Chapter Six: The GatheringA Chapter by Joshua DonahueForbidden. Evan is nervous about attending this "gathering" thing which his cousin has invited him to. But he goes anyway only to find it's not what he expects.
Previous Version This is a previous version of Chapter Six: The Gathering. FORBIDDEN
BY: J O S H U A D O N A H U E
Chapter Six The Gathering When I asked my mom if
I could go to the “gathering thing”, she did the whole parental thing on me.
“Absolutely not! It’s a school night, young man. You should know better than
that,” she said. “But
mom, Luke is counting on me to go with him!” I urged. Her
expression changed. “Luke is going
with you?” I
could easily pick up her emphasizing Luke’s name as if it changed the matter
entirely. “Yes. He’s the one who invited me in the first place.” “Well,
I’m going to talk with his parents first.” She
went and picked up the cordless phone and called Luke’s house. Then I had a
small fear that Luke’s parents didn’t know he was going out, so I hoped I
wouldn’t be getting him into trouble. But
I soon heard my mom laughing on the phone and knew that was a good thing. After
a minute or two of nodding and replying into the receiver, my mother hung up.
“All right. You can go. I have talked with Trent and he explained to me that he
is allowing Luke to go. I told Trent that Luke should bring you home
immediately afterwards, and if anything happens for you to call me. Got it?” I
nodded, trying to suppress a smile. I didn’t know what Trent had told my mother
this “gathering” was exactly, but she obviously agreed with it. “Okay,
good. Now help me set the table for dinner.” * * * I was a complete wreck.
I had no clue what to wear to this party thing because I had no idea what it
was for or even if it was a party. I had sent Luke a text questioning him about
all of this, but he simply told me to wear anything casual (jeans, t-shirt,
etc.). So I slipped on a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a pair of my sneakers.
Then I waited. It
was Sunday evening. Eight ‘o clock was only thirty minutes away and I was
residing on the sofa in front of the television watching some Clint Eastwood
movie, paying the least bit of attention to it. My mother was at work at the
moment so the house was silent---except for the television, of course. Some
time passed before I heard a horn blow outside. In reaction, I jumped from the
couch, switching off the movie, and I went out the front door. Luke’s
truck---or, his dad’s truck---was parked in the driveway, still revving with
Luke in the driver seat waving at me to come on. I locked the door behind me,
and stuffed my key back into my pocket; I didn’t have to worry about my mom not
being able to get into the house because she had her own key. I
went and got in the passenger side of the truck. It was dark on the inside even
though the headlights shining were very bright, but it looked as if Luke was
wearing the same kind of casual clothes I was. I instantly felt a small wave of
relief. “Ready,
then?” he asked. “Let’s
go,” I said. He
pulled out of the driveway and down the road. I
knew most of the town’s layout, but that was only the middle of town. I had no
idea about its surroundings layout, like back out in the country parts. Plus,
it was dark too, so it made it even harder to realize where we were. We had
passed through the middle of town what seemed like ages ago, and now all I saw
were fields and trees on both sides of the road. As
I looked out the side window of the truck, I felt the cool wind from outside
blow against me as Luke drove. It was so comforting because I didn’t smell the
fumes of constant car pollution, or hear the sounds of people and their busy
lives. On the contrary, I smelt only the country and its enticing scents, and I
heard nothing but the wind. It
was indeed peaceful. It
was for the first time that I realized that it was a full moon, and it looked
marvelous in the dark parts of the country. It seemed to light everything up
with its luminous light, acting as the sun of night. Back in California, the
moon was the farthest thing from mind. It was the places and people that made
San Francisco what it was, not the natural features of the earth. But here---the
moon was huge! The trees interfered with my view, but small gaps between the
chains of trees allowed me to see it was so large to the point where I could make
out the craters on its surface. As I examined them, my mind made out a face on
it, with its eyes directed at me, like it was watching me for some reason.
Usually, I would have shivered at the thought of it, but I didn’t. Instead,
knowing that the moon was looking out for me, made me feel safe. It made me
feel grounded. Then,
a tall, dark chain of trees came back into view and blocked my perspective. Nonetheless,
I had no idea where I was exactly. “Um...Luke
where---” I began to ask, taking my eyes out from the window and looking at my
cousin beside me. “We’re
almost there. Just up a little more ways.” Several
more minutes passed and I was beginning to ask him again, but he turned down a
small dirt road that was only wide enough for one vehicle to travel through. It
didn’t seem to belong in its locations, because it was a dirt road with a few
crunchy gravel pieces that led right through the middle of a wheat field. I
know all wheat fields look the same, but there was something about this field
that stuck out to me---like I had been here before. It was just the way it was
shaped and how the woods collided into it. I couldn’t exactly remember, though.
