Chapter 7

Imagine a place with nothing around, a place where nothing lives, basically like
the Afterlife only more yellow, with no clouds, nor The Man. Imagine waking up in
it, alone, with nothing to see, but an endless, vast yellow field, what would you
feel? Shocked? Surprised? Frightened? Those are what Wyatt would surely feel once
he wakes up from his deep sleep.

A mysterious log cabin has been found in middle of Ethereal Forest, this forest
just can't stop with the mysteries. Wyatt and Yvhonne tried to get inside the
cabin, Yvhonne didn't agree with the idea, but Wyatt was feeling real courageous at
that moment that no one can stop him. They went inside the cabin through the front
door, which was luckily, unlocked. Wyatt was followed by Yvhonne as they get inside
the cabin, Yvhonne held Wyatt's arms, either she was real afraid or annoyed with
her brother, for she held his arms real tight with her finger nails, trying to
pierce or scratch Wyatt's skin. A few seconds later, it started to hurt Wyatt, but
he didn't care, the feeling of his excitement was way too much for him to feel any
pain.

The cabin wasn't so big, once you get in you'll see a dinning table in the middle
of the room, just in front of the kitchen. Surprisingly, by the window, there was a
television set. Beside the kitchen, was two rooms, one bedroom, and the other was a
restroom. The twins started exploring the place, there was nothing unusual
actually, it was dark and dusty, but the luminous trees outside the cabin provided
light for them to see. They checked the kitchen, it had a complete set of kitchen
utensils. Then there was the bathroom, nothing to see there, it had a bathub, a
toilet, a shower, and shockingly a water supply, with a water heater. There was a
backdoor just beside the bathroom, near the kitchen, if you go through it, you'll
find yourself out at the back of the house. At the back, there was this shed
nearby, but the twins decided not to check it anymore, they were quite afraid that
if they explore the shed once they get out, the cabin already disappeared, and
they'll be much lost than before. Out of things to see, they decided to explore the
bedroom, and that was where things got weird. They entered the bedroom, expecting
to find nothing, same with the other rooms, but what they found was something that
will change their lives, a skeleton. Now I know a skeleton won't be much of a life
changer, it would creep you out, and possibly spend countless nights not being able
to sleep, but if you knew whose skeleton it was, that may be different.

The twins entered the room, same as the others it was dark and dusty, but something
caught their eyes once they got inside, a skeleton. "Yo! Now that's something!"
Wyatt said as he see the skeleton lying in the bed, it wore a blue jacket, with
half of its body covered by a blanket and in its hands it held a book.

"That's creepy—," Yvhonne said, as she cringe in disgust, quickly she backed away
to the door, and left her brother explore the room alone. "I'm getting out of
here!"

"Well, if you want to miss the fun!" Wyatt continued examing the room, he noticed
that there were many books in the floor, some were stacked while the others were
just scattered around. All of the books looked the same, all had the same covers,
length, width, the only thing that differ was the thickness, and the titles of the
books. The titles were all different, but one thing the titles had in common was
that they were all names, names of different people, some were even quite uncommon
to hear. "Rhombus Flartern? Steve Johnson? Teresa Thorne? Are these some sort of
diaries?" Wyatt eventually got bored of checking each names book at the ground, he
decided to go back to Yvhonne and finally try to find a way out of the forest
again, but something stopped him on his way out, he noticed the book that was in
the skeleton's hands. Daringly, he sneaked right up to the skeleton and carefully
took the book it was holding, he read the name of the book, and was surprised to
know whose book it was. "Karlito Sulat?" Quickly Wyatt went to Yvhonne, who was
taking a nap in the couch. "Yvhonne! Yvhonne wake up! You will not believe what I
just found!"

"What is it? Wait before that, I was having a nice dream, then you woke me up!"
Yvhonne cried as she hit her brother for disturbing her. "It was about a family
living in this place, but the mother was a horse, the daughter was a ghost, and
their pet was a bush, okay what's your story?" Wyatt gave the book to Yvhonne, and
same as what Wyatt's reaction was, she was freaked out as well, it was like
something bit her. "Grandpa—?!"

"Lolo!" Wyatt corrected

"That's the same thing?!"

"Yeah, well he likes it better being called 'lolo'!" he argued,

"Wait, what is this supposed to be anyway?" Yvhonne asked in confusion.

"I don't really know, but in the bedroom there were many books same as that one,
they all look the same but the names were different, names like "Marlodusosusos
Rexyliophian, or "Peanutbutter Pinkle Pinklish Pinkleston Peanut Pumpkin Sandwich."

"Those aren't names."

"I know."

"And you found this book where exactly?"

