Croatoan 1

Jenny picked her way through the jovial Friday morning hallway crowd. Well, as jovial as a crowd of teenagers could be when it was still in school. The mood everywhere was certainly cheerful; after all, it was Friday. Even more important, though, was that there was no football that night. All the buildup and anxiety that burdened the team and the rest of the student body before a playoff game was finally over. The Broncos had lost in the first round of Regionals, but overall it was a good season. And now it was over. Usually Jenny could make her way quietly past the senior locker bay on the way to chemistry class because the football team was still half asleep and subdued, Today was a different story. The sight was something akin to an elementary school on the last day of the year; voices were raised, pieces of food were flying between students and a general cacophony arose from a myriad of objects slamming into steel lockers. She pulled tight on her back pack straps as if it would maker her less visible to the raucous pack. The move was to little avail, however most of the group was too preoccupied to give an outsider like her a second glance. There were a few guys who shot her a quick smile or a nod, but nothing lingering. She liked it that way. The way it had always been, high school cliques hanging out and conversing among their own. At times she would enjoy the new found attention, but seven in the morning was not one of those times. Jennifer Dare breathed a sigh of relief as she slid into her seat at the back of the chemistry classroom, successfully through the testosterone gauntlet. “Hey there, homecoming queen,” came a voice to her right. Jenny hung her head and closed her eyes, and took another deep, calming breath. The voice came from Luke Calders, a jock and a frequent football team conspirator, but a good friend and her class lab partner. Luke was the kind of guy who was friends with everyone and loved to tease his friends about anything he could. He was always flirting with being annoying, but his facial expressions and the way he could spin words always kept him on the right side of the line. Still, she wasn't in the mood. “Is anyone ever going to get over that?” Jenny said. Luke dumped his backpack on the table next to her and began extracting books. “I doubt it. It's kind of a big deal.” “It's really not. Somebody is the homecoming queen every year.” Luke plopped into the seat next to her, sliding it right up against hers. She attempted to back off, but he leaned his head over on her shoulder. “Sure,” he said, “But its not every year some cute little girl that most folks don't have the pleasure of knowing up and wins it.” Warmth rushed into Jenny's head. She could feel herself blushing and squirmed away from Luke so he wouldn't notice. “It's usually the class president or some cheerleader or some other popular chick. Popularity contest, eh?” he continued. “But you, my friend, you broke the mold.” Luke turned around to smile at her, a big, oversized, toothy grin. And then he immediately wiped the expression and went back to his lecture. “That's news around here. If you haven't noticed, this place isn't very big.” Still attempting to hide her blush, Jenny let a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face stay there. “Well, I don't see what the big deal is.” At that, the teacher, Mr. Rosebotham, walked into the classroom. All side conversations dulled to soft whispers and backpacks were slid under chairs. People sat upright, ready for class to begin. “Hey,” Luke whispered. “I still think you're pretty cool. That counts for something, right?” “Thanks,” she said. Rosebotham cleared his throat and the whispers completely subsided. He was a large man and commanded a strong presence at the head of the room. He stood easily a few inches over six feet and his bald head shone in the fluorescent light in front of the chalkboard. His style choices could have used some work, Jenny noted, as the fuzzy red sweater he wore detracted a bit from his imposing person. But then again it just bolstered his high school chemistry persona, so the whole thing could be

called a wash. “Today,” Rosebotham began, “We will be continuing our survey of the noble gasses.” Jenny snuck a glance at Luke. He was already nose down in his composition book taking notes. For all the carefree attitude he threw around, Luke was a great student. Most of his friends were off taking geology or some other joke of a science just for an easy grade, but not Luke. He had college already in sight and he was going to get there fore more than just his skills on the baseball diamond. That was why Jenny got along with him. He knew how to have fun and joke around, but at the end of the day he was very down to Earth, very true to himself. Hard qualities to come by in a jock, if you could really call him that. As Mr. Rosebotham droned on about valence electrons, Jenny felt her eyes growing heavy. It's not that she was a slacker or she didn't want to learn the material, it was just that it came easy to her. No pen electron slots for the other atoms to bond with; she got it. While the rest of the class seemed to need an hour of discussion and then a homework assignment to fully grasp the idea, Jenny was content with the day's lesson. She carefully pulled off her sweatshirt and fluffed it up into a ball in front of her and set her head down. She was facing Luke and caught the full force of his glare but simply gave him a sleepy smile and allowed her eyes to shut. It hardly seemed a moment later when the sound of the bell broke her nap. Jenny blinked a few times, raising her head to meet the suspicious smirk on Luke's face. She snapped to attention and glanced around the room to see if anyone else was looking at her like that. The rest of the class was too busy stuffing books in their backpacks to pay any attention to her. “What?” she said to Luke. The boy's grin grew. “Rosebotham totally called you out. Used you as an example of a noble gas because you were inert.” He laughed at his own joke. “Are you -” Jenny started, then turned a mortified look to the teacher's desk. Rosebotham was sitting, tidying up his notes, doing anything but staring Jenny down for napping through his class. Jenny shook her head and gave Luke a snort. “You're a jerk,” she muttered. In her mind she conceded the joke. It was her own fault, and she was almost asking for it. And, she admitted to herself, she didn't mind the attention from Luke. Popular, smart, attractive and nice baseball players were hard to come by. “Aw, just teasin' you.” Luke started packing up his own gear. “So, uh, what are you doing tonight?” he asked. Jenny paused at the question and bit her lip. Her heart started to race. Where was this going? It was the first Friday without a football game. Luke and all his friends would be having some sort of party at somebody's parents' house. She wasn't sure if that was really something she was interested in. But she also wasn't sure if it wasn't. Instinct took over, for better or worse. “Probably staying in,” she said. With that she walked out of the room before Luke could even respond. She made a beeline for her locker, lost in her own thoughts. Classmates waved to her, conversations went on around her, but all of this she barely noticed. Her response and Luke's question kept playing again and again in her head. Finally she got to the locker bay and rested her forehead against the steel door to number four twenty seven. It was a moment before she realized the boy's voice was addressing her. “You hear about the festival tonight?” it said. “Huh?” Jenny said. She lifted her head and saw Sean, her best friend, leaning against the locker next to hers. “The festival,” he said again. “Remember the old Mid-Winter's Festival they used to throw every year for the seniors?” “Yea, what about it. They stopped doing that when we were freshmen.” “Nope. Well, yea. But they're bringing it back.” He was talking quickly, very in character for him when he got excited about something. Jenny looked at him dead in the eyes. “Sean,” she said slowly. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Please elaborate.” He cocked his head. “Who are 'they'?”

The boy paused. He looked around, but when he turned back to meet her gaze he looked no more qualified to answer the question. He shrugged. “We are,” he said. “And that means...?” “The seniors. We're bringing it back.” “Okay,” Jenny said without much enthusiasm. Sean clenched his fist in mock triumph. “Cool, another one in. Spread the word, okay? Everyone's invited, all seniors. I'll see you there.” With that he turned and walked away. “What?” Jenny called after him. “Who said I was going?” He offered no response, just kept walking off toward his next class. “And where is this?” she cried again toward him in vain. Confused, Jenny looked around her. Suddenly she began to realize all the hushed conversations and small schemes. Everyone was calling someone over, whispering, spreading something. Like some sort of scandal, the thing made its way around the student body, through all sorts of kids. It had no bias and no restraint, making its way from host to host. This party? The Mid-Winter's Festival, reincarnated after three long years? The rumors only increased in volume as the day went on.. Underclassmen and teachers alike seemed to be catching on, but whatever the secret was seemed to keep itself known only to those it wanted to be known to. The number grew and grew, the groups calling over stragglers, becoming larger and larger. Jenny was asked repeatedly is she was going to this party, but as she had done with Luke she quickly brushed off the topic. Other friends, even random kids from classes in previous years joined in. It was not until her second to last period of the day that Jenny finally decided to figure out what all the buzz was about. Fifth period was Anatomy, and for whatever illogical reason was full of some of the most gossipy girls Bradenton High School had to offer. While the main offenders did have an issue with keeping their mouths shut, they were very into the subject matter, and as such Jenny got along with the lot just fine. She used the period as her daily dose of normal girl culture, something she typically abstained from. Jenny got to her seat barely before the bell rang so she had to wait for the first break in the lecture to really grill the girls. The lesson was a continuation of the skeletal system, which basically turned into a game of who could memorize two hundred seven bones the quickest. Within fifteen minutes Ms. Whitehead had given the class the green light for study time. “So,” Lindsey said immediately as Whitehead sat down, “Who's going to the Mid-Winter's Festival tonight?” A chorus of affirmatives rang out around the table. Jenny sat at what would usually be considered a “cool” table. She just considered it her ticket to a little entertaining daily gossip, sort of like picking up a “People” magazine on the way home from school. The girls included Lindsey, class vice president, Carole, a cheerleader, Jo and Rileigh, two dancers, Ashley, a field hockey player and Courtney, your typical high school slut. Each had their pros and cons, but Jenny generally found them all fairly likeable, even Courtney as long as you could keep her off the subject of guys. Jenny was always intrigued that she fit in with the group. Gossip and school spirit and girl problems really weren't her thing, but she tried to but on a pretty face and be sociable in small doses. “What about you, Jenny?” Ashley asked. The athletic one of the group and thus the least concerned with guys and school politics, Ashley was Jenny's favorite. Jenny shrugged, “I don't really get it. Didn't the school stop throwing that party when we were freshmen because someone died?” “Yea,” said Ashley. “But that's the thing, the school's not throwing the party. We are.” “Who's 'we'?” Jenny asked, trying for a bit more clarification than Sean had given her earlier. Ashley looked around the room slowly and then held up her hands. “All of us. The seniors.” “The idea's been floating around for a while,” continued Lindsey. “It was a tradition for the seniors. Every year on the winter solstice, December twentieth or twenty-first or whatever, to celebrate the school put on a big dance for the seniors. Everybody went, it was like a 'rally together through the winter' sort of thing. It was always a blast, people liked it way more than homecoming or even prom.” “I know about the dance,” said Jenny. “Everybody does. But didn't they always hold it at the nature center at the top of the island? It's closed.”

Lindsey responded with a shrug and a smile that meant nothing good. “Linds are you serious?” Jenny exclaimed. She looked to the other girls with equally treacherous faces. “For real. You're going to break into an old museum to throw a party?” Her voice was almost pleading. She was astonished. Even the class officer couldn't possibly be condoning a mass breaking and entering. “So this is why its been floating around like a rumor and the teachers don't know anything?” “Yea,” said Lindsey. She laughed lightly. “And you should probably keep it down so it stays that way.” The girls discussed the nights festivities a bit longer until Whitehead brought their attention back to the class at hand. It turned out, because it no longer had the school's sanction, that the whole Mid-Winter's operation had been planned piecemeal and the duties crowd-sourced. Someone had acquired keys to the old Lost Colony Heritage Center, site of the old dance. Someone else had an alcohol hook up. One senior had an older brother who owned a DJ business and would take care of sound. And most importantly, a few of the less popular guys had volunteered to take watch shifts to keep everyone out of trouble. The coordination of the whole effort impressed Jenny. The senior class was fairly well oiled in general, but the fact that no one could point out a leader of the plan took the organization to a whole new level. The class finished with little fanfare, Jenny dozing off a few times here and there. When the bell rang she got up and packed her things with everyone else, saying goodbye to the girls. As she made her way out of the classroom, Ashley caught her by the arm and matched step with her. “You really should come tonight, it'll be fun,” she said. “I probably will,” Jenny responded. “I know you're usually too cool for the whole school spirit thing, but a lot of people do like you and look forward to hanging out with you. They like having their homecoming queen around, too,” Ashley added with a smirk. She knew how Jenny felt about that whole thing. As expected, Jenny smiled, a bit blushed. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll definitely be there,” she said. “For you.” “Just me?” Jenny rolled her eyes. “Yeah, just you.” She loosened up a bit. “You're right, it'll be fun. Nothing to worry about.” Ashley stopped. “Wait, what? 'Nothing to worry about'? What would you be worried about? It's a party.” “Oh, I dunno, the whole breaking and entering? Underage drinking? Dance shut down three years ago because someone died at it?” Ashley caught the concern in the last question much more prominently than the first two. “That's what you're worried about? The whole Evan Martin thing?” Jenny shrugged. “Yea, I guess. It's weird, you know? For years the school has this dance to celebrate getting halfway through the winter, right? Then, when we're freshmen, someone dies at the dance, they stop holding it, then shut down the museum where that dance was held and stop all mention of it around the school. And now just a couple years later we're trying to bring it back? Do it again except with no permission or anything?” Jenny stopped herself, feeling flustered. The outburst wasn't like her. She usually wasn't scared of things, didn't worry, just went with the flow. And she certainly didn't let her emotions get the best of her. She was mostly surprised in herself. Ashley stared at her, just as surprised. “Woah. I don't think I've ever heard you say that many words at one time before.” “Well don't get used to it,” Jenny said. “Look, makes sense you're a little skeptical. Everybody is. But, you know, live a little. Breakout of your comfort zone, Ms. Homecoming Queen.” Jenny shook her head. People would never get over that. “And, hey, about the whole Evan Martin deal, he didn't die. He disappeared. They never found him.” “Same thing.” “Not really. He could have run away or something. It's not that uncommon. This place is pretty

boring, he was eighteen, people leave.” “But they arrested those two football players.” “And let them go. Blake Baker is now a starter in college. He's on TV every Saturday. And the never talk about it. Obviously it was nothing.” Jenny sized up the other girl. She was easily a few inches taller than Jenny with dirty blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail and bright blue eyes. It was a stark contrast to Jenny's dark features, the jet black hair and eyes she inherited from her mother's Native American roots. Somehow the two were friends, maybe the balance created by their opposing features calling forth some sort of Yin and Yang dynamic. Whatever the case, Jenny liked Ashley, and felt, at least right now, that she could trust her. “Okay, okay. I'll see you there. Like, what, seven o'clock?” Jenny asked. Ashley smirked at her. “Sometimes I forget who I'm dealing with. Yea, if you want to help people set up, go for it. The rest of us are going around nine.” She waved and walked off down a side hallway leaving Jenny to herself. One more period to go, she thought. She walked toward her last classroom which took her by the front doors to the school. Outside it looked like snow. The sky was a dirty blanket of gray pockmarked with darker, more ominous spots. She didn't think the forecast had called for snow, but it was always possible. North Carolina wasn't known for winter weather, but on the coast like they were anything could happen. It had been below freezing at nights for the last few days which always rustled up all sorts of blizzard talk, especially around today, the longest night of the year. Maybe it was appropriate the seniors were bringing back the Mid-Winter's Festival. They could all use a little dose of fun indoors when the outside was so miserable. The bell rang its harsh call. She was late. Jenny took one last look outside, at freedom. She could make it through one more hour in the warmth of a school room before braving the elements to get home. Then it would be a whole different kind of elements to brave once she got to the unsanctioned party put on by a disorganized group of high school seniors on the longest night of the year. The last period of the day breezed by. It was United States history, one of Jenny's favorite subjects. Mainly because it was easy. Remembering dates and events had always come naturally to her, so studying was unnecessary. In terms of content, she would admit to anyone that pressed that she liked to know where things came from, so history was something she was really interested in. This particular class, with the quirky spinster Miss Greta Hollinson at the helm, was right in her wheelhouse. Hollinson wasn't obscure in what she tested on, but she loved to throw out random and sometimes barely related facts throughout a lesson. This lesson was nothing different. The entire week they had learned of colonial and governmental tensions, and then suddenly halfway through the period, Miss Hollinson appeared to lose her train of thought. She was quiet for a time and stared blankly out the window into the snow-gray sky. The students began to get restless, making motions to each other, some deciding if they would be able to leave without her noticing. It wasn't uncommon, the dissociated stare. She had a strong hippie vibe about her and certainly had her out there moments. “It 's the solstice,” she said. There was little emotion in the phrase. Brandon, a football player sitting amongst his peers in the back of the classroom, could hardly contain a giggle. Hollinson looked around the room, making eye contact with each student before mobing on. Jenny hoped she wouldn't linger on her. “Do you all know why that's important here?” Hollinson asked. No one offered a response, so she ended her scan on a boy named Rick in the front. “Rick?” she said in her soft voice. The kid stammered a bit. Jenny couldn't take it. “Shortest day of the year,” she called out. Rick turned his red face to her in an awkward thank you. She shrugged. Awkward silences weren't her thing. “Almost,” Hollinson said. “It is the longest night of the year.” It was the kind of weirdness from Hollinson that no longer even surprised Jenny. “But around here, in Dare County, why is this

