Stolen Friend

In the dark twinkling night, two young girls lie within the heart of a tranquil meadow. They lie there as the wind greets the glistening wheat. The two girls chat about the lovely day they've had. Their names are Brin Kindly and Jenna Finn. Ever since Jenna met Brin in primary school, they've been best friends. Time has passed, and now that they are Middleton freshmen, they have more freedom, including wandering out and studying the stars above Standley Field. But best of all is walking through the Mysterious Woods. That's what they both called it, even though they knew that it was named Spink Woods. Their free imagination induces them to believe in things that don't exist. When Brin's mother died, she spent the majority of her time sitting in the tree weeping therefore they sometimes called it the Weeping Willow

Chapter 1: Jenna's ViewPoint

I woke up at the crack of dawn in a puddle of sweat after having the worst dream. Of course, I knew it meant something, but it was too confusing to piece together. I remember clenching someone's chilled hand and in a flash, I was in a pond of murky red blood. I attempted to swim to the bank, but something was fastened to my arms and legs stopping me. When I stopped to look at my arms, I was pulled beneath the bloodied pool's surface, and that's when I noticed Brin, but she seemed different. She appeared to be 60 years older than she was. The creases of old age covered her once smooth skin, but what was most distinctive was her flowing hair. She had long, black, curly locks that hid her face as she descended farther and farther. I swam towards her, but the faster I swam, the farther she grew apart from me. And as time went by everything seemed to fade as I had awoken from fear.

Chapter2: Brin's View Point

I awoke this morning feeling as if weights were placed on my eyes, preventing me from awakening to my alarm. Unwillingly, I awoke from my slumber to change into a clean pair of clothes. Today, Jenna and I are going to meet in the Mysterious Woods at the blueberry bush. She told me to fetch the basket and the bucket, and she'll bring the boots. We chose to smash the blueberries to help create medicine for Mary Joe. Ever since Mary caught the sickness, we've been attempting to help her become healthy again. But everything we used only caused her to become sicker than she was. Father told us to let her go, but Miss Mary has continued supporting our family since we lost Mother. So, Jenna and I have been visiting her 2 times a day, just to make sure that she is fed and in good shape. Just recently, Jenna and I decided to let her go. Thus, we are brewing the medicine today so we can give it to Miss Mary tomorrow for the last time. It wasnt in my best interest but it had to happen eventually

~3rd Person Point of View~

Jenna searched around her tidy room, looking for the bright, velvet, red boots that she is taking to help crush the berries. As she searched through a box of old shoes, she huffed with frustration and flung the box down with force. But instead of continuing to look for the boots, she took a glance at where the box landed. Below the box was a cracked wooden floorboard that had a hollow space underneath it. She crawled slowly to the suspicious area. Afraid of what she might discover she slowly stretched her clammy hands below the now broken floor. But, as she did her hand met something solid and frozen. At first, she was startled by the object, but as each second went by, she became more and more curious. She yanked her hand up, nicking it on the floor, leaving a mark on her forearm, and ran off to grab her torch(flashlight). She ran into the living room and searched through the full boxes, throwing the objects in them onto the ground. She emptied the box until she saw the torch at the bottom of the container. She smiled, grabbed it, and ran immediately to the hole. She got to her room and paused at the doorway. She studied where the hole would be but it wasn't there. She moved to where the hole would be but she remained confused about how it wasn't anywhere to be seen. She had hoped to explore what was in the hole. The boards creaked, and before she could act, the floor collapsed out from beneath her descending into the unknown grounds below.

~Brin's View Point~

I was wandering on the trail in the woods when a jolt in my stomach stopped me. I paused and winced in pain, as I couldn't understand what would cause me this sort of pain. I had eaten biscuits and gravy this morning at the cottage, so I couldn't be hungry. However, I automatically comprehended something was wrong. Very wrong.