"The skeleton was holding it,"

"Eww, that's gross!" Yvhonne said, though she didn't let it stop her from scanning
the books, if anything important was written. "Oh gosh, look at this one, 'One day,
while Charlie was writting his novel, Beatrice comes to his work place, planning to
tell him the good news, "Charlie?" Beatrice called, "Yes hon?" Charlie answered.
"I'm pregnant" Beatrice said in tears of joy, the couple hugged each other, not
long after they found out it was girl, and finally Gretchen was born.' this is the
story of his life!" Yvhonne freaked out.

"Gretchen?! Like our mother Gretchen?! And there's Beatice?!"

"Page 234! 'Charlie called his two grand children, the twins, and ordered them to
buy him soda!' Page 377! 'Charlie finally finished his 6th novel 'The Floating
Building!' Page 645 the last page! 'And as Charlie peacefully rest in the cabin,
sleeping, slowly he rested in peace?' What? Wait! Does that mean, that that
skeleton in the room?"

"You mean?" Quickly the twins ran to the room, they went to the skeleton, and there
they realized that the skeleton that lyed down the bed was their grandfather. "So,
this is him huh? All this time, he just disappeared, he was just at the forest."
Wyatt said, as they stood beside it, "But, how did he get here?"

"Must have gotten lost in the forest, found this cabin, then he died in his sleep,
well he wrote himself to die,"

"Well, we can't just leave him here, come on we need to bury him," Wyatt called,
they took the blanket that covered their grandfather and created a small sack from
it, they remove it's clothes, it's jacket, shorts, even the underwear, and one by
one they put the bones in it, they brought the sack of bones outside at the back of
the house. They went to the shed where they found shovels they can use to dig a
hole, they dug a pit in the ground and put their grandfather's skeleton in the pit
they made then covered it. In the shed Wyatt was able to find a hammer, some nails,
and planks of wood, he then created a wooden cross as a tombstone, and he put it in
their grandfather's grave. The twins stood in his grave for awhile, to pay respect,
until they finally decided to leave, and find their way out of the forest again.
But before they left, they went to the bedroom one last time, staring at the bed
where their grandfather died. "So you think we should them? Our parents? Grandma?"

"Lola!"

"Right!"

"Well, I don't want her to die yet, she might get sick with the news, and our
parents will kill us if they ever find out we've been here,"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Wyatt said, approving the idea of not telling anyone
about their grandfather. "Well, I'll be taking his jacket home!"

"What if mom and dad sees?"

"I'll hide it, don't worry!"

The twins finally left the cabin, ready to continue their journey on finding where
the exit is, Yvhonne notices something very unusual, or maybe at this point, with
them experiencing a lot of unusual stuff this night, something very normal. They
started to walk away from the house, continuing their journey to find an exit, when
Yvhonne looked back to the house one last time. But when she tried to look back,
the house, same way as how it appeared, it just disappeared, vanished. "Umm,
Wyatt?"

"What?" Wyatt stopped as he ask

"The cabin's gone,"

Wyatt looked back and saw what Yvhonne said, but it wasn't anything new for him so
he didn't let it bother him so much. "Well, that's creepy, but not so shocking
anymo—" Wyatt paused, there was a loud noise that was heard in the background. It
sounded like a horn of a car, it wasn't just a honk from a vehicle passing by, it
was a continous honk with no rests, as if there was a problem or accident, a road
accident. They stood there for a while, startled and not knowing what to do, until
they had an idea, if they can hear a honking of a car from outside the forest, then
they must be nearby the exit. Quickly they followed the sound of the horn, running
towards it in full of hope, but what they thought was a nearby honk coming from a
short distance was wrong, it was further than that. For a normal person who was
running the same pace as the twins, they would've gotten tired already, and may
have taken a couple of rest before they reach the exit, but the twins need not to
rest, their adrenaline was way too high for them to stop, they decreased a normal
30 minute run to a 15 minute one.

Quite near to the exit, the twins saw some light in the distance, they were seen in
the little gaps between the trees, it was the exit finally, and what they were lamp
post acroos the road. They ran faster, and faster towards the exit filled with
glee, feeling alive, yet as they get nearer and nearer to it, the honk that they
were following slowly faded away. The twins did not care, they were too focused to
reach the exit, they had it in their sight, they knew that once they stop running
the exit will fade away as well. Only a few inches away from the exit, and the
twins jumped towards it, they were safe at last. "Hahaha! Yeah!" Wyatt laughed,
celebrating their exit from the forest. They spent a couple more minutes laughing,
cheering outside the forest, they took a little rest, sitting down the grass,
catching their breath, resting their legs from all that running. And while they
rested, they recalled all of the things that happened that night, running away from
cops, exploring an abandoned cabin, burrying their own grandfather, this night was
really bothersome, especially for children. Once they were ready to walk again,
Wyatt realized something, they were infront of Sphat road, infront of where they
entered the forest. "Wait isn't this where we entered? But we neved turned?" Wyatt
asked, but Yvhonne was too tired to care about it, she thought of it as a favor
instead, being closer to home, to walk.