Then
my surroundings changed to pure trees---trees that were so dark that it appeared
like we were going through a black cave; the headlights shone brightly, however,
so I didn’t feel too enclosed. Luke continued to drive on down the small dirt
road through the woods for several minutes before he stopped. He
stopped at the brink of what looked like a small campsite. There was a roaring
fire in the center and logs surrounding it for comfort---although, all the
people were just standing around the fire talking to one another in small
groups rather than sitting. I hopped out the truck and walked with Luke towards
the people. And I just so happened to look up at the sky and saw a gorgeous
vista above me: the sky an inky black, with white dots illuminating certain
spots, and the moon at its full potential as a full moon shining down over the
campsite and small clouds shrouding it giving it an eerie look. I
yanked my head down from the clouds and got myself together for this
“gathering”. Around
me, I heard the loud opera of insects chirping nearby as they all sang in tune
with one another. Back in San Francisco, all I had heard were car honks and
trolley bells. But apparently, bugs took over in Hale---and so did the smells.
Now that I got the full “nature effect” I could smell the pines and their
prickly branches that extended several feet from their trunks, the intoxicating
bushes and their small berries and flowers that lingered upon them harmlessly,
as well as the musky scent of the rest of the wood around me. Yep, definitely not San Francisco,
I thought to myself. My night vision was horrible, and everyone was
standing out of the fire’s light range so I couldn’t really make out the
features of the people, but from the majority of what I saw, it looked as if
they were all…men. Weird. And
what was even weirder was that as I entered the campsite with Luke, the loud conversations
were dying away. I
walked alongside Luke until a familiar man came up to us and said, “Ah…welcome
Evan. Welcome. We’re glad you could make it.” It
was Otis Woods---my grandfather on my dad’s side of the family. My
anxiety rush kicked in. “Um…what exactly is this?” “This?
This is our…meeting, I guess you could call it. We come every night that the
moon is full, you see.” Then he directed his voice to everyone: “Let’s all take
our seats so we may take a moment to welcome our newest member!” I
whispered to Luke, “Member?” “Relax.
Otis will explain everything to you,” he replied a little more loudly than I expected.
“Just relax.” Then
Otis turned back to me and said, “Come, Evan. There is much to be explained.” I
followed him into the center by the campfire, leaving Luke to go take a seat
with the others. My first reaction was to have a panic attack, but as I started
looking around at all of the people there, I began to realize that I knew some
of them: Daryl (my uncle), Derek (my cousin), Michael (my cousin), Edmund (my cousin),
Luke, and Otis. There were numerous other guys that I saw, but I didn’t recognize
any of them. They all appeared to have a Caucasian complexion. Then again, my
night vision really needed a serious update. “Let
us begin,” Otis said to everyone available. Then
slowly, everyone in the perfect circle raised their heads towards the sky and
placed their arms the air. With their eyes sealed shut, they began to chant
something in an unknown language. But I said nothing. Even Otis was doing it,
but he did it in a much more powerful way than the others, like a leader would.
What is this, the Blair Witch Project
or something? Talk about your club full of whackos. Still,
I remained deferential as possible, considering… The
chanting grew louder, it seemed, and they all began speaking as one instead of
the usual person that would be a second off key. Suddenly,
I began to notice that everything becoming dizzy and blurry. I looked at all
sides of me wondering what was happening to me, and why nobody had stopped
chanting to realize my odd status. Then I looked to Otis, but he paid no
attention to me. The volume kept increasing, and at the same rate, everything
clouded up and became jumbled together like a profusion of letters from the
alphabet thrown into a pile. I
felt like I was about to pass out any moment or that I would fall, crashing
down on a hard, solid rock on the ground. But I was too woozy to care. Then
everything in my sight began to multiply itself and I saw at least seven
figures of Otis before me and a thousand figures of everyone else around me. The
volume increased. I
closed my eyes, wishing everything would just freeze to take away the dizziness.