~Chapter 3: Jenna View Point~

I had awoken to whispers surrounding me. However, when I opened my eyes, I was alone. I glanced at my surroundings, which were very different as opposed to my bedroom. I was in the middle of a field full of golden grain, and the sun had started to set while the wind was blowing the grain. I tried to stand up but was knocked down by a large, black-winged creature. I looked at it as it flew back up to the clouds and immediately knew it was an enlarged crow. At first, I only saw a single crow, but I noticed that there we three circling me. One of them let out the most horrific screech I had ever heard in my whole life. The pain was intolerable. I covered my ears and winced in pain, but it wouldn't stop. I felt fluid come out of my ears. They had started to bleed. I closed my eyes as i cried in pain That's when everything went silent. I opened my eyes and looked around to see I was someplace different. Everything was the color black, the trees, the ground, the grass, and even the sky.

"Hello?" I asked. My voice echoed through the trees and no one replied. All I heard was my voice.

~Brin's View Point~

I searched for Jenna all day, but there was no sign of her anywhere. The sun had already set, which meant it was my bedtime, but I dreaded going to bed without knowing my companion was okay. By the time I had gotten to the door, my eyes had started to become heavy. I walked into my room and took a glimpse at myself in the mirror. I fell back into the soft and comforting bed. I thought about where Jenna could be, but the thought of sleep got the best of me, sending me into a deep slumber.

I had awoken in my dream. I stood in a dark forest, and it was all silent, except for the faint whimpers of what sounded like a girl. I followed the whimpers through the forest but then began to run in fear. The fear pumped through my blood as fast as medicine could. I paused and listened to what sounded like murmurs. The murmurs vibrated in the atmosphere, and I kept still to understand what the murmurs were saying.

" I'm scared. Help me please," whimpered the voice. The voice sounds so familiar.

"Jenna?" I screamed.

"Brin! Where are you? Brin?" cried the voice. I ran towards the voice in relief that it was Jenna. But stopped in an open area surrounded by trees. There, in the middle of the grass, was Jenna curled up in a ball. I ran towards her but ran into an invisible force preventing me from reaching her.

"Jenna!!!" I yelled at her. She lifted her head up and looked at me. Her eyes were puffy from crying for so long, and her face was stained from tears. She stood up and looked at me. She smiled at me and started to walk toward me, but that smile quickly faded to a look of fear. She stood there looking directly behind me. She made a shuffle with her feet before taking a few steps back

"Jenna?" I asked her with a slight tone of fear in my voice. I was scared of what might be lurking behind me. I slowly turned around to see a pale figure standing behind me. The creature had its arms to its side, and on each arm was a hand full of long claws that could grab anyone from a yards away. The creature had the skin of an old person. Its face was covered by its tangled black hair. I yelled in fright and kicked the beast in the stomach, sending it to the ground. But before it could get up, I dashed off into the forest as fast as I could. The longer and the faster I ran, the farther I got from Jenna. 'How could you be so selfish?', I told myself. 'You left that monster with her and ran! She's your friend. She would never do that to you. Or would she? It doesn't matter now. She's now either dead or hates you after you betrayed her.’ As I ran, I heard a noise as if something was being struck from behind me. I glanced behind me to see the creature leaping from tree to tree. While I ran, branches clawed at my face as if they were trying to stop me from escaping. 'This is what I deserve. I deserve this. I betrayed my friend, so now I need to be punished.' I thought. But suddenly the ground below me vanished, and I tumbled to the ground below. My eyes were closed, but the banging kept ringing in my ear.

"No, no, no!" I yelled. Suddenly, everything was quiet. I opened my eyes to see my surroundings were my bedroom. I jumped at the sound of another bang at my front door.

"Miss Kindly!" yelled a young woman. I jumped up from out of my bed and bustled to the front door and opened it.

"Yes.", I answered hastily. She studied me with care. She could tell I had just awoken from my sleep. My hair spoke for itself.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Scuttly. Have you seen Jenna recently? She was thought to babysit my son today," questioned the woman.