important? Anyone? Brandon?” “Nope,” the boy called out. Hollinson frowned. “It's good to know your history, why we have our traditions.” “Like the party?” “Hmm?” Hollinson said, looking for the source. “The Mid-Winter's Festival?” said another girl from behind Jenny. The teacher strolled to the girl's desk and stood. “Yes, exactly. The festival was held on the solstice every year. But why? What is the significance?” Again, silence. Jenny looked around the room. It was late in the day and no one was interested, but any one of them could have answered. They'd all been brought up since elementary school on the stories of the Lost Colony, how on the first winter solstice in the New World the colonists held a great feast to celebrate surviving the heard of the winter, but afterward all of them mysteriously disappeared. But no one felt like volunteering the information, no one except Hollinson, who was more than happy oblige. “We hold the Mid-Winter's Festival every year to celebrate the end of the increasing darkness. Finally the world starts to get brighter and brighter. The first colonists on Roanoke Island started the tradition by holding a large and wonderful feast on the solstice. But then they disappeared. “When the next wave of colonists arrived to find the abandoned colony, they learned some of what had transpired through reading the left behind journals of the lost colonists. They read of the feast and being very superstitious they were compelled to repeat the act, only this time on a grander scale so as not to offend the gods of the woods with the scarcity of their fore-bearer’s feast.” And there was the crazy. The whole lost colony story was generally regarded as a local tall tale, but this was the first Jenny had ever heard of the woods gods. Judging by the murmuring around the room, it was likely a first for everyone else, too. “Yea, but Miss Hollinson, you've got it wrong. We don't have the festival anymore,” called Brandon from the back. He had either chosen to ignore the forest god comment, or more likely, he had not been paying attention anyway. “No?” the teacher asked. In a weird way, it felt to Jenny more like Hollinson was challenging his answer than asking for confirmation. “Nah. Not since that kid died a few years back.” “Died?” Hollinson said, with concern this time. “No, couldn't be. Gone, perhaps. Like the first feast.” “What?” Brandon asked. It was snappy, and completely confused. The whole class had been thinking the same thing, as confused looks were thrown around the room. Most were of the “concerned for Miss Hollinson's sanity” variety, but a few seemed to take her more seriously. Jenny wasn't really sure what to make of it. “The feat has to happen each year,” Hollinson continued, oblivious to her lack of control of the class. “The school isn't putting it on anymore,” someone said. “Oh, but someone must be,” replied Hollinson. “You know,” Brandon started, “We could throw a little party like we used to.” His smile was enormous. A boy to his right punched his arm and a hundred mortified eyes bore down on him, but he continued in cool confidence. “We could do it at the old nature center, like they used to. You could chaperone,” he said to Hollinson. Hollinson smiled sweetly back at him. “Oh, I hardly think that's appropriate.” Completely oblivious. The class breathed a collective sigh of relief. “You're right,” Brandon said. “That would be crazy.” His emphasis on the word 'crazy' was his last poke at betrayal. He had known all along the teacher would hardly pay attention to what he said, and it got the rise out of the class he wanted. He laughed himself back into his customary slouch. Jenny shook her head. Idiot, she thought. She had found herself surprisingly protect of the party that only a few hours before she hadn't even been sure she would attend. That had settled it. She would go, enjoy herself, do the usual teenage girl thing. Hang out with Sean and Ashley and maybe even Luke. Definitely not Brandon. It would be fun. The bell rang to release the students from their cage. Hardly anything productive had

transpired in the class, and Jenny felt herself very excited about the prospects of the evening. She wasn't sure how to get out of the house so late, but she could make do. Her parents were very trusting, and rightfully so. She wasn't the type to be brought home in a squad car, or be brought home by anyone for that matter The halls were surprisingly packed for a Friday afternoon. Usually people ducked out of the building as quickly as possible, but today there was a large congregation milling about the senior locker bay. The teachers could still sense something was amiss; they watched from classroom doorways and bends in hallways. At a distance, but watching. Jenny laughed to herself. The class was putting on a pretty good show. She walked by her French teacher, Mr. Douggan, on the way to her locker. He looked at her suspiciously, so she gave him a very targeted tip of the head, to which he responded with a look of pure confusion. Jenny laughed as she walked by. This was fun. Sean showed up as Jenny was cramming the last of her books into her bag and putting on her heavy canvas coat. “Hey,” he said. “What's up, man?” she said. Sean cocked his head. “You look... more cheery than usual. What'd you do?” Jenny laughed. “Nothing! Just happy it's Friday.” “So you're coming to the party now? A little more excited about it?” “Yea,” Jenny said. And she was. Something had clicked while Brandon was being an ass. This was high school. Take what comes to you and have as much fun as possible. If all the seniors were having a party, so be it. If she was going to get random extra attention because she had been voted homecoming queen for no earthly reason a few months earlier, may as well embrace it. “Sweet,” Sean said. He could see the excitement in her. Just then Luke came up from behind Jenny and hit her playfully with his elbow. “Hey Homecoming Queen, you save a dance for me tonight, alright?” he said. Jenny smiled. “Yea, sure,” she responded. “Cool.” With that, Luke continued over to some of his friends and started talking animatedly. Sean watched it all with a smile on his face but a tinge of jealousy in his heart. “Ah,” he said. Jenny spun back to him. “No!” she cried. “No, no, I get it. He's smart, funny, cool. I get it.” “No, not like that,” she said, blushing. “Uh huh,” Sean said. “No!” Jenny shoved him, not hard but enough to knock him off balance. “Not like that, you punk. I just figure it'll be fun. Sneaking around and everything. Going back to the Heritage Center. I used to love that place. It'll be fun.” “Alright, alright. When are you gonna get there? I'm going early to help set up, want a ride?” “I'm a girl, man. Girls don't show up early, the show up fashionably late.” “Since when?” “Since always. No girl ever shows up on time.” “Yea, I get that,” Sean said. “I meant since when do you act like a girl?” Jenny's eyes shot wide. “I'm gonna hit you for real next time!” Sean pretended to cower back. “Just kidding, Your Royal Highness,” he added with a flourish. “Dude!” Jenny cried, hitting him in the shoulder. Sean was laughing, but felt it. “Alright, I'm out of here. You change your mind on the girl thing, I'll come grab you. Otherwise I'll see you there.” “Alright, see you there,” Jenny said. She watched her friend walk off and rolled her eyes. It was time for her to take off, too, so she grabbed her backpack and started for home.

2

Driving through the woods in the dark was not exactly how Sean had planned on starting his evening, but it made sense. Precautions had to be taken. When he got to the turn off into the state park

from the main road, there had been a single lantern handing from the tree: all clear. Two lanterns meant there was trouble and to keep driving. No one was sure how many people knew the code or really who had come up with it, but word around the senior class was that one meant go, two was stop. As soon as he turned off he killed the lights. The weather was holding up so far, so the sky was clear and the moon was nearly full. It cast plenty of light on the road as long as you kept your speed down, which was the next rule. No lights and a bunch of teenage drivers was already a recipe for disaster, so the group had also agreed on a near crawl speed limit. Good for safety, but it meant the mile drive from the head of the park to the Heritage Center parking lot took a few minutes. Sean was nervous as he drove. They had certainly planned for every problem the could think of, but there was always risk. Someone could say the wrong thing around the wrong person and the cops would be all over their party and everyone would be graduating with criminal records. Or, probably worse, someone hurt themselves and they need to call in the fire department or something. Those kind of things you couldn't control, those things worried Sean. He thought the road to the Lost Colony Heritage Center would seem familiar to him as he drove it, but nothing was ringing any bells. He hadn't been there in a while; obviously no one had been there in at least three years. It was a favorite place of his, like many of his classmates, growing up. The community used the main building for parties, meetings, and other functions, so it was usually a fun trip, not what you'd normally associate with what was essentially a museum. That aspect also intrigued him. Everyone in the region grew up on stories of the lost Roanoke colony, and he always thought it was neat to have such prime access to the spot it where it all happened so many years ago. A sense of nostalgia arose in Sean as he finally emerged from the woods into the clearing that held the parking lot, and beyond it the Heritage Center and the sound. He missed the place. All the fond childhood memories disappeared as he watched Brandon and another jock unloading a keg of beer from the bed of a pickup. Oh, yea, he thought, beer and girls, that's why I'm here again. It wasn't really how he felt, but that was the general mood. He pulled his old Honda into a space an aisle over from the pickup. His contribution to the operation was hauling the speakers for the DJ setup. He wished he hadn't volunteered when he got to Spencer's house to pick them up and realized how heavy they were. He had help getting them into the back seat, but he needed to recruit someone else that had already arrived to help get them out or risk mockery by anyone watching him who possessed even average strength. Sean wasn't a big guy anyway, and his aversion to sports and gym class would not be helpful in his current endeavor. Sean turned off the car and got out. It was cold and gusty. He opened the back door an, just for kicks, tried to pull out the first speaker. It moved a bit, but probably just to taunt him. Someone he was friends with had to already be inside, or else he would just grab a beer and wait inside until that someone showed up. He shivered and pulled his jacket closed. Suddenly a loud, wet crunching noise came from behind Sean and he spun to face it. “Need a hand?” The figure in front of him asked. The guy was tall, easily over six feet, with a broad chest and an athletic build. He wore a dark green canvas jacket and jeans, but what really stood out to Sean was the dark red apple in his left hand. He craned his neck as he chewed to look into the car. “Oh, you're the sound guy? Cool,” he said. “I can help you there.” He put the apple in his mouth and stepped toward the car, but Sean hadn't budged. There was something very familiar about the guy, but Sean couldn't place it. He looked a bit older, but his face wasn't quite registering. He was definitely good looking, sharp features and blue eyes. The guy took the apple out of his mouth again. “Blake Baker,” he said, extending his hand. And there it was. The face finally clicked for Sean, and he was almost embarrassed it had taken so long. Blake had been the school's quarterback a few years back, and was now playing college ball. He was lauded as a hero around town, and while this wasn't Texas and his face wasn't plastered on billboards, you would see his picture from time to time. He was even interviewed by the network sports shows occasionally. “Blake!” Sean said, trying to hide his surprise. “Good to meet you, man. What, uh, brings you out here?” Blake shrugged. “We're on semester break so I'm home. Heard through the grapevine

something was going down so I decided to check it out.” He looked back toward the building waddled in with another keg. “Looks like I made the right choice.” “I'm Sean, by the way.” Blake nodded. “Good to meet you, Sean. So you wanna get those speakers in?” “Oh, yea, sure. Yea.” Sean had a hand on the speaker as they walked it in, but he was barely doing any work. The college athlete was more than capable of carrying the thing by himself, but for some readon was letting Sean tag along as if they were partners. As they walked slowly through the Great Room that was at the front of the building, everyone seemed to stop and glance over, then pretend they saw nothing. Sean didn't mind the attention, even if he knew none of it was really directed toward him. “Here?” Blake grunted when the got the far end. “Yea.” They set the speaker down. “Thanks, man,” Sean said. “No problem. So what's the deal here? You guys all get together to throw your own Mid-Winter's?” “Yea, sorta. Something like that. We -” “Baker! The man, the myth!” cried Brandon as he walked over, disregarding Sean. He wore a smug face, hardly befitting of someone meeting what should have been a person of respect. To Sean, it looked like his classmate was addressing a rookie on his team. “What are you doing here?” “Can't a guy come by his old stomping grounds without a reason?” Blake said with a smirk. Brandon stared him down for a moment. The two stood at equal height, Blake having a slight advantage in overall mass, easy to attribute to the age difference between them. But for a moment they looked like two evenly matched animals at a stand off. Like a bull and a bear, one stomping at the ground and one rearing up on its hind legs. The moment was brief, and the intensity quickly faded, but the two appeared cautious toward each other even when their guard was let down. “Sure,” Brandon said. “Stick around a bit. But don't cause any trouble. You are the reason we're sneaking around tonight, after all.” Sean watched as Brandon backed off and went back to his gang. Then it all came back to him: The last Mid-Winter's Festival, three years back, had ended in the death of one of the seniors, Evan Martin. For a while the police had suspected foul play and had turned to Blake Baker as their prime suspect. He had eventually established an alibi, and evidence surfaced that Martin had probably run away and wasn't in fact dead, but the school had been through enough to call off the festival indefinitely. “Uh oh, you're giving me that weird stare everyone gave me three years ago,” Blake said in an almost toying manner. “Huh? No. Me? I – I, uh, had forgotten about all that.” “Like everyone should have,” Blake said. His voice wasn't threatening but was firm, nonetheless. “So you got more equipment to bring in?” “Yea,” Sean said. He hesitated. “But you do your thing, grab a beer or whatever. I'll get somebody else to help with the next one.” He looked around the room for a friend, spotting one across the way. “Hey, Johnny! You give me a hand with the other speaker?” The guy acknowledged and Sean turned back to Blake. “I really appreciate it though. I'll see you around.” Sean stepped away, almost relieved to be out of the older guy's presence. His vibe was strange. It wasn't nice, wasn't menacing; Sean just felt he should be cautious around him. As Sean met up with Johnny and they gave each other a handshake, he looked back over his shoulder toward Blake. The old quarterback was no where to be seen, but that wasn't saying much given the growing number of students milling about and obscuring his view. “Dude, was that really Blake Baker?” Johnny said. “Yea.” “That's awesome. Who would have known he'd show up?” “Yea, it's pretty cool. I got a weird vibe from him, though. Like, how'd he hear about this thing?” Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Come on, man, Blake was the king of this town. You think stuff like

this would slip by him?” Johnny was right. There was nothing odd about Blake's presence. Surely if someone knew he was back in town they would have invited him. He shook the suspicious thoughts from his head. “Yea, you're right.” They paused just before the exterior doors and zipped up their coats. “Let's get this other stuff and get the party started.”

3

Jenny's heart had been in overdrive since she left her house. To start it all, lying wasn't her thing, especially not to her parents. She was a good kid, trustworthy, not the kind that snuck out and went to parties. But she had decided she was throwing all that out the window for the night so she told her parents she was going to Sean's to watch some cheesy horror movies. That was tachycardia phase one. Phase two was when she asked her dad for the keys to his truck. She wasn't sure what the roads back to the heritage center were like anymore, since they had closed down the place three years back. There could be fallen trees, washed out roads, any number of things that her old and sagging Mustang wouldn't be have been able to handle. She cited the chance of snow, even though she hadn't seen it in the forecast. Mr. Dare couldn't have been happier to toss her the keys, which she almost dropped, she was so nervous. Phase three occurred when she got to the turn off and punched the knob to turn the headlights off. That would be enough to unnerve anyone, but this was just upping the ante for her little heart one step higher. She used to love coming down to the heritage center with her parents and was surprised at how familiar the drive felt, even in the absence of light. It was definitely fun. Jenny soaked in the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest. Who knew when she would feel that again? The road wound and wound through the woods. It was longer than she remembered, but that was likely due to the fact that she was maxing out at around five miles an hour tonight, barely enough to move the truck's speedometer. Finally, she could make out the lights of the building ahead of her and the shimmer of the sound behind it. She knew between the two lay the hallowed ground where the Roanoke Colony had supposedly disappeared from. An odd thought crossed her mind. Would they be going out to the replica village and wandering through the grounds? Were they even still there? That was certainly a highlight of her childhood visits to the center, but would anyone want to break away from a night of alcohol and debauchery just to look at old fake artifacts? A figure stepped out in front of her path as she neared the parking lot and she coasted to a stop. The figure approached in darkness and stopped a few feet from the cab. Jenny rolled down the window, instantly flooding the cab with icy air. “Nice truck,” he said. The voice was disguised to sound deeper, but still sounded vaguely familiar to Jenny. The figure clicked on a flashlight pointed right into her face. “Where'd you steal it from?” Jenny groaned against her sudden blindness and brought an arm up to shield her eyes. “Dude, cut it out!” she said, not fooled. The boy laughed and brought the light down. “Sorry, Prom Queen, had to do it. But I do like the truck. I thought you drove a Mustang.” Luke, of course. Jenny imagined she would have rolled her eyes if she could see. “Yea, normally a Mustang. But I was afraid the roads would be bad.” “Cool. So, Dad's Dodge? Good taste.” “Uh huh.” The yellow splotch in the center of her vision began to recede, bringing Luke fully into view. He was staring at her with a smug smile on his face. “What?” she said. A nervous giggle had slipped into the word somehow, something she had not intended. Those dark eyes and perfectly tousled hair were working their magic behind the scenes. “Oh, nothing,” he said. They looked at each other a while longer before Jenny forced a laugh. “Okay, so what are you doing out here?”

“Just cooling down before the party starts.” Jenny raised an eyebrow to the response. “Kidding. The guys are taking shifts at watch. Mine was early, lucky for me. They already got the music and the beer going, it's a good time.” “Cool,” Jenny said. “So where do I park?” Luke shook his head. “Anywhere you want, ma'am. Couple of close spots still so you don't have to walk too far.” “I appreciate that, sir,” she said, mocking his attempt at an antebellum Southern accent. She slowly let out the brake and the truck started to inch forward. “Hey,” Luke called. “Still on for that dance?” Jenny waved an arm out the window to him. To herself, she shook her head. Gonna be a good, normal high school girl tonight, right? Flirt with the guy, play hard to get, all the cutesy stuff. In a way it felt right. If a good looking guy like Luke was going to flirt with her, why not see where it goes. She maneuvered into the closest spot to the building left and cut the engine. She sat for a moment in the cold cabin of the car, then zipped up her jacket. Yea, she thought, why not see where it goes. He's a good guy. Jenny stepped out of the truck and was instantly pleased with her decision to wear pants. She had debated for a long time her choice of pants or a skirt, and ended up choosing the former mainly because she didn't own a skirt anymore. In front of her, a girl in a mini skirt rushed from car to building, building her case before her eyes. The case wavered, however, when she herself entered the Heritage Center. All around were he classmates in party attire. Now, no one was wearing prom dresses or suits, but the girls were showing a lot of leg and a lot of cleavage, and the majority of the guys were wearing button downs or sweaters. She looked at herself in the reflection off the window, old jeans, sneakers, zipped up canvas jacket. More like the guys rolling in. “You really dressed up for us tonight, queen bee,” said Lindsey from behind, startling her. “Don't worry, Ashley didn't bother either. She's really not making her case.” Lindsey's posture was already compromised, proving the beer in her hand was likely not her first. She had dressed the part in a tight button up and skirt with boots, but that did not surprise Jenny. She always dressed a little nicer, even at school. “I didn't get the memo. I thought we were banding together against the winter,” Jenny said in a mock announcer's voice. Lindsey looked her up and down. “You don't look very cold.” With that she waved and turned away, taking a drink as she sauntered back toward where people were dancing. The thought, “Bitch”, crossed Jenny's mind, but it only made her smile. No time for that kind of talk. She scanned the scene for someone else sh would know. Of course she knew everyone, but she was looking for a friend. Sean had to be around somewhere. As she stood on her tippy toes, head swiveling, she saw Ashley wave to her from a group of girls. She smiled and waved back, and saw Ashley break away from the group and head her way. “Hey, Jen!” she cried. “Glad you made it!” “Of course, wouldn't miss it.” Ashley frowned. “Really? You're not fooling anyone. You tried to skip homecoming until I called and told you you were voted queen.” “Well tonight I said I was coming. It's different,” she said with a smile. “Alright. Well, you don't have a beer, let's get you one of those.” The two girls walked off together over to the keg where a few of the less popular football players were pumping beer for everyone. They took their place at the end of a short line. “So what's going on here?” Jenny asked. She looked around with purpose this time in an attempt to answer her own question. “Just beer, dancing to electronic music and getting hit on by guys?” Ashley laughed. “Sweetie, those are all basically the same thing.” They took the step up to the front of the line and one of the guys, Dan Lovell, handed Jenny a cup. “For the lady,” he said in an awkward attempt at an accent. He smiled in perfect complement. Jenny wasn't sure whether to smile back or laugh. She had had a few classes with Dan but this

was probably the first time he'd said anything to her. He was on the shorter side, but still fairly muscular with a rather unfortunate case of acne on his forehead. Still, he wasn't bad looking. “Thanks,” Jenny said. “You seem pretty sober. You need another drink, just come up and let me know, I can hook it up.” Jenny looked back to the two people in line behind her, then back to Dan. “Oh, uh, thanks,” she said. “I'll take you up on that.” “Awesome!” Dan said. He genuinely looked excited. “Cheers,” Ashley said, knocking her cup into Jenny's. They both took a sip, with Jenny looking to Dan over the rim of her cup and waving goodbye. She thought he could see him blush. “So, Dan's into you,” Ashley said. “Just like, oh, everyone else.” She playfully bumped her shoulder. “Uh huh,” Jenny said sarcastically. There was some truth in Ashley's statement. Ever since homecoming guys had been talking to her more, paying more attention to her. It was odd. It wasn't like she had changed her appearance; it just happened that winning some glorified popularity contest by some weird fluke had gotten her instant attractiveness points. It was nice to be noticed, but she couldn't help thinking it was all a sham. “Hey,” Jenny said, nudging Ashley. “Have you seen Sean? I know he's around here somewhere, he was supposed to get here early to set up the speakers.” “Who?” “Sean. Sean Lee. He's like my best friend.” Ashley shrugged. Really? Jenny thought. “You know who you should be on the look out for? That Luke Calders, that's who. I hear he's got a bit of a crush on you. Makes some of the other girls pretty jealous.” Ashley bit her lower lip. Jenny thought to deny it, but that would only make matters worse. Plus, she did want to spend time with Luke. “Well, unfortunately he's stuck out in the cold for a while longer.” “Then I guess he'll probably be looking for someone to warm him up when he gets back in here.” “Ashley!” “Just saying,” she said, taking another long drink from her cup.

