The Road to Maine is Bloody Part 35

Ashley poked her head out the door, glancing to the left to see if anyone was awake. After coming back from dinner, they watched a movie on TV, Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp while they ate popcorn and laughed when Depp’s character would get into trouble which was a lot during the show. After everyone went to bed, Ashley couldn’t sleep and decided to do some investigating on her own about what was going on in Bangor.

When she saw the coast was clear, she tiptoed down the hall, carrying her sandals in her left hand and made her way to the stairs and started down the steps, freezing once when the bottom step creaked, holding her breath to see if someone would come to see what was going on. When she heard nothing, she sat down on the step and put on her sandals.

She managed to slip out quietly, walking carefully down the porch steps and then ran down the path behind the house that led to the woods where Stephen claimed to have seen this light. When she approached the edge of the woods, Ashley looked up to the sky, seeing shadows of tall pine trees waving gently in the soft breeze and they seemed almost threatening in the darkness, not knowing what they were hiding. Ashley’s heart started to pound and she walked further down the path, small twigs snapping and announcing her presence. She pulled the small Maglite from the back pocket of her jeans and turned it on.

Ashley didn’t know how long she’d walked but she was now disoriented and don’t know which path she came in on because she took several turns, unsure where to go. What if she couldn’t get back, what if she were lost? Ashley thought to herself, shining the light in front of her and the light caught a shadow moving in the trees and she held her breath, wondering what it was. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief when the shadowed movement flew into the light and it was an owl.

She continued down the path, hearing the hoot of the owl in the trees and had to dodge branches that would try to slap her in the face. Suddenly Ashley stopped holding her breath and heard footsteps behind her. Quickly turning off the light, Ashley ducked behind a tree and her hands trembled, her heart beating so hard, she thought sure whoever was out there would hear it. Stephen walked past her, continuing a straight path until he disappeared into the darkness.