"Um,no. No, I haven't seen her recently, but I can babysit him if you need me to. I'm very close friends with Jenna so she wouldn't care about me helping her a bit," I blurt out.

" I would love for you to babysit him. Are you ready?" she questioned even though she knew the answer.

“Um, not at the moment but I'll be quick," I responded closing the door quickly before she could enter the trashed house. I ran into my room looking for what to put on. I looked around and saw my woven dress, which Jenna weaved by hand, on my desk and grabbed it. And put on the floral dress I looked around and found a pair of black slippers and a pair of hose. I quickly put the clothes and shoes on. I brushed my teeth, grabbed a PB&J sandwich, and ran out the door.

"Ready," I said hastily.

"Ok then we'll be on our way to the manor!" she replied. Manor? I recalled. What does she mean? After a while of me envisioning what it would look like we eventually arrived. In front of Mrs. Scuttly was a welcoming entrance. There was a rocking chair on the front porch which was constructed of elegant birch wood. The door had a sophisticated rosary hanging from a nail. The front door had a stained glass window that was created to resemble a bird gliding through the sky. Mrs. Scuttly opened the door which leads me to the living room where a boy was playing on the floor with cars. Mrs. Scuttly stopped at the chairs that surrounded him. I looked at her and she nodded for me to go on, and so I did. I walked up to the boy and tapped him gently on the shoulder. He turned around.

"And who may you be ma'am?" he asked.

"Brin-Brin Kindly."

"What happened to Jenna?", he asked.

"James Scuttly, don't ask such a question. She's your babysitter so deal with it." Mrs. Scuttly said with her voice raised. It was suprising for such a small kind looking woman.

"It's alright," I replied. My eyes were fixated on the cars that he was playing with. He had made a mess in the living room of these expensive cars. 'Now I see how Jenna gets by'.

"How about we go play in your room so your mother can handle her chores," I said looking at Mrs. Scuttly.

"Sure! Follow me,", he said with excitement as he went to a staircase and began to run up the stairs.

"Wait!" I yell as I run at the staircase. But before I get there he slips on a toy car and begins to stumble down the stairs. But I reach him before he hits the ground. I then put him down considerately.

"Be careful," I told him.

"Sorry. For now on I'll be mindful of my surroundings," he replied.

"We will be playing his bedroom Mrs. Scuttly!" I yelled from upstairs.

"Call me Kelsey!" she yelled back.

"Will do. When do you think you will be back?" I questioned.

"Some time before sunset. If not I'll pay you extra, " Kelsey stated as she exited the house and bid her goodbyes.

~Brin's View Point~

Mrs. Scuttly finally came home. Her makeup was runny, and her face was red from crying so much. I embraced her in a warm hug before I walked out the door and started my walk home.

I thought about Jenna and how I betrayed her. I wanted to weep. But I won't ever let that happen because all my tears and sorrow were used on Momma’s death and I vowed to my father I wouldn't cry anymore.

Luckily I had tucked James into bed already so the night would be easier for her.

~Jenna View Point~

That thing...what was that? It looked horrific. And it hunted Brin into the woods. The last thing I heard was her screaming "no" repeatedly. And I didn't help her. It's all my fault that she's dead.

It feels as if I've stayed here for weeks. I'm here all alone, no one to speak to, nothing to interest me. There's nothing. I haven't seen the beast, ever since Brin was hunted into the woods I continuously feel like I'm being watched, but every time I check there's no one. I've hiked for miles and miles, but nothing has shown up. There’s not a soul in sight. Getting sleep had become a rare occurrence. I couldn't determine what day it was because the sun didn't shine, and the birds didn't chirp. Plus the time on my watch doesn't even run. Ever since I plummeted into this place, the time has stopped operating. I've looked for animals, but there's no movement at all. Every move I make echoes through the trees. I've given up all hope of escaping this place.