4

Luke blew into his hands to warm them. He was sitting in a crouch against a tree, just off the road waiting for any stragglers. His watch read just before eleven. Almost end of shift. He'd volunteered for the lion's share of the early shift. It had seemed like a good idea earlier, being the guy everyone saw first. Now he was just cold and a bit annoyed. No one had come through in at least a half hour; everyone that was coming was already here. The seniors had been thorough in their planning, but that meant people had to give up parts of their night to work the routine jobs. To make sure everyone got through the park and to the heritage center safely, kids were standing along the path. They also served as advanced sentry in the off chance someone uninvited showed up. Mostly it was ceremonial, but it was necessary. And it sucked, as Luke discovered. It was boring and lonely and cold. Only a few more minutes, he thought. At eleven some other guy was taking his post. The later shift, this next guy, was more of the sentry duty than the welcoming committee. Again, important, but certainly not desirable. Luke's face was numb. Two hours in the cold December night would do that. The rest of him was cold, too, but that was of less concern. In any case, he'd be in the warmth and swigging whiskey in fifteen minutes. He rubbed his hands together. As he listened for signs of his replacement to his rear, he saw headlights in the distance. He squinted and watched them grow with a keen interest. No, not a Crown Vic. No cops, just a late comer. Luke stood as the car slowed to a stop in front of him. Lexus sedan, light color. The car wasn't ringing any bells.

The Lexus' driver rolled down the window. Inside was a gorgeous brunette with hair to her shoulders and long eyelashes. Her deatures were well defined, yet completely unfamiliar. Luke would have remembered a face like that. “Hey there,” she said, with the slightest hint of an accent. “Howdy,” Luke replied. “How can I help ya, ma'am?” “You're cute. I heard there was a party going on down here. A little Mid-Winter's revival, if you please.” “You'd be right about that. But I'm a little curious as to how you know all that. I don't believe you're a Bruin.” The girl smiled broadly. “You are correct, I am no longer a Bruin. Alumni, of course. I'm Jamie. Jamie Dixon.” That did it. The name, definitely familiar. One of those pseudo-celebrity names you hear as an underclassman. Jamie Dixon, if his memory served him, was captain of the dance team when he was a freshman. Prom queen, all that. Dated Blake Baker before he left for college and Abercrombie models. Didn't really know what happened to her. “I guess you recognize my name at least,” she said. “I graduated three years ago. In fact, I was there the last time the school hosted this very party. I'm glad to see you guys bringing it back. I haven't been to this place in years.” Luke nodded absently. This girl was entrancing. Sure, she seemed a little full of herself, but who could blame her? “Jamie, I'm Luke. On behalf of the senior class, I would be be delighted to have you join us. Once a Bruin, always a Bruin, right?” “Sure thing.” That smile was something else. “Plus,” Luke added, “You could show us how this thing used to go down.” “For starters, we didn't leave the cutest boys out to freeze in the woods. You should hop in with me and get back to the party.” Luke laughed. That sure was tempting. “Sorry, got a job to do for like,” he held the word as he glanced at his watch, “Five more minutes. But I'll see you inside in a bit.” Jamie shrugged. “Knock yourself out.” She shifted the car to drive and started forward. Luke took a quick step after her. “Jamie!” She hit the brakes. “Hmm?” “Lights,” Luke said. Her confused expression begged for a explanation. “Sorry, can you cut the lights?” She smiled. “Of course.” Luke let the car pull away this time toward the parking lot. He found himself staring and shook his head. What about Jenny? Wasn't that the girl he was interested in? He wasn't sure. She was cute, smart, fun to be around, but she was different. Definitely different than any girl he'd dated, and he wasn't sure if that was a point for or against her. And what would people say? He wouldn't have to think about it long, as just then a short guy in a hoodie and a beanie hat came walking up. “Yo, who was that?” the guy asked. Luke recognized him as Fred Cooper, a guy he had physics class with. “Way hot,” Luke said, still a little dazed. “Uh, Jamie, Jamie Dixon.” Fred raised an eyebrow. “The super hottie from a few years back?” “Yea, dude. Dunno how the hell she's here, but I am okay with it.” “Shit. And I'm just standing out here for an hour while you get a head start on that? What I wouldn't do for a chance with her.” “Dude, but the time you get back she'll probably be nice and drunk,” Luke said, half as a joke. “Yea?” That seemed to satisfy Fred. He wasn't exactly a ladies man, more the guy that picked up the girls who were left toward the end of the party. But he owned it. “No doubt,” Luke said. He looked longingly to the Heritage Center, then back toward the main road. No one else should be coming, he thought. But why do I get the feeling - He peered more carefully into the distance. He thought he saw something, someone, off in the distance. Not car headlights, but a person. In the trees.

“Hey man, you see that?” he asked. “Huh?” Luke pointed off where he thought he had seen the person, but could see nothing more. “I thought somebody was out there in the woods.” “Like a guy? I'm pretty sure no one is walking here.” “Yea...” Luke blinked hard. The forest was full of thin trees with branches like arms. Must have been a trick of the moonlight and some wind. Weird, but it had his heart beating faster than normal. Fred put a hand on his shoulder. “You should head back, man. Get a beer. Your eyes are probably a little frozen.” Luke nodded. “That sounds good. They start up that fireplace in there?” “Don't think so. Didn't know there was one.” “Hmm.” Luke gave one last look to the forest and then turned for the lights of the party. “Oh, hey, man, that's what I was going to say.” “What?” “Jamie, right, graduated three years ago. You know who else I saw here?” Luke looked back at Fred. “Who?” “Blake Baker! In the flesh, back in his old stomping ground.” “Huh,” Luke muttered. Two high profile kids from a few years back show up. And they used to date. How weird is that? He nodded. “I'll have to say hi, see if he remembers me. I caught a touchdown from him when I was a freshman.” “Nice. Yea, he's mingling around.” “Thanks for the heads up,” Luke said. “I'll see ya.” Fred mocked a salute to him and then lit a cigarette. Cold night, abandoned nature center, booze, high school kids. Blake Baker. Jenny Dare, Jamie Dixon. Sober, half frozen Luke Calders. And who the hell knew what else. Lyke was happy it was only eleven. It was the longest night of the year, still plenty of time for some fun before the sun came back up.

5

“Well,” Jenny said, “I had a good time tonight.” Her and Sean were leaning against an exhibit showing the diet and hunting habits of the original English settlers to the island. From their vantage point at the rear of the main room they could watch their classmates yet still feel some semblance of aloofness. The center of the large hall was full of swaying, gyrating bodies, kids having a good time like they had always used to. The main room was large enough that community gatherings always took place there, when it had still been open. On the left side of the room was a large fireplace, one that lay dormant currently but that Jenny had plenty a fond memory of sitting next to and reading. The back area, where Jenny and Sean stood, was full of introductory permanent exhibits. Behind them was a wall of glass which allowed visitors a peak of the Mystery Room and the sound beyond that. The Mystery Room was an imitation colonist building in what could be considered the courtyard of the U-shaped Lost Colony Heritage Center. The main hall, where the party was taking place, served as the base. The left wing was a row of administrative offices and storage room, while the right contained a maze of exhibits. On the outside of the right wing, in a clearing in the forest, was a patch of replica settlement buildings made in the original materials and were as accurate of reproductions as they could create. It was the replica settlement, and especially the Mystery Room, that people came to see. The Room itself was light on artifacts and heavy on text and pictures detailing the facts and theories surrounding the Lost Colony of Roanoke, but the main artifact on display more than made up for it. In the center of the room, in a glass case, was the original piece of the settlement wall with the cryptic word “Croatoan” scrawled on it, the center of the entire controversy. “What do you mean, 'had'?” Sean asked. “It's like eleven. The night is young.” “I figured people would start heading out around midnight.” Sean shook his head. “You don't get out much.”

“And you do?” “Apparently more than you. People are just getting started.” Jenny held up her cup. “I'm plenty on my way. This is like three or four for me.” “It's the longest night of the year, remember? Still like nine hours til sunrise.” “You want to stay til sunrise?” Jenny almost looked disgusted. Sean shrugged and sipped his beer. “I heard a group would always stay til sunrise. Part of the tradition. Unofficially, of course.” “You heard that, huh?” “With my own ears.” The two gazed back into the mass of dancers. Lots of familiar faces in such an unfamiliar scene. It was almost surreal to Jenny, such a transposition. Everything seemed at odds, yet it was all somehow still in balance. It made no sense that in the age of x-rays and carbon dating, a word written on a piece of wood could enthrall a community. Or that a group of teenagers with cars and cell phones would be celebrating the winter solstice at a museum. But everything appeared to be in balance. Appeared to be at peace. And then Blake Baker showed up. At first, to Jenny, he was just another vaguely familiar face separating himself from the crowd. Probably someone from history class whose name she was momentarily blanking on. But as he moved closer and in a more deliberate direction, she noticed that he wore the same face she did, one of vague recognition, one where you know a person by reputation more than by actual acquaintance. “What's up, Sean?” he said. With him as close up as he would be on a television set, Jenny finally recognized the former Bradenton High football star. He was the local celebrity, but he had graduated three years prior and she didn't remember him very well. Pictures, sure, she recognized those, or from television spots. But people always look different in person. In this case better, she thought, but tried not to show it. As Sean responded, she shook her gaze free of the quarterback and turned to Sean. Why did Blake Baker know who he was? More that that, why did they know each other enough for Blake to make his way to the outskirts of the party just to say hi? Sean gave her a smile that revealed nothing, kind of like the one a magician gives his audience. “And who might you be?” Blake said to Jenny, catching her off guard. “I'm Jenny,” she said with a confidence that surprised her. “Jenny, huh?” He looked her down. “You wouldn't happen to be Jenny Dare, would you?” Jenny nodded. “Yep, that's me. Why?” “Oh, I've just been hearing the name flying around. I hear you were Prom Queen?” Sean laughed and Jenny blushed. Blake looked taken aback. “Not you? I'm sorry.” “No, it's her alright,” Sean said. “She just doesn't exactly like to blast it around.” “And it was homecoming,” Jenny said, recovered. This was never going to leave her. “You don't seem very proud of that,” Blake said. “You know, most people really like that kind of recognition. It means a lot to them.” “I know,” Jenny said. “It was just weird.” She looked down. “I'm not, you know, your typical homecoming queen.” “That you are not,” Blake said, eying her with interest. Sean's discomfort was palatable. “So Blake, how are you liking our party?” he said, changing the subject. The tension eased between the three, and Blake's expression went back to the jovial one he had formerly been wearing. “It's fun, I like it. I wish I knew more people, but that's what I get for showing up uninvited, right?” “Hey, man, you're always welcome around here.” “So this used to be a school sponsored party?” Jenny asked, drawing the conversation back to herself. Blake took the bait. “Yea, big dance every year. It was cool, definitely, but I like what you guys did with the place. Nice to be able to get a decent drink without having to duck off behind a shelf or something.” “Of course,” said Sean. “Food could use some work, though,” Blake said. He drew an apple from his coat pocket.

“Anybody?” Jenny and Sean both shook their heads, so Blake shrugged and took a big bite. The whole gesture appeared odd to Jenny, but she figured it was just some weird quirk he had. Everybody had them, and it could certainly be worse. As she contemplated, she grew uneasy. Seeing him was definitely a surprise, and his talking to her had gotten her flustered, but as his presence settled in she grew hesitant. She remembered the stories she'd heard about Blake regarding the last Mid-Winter's. They were not good, and she wanted to know his side, but it was certainly not an appropriate question to ask, especially not now. “So are you two guys together?” Blake asked them between bites. “No!” they both responded in unison. Blake raised both eyebrows and swallowed. “Okay then,” Blake said. His face hinted at another smile, as if he liked not only the answer but the way they had answered it. “Well, guys, I'm gonna go refill my drink. Jenny, you want to come?” Jenny paused and looked down at her half full cup. “I think I'm good right now, thanks.” “Alright. Well it was good to meet you, hopefully we'll run into each other again tonight.” He nodded to her. “And Sean, glad to see your party's going swell.” With that he turned and walked back toward the keg. Jenny turned to Sean. “Blake Baker, really?” “Weird, huh? He just showed up while we were setting up. Got a couple guys a little starstruck.” “It is weird.” Jenny kept here eyes on Blake as he worked the room. He had all the presence of a celebrity, yet she wasn't able to buy into it herself. The rumors about his part in the disappearance at the last dance were at the forefront of her mind, displacing his surprising good looks and charming smile. She just wanted to know. She hated rumors and second hand knowledge. She would have to talk to him directly at some point. “You still with me?” Sean asked, noticing her far off gaze. “Yea.” She took a drunk. “How did he know about this?” Sean shrugged. “How did you know about this? People talk.” “I guess.” “Just, uh, be careful,” Sean said. “Huh?” Jenny and Sean had known each other a long time, and she knew he was not the kind to get jealous or protective, not usually at least. He would tease her about guys, but he'd never warned her before. “You know, bug shot college guy, good looking, tall, muscles; I see him.” “I'm not trying to get with the guy.” “Who said you were? I'm just sayin'.” “I can take care of myself,” Jenny said.

6

The night was getting colder, or at least it felt that way to Luke. The walk back from his post felt like a death march; his legs sluggish, resisting movement. He rubbed his arms as he walked, bringing feeling back into his fingers. Even in the heart of the winter it wasn't usually this cold in North Carolina; something weird was going on with the weather. It was also oddly calm for the island. Anything by the shore was usually windy, but it appeared the whole of the Outer Banks was resting calm tonight. The tree branches were swaying a bit, but that could have been Luke's imagination. Or his face was so numb he didn't feel the slight breeze; either was possible. With the calm in the atmosphere there was also a silence to the forest. Nothing sought to break it except for Luke's footfalls on the leaf strewn road and the slowly building dull thud of bass from the heritage center. That sound drove him onward much to his frozen body's dismay. It would have been perfectly content to stop as it was and lock up; fortunately, Luke had other plans. Liquor, primarily. And the fire, if anyone had had the forethought to light the great hearth. Luke attempted a frown when he did not see smoke coming from the building's chimney. But there would certainly be the liquor and plentiful warm bodies to get close to, evidenced by the mass of cars in the parking lot. He had seen

them all come in, of course, but one at a time never gives the same picture as the whole group. Luke jogged the last twenty yards across the parking lot and threw open the door to a blast of heat and light that was equally shocking and desired. He quickly closed the door behind him and leaned against it, closing his eyes. His extremities were instantly rejuvenated, sparking back to life with the sudden infusion of heat. “Holy shit, you look like an ice cube!” came a familiar voice. Luke opened his eyes to see Brandon walking toward him with two cups of beer. “I feel like one,” Luke said, his face starting to thaw. Brandon tried to hand him a cup but he shook it off. “Got any whiskey?” Brandon turned to the rest of the party. “Anybody got any whiskey? My boy here needs a shot!” “Or a large glass; either will do,” Luke said. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet to keep moving. A cute girl from the dance team, Jo, sauntered over with a bottle of Jim Beam. “Hey Luke. You need a shot?” “Yes, please,” he said. The emphasis was meant for the alcohol, but Jo took it a different way. She poured two shots and handed one to Luke. “Hey!” said Brandon. Jo rolled her eyes and poured another for the football player. “Here's to warming up,” Luke said as they touched glasses. “And getting fucked up!” Brandon added. Jo's eyes were on Luke as she downed the whiskey. Her face didn't change an inch. “There's more if you need,” she said. “Thanks.” “And if you need anything else to help warm you up, I can help with that, too,” Jo said, then turned away. Luke bit his lip and watched her behind sway a lot more than necessary as she made her way back on to the dance floor. “Aw shit, dude,” Brandon said. He was standing next to Luke now without him noticing it. He started thrusting his pelvis into Luke's side. “Yeaaaa buddy! Get it! Oh yea!” Luke shoved him jokingly. “Get the fuck off me, man.” Brandon just laughed. “For real. Get it. She ain't easy.” “Uh huh,” Luke said. Two of the other baseball players, Paul and JJ, walked over as Brandon stumbled off laughing. “Fuckin' jocks, right?” Paul said, motioning over his shoulder at Brandon. “Fuck 'em,” Luke said. They all got a laugh out of it. “Where you been, man? You just showed up?” “Nah, guard duty,” Luke said, nudging his head toward the door. “Really? Dude, it's like ten degrees out there,” JJ said. “Tell me about it,” Luke said with a sarcastic smile. “So what's goin' on, how's the party? Freddy said it was cool.” “Yea, man, whatever you'd want, it's here. Need a beer?” Luke nodded. “I think I can handle one now.” “Cool, I got ya,” said JJ. He walked over to the keg and started talking with a few people hovering around it. “You hear Blake Baker's here?” asked Paul. It seemed to be what was on everyone's mind. He certainly was the biggest thing to come out of Bradenton High in as long as anyone could remember, but Luke was afraid people were forgetting the party was supposed to be about them. Still, it was pretty much a national celebrity at their secret party. “Been hearing it from a lot of people. It's cool.” “Unfortunately, I just saw him chattin' up your girl over in the corner,” said Paul. “Which girl?” “Ha!” Paul exclaimed. “You dog. I'm talking about that cute one, the homecoming queen. Jenny, yea?” “Oh, she's my girl now?” Luke didn't realize people saw that at all.