"What's new? Come on let's go home!" Yvhonne said

"Where's mister Policeman? Isn't he supposed to be here waiting?"

"Must've gotten tired, besides who car—?!" Yvhonne paused she heard and saw someone
going at their direction, "Crap! Someone's coming!" quickly they ran away, but
Wyatt tried to head to the forest again, so she had to grab him by the shirt, and
pull him. "Not there!" There was a house not far from them, just infront of the
forest, and in there they hid in the bushes. They waited for who will come, it
didn't take a while until 3 people ran towards the forest, the other two was being
chased by the other one who looked like a police with his outfit, while the two,
they looked like teenagers, both in black shirts, and holding hands, they looked
like lovers.

"They're being chased as well! Wait?" Wyatt said, but as they keep watching, he
observes something from the 3 people. "That's us?"

"No it's not!" Yvhonne argued.

"Look they have the same clothes! And there's a police as well!" Wyatt said, indeed
it was them, what they were seeing was what happened earlier before they went
inside the forest, but the question is how?

"Whatever! Let's just go, it's getting too late!" Yvhonne said, and as soon as she
said that, the twins that they were watching have already entered the forest. They
sneaked away of the bushes, running towards home, although they tried to maintain
their speed, they feared getting caught again, and this time because of curfew, so
it was more like fast walking than running. And as they do so, Wyatt kept looking
back to the forest, he wondered what happened next, he was curious of where the
policeman was. In the distance he saw the policeman, scratching his head in
frustration, he acted afraid and annoyed at the same time. And as Wyatt kept
watching, he saw the policeman finally calm down, he was breathing really deep,
looking like he's taking a lot of courage, and as he finally get enough, Wyatt was
shocked to see the policeman jump into the forest, he got disturbed, knowing that
their rowdy behavior caused a policeman cost his life, who knows what happened to
that policeman, if he will ever escape.

Going through the same route as they went before, Wyatt saw where they ran, and
there was another thing that made Wyatt curious as they ran, right at the spot
where Scott and Meat made a turn, where they separated, at the very end of the
road, on the other side, Wyatt caught a glimpse of cop cars, ambulances, and many
people gathered. Wyatt didn't know what he saw, he didn't know if he should tell
this to Yvhonne, who didn't look like she would give any interest anymore, he
wasn't quite sure if he was correct with the cop cars, and the ambulance, but he
thought he was, for he saw the red and blue lights above them. A few minutes later,
after their 'fast walk', they reached their house, and same as how Wyatt left it,
there was still light in the kitchen and their parents were still downstairs
waiting for Yvhonne, and Wyatt maybe, he wasn't quite sure if they know that he
wasn't at his bed. Yvhonne was really afraid to go inside, she breathed deeply so
many times just to take courage, and as she finally have, she told her brother to
climb up the window already. Wyatt apologized to Yvhonne as he climb, mouthing his
words, and as Wyatt finally finished climbing, once he has entered his room,
Yvhonne went to the door, and was ready to go inside. But the door was locked, so
instead she had to knock, and wait for her parents to come to her, not knowing how
they would react. She knocked at the door 3 times, and by the time she finished her
last knock the door immediately opened, and there came her parents opening for her.
They looked at each other in the eyes, Yvhonne chuckled nervously as her mother
come to her and grabbing and hugging her. "Where have you been?! It's been so late!
Come on now get inside!" Yvhonne's mother exclaimed in an awfully worried but
started to get relieved voice.

Yvhonne went inside the house, she was scolded and interrogated about what
happened, same as how Wyatt was scolded when he disrespected Ms. Willow. It didn't
take long before Yvhonne was set free, it was quite late already, so after her
parents were done scolding her she continued to her bed, and finally went to sleep.
Wyatt was already asleep, by the time Yvhonne was getting scolded he was already
sleeping soundly. But before he slept, he checked his box of stones for any changes
that it might had, unfortunately there was none, it was same as before.

The night has passed, and another day has arrived, it's a Saturday! And nothing's
better than spending your Saturday with your friends and family, doing recreational
activities, like going to the beach, or walking at the park, not unless if you're
not allowed to do any of what I have mentioned. The twins twins woke up later than
usual, it was one long night last night. They had their breakfast right after their
parent's had theirs already. As they ate, they had one question in mind, where was
their father? It was a Saturday morning, and usually he would always be in the
living room, reading the paper as he drink his coffee. "Mom?" called Yvhonne to her
busy mother washing the dishes, "Where's dad?"

"You're father, had to leave early today." responded their mother.

"But isn't it a Saturday?" Yvhonne asked again

"Well a case came up, and it was a big one." she explained

"So, he's working today?"

"Yes dear, don't worry he won't take long." Their mother assured them, now as they
continue eating, someone ring the door bell, "See! That must be him now! Wyatt, can
you please get the door?"