~Brin's View Point~

It's been months since Jenna has gone missing. However, it's hardly been weeks since the last time I 'saw' her. I doesn't seem she's in our 'world' anymore. The last I saw her was in my dream, yet I don't think it was any typical dream you would have. It could be a way to communicate with Jenna. When I am asleep, my mindfulness is gone, and my brain is capable of multiple things that average individuals would not be able to do. I've looked into stories about sleep telepathy. And based on what I've gathered, it's natural for young adults to experience it. Most of them had either lost someone or someone went missing and never came back. This town doesn't have many problems, so when people go missing, no one frets about their whereabouts. I'm determined to try and help her escape the place she is in momentarily. But the knowledge that I hold at the moment isn't sufficient. Therefore, I'm going to research different dimensions and different ways of communicating through sleep telepathy. I'll try to get there tonight using whatever power I have. I know tonight's going to be rough. I had been trying all week and it just hadn't seemed to work.

~Chapter 3: Jenna View Point~

I've discovered something finally; after looking for an escape from here I had come upon something. I was on the brink of giving up when I detected something on the horizon. Light. I raced to the source of light to catch it before it disappeared. When I reached where I saw the light, I saw a hand reaching out from what looked like a portal. Without hesitating, I grasped it and began to tug on it. As each second went by, more of the body came out slowly, as if it was stuck in honey. When I finally got the body out of the portal, I hoisted their head to look at their face.

" Brin ?" I said confused. I thought she was dead. She was unconscious but breathing. I hear a loud shrill screech in the distance. I turn to Brin and began to shake her.

"Brin you need to wake up," I tell her as I look behind me. As I do, I notice something in the distance. Trees were being pushed aside and demolished as if something was storming through them. Screech! The noise was now closer and louder. I turn to Brin and start to shake her harshly.

"Brin you need to wake up... NOW!" I say as I raise my voice to a stern level. I don't know what's coming, but it's not stopping. I look back and see that there were more fallen trees, and they were even closer. At this point, I was hitting Brin in fear.

"BRIN IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP WE COULD BOTH DIE!" I scream at her. She wasn't going to wake up at least for now. I look around only to see the portal. Instantly, I knew this is a do-or-die situation. I had to believe in myself. I try to pick up Brin, but fail and decide that it would be better just to drag her. As I am pulling her, I look into the woods to see the creature from before. It looks at me and begins to make unearthly noises. I start to walk faster to the portal now. The monster began to step closer to me but at a slow pace. It was as if it was teasing us to make us believe we were going to live, only to find out that we were going to die anyway. As I shuffled closer to the portal, I noticed the distance I was from the monster. I paused. Then it paused. I knew that if I moved any closer, it would pounce on us. So many thoughts were going through my head, but I couldn’t get around the thought of dying. With one swift movement, I picked up Brin and ran at the portal with all my might. As I ran, I heard the monster shriek. As soon as I ran into the portal, I immediately exit it, hitting the ground on the other side. I looked up and saw that I was in Brin's bedroom.

"Ugh, my head," groaned Brin. She sat up from the ground rubbing her temple. She opened her eyes and looked around drowsily, but suddenly, she snapped her head towards me.

“I’ll explain later,” I tell her.

~Chapter 4: 3rd Person View~

Jenna had decided to take a picnic with Brin.

"What do you want on your sandwich?" asked Brin.

"Um...bologna, American cheese, and mayo," Jenna replies. Jenna was struggling to get the blanket folded.

"Let me help,” stuttered Brin. Brin grabbed the end of the blanket and unfolded it. Clank! Both stopped and looked at each other. Jenna bent down and grabbed a picture frame. Brin looked at her as Jenna smiled.

"Aw, it's a picture of us," stated Jenna. She extended her arm to show the prize. Brin tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? You don't remember? That was a day before..your mother died," Jenna stuttered.

