a light jog at best. I also knew, that in every horror movie I had ever seen, the hiding person would have lived, if they had just stayed hidden. But they always let the suspense and madness get to them.
    “ Aimee, are you here?” he spoke in a breathless whisper. I couldn’t even be certain it was a man’s voice.
    “ Aimee, I saw you come into the woods. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
    He knew my name and he was watching me. There was something familiar about the way he whispered my name, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I knew he must have gone to school with me—how else would he have seen me take Shane’s truck?
    I didn’t even swallow as the breaking of the twigs and leaves attempted to drive me insane. I waited till I heard his footsteps walk in a different direction and I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. I clicked the sound off completely. I was glad I had worn a hoodie and not a jacket that made noise. I slowly put my phone back into my pocket and left it there. I knew nothing would make me leave that spot.
    Through the brush I saw him, I wanted to run, but I held my breath and sat very still. It was definitely a man, or a guy my age, at the least. He was tall.