“Everyone knows you're all about that chick. Personally I'd have a few I'd pick over her, but I can see it. You gotta do what you gotta do.” “Speaking of...” Luke trailed off as he craned his neck to look around the room. Sure enough, in the corner by where the main part of the museum started he saw Jenny standing and talking with her friend Sean. Noticing the direction of his gaze, Paul nudged him. “Aw, yea, I see. So she is your chick.” Luke shrugged. “I just told her she owed me a dance and I want to go collect. That's it.” His voice was so nonchalant he was almost bragging. “Stake your claim, man,” Paul said. “Just collecting a debt.” Luke made a detour to JJ and the keg to grab his long overdue beer before heading over to Jenny and Sean. Jenny caught him on the way and looked down at the ground quickly to play it off. She was certainly an interesting one. Most of the time she acted just like one of the guys, but occasionally she did stuff like this. Typical confident girl move, playing hard to get. It was like she could just switch on that part of her personality whenever she waned. While Luke liked both sides, he could definitely see himself dating the more elusive, girly Jenny. “Hey guys,” Luke said. “Hey, man.” “Hey Luke,” Jenny said. Her eyes betrayed her. While her voice was even and a little low, her eyes sparkled as she talked. “You finally made it inside.” “Yea, finally. Cold as hell out there. So how are you guys enjoying yourselves? Sean, the sound system is great, man, I'm glad you got all that set up.” “Thanks,” Sean said. “Buncha guys pitched in, no biggie.” “It's fun,” Jenny said. “Not really your scene?” “Not usually. But I'm glad I made the exception.” “Yea, me too. Change of scenery is good. Speaking of,” Luke said pointing to the placards and exhibits around them, “What are you guys hanging out over here for?” Jenny looked around, realizing suddenly what he was talking about. “Oh-” “People watching, mostly,” Sean said. Jenny laughed. Luke looked to Jenny. “I figured you guys were nerding out over here, catching up on your favorite exhibits,” he joked. “Hey. I happen to really like this place,” Jenny said. “But the people watching is spectacular.” “Oh yea? Who should I be watching? Anyone in particular?” “Brandon is pretty entertaining,” Sean chimed in. “I think he's hit on every girl here at this point.” Luke nodded. “Pretty standard. Any good rejections?” “I thought Jo was going to throw her drink in his face,” said Jenny. Then her voice changed. “A little different reaction than she gave certain other people tonight.” Luke's heart skipped but he played it off by biting his lop in mock embarrassment. In truth he was embarrassed that Jenny had seen that display, but he remembered he had played it out correctly. Nothing wrong with accepting a drink. “What about you, Ms. Dare? Who's your favorite person to watch?” “Well,” she started, “The baseball team is here, they're an entertaining bunch. A little immature when they're in groups.” “But by themselves?” “Not much better.” Luke frowned. “There is one, though, who stands out. He's a little better looking than the rest.” “Yea? He close by?” Luke was trying to play it as cool as Jenny was. This was usually his territory, not hers. He enjoyed the reversal. Jenny shook her head. “No, over by the keg.” She laughed when Luke shot a confused look in that direction. Sean's eyes were switching between the two, not sure if he should be disgusted, jealous, or just laughing. Guys flirting with Jenny wasn't something he'd really had to deal with before tonight so he

wasn't quite sure of his reaction yet. As the screwball banter continued in the foreground, he saw Blake Baker again approaching their spot from the mass of people in the great room. This could get interesting, he thought with a smile. Jenny picked on on Sean's grin. “What?” She turned to follow his gaze and jumped slightly when she saw Blake approaching. By now he had taken off his jacket and was wearing just a gray thermal shirt that showed off his muscular build. “Oh, hey again,” she said. “Huh?” Luke himself turned and was greeting for the first time that night by Blake Baker's smiling mug. “Hey Jenny, Sean. Who's your friend?” he asked, indicating Luke. He paused and cocked his head slightly. “Wait, I remember you. Calders, right? You were the only freshman on the varsity team my senior year.” Luke nodded. “Yea, that's me. You threw me my first touchdown catch.” “Cool. My pleasure. You gonna play college ball? I could always go for another receiver.” “Ha,” Luke snorted. “That was the only year I played football.” “He's a baseball player now,” Jenny added. “Oh yea? Bummer. I bet you're a heck of a baseball player if you gave up football for it.” “I'm alright,” Luke said. “He's great,” Jenny said. “All Region.” Luke turned to her. This was an interesting turn of events. For starters, he figured she'd have been all over the college stud. Most every girl would be. He was certainly giving her the once over. And second, he didn't know she knew that much about him. “Huh,” Blake said, nodding in approval. He looked at Luke, then back at Jenny. “Well, I had a little proposal for Jenny and Sean here, but I guess one more couldn't hurt. The more, the merrier, right?” The three seniors exchanged confused looks. “Alright, that was cryptic,” Blake admitted. “Here's the deal. Mid-Winter's used to be this big school sponsored thing back in the day, right. Been going on forever. Band together against the dead of winter, that whole thing. That's the official side.” He had everyone's attention. “Unofficially, there's a bit more. There were always a few kids that stayed afterward, after the faculty locked up, all the way til sunrise. Because it's the longest night of the year. Some old Indian tradition about beating the night. Whatever, most of the time kids just wanted to drink.” Sean smiled. “So what do you say?” Sean was the first to respond in a giddy affirmative. Luke chimed in as well with a smile of his own. They both turned to Jenny, who was already in the sights of Blake's prodding gaze. Jenny looked at the three guys and beyond. This was not how she had envisioned he night going, but with the two best looking guys in the area and her best friend goading her, she knew she couldn't refuse. “Yea, alright, I guess I'm in.” “Excellent,” Blake said. Seeing a perfect time for a change of venue, Luke spoke up. “Well,” he started, “You guys have been here all night having fun, but I just got here. I need another drink, and I'd really like to dance.” He honed in on Jenny. “And I believe someone here owes my a dance.” Jenny smiled slightly. “Alright, alright,” she said. Addressing the other two, she said, “I will see you guys later, gotta take care of mister fancy feet here.” Sean raised his cup and Blake nodded as they walked over toward where everyone was dancing. “You ready?” Luke asked. “What do you mean?” “I'm pretty good. Just warning you.” “Warning? Sounds like you're bragging.” “It's not bragging if it's true.” “Yes it is,” Jenny said. “You're thinking of confidence.” “Something like that. I'm just up front about things.” Luke drew her in close and slid through the outermost layer of students and into the main

group. “Alright,” Jenny said. “Let's see what you've got.”

7

Jamie Dixon sat by herself on the lip of the huge fireplace on the side of the great hall completely by choice. Plenty of boys had come by and tossed cheesy pickup lines and awkward complements her way, but no one was catching her attention. This must be the reason you never see college girls chasing after high school guys, only the other way around. She wondered how she had put up with the maturity level when she was their age. She never dated losers, that was how. Sure, she dabbled in the occasional backup forward when she was desperate, but the guys she would admit to getting with were all at the top of their game. Not the least of which was Blake Baker, who was of course here tonight, but she needed someone fresh and innocent. As she sat, occupied with her thoughts, another suitor came to try his luck. “Hey, you're -” She held up a hand to cut him off. The voice was slightly slurred, which already lost him points. And after the torrent of terrible candidates that she had been sitting through, she was hardly in the mood. “It's not worth it,” she said. The boy shifted but held his ground. He was either confused or overly confident, so Jamie raised he gaze to see which it was. Standing before her and wearing his letterman jacket like a perfect cliché was a kid she recognized as Brandon Gardner, inside linebacker and a senior who had laready signed on to play college ball with Blake the next fall. His stance was steady and his expression sober, contrary to the quick judgement she had made based on his voice. Perhaps she would reconsider. The kid's resume was solid, just like his chest. He had a nice build like any linebacker should, and his short cropped hair and chiseled face brought half a smile to Jamie's face. She lowered her hand. “Sorry,” she said. “I'm Jamie.” “Yea,” said Brandon. “I remember you. Everybody does.” “Aw.” She batted her eyelashes and Brandon smiled. “And you're Brandon, right?” “Uh huh.” “I've heard a lot about you. Sorry about the loss last week. But you'll be playing in college next year, right? With Blake?” “Yea, I can't wait. Some real competition and a real team around me.” Jamie decided she liked Brandon. He was confident and headstrong, a lot like Blake had been when they were in high school. Ego would probably get the best of this guys as well at some point, but for now it seemed like he still had a bit of humility. He hadn't scoffed at her initial rejection, after all. Blake, king of everything, would have called her a bitch and walked away. She decided he would do. “Brandon, I'm glad I ran into you tonight,” she said, baiting him. “Glad I ran into you, too,” Brandon responded. He couldn't keep a grin from slipping onto his face. “Why're you here, though? This was supposed to be just for the seniors, like it used to be.” He wasn't accusatory or hostile, just curious. “I've still got friends around town. People talk. Why, do you not want me here?” “Oh, no!” Brandon said quickly. “I'm glad you're here. I was just wondering.” “Blake's here, too.” Brandon nodded. “We both heard about your little party... independently. He figure'd we'd be a good influence.” “I'm sure you will be.” “Make sure you kids were keeping up all the traditions you thought you were.” Brandon laughed. “I think we did more than that,” he said as his eyes wandered around the hall. In a way he was right. This little crowd-sourced, underground, no authority party was probably more of what the seniors needed than the dance she had had as a senior. But it was more apples and oranges. “Alright, I'll give you points for what you pulled off here. But like I said, you may need a little guidance. Just because you can throw a party doesn't mean you can throw a proper Mid-Winter's.”

Brandon raised an eyebrow. He looked at his drink and then back at Jamie. “I think this is pretty proper.” “Are you staying til daybreak?” The question certainly caught him off guard. “Uh... no? I dunno, wasn't planning on it. Why?” “Well if you're going to do Mid-Winter's right, someone has to stay until daybreak. Well, at least two people, actually. Two people that have never done it before.” “What?” “It's the tradition, Brandon.” “Why?” “I don't know,” she said, starting to get irritated. “It's an old Indian tradition from who the hell knows how long ago. It's just some thing you have to do.” Brandon's eyes were skeptical, but eventually he shrugged. “So me and you?” “And Blake. And somebody else. I don't know who, he is finding someone.” “I can get somebody else-” “Blake,” she snapped, “Has it under control.” She took a deep breath. “Sorry.” “It's all good. Look, you wanna dance or something? Or you need some beer? I'm empty.” Jamie remained seated. “I'm going to pass on both, but you go have some more fun. I'll be waiting for you.” Brandon let an excited grin slip back onto his face. “Alright.” “And don't leave.” “I don't have a problem with that one. I'll see you later,” he said. Brandon took a few steps backward still looking at her and then stumbled. He caught himself, then turned around and walked normally over to the keg. Well, he will have to do, Jamie thought to herself. After a moment of staring into the crowd of high school revelers with mild distaste, Jamie felt someone sit themselves down next to her. A slight scowl crossed her face. “Hey, sweetheart,” came a familiar voice. “Glad to see you here.” Blake. It was his signature cocky charm, which had came to annoy Jamie more than anything. They had gone together for a while in high school and when they started college, but eventually Blake's personality had driven her away. “Uh huh,” she grunted. “Oh,” he said, “I guess it's not mutual.” He slid right over next to her. “Anywho, you get done what you need to? Find your volunteer?” “Yea, Brandon Gardner. You should know him.” “Yea? Awesome. Good dude. Good choice. He'll be easy to convince. I could tell him it's some initiation or something.” “No. You take care of your person. Brandon is mine.” Blake held up his hands. “You got it, Princess.” Jamie brushed off the sarcasm. “I take it you've found someone already, too?” “Well...” “Oh, God, what does that mean? You're a division one college quarterback, you couldn't convince one high school skank to hang out with you after a party?” “Come on, who do you think I am? I just, uh, this particular skank isn't much of a skank, and she came as a package deal.” “Goddammit.” “No worries, hun, it's all under control. I can handle it.” “You better. I'm through cleaning up your shit.” “Like I said, don't worry.” With that, Blake stood up. “Need a drink?” “Yea, get me a whiskey.”

8

Luke had his arm around Jenny's shoulder as they walked over to the keg, both breathing hard and with brows slightly glistening.

“I'm impressed,” Jenny said. “With my dance moves? Thanks,” Luke said with a smirk. Jenny raised an eyebrow. “Don't flatter yourself. I meant that you didn't quit on me.” “I'm an athlete. It's hard to wear me out.” “Does everything come across as a compliment to you?” “Yea, I guess so,” Luke said. “You don't criticism well.” “No, I just don't take it at all.” They reached the keg and Luke went to reach for a pair of cups. “Hey man, keg's done,” the guy manning the keg said. “Well, then,” Luke said, looking at the keg guy but talking to Jenny. “Soda?” Jenny shrugged. “Yea, got kicked about fifteen minutes ago. Punch is out, too. You mind making an announcement?” Luke was caught off guard by the request. He certainly wasn't the spokesman for the party, but seeing as he didn't actually recognize the guy at the keg he figured it would come across better if he was the one delivering the news that the night was wrapping up early. The thought made him chuckle. He grabbed a pair of sodas and handed one to Jenny. “Apparently I have a job to do.” Jenny followed him as he made a large loop around the outskirts of the main area on his way to where the DJ was spinning. He saw Jamie Dixon on the fireplace sill and waved to her; the first time he'd noticed her since he got inside. Her return wave and smile was as seductive as it had been outside, which seemed to catch Jenny's attention. Jamie, on the other hand, hardly noticed the younger girl. “Who was that?” Jenny asked. Her tone was different, with a hint of jealousy she was trying to keep out. It was not a skill she had much practice with. “What, you don't remember Jamie Dixon? She used to go here, same year as your boy Blake Baker.” “My boy?” she said. “He sure seems to think he is.” “No.” “Alright, whatever you say.” Luke stopped in front of the DJ's table. He stood for a moment assuming the boy would acknowledge him in some way, but he seemed completely engrossed in his turn tables. It was much louder here, so Luke gave him the benefit of the doubt. “Hey!” he called. Nothing. “HEY!” he yelled a little louder, but the same lack of response. He turned to Jenny who just shrugged and laughed. He shook his head. Turn tables were a thing of mystery to Luke. He figured they couldn't be too complex if you took the time to learn what all the buttons and knobs did, but making music had never interested him. Hence why the board of dials and buttons made him as confident as if it were an airplane instrument panel. In his mind he could picture DJ's in music videos tapping a large lit button over and over, so he figured that one was important; and just the right one to get this guy's attention. Luke eyed a square set of large translucent buttons with the top two lit. He carefully reached across the table and hit on of them a few times. Nothing seemed to happen to the music, but the DJ instantly brought his wide-eyed face up to glare at Luke. “What the hell!?” “Sorry, had to get your attention. Keg's kicked.” He was yelling, and could still hardly hear himself. “No more booze.” “Shit.” “Yea, mind if I grab the mic to let everyone know?” “Yea, yea.” The DJ spun some knobs and messed with the simulated turn tables to create the sound of a record suddenly halting. He handed Luke the microphone. “What up Bradenton High School?! Thanks for coming out. It's been a good, nay a great Mid-Winter's, and I'm glad everyone came here to get through the darkest night of the winter together. All uphill from here, right? Now, I know you all had a good time, but that's why I'm up here. While I want you to continue to have a good time, I'm afraid I have to let you know that the booze is gone. No more

