That House in the Forest

It happened again, you awoke in a dark forest. Not knowing who you were or what you were doing there, you acted on instinct. You were given a flashlight and a choice. There was the option to head back to civilization, or the option to head deeper into the forest. Curiosity got the best of you, and you decided to head deeper. The trail seemed to have been stretched for miles. There was no sign of sunrise, and you were starving. The only thing that kept you going, was the thought of finding something worth the trouble.

Finally, after traveling for hours you found a house. It was an old-fashioned house with an odd paint to it. This was the only thing you had seen for miles and it was getting colder and colder. The house was slightly lit and had comforting "Welcome" to it. When you got to the front door, it had a doorbell. You knocked politely and waited for a few seconds before trying again.

You finally made the decision that there was no one in there, and you went in. Instantly you noticed that this house had been rotting in this forest for decades. The walls had deteriorated, and the stairs were almost rendered useless. In fact, they looked like just a pile of wood planks. None the less, it was better than outside. . . in some ways.

After scanning the house for a few seconds, you finally check around. But all you could find was old, tattered photos and curtains. The wallpaper peeled and was no longer making the place look nice.

You could see the the boards that supported the upper-level, but they had been chewed on by the termites. After all the unpleasant sights, you find a door. Surprisingly, it was the only thing that looked 'up to date' in this dump. You open it to find a perfect room. Everything was just to perfection. The bed was made absolutely fantastic, not a ripple on it. And the table, it too was in brand new condition. Not a single piece of dust lay on anything, not even the bookshelves. The lights worked.

"Yes, electricity!" you said out loud, but noticing that your voice broke a silence that was never supposed to be broken.

You never knew about the house's history. It was abandoned for a reason. The tale was, the house was built in the 1800's. It was bought by a family, the Henderson's, and they lived there for a long time. They never fought or struggled. They were almost a perfect family, until one night, a boy from town stumbled upon it.

He was a miserable boy, he never knew anyone and he feared death. What he had wanted was a friend. When he was in the forest, he was hoping to find a pet or something. His father died when he was 5-years-old, and his mother never really had that good of a connection with him. His name was Lamarr.

He had never expected this to have appeared. Lamarr wandered onto their front porch and rang the doorbell. The father answered the door. "Hello sir, may I come in?" Lamarr asked cautiously

"Sure." Replied the father, and he stepped aside. Lamarr asked if they had any warm beverages, the father said, "Yes, would you like some tea, coffee, or hot chocolate?"

"Um, hot chocolate will do." lamarr said in a nervous voice.

While the father went to the kitchen, Lamarr looked around the living room. He just gazed upon the family photos that were hung nicely on the wall. When the father got back he said, "Here you go. Look I have some work to do upstairs. Tell me, why are you here?"

"I was looking for a friend, like an animal, but then I stumbled upon your home and I just wanted to say hi. Thank you so much for the drink, I wont be long, this will help me make it through the rest of the forest."

They just sat is silence until the father broke it, "What is your name?"

"My name is lamarr." He replied.

His father looked at Lamarr's gaze. "You like the pictures?" said the father trying to say at least something.

"Well, they are nice. I've never seen actual family photos before. It is amazing!" Lamarr said.

"Do you want to meat my daughter?" asked the father.

"She could be your friend. You seem like a nice young man, and she never really gets to meet other people, either."

"Sure, that would be nice!" Said Lamarr with glee.

"Alright, I'll go see if she can come down. The father walked up the stairs and left Lamarr there to finish sipping his hot chocolate. When the father returned, he had his daughter with him.

"Lamarr, this is my daughter Amelia. Would you two like to talk?" said the father knowing they might feel more comfortable speaking unsupervised.

The father walked upstairs to his workroom. It was quiet for the first few moments. They didn't know what to say. Neither of them had talked to someone new is several months.

Amelia spoke first, "So do you live around here?" she asked.

"No. I live in the city. It is unusual how I do not know many people. But uh..." He said with a nervous end.

"What do you like to do?" asked Lamarr to make up for the silence.

"I like to stare at the stars at night, they really astonish me. I've always wanted to be an Astronomer, but my papa wants me to become a marine biologist." She said.

Lamarr was amazed by this. He had never met someone so interesting and open-minded as her. He just stared at the floor occasionally glancing at the walls.

She herself was a bit uneven and shy, too. This was the longest peaceful talk with a girl he had ever had... and ever will. They talked more about what they liked and how they wanted their careers to be. But finally, it was time for Lamarr to go. He asked if he could come over tomorrow. The father said sure. Lamarr had never been happier. He had something to do once and for all.

