Page 13 of While They Watch

“I would never! I was just thinking…” he pauses, closing the bag of chips and setting them to the side. “How does pizza sound?”

“Oh my god, yes!” I had completely forgotten that we stopped at a local pizza place and had them make us a few to go.

_____

We go and take a shower while waiting for the pizza to warm up. Afterwards, I put on my coziest sweater and some thick wool socks, hoping they will keep the warm, peaceful feelings flowing. Luke was out of the shower before me and is already downstairs. By the time I make it back to the kitchen, he is already carrying the pizzas to the dining room. I follow him to where he has set a table with plates and wine glasses.

“Look what I found, who would have thought this old place would have such fancy tableware?” He glances up at me. “I thought we could sit and have a proper meal at a table. It’s been a while.” He isn’t wrong. We tend to be the type of people that eat fast food or frozen meals, curled up on the couch. Even though I crave that comfort tonight, he is putting in effort on this trip and I need to remember to do my part. So, I give him a big smile and go sit in the chair he is holding out for me.

“Sounds wonderful.”

After finishing almost an entire pizza myself and half a bottle of wine, I’m in a much better mood. Luke and I are laughing about the day, lightheartedly talking about how weird this place is.

“One day, when we buy our own place, I think we should decorate it just like this, even down to the cobwebs in every corner. Really lean into the ‘witch in the woods’ vibe.”

He smiles and says back, “Agreed. You can be the witch, and I’ll be a strapping prince who stumbles on the wrong house and gets taken as a slave… a sex slave.” He winks at me, leaning across the table slowly. I roll my eyes and place my hand on his face, stopping him.

“Oh my god. You’re perverted.” He laughs, crossing his arms in fake annoyance. I get up and plop myself onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Okay, but how about instead, I’ll be a beautiful, seductive, forest siren who lures men out into the forest so I can capture them and feast on their souls? You're my first victim.” I lean in and kiss him.

“I don’t think that’s a thing…. But I’ll let you feast on me anytime you want.” I ignore the last comment.

“Oh, sure it is. My grandma used to tell me stories of spirits and witches to watch out for if I ever found myself lost in the forest.”

“That’s not scary at all,” he says with some light sarcasm. “And this grandma liked you?” I swat him and laugh a little, settling into his arms more. Now that I’m on this side of the table, I notice a tall bookshelf on the wall across from us.

As relaxed as I feel, I jump up excitedly. “Look! There are books! How haven’t I noticed this was here?” I walk over quickly and start scanning through them, randomly pulling out some and examining them. There are a lot of options but none that look like they came from this century. Books on mythologies, plants, medicines, and a dictionary.

My eyes are drawn to a thick, red, leather spine with no title. I pull it out, unsure what to expect. It’s worn and feels as if it could fall apart if I make one wrong move. Carefully, I open the cover as I turn around to face Luke. “I think I found a Bible.” I start gently, flipping through the pages where I find intense illustrations of angels and demons scattered throughout. Some of them are beautiful but most of the depictions are terrifying. “It’s filled with pictures. I’ve never seen a Bible like this.” I bring it over to him, leaning down so he can see as I keep looking through the pages, even reading some of the passages that have been marked. What catches me off guard is that a lot of scriptures have been completely crossed out, almost gouged through.

“For or against, whoever this Bible belonged to was passionate about it.” As I flip to another page, I find a bunch of handwritten notes placed inside. I pull them out and start sorting through them, stopping when I get to one that’s filled with depictions of disfigured, grotesque looking animals. When I flip it to the other side, there are more drawings but this time of the same stick figures we have been seeing. At the bottom is written “They’re watching.”

Chapter Ten

“Oh my god, are you seeing this? It’s one of the stick figures. Who do you think made this?” I hand him the page with the drawing as I keep looking through the rest.

“This drawing? This could be anything; it looks like a child drew it. I’m telling you, locals get off on scaring tourists. I bet when we go to town, we could ask anyone and they will tell you the same. You’ve been letting this place scare you since we got here and I think you’re making connections where you want to. Plus, you haven’t been sleeping. You really need to try and relax and get some rest.” He hands me back the page, irritation flooding my mind as I stand up. I take a step away so I can turn and look at him.

“What are you talking about? It’s exactly like the weird figure you found and don’t tell me to relax. Of course I’m scared. Freaky, fucking shit has been happening nonstop since we got here. I don’t understand why you are so calm about this.”

“To you. Freaky shit has been happening to you. I haven’t felt, seen or heard anything abnormal here, at least not more than someone should expect. It’s an old cabin in the woods… They’re always creepy, but there’s nothing here. I think you've been stressed at work and with your dad’s diagnosis and—”

I hold my hand up, interrupting him. “Don’t gaslight me, Luke. Screw you. Just because I’m stressed doesn’t make my experiences here any less real. And don’t talk about my dad. You told me we didn’t have to on this trip. He’s going to be fine and it’s really shitty that you would use that against me. Maybe, just maybe, YOU are ignoring the signs that something is wrong here, because you’re so desperate to turn me into some kind of camping Barbie who will backpack across the world with you when you know that will never be who I am! You talk a big-talk about wanting to take care of me and keep me safe. Wake up and try doing that!” I turn away from him and storm out of the room, taking the notes with me.

I hurry up the stairs to the bedroom, continuing the fight in my mind the entire way. I don’t understand what’s happening. Why isn’t he seeing the things I am? Or is he just refusing to? Am I the problem? I’m really trying here. The thoughts swirl faster in my mind until I climb into the bed, letting the sheets drape back down around the frame, hiding me away from everything outside, everything I don’t want to look at.

I spread the notes across the bed, hoping to make sense of them. I sort through them the best I can. It helps that their author added dates to most of them. The ones that seem to have been written in a hurry, the date forgotten, I set aside.

9/15

I think my uncle lives in a haunted house. We’ve only been here for a few days, and the weirdest things have been happening. It started small with bad smells, animal noises inside and outside, doors opening on their own and lights that seemed to have a mind of their own. The worst part is how dark it is in this place.

9/16

Today my dad found a doll made of twigs outside at the bottom of the steps. He told me I could keep it, but I don’t like it. My stomach and head started to hurt when I touched it, so I left it outside. Later though, I found it on my bed.

9/17