beer, no more punch, no more Smirnoff Ice for Paul.” “Fuck you, Calders!” came the yell from the back. “Uh huh. Angry drunk. Look, I'm glad everyone came out, but we simply can't keep any of you thirsty kids occupied anymore. I guess you can hang around here and shotgun Cokes, but my professional suggestion would be to head on outta here while some of you can still walk a straight line. Make sure you head out with someone who's sober. DJ here's gonna play you out.” Luke held the microphone out like he was going to drop it but just laughed as the DJ's eyes went wide again. He handed the mic back. “Thanks, man.” He turned his attention back to Jenny. “So...” “Wasn't that a little harsh? 'Go home, I can't keep any of you drunks happy anymore'?” Jenny deepened her voice for the impression. “That's not what I said. What I said was way nicer.” Jenny laughed. “Okay.” Luke watched as a mass of kids began filing around him and towards the front doors. It was as if they had turned on the house lights at a movie theater or he had thrown the last out at a ballgame. There was plenty of commotion, murmuring, general trudging of feet. Luke was impressed with how quickly they all accepted the call to depart. Some looked like they were ready to go anyway. Not a few red faces and unsteady strides being led by friends and opportunistic acquaintances toward the exits. It had been a good night and there were smiles all around and good cheer from those that would remember it even as people dared back into the icy air outside the heritage center. Sean made his way through the crowd over to Jenny and Luke. “Success!” he said emphatically. He and Jenny high-fived, leaving Luke to look like the third wheel. “Pretty good showing,” Luke said. “But we're not done yet, eh?” said Sean. “Not us, right? Still sticking around?” “Yea.” “But what do we do?” asked Jenny. Luke shrugged. “Read exhibits? Tell ghost stories?” “Oh!” exclaimed Jenny. “We should finally start the fire.” It had been one of her favorite parts of the center when she was younger, sitting fireside listening to the rangers tell them all the theories about the old Lost Colony. The combination of the heat from the fire and the mystery of the stories brought a pleasant shiver to her spine. She was instantly transported back to when she was a child. She smiled to herself. “Not a bad plan at all,” said Luke. “I'll go get some fire-starters and wood,” Sean said, then rushed off toward the administrative wing. Jenny and Luke suddenly found themselves alone again. As alone as two people could be in the middle of a tide of half drunk high school seniors flooding out around them. “We could tell old colony stories and make it just like when we were kids,” Luke teased. He knew Jenny had a special love and nostalgia for this place, especially its history. “I would really like that.” “Hey guys! How's my late night crew?” It was Blake emerging behind them. “Ready to last til morning? Wait, where's Sean?” “Hey, Blake.” “Hey,” said Jenny. “He went to go get wood, we're going to start up the fireplace.” Blake contemplated it for a moment then smiled and said, “I like it. Old school.” “Exactly,” Jenny said, craning her neck to look at him. She was warming up to him again. As odd as his presence had been, he had proven to be nothing less than a gentleman to her. He was even nice to Luke and Sean and seemed to genuinely want them around. “Speaking of old school, one of the traditions is that people would tell stories of the colony in its early days,” Blake said. “Only it's been a while and I'm not sure I totally remember them. Jenny, I was wondering if you wanted to guide me through the exhibit hall real quick so I can brush up.” Jenny couldn't hide her smile. Then she quickly withdrew it and looked to Luke. He shrugged,

as if to tell her it wasn't his decision. The smile returned in full force, much to Luke's dismay. The nonchalant attitude had failed him. “Sure! I used to love this place.” “I figured.” Blake cocked his arm and held it out for Jenny. She complied, threading her own arm in and locking elbows. “Don't stay out too long, you too,” Luke called over. “I'd like to hear Blake's theory on the Lost Colony.” “We'll just see how convincing the teacher is, eh?” Blake shot an overly cocky smile back to Luke, who scoffed. And then Luke was back by himself, watching Jenny and Blake saunter off toward the exhibit wing. “Well, that didn't go as planned,” Luke said to himself. “What didn't?” It was Jo, having emerged out of nowhere. Her face was glowing with a little too much whiskey and she already had her jacket on. “Oh, nothing,” Luke said. “You heading out?” “Yea, hopefully. Did you drive?” “Uh, yea.” He had driven in, but wasn't sure where the conversation was going. Jo smiled. “Think you could give me a lift? My ride already bailed.” Of course. Precisely the way Luke had hoped it wouldn't go. “I would, but I'm actually not leaving yet.” He figured he would avoid the particulars of his response as long as possible. “Oh, you're cleaning up? Clean up and guard duty? You must have drawn the real short straw.” At that moment Sean made it back to Luke with an armful of wood. “Got some. Should we start the fire now?” “Huh?” Jo looked between the two boys with a very confused face. Luke let out a breath. He hadn't wanted to let Jo in on the after party. Not that he didn't like her, Jo was a lot of fun, he just figured the gathering was already getting crowded. “Why would you start a fire now?” Sean's face showed that he had finally caught on to his own misstep. He looked to Luke. “A couple of his are staying the night. It's an old tradition, apparently.” “Oh,” Jo said. Luke couldn't tell what was going through her mind. He assumed she was hurt or embarrassed that they hadn't asked her, but it didn't show. Instead, she seemed excited with the new option. “Can I stay with you guys?” The guys exchanged glances. “Like I said, my ride already left. Plus,” she said, drawing a bottle out from within her jacket, “I'm the only one who's still got booze.” The night had just escalated for Luke. His expectations quickly shifted for what felt like the tenth time that evening. What had started as an opportunity to hang out with Jenny had gone south when Blake showed up. Now they had left together, which was not ideal, and then Jo jumps in the mix. Jo and Luke had previously had something between them, something Luke didn't mind at all, but tonight was supposed to be about Jenny. “I think that'll be find,” Sean blurted out. Jo definitely had her charms, and Sean jumped on the chance. Obviously he wasn't with Jenny, so it made sense he wouldn't mind having another fun, attractive, slightly drunk girl around for the night. Jo beamed. Her smile was electrifying. May as well had been Helen. “Awesome!” “Yea, awesome,” Luke said, wishing he could have mustered more enthusiasm into the comment. “Sean, why don't you wait on the fire 'til everyone leaves. Let's not crash our own party before it starts.” Sean nodded. “Where's Jenny?” “Went with Blake to check out the old exhibits. Said he needed to brush up on his history.” Sean's brow furrowed. Jo laughed. “Blake Baker is interested in local history?” Luke looked from Jo to Sean, then off toward the exhibit wing. “I don't think that's what he's interested in.”

9

“So this is, what, fifteen hundred?” Blake had been asking these same type of generic, non-committal questions since they had started into the exhibit hall. The first few dioramas, including the one about native American farming practices that they were standing in front of now, dealt with life in the area before the English showed up. They had breezed through the displays on water content and the sound, as well as ones about coastal birds and animals. Blake began to look interested when the first humans showed up with their deerskin clothing and crude hatchets. “Anything up to the first colonial landing,” Jenny said. “So, yea, including fifteen hundred. Europeans were always changing and inventing, but the native Americans seemed to be content with how life flowed. Their habits really didn't change until the English started driving them out.” “That whole 'one with nature' thing?” “You could put it that way. It's always intrigued me how most native Americans, no matter where on the continent they're from, have such similar beliefs, customs, and relationships with the land.” Blake cocked an eyebrow, then looked toward the closest placard. “You read that off something?” he asked playfully. Jenny laughed, noticing the joke. “No!” she said. “I'm serious, I think it's interesting.” “Alright,” Blake said. “I'd say you're kind of a dork, but you're way too good looking for that.” Jenny's heart skipped a beat. She turned her face away to make sure he couldn't see the red rapidly rising in her cheeks. This was not what she had been expecting. She thought it was odd that Blake had wanted to go into the exhibits, but she was beginning to think that hadn't been his plan at all. That thought was both exciting and frightening. She quickly changed the subject. “So you were trying to remember your Lost Colony stories?” she asked. Her voice cracked just a little. Blake hesitated. “Uh, yea. Part of the tradition.” “Well, this next section is where the English finally arrive here on Roanoke Island,” Jenny said as she power walked to the next room. Blake was only a few steps behind her. “So what's your general take? They didn't have enough supplies? Soil conditions were bad?” Jenny stopped and rested her arm on the top of a pedestal with a bunch of writing. “According to history, the colonists brought enough food to get settled and enough seed to sustain themselves.” Blake stepped up to Jenny, a bit too close for her liking. “So what was the problem?” “The, uh,” Jenny started, taking a half step back. Blake noticed her discomfort and held his position. “The island is a swamp, really. It wasn't the terrain they were expecting.” Blake smiled. “But that's not what all the fuss was about, right?” “I think you know a little more about all this than you led on.” “It's coming back to me.” His face looked to Jenny like a smirk, which didn't make any sense. “So what happened to the colony? What's your theory.” “Didn't you say we were going to talk about that later with everyone?” “Yea, but I'm curious about you. What you think.” Jenny's gaze slid past Blake to the large windows behind him which offered a view of the Mystery Room and the Sound off to the west. “I believe what I learned here.” “Which is...?” Blake started as he turned round to follow Jenny's eyes. “Oh,” he said when he locked on to the old colonial style hut in the center of the courtyard. “Out there. Why don't we go out there, get the first hand account?” Jenny swallowed. Why was she so nervous? Her heart was racing, but what was Blake really up to? Was he just trying to get her alone? The looks he had been giving her and how close he kept to her certainly suggested it. But something still seemed off. Why all the talk about history and the colony? Why not just ask her to sneak off with him like a normal guy? “Yea,” she said. The hesitation still slipped into her voice despite her best efforts, but the smile that broke onto Blake's face told her he didn't mind. “Awesome. The door out is past the next panel.” Blake reached out for her hand, which she gave

up. He led her through the darkened exhibit maze to its next turn, where an exit door with the museum logo and the block lettering “TO MYSTERY ROOM” etched on stood before them. The dim red glow of the exit sign illuminated just enough of Blake's face to make Jenny's heart skip again, but not in a good way. As Blake reached for the door handle, Jenny pulled back. “Let me grab my jacket,” she said. “It's like ten feet. You'll be okay.” Blake was without a jacket as well, but Jenny figured his thermal was going to keep him a bit warmer than her light flannel. He pushed open the door with some effort, letting in a flood of frigid ocean air. Jenny's body tensed up and she drew her arms into her chest. “Let's go!” Blake said loudly over the wind. They rushed out the door and nearly crashed into the door of the Mystery Room as they attempted to slow from their dead sprint. Blake fumbled with keys for a moment before unlatching the door, allowing the two to slip into the room and slam the door closed behind them. Inside was not much warmer, but the air was calm and it was deathly quiet. Blake let out a whistle. “Okay, it's cold out there.” Jenny breathed out, watching the cloud of frosty air grow in front of her face like a smoke puff. She wrung her hands together and straightened up. “Yea. Real cold.” Around her the room swam in shadows, She remembered well the general layout, but couldn't tell what anything really was. The light coming in from the rest of the heritage center was not enough to read by. Jenny laughed at the the whole predicament, mostly to herself. “We don't have any lights in here, football star.” “Oh, contraire,” Blake said as he shuffled his way to the far wall. He fumbled with the keys again and then with a click brought the lights up. Jenny shut her eyes against the sudden brightness. “Sorry,” Blake said, seeing her plight. “Jerk,” she responded with another laugh. “A little warning next time.” Eventually Jenny was able to open her eyes without seeing red blobs everywhere. In fact, she was instead seeing things she hadn't seen in years, artifacts and stories of the lost Roanoke Colony that had entranced her childhood. The room was arranged in four main sections taking up quarters of the outer walls of the room with posters and dioramas and blocks of text all surrounding the museum's pride and joy, a six foot tall section of the original fort wall on the island which contained the infamous word “CROATOAN” carved into it. Each section was devoted to one of the four predominant theories about how the colony disappeared. If Blake was really looking for a refresher course, this was where he would get it. “Sorry, didn't realize they'd be so bright off the bat.” Blake moved over next to Jenny and placed a hand on her shoulder, eying the closest text panel. “So theory one is that aliens or ancient beings abducted the settlers?” Jenny laughed. His hand on her shoulder was throwing her off. “They're not in order, you just happened to look at that one first.” “But there's even a theory about aliens? I'm glad I came in here, I did not remember that one.” “I'd say it's the worst one. Least based in fact. But, any time people disappear, you gotta point at aliens.” Blake chuckled at her obvious joke. “Gotcha.” He looked around the room to get his bearings, nodding as he paused at each section of the display. “Okay, the rest of these sound more familiar. So we know which one you think is the worst, which one do you like best?” Jenny took her time moving from section to section, putting on a face like she was deep in thought. In reality there was only one explanation she thought worked, but Blake didn't know that. She could feel his eyes on her back as she stepped around the room. The meander was purely to buy her some time to compose herself, get her heart rate down and get the red out of her cheeks. Being in a small room separate from the others with Blake was really doing a number on her general stoic, apathetic psyche. Jenny stopped in front of a section titled “Indian Assimilation”. There were drawings of white men and Indians working side by side, a few Native American territory maps and a glass display case containing a shiny dagger and a few other trinkets, amidst signs with lots of text. “This one. The idea is that over the winter the food became very scarce. People were dying of

starvation and conditions were miserable. It was cold, and the settlers were desperate, so they sent for help from the only other people they knew: the Indians. The settlers abandoned the fort and the colony and were quickly assimilated into the tribe.” Blake nodded thoughtfully. “So what's so special about that one that it gets the Jenny Dare seal of approval?” “First of all it makes sense. Second, there was not much interaction with the Indians around here, so it would have been easy for the colonists to disappear for enough time for them to be forgotten. And then there is all the hard evidence in this case. All the artifacts, the utensils, books, cups, they all were discovered at Indian settlements in the area.” “What's the dagger?” “That was Sir Walter Raleigh's, given to the colony as a sign of good faith and lost for years. Then they found it on the body of a Croatan Indian in a grave about sixty years ago when they started building on the island again.” Blake was standing in front of the dagger's case staring down at it. “Huh,” he said. “So that would explain the word written on the fence? Croatoan?” “It could. It's a pretty common theory that the colonists spelled it like that.” Blake fumbled with his pocket, then produced the keys that granted them entry to the room and brought them up to the case. They continued to jingle in the quiet of the room. Jenny raised an eyebrow. Blake cleared his throat. “But there are a lot of documents from that period spelling it like we do today, without the 'O'.” That put Jenny a bit ill at ease. “I thought you didn't remember much about the lost colony,” she said. Blake stopped fumbling with the keys and lifted the top of the glass display case. He reached in and extracted the dagger, turning to face Jenny holding it delicately in his right hand with the blasé resting in the palm of his left. “There are a few things I haven't been entirely honest with you about.”

10

The grimace that stole across Sean's face as he threw back the second shot of whiskey subtle only from much practice. He did not like the alcohol, that was clear, but he had been trying his damnedest for quite some time to make sure no one realized it. Luke had caught on immediately, but that wasn't who he was worried about. “Hell yea!” Jo said, slamming her shot glass to the fireplace mantle. “I think you're pretty good there, eh?” said Luke with a smile. Jo had demanded the party continue, and the guys were more than happy to oblige. Jamie was a different story, her figure seated alone at the far side of the wall. Even Brandon had abandoned his host in favor of a bit more hooch. After the shot, the four laughed and sat down around the fire, Luke and Brandon flanking it with Sean directly in front. Jo hesitated a moment, then sat down next to Sean. All eyes focused on the action. It was bold, unexpected, but much to Sean's delight, fully accepted by the others. He sat up a little straighter, sucked in his gut, puffed out his chest, all as she scooted a little closer to him. “Sean, right?” she asked. “Yea.” “I don't see you around much, but you're kinda fun.” Luke butted in. “Sean's Jenny's best friend. I think you guys might have a class together.” Jo shot him a wicked glance. “Yea,” Sean said. “We've got physics together third period. But I usually get there early and sit in the back.” The alcohol had numbed the response. Usually he would have been slightly offended but tonight it came off as a careless omission of notice by Jo. He shrugged. “You play any sports?” she asked. Brandon laughed aloud, then caught himself. “No, sorry. I guess I'm more of an artsy guy. I brought the speakers tonight. I like to DJ.” “That's awesome!” While the two made small talk that was significantly less awkward for the participants,

Brandon turned to Luke. “So's Jenny your girl?” “Nah.” “'Cause I know a lot of guys have been trying to get that for a while now; never works out.” “Yea, I see it. But we're cool. We've been hangin' out and stuff all year. I, uh, may have had some influence on the homecoming queen stuff. She's a cool chick.” “She's hot, man, good find.” Luke chuckled. He was trying to make the case for her as a person and a friend, but Brandon, like most of the rest of the school, was only interested in her face. It was a great face, he would freely admit that, but that wasn't what he cared about. If it was he would be going after Jo or Jamie at the moment. Maybe it was a good thing for him so few people knew the full story on Jenny: less to share. “But you better watch out, man, Baker's an ass. He'll steal your girl in an instant. If I were you I wouldn't have let her leave.” “She's not like that.” “Put a chick, any chick, in a room with a famous dude, they're leaving with him.” “Well I guess I can only hope.” “Yea. Dude's a tool.” “You really don't like him, do you?” “Nope.” “Why not? He's been pretty pleasant tonight.” “That's the problem. He's all talk. I mean, he's a smooth talker. Says whatever to get his way, doesn't care who's in the way.” “Strong words for your future teammate.” “Not as much my problem at college. Don't really mix with offense at practice. Just sack his ass every now and then.” “They let you do that?” “O-line is shit.” The conversation was deteriorating quickly, and Brandon was starting to get heated, so Luke changed the subject. “You gonna go talk to Jamie? Bet she could use some company.” “Yea. Probably right.” Brandon stood up and grabbed the bottle of whiskey off the mantle. “You mind?” he said generally to Jo. She shrugged, so he started walking off to Jamie. “Hey,” Luke heard him say as he got closer. He made a conscious effort to tune that conversation out. Jo and Sean were not much further along than when he had put them on mute. “You guys find out about anything else you have in common?” He meant it as a joke, but it hardly came off that way to the two of them. “Neither of us are as good of friends with you as we'd hope,” Jo said. The comment was sincere, and yet Sean was the one looking uncomfortable. Luke brushed it off. “Oh, yea? I like both of you guys. We're all still here together, right?” It wasn't likely they were there because they were all friends and they all knew it, but they all nodded approval anyway. They could pretend it was the case, not that some guy was trying to put moves on someone else and they all were just roped in by an odd web of dependencies. It was high school after all. Things like this were what the best stories came out of. “Speaking of, where are Cinderella and the football star?” “Cinderalla?” Jo shrugged. “Fits.” “They have been gone a while,” Sean said. He turned his body toward the exhibit hall but saw no movement. “Should we go look for them?” “Honey, I really don't think you want to do that,” said Jo. “Why not?” Jo and Luke stared at him as if he were missing the obvious explanation. After a moment of pondering he just said, “Oh.” “So, Sean,” Jo started, “You and Jenny, you're obviously not together. Have you ever been?” An uncomfortable smile spread slowly on Sean's face. “Uh... No, nothing like that. No, just good friends is all.” “And you're okay with that?”