Wyatt went to answer the door, expecting it was their father that he will see, he
was mistaken, again it was his two best friends, Scott and Meat, who looked so
agitated, wearing a deeply worried face upon them. They looked so bad, they looked
like they had no sleep, they still wore the clothes they wore last night. In
they're hands, each of them held a newspaper, and it seemed to Wyatt that they ran
all the way to his house just to shiw it. "What happened to you two? Are you okay?"

"No!" the two exclaimed in synchronicity.

"Well, come on get inside!"

"Wyatt who's there?" Wyatt's mother called, Oh! Scott, Meat! Well, good morning to
you! Aren't you a little bit early?"

"Good morning to you as well, Mrs. Apelyido," Scott greeted. "We just wanted to see
Wyatt,"
"Well, did you have breakfast already? You two don't look so good."

"You're too nice Mrs. Apelyido, but we're fine, thank you." Meat answered politely.

"Well, you boys can go ahead of what you want to do, but Wyatt!" Wyatt's mother
exclaimed to him, reminding him of his punishment.

"Yes mom, I know." Wyatt answered, "So, why are you here early?"

"Yeah we can't talk here, can we go to you're room?" Meat whispered

"Yeah sure fine," Wyatt said as he led the two to his room

"And Yvhonne must come as well, Yvhonne!" Scott said

"Yeah?" Yvhonne answered from the kitchen, as she washed the dishes

"Meet us in Wyatt's room, after you finish that."

"Why?"

"Just be there!" Meat said

"Hey! So why are we gathered here?" Yvhonne said, as she enters the room.

"What do we do now Wyatt?!" Meat said in a way of which it seemed as if he was in

deep trouble. "This may be the last time we will see each other."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The cops are looking for us Wyatt! Everyone knows!" Scott exclaimed, this was
quite peculiar for the group for Scott was known for being nice and calm, and him
shouting and losing his temper must mean that it was trouble.

"Who knows?!" asks the confused Yvhonne, who was either confused of what what they
were talking about, or why she was getting involve in a problem her brother's
friend's were.

"Everyone who reads the paper!" Meat exclaimed, "Here I have it here! Front page!
Headline!" he showed the twins a paper, it was the day's issue of Gothic Century's
paper.

"Akhejsjdbs"

"What? No! Not the Century! This one The Local!"

"Local teacher gets crushed by truck?" Wyatt read the frontpage, and as he did, he
re membered the scene he saw last night. "Wait! Last night we saw a scene, there
were many cars and—"

"That was it Wyatt!! We caused the accident! And what's worse was someone died!"

"Well it doesn't say here in the paper," Yvhonne said, after reading the article
written. "The driver said he saw a ghost, it looked like a little girl holding a
stick, it didn't mention anything about two boys in costume."

"Well, he may have been mistaken!" Scott said, until he finally broke down and
tried to say his farewell to the twins. "That's it Wyatt, we're moving away, we'll
be living on the lam now, and this may be the last time we'll see each other.
"What?! No, don't be ridiculous! And where are you going? Rheto? Borneigh?" Wyatt
asked, surprised with their sudden and not well thought, decision.

"Maybe?"

"What about your parents?" Yvhonne brought up

"They wouldn't like a murderer for a child." reasoned Meat

"You two are idiots! Look, I'm not gonna take this seriously, just lay low okay?
Don't do anything stupid. No one even knows what you did!"

"Where am I?" "Woah!! Now that's something you don't see eveyday!"

"Am I dead? Hello! Mom! Dad! Yvhonne!"

"Wait! Yvhonne? Why are you? No!"

A boring Saturday it was for the twins, once they had their breakfast they had
nothing else to do but their chores. Nothing interesting happened that morning,
from all of their adventures last night to this, a boring weekend. The twins stayed
at both of their rooms, with nothing to do but to stare at either the wall or the
ceiling, (both were still trying to recover from last night, and everything they
saw just started to sink in right now) but Wyatt chose not to stare at either of
them, instead he stared at his grand father's jacket that was lying at the floor.
He stared at it for hours until he noticed something, there was something in it's
pockets. There was this paper showing to Wyatt's direction, curious of what it was,
Wyatt took the jacket and tried to check if what he was seeing was true, and indeed
it was. It was a tri-folded yellow paper, and once unfolded a letter can be read
written on it. Wyatt skimmed through the letter, but as he continue, he started to
look like how Chef Skinner, from Pixar's Ratatouille, reacted once he learned that
Aguste Gusteau had a son from the letter he was reading (Man, I just love that
movie). Wyatt immediately ran to Yvhonne's room, impatiently knocking at her door
until she opened it, Yvhonne faced him timidly, with her eyes half-closed that
looked like she just woke up from a nap, it contradicted to how Wyatt looked
excited and worried at the same time.