I leaned forward to place my hands on my knees hoping to gain balance. The
chanting boosted up even louder. Oh, God… My
eyes stayed close, but my stomach gave a sudden lurch like it was being pulled apart
and I was going to be sick. Something chunky, but still liquid-like, ran down
from my mouth and around me feet, but I couldn’t tell what the substance was; I
kept my eyes shut. The
volume increased even more. The
noise began to hurt my ears, it was so loud. I tried to cover my ears, but when
I let go of my knees I knew I was going to fall over, so I kept still. The
earth seemed to be spinning around like a top. The
sounds increased further. I
opened my eyes for a few seconds, and I saw the color of the fire fade from
orange-yellow to black and white. I glanced around wearily, still lurching up
chunks from my stomach and saw everything was loosing its color and black and
white was taking over. Then,
just as I thought the chanting could intensify no more, it amplified to the
max. Pain
overwhelmed my entire body. Confusion clogged up the pipes in my mind. And wishes
that it would all stop became pushed into a mere crevice of my brain. I
felt like just dropping to the ground and taking the easy way out, but I
couldn’t. My arms and legs wouldn’t allow me to. I
dazedly looked out of my eyesight that was left and I slowly saw that
everything began blending into its right context, but in black and white. Yet,
the pain still hovered on my stomach as I still vomited. “STOP!”
I screamed out loud and almost collapsing onto the ground. Then,
instantaneously, everything stopped. The
chanting vanished into the wind, but the color of my vision did not return---it
was all still stuck on a grayscale to me. This gave me a magnified headache.
However, my stomach eased off to its normal state as if it hadn’t even been
upset in the first place, and my entire body seemed…normal again. I
leaned back up straight onto both legs, ignoring the chunks of blood and vomit
below my feet. The
people around me still had their eyes closed and their hands up, but Otis opened
his eyes. He held his hands out to me as if he was expecting me to hold them. “Take
me hands,” he said to me, obviously oblivious to my guts surrounding him below. My
thoughts came back to normal and skepticism arrived on my doorstep. “For---what?” “To
make the transformation less painful and more easier to bear, of course,” he
said with a bizarre smile. “What
transformation? What are you talking about?” I questioned. Everything was getting
creepy and blown way out of proportion. I wanted to know what was going on. I
wanted to know why my insides were on the ground, why pain was all I had felt
only a second ago while they were chanting, and why in the hell I was seeing only
black and white. “The
transformation that allows you to be inducted into our group. In time, you’ll
see. Now, take my hands, Evan,” he said with an even more eerie smile than
before. I
began to back away, my eyesight still oddly in black and white like an old
television. “No. No freaking way.” “Take
my hands, Evan. Otherwise, it’s going to hurt,” Otis said sternly. Was
that a threat on my life? Whether it was or wasn’t I knew I had to escape, so I
turned my back on him, and swiftly ran forward. I jumped unbelievably high
above the men that remained seated with their hands still held tall as if their
chant wasn’t over. Their eyes were still closed, I realized, so they didn’t
even notice my leap. I then dashed into the forest, running as far and fast as
possible. Branches
whipped me in the face, leaving stray marks on my cheeks and neck, briars got
stuck in my legs, making my pace even slower and more painful, and spider webs
got stuck to my body. But I ran, still not caring where I went, just so I could
get away from those creeps. Even
though I never played athletics professionally, I wasn’t too shabby on the
running, especially when my life was in danger. So
I ran, I ran, and I ran, until I ran out of breath. My chest was heaving, and
my lungs were empty of oxygen, but slowly filled as I came to rest. I leaned
against a tree trunk to recuperate for a second or so with my eyes closed and
my mind thinking of one word: escape. Suddenly,
I heard distant cries from male humans in the direction in which I had come. My
eyes flew open quickly taking in the realization that they were after me! I
quickly took in my surroundings as I began looking for a place to hide, but I
didn’t spot any. My heart pumped speedily because I was freaking out. Then an
idea came to me. The tree! I thought. I
looked directly above me and saw that the branches were low enough for me to
reach, but high enough not to be seen. So I started to climb it. As I climbed,
I kept glancing in the direction of the steadily increasing sounds of my
chasers. I could make out white lights in their direction as I got higher. Then
I saw shades of green as their lights hit the forest features. The shock of
color hit me, and I almost fell to the forest floor---my color vision was reappearing,
I noted. I was like an old television that had been upgraded to a plasma screen.