“Jo-” Luke started. “Yea. Oh, yea,” Sean said. He fidgeted a bit. “That would be weird. She's like a sister.” “So, is there someone else in your life?” Jo was giving Sean a look he had not seen often. Or ever, probably. It was a look that Luke received regularly, however, and not too long ago from Jo herself. He looked between the two, the tension almost visible between them. He was very, very confused. “No,” Sean choked out. “Not, uh, right now.” Jo smiled and relaxed the look, releasing the room from her charm. Sean breathed out. “Good to know,” she said. Sean looked quickly to Luke, who just gave him a sideways smile. He wasn't sure at all of what had just happened, but he knew it wasn't a bad thing. “So, uh, what do you guys want to do?” said Luke. “I'm getting a little fucking bored. Anybody know a good story or something? I was really into the old ghost stories idea.” “Sure, I could probably spin something,” Sean said. “Yo!” Luke yelled across the room. “Brandon! Jamie! You want to hear a scary story?” They exchanged words and both stood up to walk over. Jamie looked pouty, but Brandon showed nothing of the sort. He seemed to be in about the same situation Luke was in, interested in a girl that was currently thinking about another guy. He could tell, as Jamie kept looking back toward the exhibit wing. Maybe that guy really was trouble. “So we got a long ways still til morning,” Jamie said. “I was assuming my partner in crime would be here, but I guess we'll just make do.” “Huh?” “So the tradition goes, each year we have this big feast day to celebrate the middle of the winter. Today's the solstice, the longest night of the year. As of tomorrow, the days start getting longer and the winter releases its grip on the land. Life starts to get better.” “You rehearse that?” jabbed Brandon. “Shut up. So tonight, symbolically, a handful of kids from the island stay after the feast and watch the sun come up. That's us. There is always a new batch of young people, accompanied by a few that were there the year before and know the ropes. Got it?” “Yes, ma'am,” Luke joked. Jamie looked mad. She took in a deep breath, looking past the rest of the gang. Slowly, she let it out. The room had fallen silent except for the crackling of the fire. This was the atmosphere she was waiting for. “So, you select few, are you ready to hear the real story behind the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island?”

11

“Hey, man, what's up with the knife and the creepy look?” Jenny said. Her voice was steady but her face betrayed a bit of worry. Blake suddenly had an imposing aura about him. The large football player frame started to make Jenny realize how small she was in comparison, something that had not had a reason to cross her mind to this point. “Tonight's not really all about fun and games,” he started. “The party, the dance, all that stuff, it's all build up. The whole solstice feast is part of the story, but it's only part.” Blake took a step toward Jenny and she countered by moving herself back an equal distance. He let out a slight laugh. “The other part, and please, bear with me, is a little more ancient Indian.” “What? Blake, seriously, what are you talking about. Why did you just grab out a five hundred year old dagger?” Blake held up the dagger and his other hand at head level, showing his innocence. “Sorry, I came on a little strong there. Look, the reason I invited you to stay with me is because after the feast, we have to get two people to perform a little ritual before daybreak. Nothing crazy, just like a blood oath. A little cut, a few drops on the ground, done.” “What?! No,” said Jenny. “It's kind of an honor around here,” Blake said. He was trying to appeal to her, and even he

knew it was failing. “You're crazy. I'm not cutting myself for you.” “That's the thing, it's not for me, it's for the land. For everyone, really.” “Uh huh.” Jenny made a move for the door, but Blake mirrored it. She stopped. The door was only a few feet away, the room was fairly small, but Blake was just as far from it. She was worried he would do something crazy with that knife still in his hand. “I'm gonna go back with my friends.” She tried to take another step but Blake took two. He was blocking her in. The room was taking on a stuffiness she had not previously noticed. She started to feel trapped. “You can't. Not yet. You just gotta do this first,” Blake said. “No.” “Look,” Blake said. He looked down and shook his head, as if to emphasize how ridiculous she was being. He held his left hand u and drew the blade firmly across the palm. An inconsistent line of red droplets followed the tip until it left contact with the skin above his thumb. He smiled. “No big deal.” Jenny took a step back. He was calm in his own stance and speech, but his actions were those of an unstable man. “Now it's your turn.” “No.” “Give me your hand.” “Blake-” “Jenny,” he said, louder. Her heart thumped loud on the inside of her chest. “Give me your hand.” “Blake, get out of my way.” She stepped toward him again. Though she gave up nearly a foot and likely a hundred pounds, she looked defiant. Jenny was never one to back down or be scared, and she channeled that strength. “Just one cut.” “Move.” “Don't make this hard.” That froze Jenny. This wasn't right, none of it. Blake couldn't be this crazy. There was no tradition. Something bigger had to be at work here. It just didn't make sense. The big jock leading the innocent girl off alone, sure, but not the blood letting. Why force it if she said no? Why be crazy about it? Jenny was suddenly very afraid this was about more than just a little blood. But what? The thought process had broken her focus and before she could do anything about it Blake had lunged out and grabbed her left hand. Jenny yelled and thrashed but it did nothing to his iron grip. With a quick motion Blake brought the blade down across her forearm. Time froze for Jenny while she watched in horror as the red beads started to form along the broad arc of the blade's path. They ran together into a sheet like a waterfall that started to drip down to the ground. She gripped her wrist, holding her arm level with her face. Blake was no longer holding her, he had stepped back and let his knife hand drop to his side. A loud creak, as if from high branches of trees, filled the room. Blake looked up in confusion. “What the-?” “Fuck you!” Jenny cried. She used his momentary disorientation to shove him hard aside with her bloodied arms and rush out the door. Thankfully he hadn't locked it, but no thoughts of that sort were going through Jenny's mind, All she knew was that she needed to get back inside, back to the fire, back to Luke and Sean and normalcy. No more daggers or rituals or college guys with crazy ideas. She flung open the door and was greeted by a wicked wind and more creaking trees. Before her eyes could adjust to the darkness she was running for where she remembered the door back to the center to be.

12

Now that she had everyone's attention, Jamie smiled. She looked around, noting the vast emptiness of the main room, the five of them huddled around the fireplace. The other four were seated to either side, Jamie was standing front and center, perfectly placed to be the storyteller. Only she

didn't want to stand. She walked over to the wall and grabbed a stray chair, then made her way back to her original position at the head of the show. The screech of the chair's feet echoed in the empty hall. Jamie spun the chair backward and straddled it, resting her arms on the backing. “And now the true story of the Roanoke Colony, as promised. I want you to know, this usually sounds better with a second speaker, but shit-for-brains is off trying to catch a glimpse of whatever your little friend's got under that plaid shirt of hers.” She paused for dramatic effect, but other than a scoff from one of the guys and a couple tightened expressions, she got no rise. “Everyone around here, around the country, really, knows the history book version of the Roanoke Colony. Raleigh sailed over in fifteen eighty-five to establish a colony. They finally get the thing set up in fifteen eighty-seven, and they leave hundred seventeen people to work the land and gain a foothold in the New World. The English are supposed to come back the next spring with more supplies and more colonists, but the Anglo-Spanish War breaks out. The Royal Navy is all hand on deck for the next few years, and an expedition to restock the colony isn't successfully mounted until fifteen ninety. When the new colonists finally arrive here on Roanoke Island, it's completely deserted.” Jamie paused. The others were not quite as enthralled as she had hoped, but that had been the boring part. History class. “Everybody knows that. And everyone, I assume, knows the theories. The big ones, at least. Number one... Anybody?” “Massacre,” Sean said. “Uh huh. By Indians. Croatan, Powhatan, somebody. The other thought, the opposite, is that the colonists joined one of the tribes. Again, Croatan is the likely candidate. I keep bringing them up because the only evidence that the Roanoke Colony had ever even been here was the word 'CROATOAN' scrawled on a wood plank at the site of the settlement. That plank, in case you were blissfully unaware, is out in the Mystery Room.” “So what's the real story?” called Sean. Jamie smiled. “Just getting to that. Back when the colony was founded, relationships with the Indians were good. They worked together, traded, got to know the land. They even adopted some of the native customs, one of which was the Mid-Winter's Feast.” Brandon let out a groan. “Shut it, meathead. The Indians of the island, the Croatan, had a feast every winter solstice to honor the gods of the land, who they called the Croatoan.” She let that simmer for a moment. This had been where she caught on years earlier, and the same wheels of understanding could be seen grinding away in Luke's and Sean's eyes. The other two would need it spoon fed, like Blake had. “The feast concluded in an offering. A blood offering. A few young Indians would cut themselves, letting the blood flow into the ground. The Croatoan would let them prosper another year. “The colonists initially went along with the tradition. The first year the had some of the younger colonists participate. The second year, they were told the same people could not perform the offering for a second time. They sent the remaining young people to give the tribute. The gods seemed pleased again, as the year was prosperous, but the colonists were unhappy. By the time the third year came around, all the young people of the colony had given an offering. While the population of the natives was normal and varied, the colonists had only come with adults. And one child, the now three year old Virginia Dare.” “Oh, no!” said Jo, catching the foreshadow. “Afraid so. The Indians, that winter solstice, told the colonists that the only option they had was to use the toddler for the offering. The colonists resisted and a skirmish broke out. A Croatoan youth, not one who was supposed to be part of the offering, was stabbed. The colonists drove the natives from the settlement, fearing retaliation.” “What did the Croatan do?” Sean asked. “Try again,” Jamie said with a snicker. “Huh?” “Try a different retaliator.” “The Croatoan,” Luke said. Jamie pointed at him in approval. “The colonists scratched the name of their attacker into the wall, but the identity of their destroyer, and the belief in the Croatoan in general, was lost to history.” “So why do you know all this?” Sean asked.

Jamie was about to speak when a large creak as if a tree were splitting in two ripped through the hall. She frowned, then looked around. Nothing came crashing in through the roof, so she assumed they were safe. “Traditions have a way of making their way through generations. Ever since us white folk started living on the island again, the young people have held the feast and followed through with the offering,” Jamie said. “So we're all here -” Luke started. “Yep. Gonna do a little blood ritual. It's kind of an honor around here.” “That only some people know about.” “It's not much of an honor if anyone can do it.” Brandon shrugged. The rest looked around to their peers. Sean seemed especially hesitant, but unworried looks from Luke, and more importantly Jo, eased him. “So I finally get to be one of the cool kids?” joked Sean, more awkwardly than he had planned. “I'll allow it,” said Jo. “Fuckin' high school kids,” muttered Jamie. “So what now?” asked Brandon. “I've got a knife,” he said, drawing a short antler-handled knife from a sheath on his side. Jamie held up a hand. “As with most traditions, there's a little more to it than that. We need to use a very particular knife, and we need to do it so that the blood drips to the soil. So, normally outside would work but it's cold as hell out there. The Mystery Room has a -” The sound of a door slamming shut interrupted Jamie's direction. She paused, caught off guard for the second time in only a few minutes. The sound had come from further down the exhibit wing, probably an exterior door closing with the help of the heavy coastal wind. “A...” Brandon prodded her, seemingly unconcerned with the door. “A dirt floor. It's just walls and a roof, like the original colonial buildings. It also happens to contain the knife we need. Convenient, right? They thought ahead when they made this place. So whenever the football star gets back -” “You don't think that's what Blake took Jenny off to do, do you? The ritual?” Sean asked. Jamie laughed. “No, I imagine he's just trying to hook up with her. That idiot better not have tried to do this thing with just the two of them.” “Plus, Jenny would never go for that,” Sean said. All five suddenly turned to the exhibit wing, where a shuffling sound had started. It grew louder, its source coming closer. The top of the shadow appeared out of the hall and extended into the great room until the tall figure of Blake Baker stumbled out and into the light. His gait was unsteady and he was holding the back of his head with his left hand, his right arm being used for balance. He looked up at the others. “Yo,” he said, his voice a little labored. “The fuck happened to you?” asked Jamie. Blake drew his left hand forward, revealing that it was covered in blood. “Yikes,” he said. “Holy shit!” cried Jo. “Dude, what did you do?” He touched the back of his head again gingerly and winced. “Heh,” he laughed. “Fell backward into a wall. Jenny here?” “Huh? No,” said Luke. “She was with you.” Blake stood still, expressionless, as if he were contemplating it. How hard had he hit himself? “Blake, where's the girl?” asked Jamie. He shook his head. “I figured she came back in here to get you guys. We were out in the Mystery Room and I tripped backwards trying to find the light switch. When I came to she was gone.” “Why were you out there?” “Guys,” Sean said. “Jenny must still be outside.” “How do you know?” Blake asked. “We only heard the door close once. That was you.” Blake looked at Jamie, then at Sean and the others, confusion or delirium on his face. “He's right,” said Luke.

“Shit.” Blake made his way over to the chair that Jamie had previously occupied. She led him by the arm and helped him into the seat, looking at the back of his head. “You're an idiot.” “We should go find Jenny,” Sean said. “Yea,” Luke said. “Let's go. Can you guys fix up Blake?” “We'll be fine,” Jamie said. “Great. You guys take care of that, Sean and I will go look around. I'll take the village, you look in the courtyard and then go around to meet me?” “Sure.” “I woulda seen her in the courtyard,” Blake said. “Who knows what you would have seen, it's dark,” Luke reasoned. “Let's go.” He and Sean rushed off into the exhibit wing to start their search. Moments later, two doors slammed and the boys were outside. Jamie leaned in close to Blake's ear. “You better have a damn good explanation for this,” she said.

13

Jenny was crouched in a corner of one of the huts, dark and terribly cold but at least inside. Her breathing was finally returning to normal, although her mind was still racing to process what had just transpired. Rather than dwell in the past, she took inventory of the present. Two things were vital: She needed to get out of her wet clothes, and she needed to stay inside and avoid whatever was out there. Being wet could be easily explained by her poor memory of the grounds; While sprinting out of the courtyard, she had simply swung too wide and ended up taking a few ill-fated steps into the beach and stumbling into the shore break. The foul smell she was now exuding was less trivial, although when the tides turn, waste did tend to build up near the shoreline when unchecked. The tinge of iron in the stench was concerning, but she was fairly certain her bleeding forearm could account for that. What she had seen, or thought she had seen, as she tried to convince herself, was another thing entirely. After leaving Blake in the confines of the Mystery Room, Jenny had bolted for the door back into the Heritage Center. Blocking her path, however, had been a tree. Only, the tree had not been there when they’d come out originally, and trees don’t generally grin and lash out at you with their limbs. Being rational, she continued to try to turn the face she had seen twelve feet up at the top of a broken trunk into stray shadows passing over in the faint moonlight. But there was nothing random or passing about that crooked grin. Her body shivered hard, completely out of her control, though whether from fear or cold she couldn’t be sure. Jenny gritted her teeth as the shaking stopped. She couldn’t presently do anything about the cold, but fear, she could dispel that. It wasn’t in her nature to cower in a corner. She had just attacked a man twice her size, certainly she shouldn’t be concerned with trees blowing in the wind. It comforted her, thinking like this. Being powerful, or at least in control. She was not the type of girl to let things get the best of her, and she would not be changing her ways now. Another loud cracking high up in the trees had her flinching again, and she cursed for it. Here in the old replica colonial hut she was protected at least from the wind, but possibly just as important her eyes could no longer play tricks on her. The door was in her line of sight, but she had closed it behind her. Nothing outside would bother her and nothing could come in without her having the jump on it. Feeling more secure, Jenny surveyed the inside of the hut as best as her light starved eyes would allow. Against the far wall was a bed, complete with sheets and a blanket. She had thrown off her jacked in the bay, and now she removed her flannel shirt and dropped it on the ground. Best to get out of it to stave off hypothermia and shock, at least for a while. Delirium would do her no good. She stepped quickly across the room and drew the sheet from beneath the blanket on the bed, draping it over her shoulders. It was coarse and scratched at her skin, but she dried herself off and discarded it as well. She then grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around, finally releasing some tension as she swaddled herself in the dry cloth. It was worse than the sheet, but it would have to do for now in terms

of warmth. Next she needed a plan. Somehow she needed to make it back to the center to her friends. Or, failing that, back to the truck and her way off the island. She still had her father’s keys, and was for the first time thankful for the lack of an electronic key fob. There was no indication her friends were in danger, she hadn’t heard anything crash through a window or open a door, but with all the commotion and the wind outside she could have easily missed it. In any case, back inside and with more people around seem like the safest situation, regarding Blake or whatever had been outside. The big problem, Jenny noted as she looked around her in the darkness, lay in the design of the colonial structure. It served its purpose of keeping out cold during the winter and bugs during the summer, but it did so at the expense of such modern conveniences as windows. There were small slits in the walls where the mortar had not set correctly that were her current source of light. They were far too small to see out, aside for the passing of a shadow, which with the way the wind was blowing the trees was of little help. She would have to open the door to get insight into her surroundings, which would put her right in harm’s way. If there was anything dangerous, besides Blake, out there. That brought another chilling thought to the forefront of her mind. Where was Blake? And what would he be doing? If his intention was actually to harm her, how would he play it in front of her classmates? If not… She didn’t want to think about Blake. He was a regular person, a known quantity and something she had already eluded, to some extent, once. Suddenly the wind died down and an eerie quiet surrounded her. Jenny stood perfectly still, her eyes darting around but her ears really having all of her sensory focus. Something was outside. It approached quickly, but the sounds it made were footfalls, human footfalls. Blake? They grew closer and slower, right outside the structure before long. Jenny contemplated the blanket slung around her torso. She wasn’t ready to give up the protection it offered emotionally, but she knew any chance to fight or flee would require her to discard it. And, trapped in this ancient room with a single door, the only real choice seemed to be the former. The footsteps stopped. “Hey!” Luke called. “Jenny?!”

14

“So you really don’t know where Jenny went?” Jo was crouched in front of Blake re-wrapping a length of gauze around his head. The first layer they had scrounged from the first aid kit by the door had been sufficiently saturated and was beginning to let blood resume its flow down Blake’s neck. Jo was doing her best, but the combined wound care knowledge of the three was lacking at best. “No idea,” Blake winced. “I’m actually kinda mad she would leave me out there.” He reached up and felt the back of his head, noticing how wet it was. “Maybe she left to get help and got turned around in the dark.” “You need more pressure.” “Huh?” Blake looked up at her. “You need more pressure on the cut. It’s gonna keep bleeding until you get some real pressure on it.” “Well, we’re out of gauze.” “Fuck.” Blake stood up, wadding the spent wrapping and pressing it hard against his head. “Whoa,” Jamie said from across the way. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Get some more gauze. I’d rather not die of blood loss.” “Don’t be so dramatic. Jo, you wanna go into the admin wing and grab another first aid kit? There’s gotta be a supply room somewhere.” She sent Blake a glance that only he would see, but he wasn’t paying attention. “Uh, sure.” Jamie saw that she was hesitant. “Why don’t you take Muscles with you. He’ll keep you company.” She nodded her head toward Brandon, who smiled with approval. He was clearly flattered, exactly what she was aiming for. Get them both out so she could grill Blake on what he had been doing.