He had a lot to talk about when he got home. His mother surprised to see him so happy. This became a normal thing for him. He couldn't focus on school that much, but he still did his best. And every day after school, he would ride his bike up to Amelia's house. And every day, they knew more about each other. This continued until one day Lamarrs mother had became infuriated with the lack of time being spent with her.

That day, Lamarr came home after school to put away his school stuff and bring what he needed for the trip to Amelia's. His mother stopped him just as he was about to exit the house. "No, I want to talk to you before you leave." his mother said with a slight tone of anger in her voice.

"What is it?" Lamarr asked patiently.

"It is about you going over to Amelia's. Look. . . I know you like her a lot, but what happened to us?" his mother asked.

"What happened to 'us'? There never was an 'us', as a mater of fact, you never spent time with me. I was going into the woods to fund a snake or a fox as a friend because you would never to anything with me. I finally found someone who is actually interested with what I have to say. And I am interested in what she has to say!" Lamarr said angerly.

His mother was shocked, almost impressed. Lamarr's mother was speechless. "If you want to talk to me, you can when I return..." said Lamarr as he left the apartment.

He had pure anger powering his movement. He knew he had to calm down before he made it to Amelia's. He did so quite uncontrollably. When he made is to her place, she was already on the perch, awaiting his arrival. He got of his bike and hugged her and almost cried.

She asked, "What is wrong?"

"My mother doesn't want me around yo anymore." Lamarr said while barely holding back tears.

"Aw, it's ok. Do you want to play a game?" She said in a soft caring voice.

"Sure. . ." Lamarr replied swiping his nose and rubbing his eyes. They went inside and pulled out a chess board and all the pieces. They played until Amelia asked a question, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thanks to you. I never told you this, but you are the only one who makes me feel better when things are bad. And I want you to know that you are the most amazing person I have ever met. Your smart, kind, caring, and more importantly... you are-" Lamarr was cut off by Amelia's father

"That is enough. I know you like my daughter so much but, you are starting to worry me! It's nothing personal, it is just for Amelia's saftey."

"Papa no!" Amelia shouted.

"No, no, it's ok. I understand. It was nice to meet you sir, and it was nice meeting you Amelia. But it is time for me to leave now." Said Lamarr almost crying again but holding both that and anger down deep inside him.

He opened the door and looked back one more time. Lamarr said "Goodbye my love" and left. He look his bike and rode the long, lonely, path back home. Trail turned to road, road turned to city streets. When he made it back to his apartment, he swung open his door. His mother was there with a shocked look on her face. "You are home early!" she said surprised.

"What happened?" his mother asked.

"What happened?! WHAT HAPPENED?! I'll tell you what happened, Amelia's dad broke the only thing I had left to look forward to every single day! THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED!" Lamarr was so angry, he didn't seem stable enough to speak any longer.

He walked to his room and slammed his door behind him. Lamarr paced, and paced until he had an idea. He was going to buy a gun. Yes it was the perfect plan. He was going to make her father pay for that pain he has put him through!

He went to sleep that night, with a sinister mind processing evil thoughts. His every dream was more like a plane for what he will do the next day. He had the perfect plan.

The next day, he awoke and got dressed. He rushed out the door, money in pocket, not even saying his last goodbye to his mother. Lamarr bought a gun with ammo and had put it in his backpack. He biked as fast as he could to Amelia's house. When he finally arrived, Lamarr pulled out the gun and approached the home. He knocked on the door. It was opened by Amelia. Lamarr was not expecting this and did not want this to have happened. Amelia was excited and was saying hello when she was cut off by her father, again.

"I told you to stay away from my daughter! Get out of here now!" He screamed.

"Amelia, get out of the way." Lamarr said shakily.

"Why?" asked Amelia.

"Just get down!" and Lamarr fired four rounds into Amelia's dad. He then entered the house looking for anyone else, he knew she had a motherand proceeded to he mother's bedroom. Three shots were heard from upstairs. Amelia was crying on the floor

"Why?" She asked.

Lamarr snapped that day. He never returned to his mother's home. He spent the rest of his life modifying the one room that was designed to keep Amelia in the best place possible when no one could ever disturb them ever again. . . and it worked.

The house deteriorated over the years, all except that one room. No one knows what was involved in the room, but whoever stays in it will never age. So back to the present date: You had been relieved that you could get some rest now. But the "Thank god for the working electricity" shout was loud compared to the whole forest. You had disturbed the room and you didn't even know it. As you slowly fell asleep, you noticed a figure outside your window. It was Amelia, and she was locked out from the room. She was freezing and shivering. The predators of the night were on the prowl and she was out there to die. One question she asked through the window.

"Why? Why? WHY?!". Just as you fall asleep you hear the door creak open and you feel a warm, nasty smelling breath on you neck, followed by a voice "You disturbed us. . ." And then you feel a gun muzzle on your forehead...

BANG!