Instantly, I felt grateful. Abruptly,
I realized the voices became less remote every few seconds and that rushed me
even more than my already-frightened thoughts. I pushed away my delight for
having colored vision again; and within a few seconds, I made it to the branch
I was aiming for. I
hugged the tree trunk as much as possible for dear life while resting on the
tree’s limb, wishing to stay hidden behind the dark-colored leaves. Not too far
off now, I saw their flashlights shine as they scouted for me. I
was petrified, but I recalled those horror films where people always got killed
by the psycho maniac because they couldn’t keep quiet long enough. So I had to
remain as calm and silent as possible, and I did. In a minute’s time, the
lights appeared right near my tree, and the relaxation that I needed---and
barely had---was extremely hard to grasp onto. I just prayed to the heavens
above that whoever was below me wouldn’t think of looking up. They
seemed to remain below forever, looking in nearby bushes and checking every
nook and cranny for me. I
held my breath---unable to perform even the most natural of things. Right
when I felt as if I couldn’t stop my lungs from retracting anymore, the lights
passed farther down into the forest. I
allowed a small sigh of relief to escape me. A
few moments passed by. Then,
just as I was about to risk jumping down from my hiding spot, my branch gave a
sudden shake. My eyes trailed up the branch and noticed a big animal had jumped
out of nowhere and into my hiding place. It weighed a ton, I knew, because the
limb I was on began to sag from the high capacity. I looked up at it, and I
observed that the animal’s silhouette resembled a dog or a wolf of some sort,
only larger; I noticed a tail, four legs, and two pointy ears on top---its body
was covered in thick fur. Yet, what stood out the most were its eyes; they
seemed familiar, like I had seen them before, but I couldn’t place them
exactly. I
remained still, watching it steadily just as it watched me. Neither one of us
moved or removed our eyes each other’s bodies. I
hoped it wouldn’t see my trembling body, even though the creature lingered mere
feet from me. However, it did, and when it did, it began to howl a thunderous
noise that deafened me. In reaction, and not wishing to hear any more sickening
noises, chants, or anything else of the sort, I covered my ears quickly. I
waited for it to stop, but it never did. Thinking fast and acting as
resourceful as possible, I uncovered my ears, I grabbed the nearest branch I
could, and I pulled it back like a slingshot, and…BAM!. . .I hit my target dead-on. The strange animal went flying
off the branch into some bushes a little ways off. I knew the people that were
looking for me (the people who I thought were my family) would come to the
sound of the roar, so I bounded down onto solid ground hurriedly and took off
racing through the forest in a completely opposite direction of both the campfire
and the psychos after me. I was going home. * * * I
tried to compose myself as much as possible before I walked inside: I tried
brushing my tangled hair down, I tried to wipe away some of the dried blood
from the cuts of nature and remove some of the left over thorns still pierced
into my skin. No matter what I did, I still looked like crap, but it was the
best I could do on such short notice. I walked in the door of my house,
seeing that one light was on. The light streamed from the living room, which
contained my mother watching television (probably waiting on my arrival). I tried to act casual and walk on
by. “Hey, mom. I’m tired, so I’m just going on up to bed. Okay, goodnight.” She looked at me and said,
“Goodnight, dear.” Then she froze for a second, taking in what I looked like---I
could only imagine. “Evan, what on earth---” I waved her off, and said as I
walked up the stairs gloomily, “Don’t wanna talk about it. Good night.” I know she dreaded being quiet and
not being able to win my battles for me when I fought, but I didn’t fight a
bully or anything close to that. This was way different. I then left the room
entirely as I reached the top of the stairs and that was how she knew that I
really did not want to talk. At all. Especially not about what had just happened to me and what I
experienced. I wanted to forget it all, and pretend it never occurred. But I couldn’t do that because it did happen…didn’t it? I said to myself
mentally and confusingly. There was no way all that was just a big hallucination…right? © 2010 Joshua DonahueAuthor's Note
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15 Reviews Added on July 23, 2010 Last Updated on July 23, 2010 Tags: chapter, six, the, gathering, forbidden, Evan, Woods, Hale, werewolves, nymphs, love, romance, party, relationship, paranormal, supernatural AuthorJoshua DonahueJefferson, SCAboutUPDATE! 06.27.13 Hello, WritersCafe! I realize that I have abandoned my account since the summer of 2013. Since then I have started college, and I have experienced... a lot. However, this does no.. more..Writing
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