Jo nodded to that, then walked over to Brandon and the two walked off into the administrative wing. “Trying to get me alone, eh?” Jamie whipped around and grabbed Blake’s right ear. “Ow!” She wrung it and let go. “What the hell did you do?” she cried. She was angry and a bit worried, but made sure only the anger made it into her voice. “Damn,” Blake exclaimed. “Quit it. I saw a chance to take the girl out to the Mystery Room to get part of the ritual thing in, so I went for it. She… wasn’t really into it.” “You dipshit. There’s a process to this. Get the seniors in the room, together. Tell them the story. They’ll all decide, together, to do it. That’s why we did it.” “I’m pretty good at convincing girls to do things.” “This isn’t like getting someone to take their shirt off. No one would do it alone, but all four of the kids out here were ready to play along.” “Alright, I messed up. Can’t we just get these guys to do it, forget about the other girl?” “I don’t know,” Jamie said. She looked around the silent Great Room. All shadows and empty space now. The trees she could see swaying around out the windows, the sound of the wind providing the proof in case she chose not to believe their silhouettes. Jamie was worried this was going badly. She was worried Blake had done something undeniably stupid, that somehow this little tradition was blowing up in their faces. “What did you do to the girl?” “I told her about the ritual. All about it. Cut myself as a sign of good faith. See?” He raised his cut hand. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still red and shining from the head wound. “Then she freaked. I tried to grab her and –” “Are you kidding me?” Jamie blurted out. “This is supposed to be voluntary. Easy. Everyone comes away feeling like they’re part of something, so they’ll bring a new group next year.” Blake shrugged and made a grunt. “Don’t do that. This is serious.” “Is it? Really?” Blake stood. “Are you sure it’s not just some stupid tradition we got the bad luck of having to pass down? What’s going to happen if we all just head home?” Jamie was silent. He had a good point. All of this was just a tradition. Or so she wanted to think. But what about Evan Martin? “I don’t want to find out.” “Huh?” “Come on. You remember what happened three years ago. With Evan.” “What? Fuck that kid. He was a pussy. I don’t even know why he was with us. But he ran away. That’s it.” “How do you know? What if – What if it had something to do with this?” “Because he didn’t do some stupid blood brothers ritual. You’re kidding me.” But Jamie wasn’t, not one bit. The thought that all of this may be very real and very serious frightened her. It was true she couldn’t totally believe Evan Martin had disappeared after the party because he didn’t play along, but he had refused to cut himself, and he had run off into the woods never to be seen again. She had thought there was a connection back then, but after three years of police investigations and news reports about a typical runaway seventeen year old makes a person doubt even themselves. Blake noticed her concern. “Okay, I’ll play along.” He stepped next to her. “Let’s wait ‘til those two get back and we’ll take them out to the room, okay? That’ll take care of your ritual.” He went to put his hand on her shoulder but stopped and drew it back when he noticed it was shiny with blood. “But –” “And if the other girl comes back,” he said, interrupting her, “We’ll tell her it was a misunderstanding. It’ll be fine.” Jamie nodded. She wasn’t entirely convinced, but it was likely the best option. “Okay, we’ll do that.”

15

Jo opened the third door on the right just as she had done the previous two. Brandon stopped again and breathed out loudly. He had already told her that the supply room was at the far end of the hall, but she had no intentions of following his guidance. She noticed. “I’m just looking, okay?” Her voice was still as bubbly as usual. Either she was still a little frunk or the blood covering Blake’s head had not fazed her at all. Brandon figured it was a combination. Every time he had seen her throughout the night she had had some sort of drink in her hand, and it hadn’t been that long since the party had ended. The blood thing; well he didn’t care much about Blake’s injury, so maybe she felt the same way. She seemed much more interested in Luke Calders anyway. “No worries, but I’m telling you you’re wasting your energy.” Jo closed the door and skipped to the next one. “I’ve got plenty of that,” she said with a wink. Brandon cocked an eyebrow. His gaze fell to her rear as she skipped, and what a fine view that was. He could do worse, he thought to himself. “So, uh – ” Brandon started, then trailed off as Jo poked her head into the next door. “ ‘Uh’ what?” she said as she came out. “You want me to go right back to the end of the hall? Why do you think you know where the first aid kit is?” “Because I’ve had to have it used on me a bunch of times here,” Brandon said. “Alright, fair enough,” Jo said, nodding in approval. “Get a few boo boos when you were a kid?” “I guess you could say that. Lot going on out here.” “Alright, fine,” Jo said, exaggerating the last word. She grabbed his hand and jogged him to the end of the hall, right up to the last door. “Here?” “Yea, that’s the one.” Jo had not let go of his arm, and instead of doing so had drawn him in close to her body. “How come we’ve ever gotten together?” she said. Brandon smiled. “Bad timing, probably.” “Seems pretty good right now.” Jo drew his head in and kissed him, a big, wet kiss. She smelled of whiskey, but Brandon didn’t mind as she forced her body tightly into his. He was so wrapped up in the moment he overlooked the scratching coming from outside the large window next to them. Jo pulled away slowly, her lips lingering on his moment longer. She smiled and giggled. “Let’s go find that stuff.” “What?” Just like that it was over. The warmth, the rush, the anticipation: Gone. Brandon lingered while Jo went into the room and opened a few cabinets. “Got it! Just gauze?” Brandon shook off his disappointment. “Uh, yea. Is there any peroxide? Or ointment?” He stepped into the room after her, which was nothing more than a large supply closet. Jo was on the right going through a head level cabinet of medical supplies. “Yes… and… yes.” She spun around holding a bottle and a tub. “Anything else?” Brandon took the opportunity to step in and kiss her again. This one was shorter, less urgent, and Jo backed out quickly. “Hey there. We gotta get back with this stuff.” “And then?” Jo smiled and swayed her body. “Then I think we could sneak off again.” She hand him the two items in her hands then grabbed his forearm. “If you’re good.” Brandon could work with that. He’d have to calm himself down for a bit, but it would be worth it. He’d heard things about Jo. She was right, they’d never gotten together before, but it wasn’t for a lack of mutual attraction. That was present, and then some. Neither was particularly discriminating, the opportunity had just never come up. With Brandon in tow, Jo skipped out of the storage closet when suddenly her body went rigid and her fingers limp. Glass shattered. Brandon immediately froze, still mostly within the threshold of the room, and watched Jo’s body sail down the hall as if being pulled by a fishing line attached to her head. It smashed into the wall fifteen feet down the hall and stuck there, her body now limp and draped there like a towel. It was then that Brandon first noticed the gnarled tendril of a tree branch jammed through her

face like a spear. It extended all the way past him and out the shattered window beside him. “Oh shit!” he exclaimed. He looked to his right to the broken window. He could see nothing of the cold world outside beyond the border of the window except for the single branch disappearing into the void. Brandon watched it closely for any sign of movement, still mostly in shock. His focus had exactly the opposite of the intended effect. While he thought he was watching for danger, a new branch shot in from outside and grasped his face. The ends of the branch wrapped around his head, curling in like the knotted fingers of an old hag. All of a sudden Brandon was off the ground, an immense pressure threatening to crush his skull as he was launched back into the supply room.

16

Sean heard the shattering of glass but it did not immediately register over the raucous creaking of trees and the screeching wind. He had skirted the inside of the courtyard, looking into alcoves and bushes, and was now making his way to check the Mystery Room in the center. The crash came from his left, seemingly on the other side of the administrative wing. He turned his ear to the sound but all he got was a continuation of the coastal wind storm’s moaning and howling. He was glad it was not snowing yet, but all other signs of a blizzard, the biting cold and terrible winds, had firmly settled over Roanoke Island. It was definitely shattered glass, of that Sean was sure. It was dark enough that he couldn’t make out anything concrete, but he could certainly see movement on the far side of the building. Probably just trees, but it was much lower to the ground than the normal height of branches. He altered course, making a line toward the end of the wing. The closer he got, the more the shadows started to mold into actual forms. At first he thought what stood at the end of the building wing was a man. The light from inside the center shone on the figure, which had the bipedal form of a man. Suddenly Sean stopped his march. It looked just lie a man, a tall, gangly limbed man, but what caused him to suddenly cease his approach was the realization that it was as tall as the building. Sean’s heart skipped and his eyes went wide. “Holy – ” he muttered. The figure had one elongated limb inside the building, likely the source of the crashing sound. Slowly it drew the limb out of the window and stepped back, or at least that was the motion Sean’s mind approximated to its next action. Out of fear of being spotted by the thing, whether that was even possible or it was already forgone, Sean started walking backward slowly. The Mystery Room was closer than the other wing, so that became his target. Sean’s senses were completely focused on what was unfolding in front of him so it was a surprise to him when he bumped into something behind. He spun, quickly, revealing a man standing there, resolute in posture. The man was short, at least by common standards, but well-built and sturdy. Well defined musculature made up his bare chest, and his legs were as sinewy as his torso. He wore nothing but a loincloth and had his black hair tied back in a high bun. He looked to Sean like an eastern Native American right out of a history book, except for his ghostly pale skin. The two stood face to face briefly, Sean frozen in terror. While the Indian’s appearance had startled Sean, the nearly naked man hardly seemed fazed by the boy’s presence. He held a hard stare directly at Sean until Sean regained his composure and stepped to the side. It was then that the Indian lifted his arm and pointed out to the tree thing by the end of the building and spoke. “Croatoan,” it said in a deep voice. Sean’s eyes darted to the thing and back. “What the hell?” “Croatoan,” it said again, as cryptic as any scrawl. Sean narrowed his eyes and then turned to the object of the Indian’s phrase. To his shock, it was moving toward them. The courtyard was still dark and full of shadows, but Sean could tell it was getting closer. “Hell, no,” he said to himself. He started to backpedal, then thinking better turned around and broke into a run. He went right past the doors to the Mystery Room, the enclosure no longer seeming like the safe haven he had previously thought it to be. Quickly he was out of the courtyard and the

middle of the U-shaped building. This had been the plan all along, to check out the courtyard and then make his was around to meet up with Luke on the outside. He hoped Luke was close. A step into the damp soil caused him to lose his balance momentarily. He skipped, bounced to a stop, remembering that at high tide the water could get pretty close to the end of the building. It must be that way right now. Sean took a moment to look back to the other side of the courtyard. He didn’t particularly see anything moving, but the trees were all still there. No creepy, weird Indian, either. He lifted his foot up and shook it around a bit, testing it for water. Not soaked, but it would bother him. Before he started to jog around the wing to the replica village, Sean noticed the particular sheen coming off the sound. Sure, water was always reflective, but this looked somehow different. The water seemed darker, with more matte than gloss, like it was covered in an oil slick. It was strange and confused him, but he did his best to brush it off as the old huts of the village came into view.

17

Jenny rushed for the door. Hearing Luke’s voice sent a tide of relief through her and she suddenly felt very safe again.

“Jenny?” Luke called again. His voice started to drift off as he walked past her hut. “Luke! Wait!” Jenny called as she opened the door. Luke turned immediately to face her, but

his expression went from excitement to dread almost instantly. “Holy shit,” he said. “Get inside, quick,” Jenny said, completely ignoring whatever his concern was and motioning

with her hand. Inside, Luke kept his distance. “What the hell happened to you?” “Huh?” “You’re… you’re covered in blood.” Jenny frowned. “It’s just –” she started as she lifted up her arm, and then stopped. In the

moonlight of the open door she could now see the deep red tint of the blood soaking the blanket she had wrapped around her. With it still clutched to her body, she looked all over and found the same conclusion everywhere. She pulled an arm out, an arm she saw was smeared with blood where the blanket had not wiped it away. Her jeans, too, now a deep purple instead of the blue they should have been.

“This isn’t mine,” she said. At first she had no explanation, but quickly the pieces fell in place, albeit as unbelievably as the tree with a face from earlier. It was the sound. The sound, when she had fallen in, seemed thick. And the pungent smell, loaded with iron; the sound was full of blood. It all seemed very biblical, but she was starting to accept that something big was going on.

“What?” “The sound. The sound is full of blood.” “Jenny –” “I know it sounds crazy, but something weird is going on here tonight. I’m pretty sure the

sound is full of blood. And I swear the trees are alive.” It was al just pouring out, not nearly as calm, collected and sane as Jenny had hoped, but it was out there. “And Blake tried to stab me with some old dagger.”

“Wait. Blake tried to get you to do the ritual?” “The what?” It intrigued Jenny that out of all she had just said, the part about Blake was what

struck Luke as odd. “The ritual, the old Indian tribute.” He paused, his face strained like he was thinking through a

very difficult problem. “So you said blood in the ocean and the trees are alive?” “Luke, I know it sounds crazy.” “Yea, you sound like Miss Hollinson.” “It’s true though.” “I believe you.” Luke stepped in to hug her but stopped. “Why are you wearing a sheet?” “To dry off. I took off my shirt when I fell in the water.” “Okay, first things first, that’s now soaked in blood. Take mine.”

Luke pulled off his jacket and shirt, leaving just an undershirt and a set of muscular arms that would have made Jenny blush in any other situation. She balled up the blanket, giving herself one last wipe down, then threw it back onto the bed and took the shirt from Luke and slipped it on, buttoning each button with care. It was warm but draped on her like a jersey. She smiled to herself. Allowed herself to smile, really. For all the interesting events of the night so far, she had ended up in some guy’s shirt. She was quickly brought back to reality when she saw her sleeve start to darken. The cut from Blake, she had completely forgotten. It was still fresh and bleeding.

“Oh damn, I’m sorry,” Jenny said as she quickly rolled up the sleeve. “Is that from Blake?” “Yea,” Jenny said. She was scanning the room for something to wrap the wound with. Luke was

one step ahead of her, grabbing the sheet off the bed and tearing off a strip from the corner. “Here,” he said. He had Jenny hold out her arm straight while he wrapped her forearm. The old

worn blanket made for a good gauze substitute. “That too tight?” Jenny shook her head. “I just don’t get it. Why would he do something like that?” “When you and Blake were gone, Jamie was talking to us. This, all of this, was more than an

afterparty.” “Huh?” “It’s not just some senior tradition to stay after the Mid-Winter’s. It’s part of this old tradition

from the colonial times. The colonists had to do a blood-letting ritual to appease the Indian gods.” “Luke? Really?” “I know, it’s weird. But apparently every year the high school kids have a handful of them cut

themselves with this dagger from the Mystery Room, the Raleigh dagger.” “Yea, that’s what Blake did. But why? Why do they do that?” “It’s got to do with the lost colony. She said the colonists didn’t do the tribute one year, and

instead killed an Indian, and the gods destroyed the colony. “Now you sound like Miss Hollinson.” “I know. But I’m just passing along the reason for the tradition.” Jenny shivered. This time Luke did put an arm around her and pull her in. “Yea, let’s get you

back inside.” “But what about the –” “I’ll deal with Blake.” “No,” she said. “I meant the trees. I was serious.” “It’s probably just the wind and the moonlight and the adrenaline. That can make you see some

crazy stuff. Jenny frowned up at Luke. She started to open her mouth to tell him she wasn’t just seeing

things but stopped. Maybe it wasn’t worth arguing. Or maybe he was right. Of course he was right. Everything he had said made sense. She had even been trying to convince herself it was just her imagination. Maybe she should drop it.

“You ready to move?” Luke asked. Jenny nodded. As the two turned to head for the door, Luke’s arm still over Jenny’s shoulder, they both heard

the sound of someone running outside and froze. Luke gently nudged Jenny backward and tensed up, ready for a fight. Suddenly Sean ran past the door, his head peaking in, then skidded to a halt and backpedaled. He was breathing hard when he stepped in, his eyes wide. He looked panicked.

“Thank God,” he said. “Sean?” Jenny asked. “You found her,” he said to Luke. The relief in his voice didn’t fit with how frantic he looked. “You okay?” Luke asked, sensing something was wrong. “Um,” Sean started, “I don’t know. I’ve been seeing some weird stuff.” Sean’s mannerisms reminded Jenny of shock. He sounded alright but didn’t look alright. His

face was taught, his eyes wide and wandering. His feet held their place but looked like they could erupt into motion at any time. It was as if his exterior was just barely holding in a crazed interior.

“Like what? Like trees moving?” Jenny asked. “Like trees that had arms and walked like people. And an Indian.”

“Indian?” Jenny asked. Luke’s eyebrows raised. “Like from a diorama?” “No, like a… It was standing in the courtyard. He was standing in the courtyard. And he talked.” The trees creaked and moaned outside the hut and the wind kicked back up, as if on cue. The

three looked intently at the still open door, watching for any sign that they were not alone. They were silent and still for a moment, only the frosty clouds of their breath moving in their vision.

“I think we need to go,” Luke said. “Get back inside, get our stuff and the other guys and go.” He was taking on the role of leader and protector. His voice was decisive and strong. The others felt it and acknowledged. “Stay here for a sec, let me check outside.”

Luke peeked his head out of the hut. The wind was in another upswing and it bit at his face. With only his undershirt remaining, the chill made it into his core, past the point of shivering. Around the mock village trees swayed and wind rustled the sticks and leaves but nothing struck Luke as out of the ordinary. He scanned again, seeing very little movement below the trees. Confidently he stepped out of the hut and hugged his chest. The closest entrance back into the heritage center was less than fifty yards away and more or less a straight shot. Luke could see no issues. He did, as he turned back into the hut, notice the odd, silky sheen coming off the sound. It didn’t look right, as if it were tinted slightly red in the moonlight… Luke broke that train of thought quickly.

He ducked his head into the hut. “Coast is clear. Let’s go.”

18

With the wind renewed and perhaps a bit less adrenaline coursing through her veins, Jenny did not enjoy the walk back to the center. Walk was an understatement; The three kids moved with the speed and caution of a military assault team. Luke led, head up and on a swivel, watching carefully around for any sign of danger. Quickly they were back insdie the heritage center and its warm, calm air. Luke slammed the door behind them, apparently unintentional by the embarrassed look he gave Jenny.

