Curiosity Killed Shaney(17)
“So what do you think we’ll find?” Todd asked, scanning the trees with the beam from his flashlight. A set of glowing orbs hovered and then disappeared. Probably a fox.
“No clue. Hudson wasn’t very forthcoming.”
“He doesn’t seem the type to play well with others,” Todd commented, stumbling over something.
“You might want to point the light down instead of everywhere else.”
“You know I hate the woods at night.” The reflection from Todd’s flashlight highlighted his wide eyes.
Shaney knew. In the past, when he’d questioned Todd about his fear, Todd had quickly averted his eyes and shifted restlessly. Add to that the spark of fear Shaney had seen and he’d never asked again.
“Yeah,” Shaney said, softly. “Want to come back tomorrow?”
Todd’s quiet pause was filled with the cacophony of croaking frogs, intensifying as they neared the pond. “No. I’m good.”
Despite the unease in Todd’s voice, Shaney didn’t push because that coddling shit just pissed Todd off.
“Tell me about the chanting,” Todd said, losing most of the discomfort in his tone.
Shaney drew in the cool night air into his lungs and let it out. “It’s hard to explain. I could hear the chanting, but not with my ears.” He struggled to convey the odd sensation and rubbed at his temple. “The sound was coming from inside my head. It was like a chorus of people,” he said, answering Todd’s earlier question.
Todd’s nod was barely perceptible in the dark. “A collective group can affect more energy, focus on a point of space and time, and confer that energy in the form they choose over longer distances.”
Shaney halted. That he might be the target hadn’t even occurred… He hadn’t even thought …
Todd stopped as well and turned, focusing the flashlight on Shaney.
“Shaney?”
Shaney licked his lips nervously, rubbing his palm over his stomach. Damn, the feeling was getting worse. “Someone did that to me on purpose? People wanted to get in my head?” Didn’t that just make him want to crawl out of his own skin!
Todd took a tentative step forward, as if any sudden movement would startle Shaney. “Not necessarily. I mean, it’s possible, but it could have been proximity to the cabin or the pond, or a person in another cabin. It sounds like that particular chant was being used to protect someone, or something, since the result was to ward you off. The focus could've been people in general or people with certain kinds of energies. You weren’t necessarily the target.”
“But Hudson didn’t feel anything,” Shaney said, feeding his doubt.
“Are you sure? You said he went into the cabin and you stayed outside. How do you know the same thing didn't happen to him while he was inside? Sure, he didn’t admit anything happened, but it could have. You said he seemed edgy after that.”
True, but Hudson had also been the one who’d snapped Shaney out of the thrall of the chanting. Had Hudson been attacked as well and just kept that fact to himself?
Shaney shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Let’s check out the cabin before we let theories loose like a pack of coyotes chasing down a deer,” Todd said with a smirk.
Shaney chuckled.
When they reached the edge of the woods surrounding the cabin, they crouched down. The area was devoid of human noises or anything suspicious. The distant sound of thunder rumbled and echoed over the pond, adding to the eerie feel of the night. Fall thunderstorms were rare in the Adirondacks, but not unheard of.
The cabin was dark. Still, the uneasiness plaguing Shaney’s gut crept through his veins. Todd shifted restlessly beside him.
"Any chanting or pressure to run away?" Todd asked in a hushed voice.
Shaney peered out into the unnerving darkness. "No chanting. Running has crossed my mind, but that chicken shit is all on me.”
“Since when does anything remotely interesting scare you off?” Todd asked.
“Since yesterday,” Shaney replied and waved Todd to follow him to the stairs leading to the front door.
The dried, crusty remnants of mud crunched beneath Shaney’s sneakers as he crept up the stairs. Shaney froze on the last step. Shit. The front door was ajar again. Hudson must have locked it when they’d been there earlier. Right? Why would he have left it open? Shaney’s apprehension kicked into a heart-pounding panic, but they’d come this far, they couldn’t run now. Using the end of his flashlight, Shaney warily pushed the door open. He scanned the interior and his eyes widened as he stepped in cautiously.
“What the fuck?” he managed to get out.