The car ride to our new town was horrid. Between my crying and the awkward silence afterward, it was really bad. I did absolutely nothing except pretend to look out the window, but truthfully I was staring at all the soldiers I saw. I could tell that Shane saw the children because he would put his head down.
Shane can sense the spirits, but can't see them fully like I can. He said once that he can see them, they're just transparent though. I talk to him a lot about them. He understands me. But the problem is that he hasn't told my vicious father yet.
By the time we got to the town I was moving into, I had counted fifty-two Confederates and twenty-three Union soldiers.
"Ah, good ole Virginia. I think both of you will like it here." He turned around and looked at me, but I didn't bother looking at him. "You'll get over them, Rose. They're just ghosts." Luckily, the car just stopped in front of a huge tutor house.
Shane had nudged Dad with his elbow and murmured "Dad, why did you say that?"
Tears streaked my cheeks as I jumped out of the car and ran toward the wood besides the house. I ran as the tears blurred my vision. I ran and ran while Shane called my name. I ran into the forest and kept running until I couldn't breathe anymore. I slowed down and then fully stopped.
I looked around to see where I had ended up. I was in the middle of the woods. The woods were dark and the clouded sky was blocked even more with the leaves form the various trees. The floor of the forest was covered with as many different plants as there were trees. Gnarly roots stuck out of the ground like snakes.
I started walking again, wiping my eyes while doing so. A few moments later it started pouring down rain. After a few minutes later I was soaked to the bone, but I didn't stop walking.
They're just ghosts, My father's voice and the sentence kept running through my head. How could he say that?
"Ahhhhh." I tripped over one of the gnarly roots. My ankle hurts like men's in heels. I pulled myself under the tree I tripped over and sat there, pouring my eyes out.
When, I finally looked back up I saw two people ahead of me, walking and arguing about something rather important.
"What are we going to do now?" said the taller of the two. As they got closer, I could tell they weren't ghosts because I couldn't see through them. They both looked pretty young, maybe around sixteen.
"I don't know may. . . ." The shorter one trailed off as he saw me. His friend came running up to me. I stood up and used the tree as a balancing bar to help me stay up.
The wind picked up and formed a swirling gust around me. My black hair with the blue stripes whipped around. I couldn't breathe. The wind was spinning so fast I couldn't catch my breath. I removed my hand from the tree trunk and fell down to the cold wet ground.
"You have found her." said a voice. The boy had stopped running toward me and was staring at the tunnel of wind with wondering eyes.
The wind died and everything went back to normal.
The boy came over and helped me up. "Are you okay?" He asked with concerned eyes.
"What did she mean by 'You have found her?'" I asked, forgetting for a moment there was a strong possibility that the hadn't heard her at all.
The shorter guy joined us then and said "We need to get you home. It's dangerous at night in this forest." His voice was cold and had an edge to it.
"Okay, but I don't know your name nevertheless where I live. I just moved here today." I said as they each took a side and walked alongside me.
The taller one had hair like my favourite dark chocolate. The one on the left had blond hair like sand at the ocean. Looking at the ground, the blond said "my name is Landon, and his name is Logan." He pointed to the guy next to me. "Now that you know our names, we need to know yours in order to find your house."
"My name is Rose Wheeler." I said as I saw the woods thinning out. "Did you hear the voice back in the woods?" I asked as I turned around to face them both.
They exchanged glances. Then Logan said, "Yes, we did. We're psychic. If you heard the voice, you'd have to be psychic too." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyways. I turned around and started walking again.
When we reached the edge, I told them that it would be best if I went out there alone. Logan and Landon were about to argue with me about it when I suggested that they stay in the tree line and watch me go in.
Before I left I asked "Will I ever see you guys again?"
Landon answered it, "If you go to high school tomorrow then yes, you will."
I nodded and turned around and walked to my new house. When I reached the door, I turned around to look back at them. When I saw Logan nod I took a deep breath. My hand was inches away from the door when it swung open and showed Shane, his hair disheveled, standing there. He enveloped my in a hug.
"Come in. I saved you a room." He said as he lead me inside the ancient house.