"My mother died?" Muttered Brin. Jenna had a confused and stunned look on her face. How could she not remember her own mother's death?

"How did we meet?" Brin asked. Jenna marched up to her and clutched her shoulders.

"Do you even know who you are?" She asked in a concerned tone. Brin was silent.

"Who are you?" Jenna asked in a harsher tone.

"I-I don't know." Brin stuttered. Jenna stepped back and scoffed.

"Your not Brin are you?! You're not the person I knew before all this happened!" Jenna yelled.

“I said I don't know! I don't know who you are and I don't know where I am!" Brin barked back. Jenna stepped back in astonishment.

"Answer me!" Jenna yelled. But Brin just stood there in silence.

"I said answer," Jenna huffed and slapped Brin. Sending her to the ground. Jenna squats down to Brin's level and glares at her.

"Who. Are. You?" Jenna asked in a grim low voice.

"I-I don't think I'm Brin," sputters 'Brin'. Jenna is appalled by this and bolts into the kitchen. Brin gets up to see what Jenna was doing. As she walks to the doorway, she sees Jenna pacing around, but then she stops to look at Brin.

"If you're not her, then where is she?! Why isn't Brin here?!” Jenna screams with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know," Brin says.

"Then leave if you're not her," Jenna says while pointing at the door. 'She' looked at Jenna, but Jenna glared at her with no remorse.

"Before you leave tell me something-how can I find her?” Jenna requests.

'She' looked at her with the sign of stress in her eyes.

"I don't know. I'm sor-" Brin manages to stutter before Jenna mutters"Yes, you do." She stepped forward with a grim feeling.

"I'm going now," 'she' announced. Jenna's arm reaches out and grabs her arm.

'Jenna' goes into a trance. What she sees is unrealistic......

Her vision is blurred and she overhears someone else's voice and their reaching for her. She tries to speak back, but can't. She thinks of what life has come to and how she didn't get to say goodbye. How she didn't tell them that she loved them. She shuts her eyes, then opens them. Now it was glowing. Full of light and happiness that would never wane away. The anguish and blame rinsed away. She glances around seeing the remarkable place around her. She felt no fault for what she did to the people she left down below. She feels hope because she knows that they'll rise one day to come and see her.

"Come to me," asked the deep hoarse voice. There at the end of the field was an opening. It was too shiny for her to see, but the opening gave her optimism. She raced towards the opening with delight. But halted at the entrance in marvel. She felt negative energy reflecting from it, but before she could back away a large hand, with sharp nails, seized her and hauled her in.

She had no time to reason. She had no time to take action. Darkness had discovered a way inside her and it wasn't giving up to take her away. She flailed and kicked while the hand slung her around like a shark with its prey. She struggled with all her strength and achieved to get loose. But before she could move an inch she was enclosed by black soot. It coiled around her various times before entering her nose. Instantly she fell unconscious upon it entering her.

She awoke to be in a black space. She walked around but she could not find an exit. Suddenly two balls of light shined through. It looked as if it was glass because she could now see the outside world. She heard her voice echo through the black space. But she knew that she wasn't the one speaking.

"Cathia, you are now the new Jenna. You replaced the old one. You are better than her in every way. But you will not identify yourself as Cathia in Jenna's body because for now on you ARE Jenna," she said.

The REAL Jenna was trapped in her own mind and couldn't escape. Jenna curled up in a ball on the pitch-black ground and cried. Cathia entered her mind and body( the black space). She opened her eyes to the real world before marching up to Brin.

"Get up," Cathia demands as she pulls up the confused Brin.

Brin looks up at her in the fear of being hurt and confused.

"What do you want from me and where am I?" Brin asked.

"You know what I want," Cathia( Jenna) screeched.

She looked in Jenna's eyes and saw straight through them.

She wasn't Jenna. That wasn't Jenna.

"Cathia..." I whispered.

To be continued