"We left everyone in the Great Room," said Luke, immediately turning to make his way out of the exhibit wing where they stood.

Jenny paused for a moment before following the two boys down the hall. Her eyes fixated across the way on the door leading out to the Mystery Room. Fond memories of this place would now be ruined. And for some stupid senior tradition? Jenny glanced down to her forearm. Now that the excitement was over, the cut began to throb. Maybe there was still some whiskey left from the party.

"Where's everyone else?" Luke called out as the group entered the Great Room. Only Jamie was left there, sitting on the ledge of the fireplace. She looked bored, as if she had been by herself for quite some time. It took her a moment to even recognize the new players in the room, and when she did the response was a casual "Hmm?" That only served to annoy an already agitated Luke.

"Blake? And Jo?" Suddenly, Jamie stood up. Her eyes were fixed on Jenny. "Oh my God - " she started. "Yea, that's why we need to find Blake. He attacked Jenny," Luke said, turning to point out

Jenny's wounded arm. When Jenny came into view, however, he stopped just as Jamie had. Jenny's hair was a dark, matted reddish mess. Watercolor drips ran down her face. Her jeans

were a deep, dark purple and were turning brown in spots where they had been drying. A person's first instinct would have been to run to help the girl but her face wore an undeniably calm mask. She was asking "What?" of the horrified onlookers with only her dark eyes.

"Jesus, Jenny," Sean said, turning to the others. "It's, um, it's from the sound," Jenny said. "What?" Jamie was dumbfounded. "Luke, you saw this before," Jenny said. "Yea. But... It looks a lot worse in the light. You sure you're okay?" "Just the arm hurts." Jamie kept one eye on Jenny but addressed Lyk. "What did you say about Blake?" "He attacked Jenny with a knife." "We were out in the Mystery Room and he came at me with this old dagger."

"Oh, God," Jamie said. "Fucking idiot." She seemed worried. "What does that mean?" Jenny asked. "It's the senior tradition, the old ritual. I told everyone about it earlier." "Tell me," she said. "I want to hear it." "Well – every year on the Winter Solstice a couple seniors get together and perform this Indian

ritual. Supposedly it's been going on since the colonists arrived, it's a blood offering for the Indian gods. So us, the descendants of the colonists, we do it."

"Is that why they stopped the party when you guys were seniors? Someone found out?" "Not exactly," Jamie said. Realizations swept across Jenny's face. "Was this what happened to Evan Martin? You attacked

him?" Three sets of eyes drilled into Jamie. "No," she finally conceded. "He was there with us, with Blake and I, but he didn't do the ritual.

He didn't cut himself. He just disappeared." "What do you mean 'disappeared'?" Jenny grilled. "He..." Jamie looked scared. The three seniors were staring so pointedly at her, so accusingly,

she seemed to crack. Her voice quivered. "He never left the island. It was weird, but... he just disappeared."

"Like..." Sean started, then stopped. "Like the Lost Colony?" "Sean," Luke started. "Right?" Sean said, ignoring Luke and looking to Jamie. "That's like the Lost Colony. They just

disappeared? That's what you said before." Tears came to Jamie's eyes. She nodded timidly. "It's... The legend was that the colonists

refused to do the tribute one year, the year they vanished. The Indians tried to convince them it was for their own good, but they didn't listen. One of the young Indians was trying to change their mind but was stabbed and killed by a colonist's knife."

"And then what?" asked Jenny. Adrenaline was rising in her body. Like it or not she was believing the story. It made so much sense.

"That's when they disappeared." Jamie nodded, wiping her face. "The Croatan's gods wiped them all out." "Because they attacked the Indian?" Jenny asked quietly. "Yea." Jenny looked first at Luke, then at Sean. He understood, his face showed it boldly. "My family

is Indian," she said.

19

“Croatan?” Jamie asked. “I don’t know, really. But we’ve always lived here.” The four looked around at each other, none wanting to voice an opinion. Luke almost spoke up

to discount it all as old legends, but stopped himself. Sean wanted to say that something very supernatural was going on, but couldn’t quite believe it enough himself to say it. The girls had made up their minds, but were certainly not about to speak them.

A loud creaking of a tree outside cut through the now steady gusting winds. Jamie quickly checked all the windows, looking tense.

“So what do we do now?” she asked. “We find Blake. Same as before,” Luke said. “But what about the ritual?” Jamie responded. Luke assumed a commanding presence. He was always large and a figure of attention, but now

he was embracing the role of decision maker. “Voodoo or not, I want to get Blake. I don’t care if he has a curse on him now or what, he hurt Jenny and he needs to be dealt with.” Anger started to fill his voice and Jenny could see his muscles tensing up, ready for a fight. Not in a macho, chest puffed way, in the way a brother would stand up for his slighted sister.

“Okay,” Jamie said. “I think he’s down the admin wing. Jo and Brandon went down there to

look for some gauze and he followed a bit after. They were taking a while.” “Gauze?” Jenny asked. “Yea. For Blake’s head.” Jamie paused looking to Jenny. She spoke the next few words

carefully, afraid of retribution. “He said he tripped into the wall.” “Asshole,” Jenny seethed. She started for the double doors leading to the wing at a quick clip as

if it was all decided what their next action would be. “Whoa, whoa,” Luke said. He took a few quick steps after her and grabbed her arm. “Hold on,

let’s all go together.” “Then hurry up,” she said. Luke looked to Sean, then nodded his head in the direction Jenny was headed. Sean followed. Jenny lead the pack as they moved across the Great Room. As soon as she got to them, she

violently shoved the double doors open. “Hey, Jen, calm down,” Luke said, speeding up his step to catch her. “Let me handle –” He stopped abruptly as he almost ran into Jenny. She had stopped as well. Both teens stared in

horror down the hall at the body of Jo crumpled on the floor. “Oh, God,” Sean said, stepping up behind them. Jenny was the first to unfreeze and started down the hall at a jog to Jo’s body. She knelt down

next to it and was instantly aware that she was dead. The body lay there in a brutally limp state, the limbs in unnatural directions, an arm folded backward underneath the torso. Jenny fought back bile. The worst part, as she continued to stare, was the head. Jo was face down, but there was a large, bloody hole visible at the back of her skull, full of hair and twigs. Jenny put a hand to her mouth and stood up, turning away.

By this point Luke was beside her and Sean not too far back. He was walking slowly, cautiously, and while Luke was fixated on the body, Sean’s attentions were past them at the end of the hall.

“Oh my God,” Luke was murmuring. Jenny barely heard it. She had seen Sean as she turned around and now swiveled her head to see what he was looking at.

The end of the wing should have been marked by a large window opening up to the sound. The window was mostly gone now, its borders just a row of jagged glass teeth. The sections of wall around the window were crisscrossed with harsh scratches, deep marks carved into the olive paint of the drywall. The markings were haphazard and all-encompassing, some ambitious ones seeming to start all the way down by Jo’s body and run to the window. Jenny eyed it all with a sense of dread.

Luke crouched down next to the body and felt, pointlessly, for a pulse. He continued to examine the body, but could see little other signs of violence than the hole through her skull. There were minor scratched on the exposed skin of her arms but nothing near the level of force that had injured the walls.

“What –” Luke started to ask, but paused. He found it hard to voice such an unrealistic question.

“The Croatoan,” Sean said after a moment. Jenny and Luke both turned to him. “The Indians?” asked Jenny. “No. The Croatoan, the gods. The forest gods,” Sean said. “Sean,” Jenny started. “I’m serious. When I was looking for you, I thought I saw some tree… thing. Walking. Here by

the window, it looked like it had reached through.” “You alright, man?” Luke said. Sean took a deep breath. “Yea, perfectly fine, but I know what I saw.” Luke stood up and started to walk to the window, shaking his head. “Luke, that’s what I was talking about,” Jenny added. “I definitely saw something out there.” “Yea?” Luke asked. He was by the window now. “Guys, that sounds pretty crazy. Trees

walking?” He leaned his head out, looking around. “Be careful,” Sean said, almost pleading. Sean started toward Luke, glancing to Jenny but not expecting her support. She didn’t follow,

but stayed put close to the body. She was still reeling, trying to comprehend what was happening. She watched the two boys, strong, confident, trying to get answers and willed herself to be more like them. They stood by the destroyed window looking out, examining the walls. Luke stared at the deep scores

running through the window frame. His callused fingers made a soft scratching noise as they slid over the rough edges.

No, Jenny thought, that sound was much closer. Her ears perked up, catching the sound right across the hall. A closed door. The true source was within that portal, not by the end of the hallway. Jenny saw this new happening as her chance to take charge of the situation. Instead of calling out, she stood up slowly, careful not to make any sound. Her ears stayed locked on the faint scratching, which was now sounding like a constant background noise. What would continue like that without interruption?

Jenny looked down the hall at the two boys. They were still heavily interested in the state of the window and had begun to discuss it quietly between themselves. All the better. Jenny leaned in to the door and carefully twisted the handle, putting her ear close and listening for any change. It took her a moment to dial in over the din of the wind outside, but eventually she heard a soft muttering. She could hardly make it out as a distinct sound, much less categorize it as structural, animal, human, or any such thing.

The door would have to open if she wanted to know more. She leaned her shoulder in but steadied the door with her hand, unsure of how to proceed. The next noise made that decision for her.

It was definitely human, and it was definitely saying, “Sorry.” It was muffled and muted and beneath layers of blizzard wind, but the word was there, softly repeating itself in a raspy, dry voice. Jenny pushed the door open a crack, allowing a sliver of light into the room. It fell just where it needed to.

Through the door was a sliver of Blake’s face, his eyes large and dark, his skin pale. Overly so. His mouth was open wide, very wide. Unnaturally wide. His forehead, usually quite proportional and maybe even shallow, was for some reason very long. As Jenny watched, the top of Blake’s forehead, where his hairline should be, extended higher and higher, his mouth opening wider and wider.

“S-sor-ry,” he said. As his lips parted on the last syllable they split at the edges. For a moment he looked like a sick

imitation of a clown in sepia tones. The skin on his forehead began to split lengthwise, revealing a deep, earthy brown below. His eyes disappeared back into black sockets as pieces of overly stretched skin fell away from his face like chunks from an iceberg. Only below resembled the cracked bark of a tree instead of the smooth ivory of a skull.

Jenny gasped and let the door fall open. The face seemed to be the last part of Blake to go through the horrifying metamorphosis. It perched at the top of a long trunk with a thick tangle of branches below. Pieces of skin lay all over the floor and the lower extremities.

It was the, with the whole thing in focus, that Jenny saw the long, thin branch running across the left wall of the room.

It moved like an appendage, not a tree branch. Jenny knew it was alive and that none of this was in her head.

“Oh, God, Blake…” she said, the only thing she could think of. The main branch whipped across the room toward her head. She ducked away quickly, but still

let out a yelp as some of the smaller branches caught her hair. Below where Blake’s face had been a new face emerged, an ugly, horrible imitation of a face, just like the one she had seen outside when she had run away from Blake the first time. It, too, was attempting a grin.

Jenny jumped backward across the hall. Both Luke and Sean heard the commotion and moved back toward her.

“Hey,” Sean said. “What’s in there?” Luke asked, the closer of the two. As if to answer, the spindly arm-branch

Jenny had just dodged lashed out from the door and came across the hall, laying a loud slap across Luke’s face. He rolled back and clutched his face, crying out. When the branch hit the wall, instead of sliding away the distal offshoots curled in like fingers and dug in.

Luke stood and let the hand fall away from his bleeding face. “What the hell?” he said. As Luke stared at the now still branch, Sean rushed over to Jenny. “You okay?”

“Sean!” Jenny yelled, grabbing his jacket and pulling him down. The branch had dislodged from the

wall, and while Luke had seen it and dodged, Sean was blind to it. She got him just in time as the branch swung over their heads and was sucked back into the room.

“What was that?” Luke asked again, more frantic. “Go!” Jenny responded. She was forceful, and Luke believed her eyes. He moved over to her

and Sean, who were now heading back toward the Great Room. Luke paused and made a play for the still open door and stopped.

“Oh, God,” he muttered in disbelief. Then he quickly dropped to the floor before another thrust of the branched burst out toward his head. The mass of the bark and limbs on the floor began to raise itself. Luke’s inquisitive side finally quit and his survival instincts kicked in. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing but he definitely didn’t want to see any more of it. The scratches across his face were real enough.

“Faster!” He yelled to Jenny and Sean as he caught up to them before they got back to the double doors of the Great Room. With his push they made it back and slammed the doors behind them. Luke glanced back through the reinforced windows to make sure nothing was following them. The hallway seemed clear. He stood for a moment, panting and watching, the others watching him.

Satisfied, he turned. “Do these things lock?” he asked, indicating the door. Sean tossed him a set of keys which he promptly used. He looked again through the glass before turning back to address Jenny.

“You saw that too, right?”

20

All three exchanged knowing but confused looks for a moment. What had just transpired over the course of a few minutes was enough to make a person questions their beliefs, and it hit the teenagers hard. For Sean and Jenny, their fears had been confirmed; the fleeting glances and spindly shadows they had seen earlier had been proven to be reality. For Luke, he was even less sure. He had seen Jo dead, for certain, and the carnage that looked like Blake. Whatever came from Blake, whatever had lashed out and caught his face, that he wasn’t sure of. He touched his cheek gingerly, wiping the blood off his fingers as he brought his hand back down. “That’s what I saw,” said Jenny. “That tree thing; that’s what was outside.” “That’s what I saw, too,” added Sean. “Or, at least I think it was.” He was more hesitant. “Something like it.” Luke was lost in his thoughts, absorbing it all but yet still disconnected. He didn’t quite believe, couldn’t, really. “It was over by the window when I was looking for you,” Sean said to Jenny. “Then I saw –” He paused. “What happened to you guys?” “It was Jamie. She spoke in a soft, hesitant tone that matched her cautious walk toward the three of them. She stopped a good ten feet out as if she were still unsure that they were safe to be around. “Something attacked us,” Luke said, looking up at Jamie. She flinched. “Blake?” “No,” Luke said. “Something else.” “Say what it was, Luke,” said Jenny. “It was some sort of tree.” “A tree?” asked Jamie. “Well – it looked like –” “It was the Croatoan,” Sean said over them all. “The old Indian gods, the ones that the ritual is for and that killed the colonists. The Croatoan.” “What?” The question seemed to come from the other three at the same time. Sean thought about the Indian. “They’re here, they’ve always been here. But they’re mad, just like they were four hundred years ago.” “Because of Blake?”

Jamie gasped.

“I don’t know,” Sean said. “Maybe just because we haven’t given them their tribute yet.” “No,” said Jamie. “There’s still time for that. You just need to do it by sunrise.” “No chance of that happening,” said Luke. “Huh?” “We’re not sticking around ‘til sunrise. I’m getting out of here,.” “But –” Jenny started. “Jo’s dead. So is Blake. I don’t know where Brandon is but I imagine it’s the same. We need to leave.” He looked around at the others, trying to win approval. “Right?” “I don’t know,” said Jamie. “The ritual… The last time, when Evan didn’t do it, we never saw him again. Whatever you guys saw, the same thing that happened to him could happen to us if we just leave. I think we need to finish it first.” “I think we’ve all bled enough tonight. Jenny?” Luke looked at her. Jenny stared back. Her gut said to go, just run out to the truck and peel away and never come back. But she’d been trying to fight that urge the whole night, the urge to just run away, and her mind was telling her there was something in Jamie’s reasoning that she should not ignore. But it was all hocus pocus anyway, right? “Yea, let’s go,” she said finally. “Right?” she said to Sean. He nodded. All eyes went to Jamie. She started to open her mouth, but stopped. They could see the wheels turning, her mind fighting through the decision to stay or go. Finally, she nodded as well. “My car should be the closest,” Sean said. “We can all fit, come back for the other cars in the morning.” “Alright,” Luke said. The four kids walked over to the front door, Luke out in front and first to get there. He stepped to the side and pushed his face up against the front window, cupping around his eyes to see into the darkness. He stayed like that for a moment, then, satisfied, he stepped back. “I can’t really see much, but it looks alright. Which one’s your car? There are still a bunch out there.” “Silver Pontiac, should be right out there,” said Sean. “Okay.” Luke opened the front door and immediately the coastal winter winds kicked up, driving leaves and frost into the Center. He squinted and then stepped outside, leaning into the wind. Jenny watched with interest as Luke walked out. He had just peered out a window, but as soon as he got himself fully out the door he stopped and let out a noise as if he just entered an alien landscape. “What?” said Sean, eager to be the next one out. Just like Luke he stopped, looking as though he had been blindsided by this new vista. “Shit,” he said. Jenny craned her neck to see between the two boys. Outside, the parking lot looked like the end of a very violent bumper car arena. Cars were strewn about, parked at odd angles or even touching each other. Several were on their sides and there was one on its roof. “Sean, where’s you –” Jenny cut herself off before she could finish. She spotted the old Pontiac off to her right, the entire length of the hood smashed in against a tree. “What the hell?” Luke said. “I didn’t do that,” Sean said, trying to convince himself. “Could it –” Jenny had already accepted the facts and moved on to a new plan. The cause was not worth debating; the effect was that Sean’s, and most of the others’, car was no longer an option. She did see her father’s truck sitting to the left nearly where she had parked it looking unscathed, so that was where her mind went. “Look! My truck is over there. It’ll be tight but we can manage. Let’s go.” Jenny pulled out the keys and started briskly walking toward the truck. The others started to follow, albeit at their own paces. Sean was the laggard, muttering to himself, but Luke was no speedster either, completely distracted by the carnage around them. Jenny had not gone ten yards before a loud crack in the trees before her stopped her in her tracks. He head went up, searching for the source, only to see an indiscernible forest was coming toward her. Watch out!” she cried, springing backward. One of the large tree came crashing down on top of the truck, crushing the roof and letting out a horrible screech. Jenny was scared but safe, the upper

tops of the branches only a few feet in front of her. Jamie shrieked. Jenny stood still, looking at the truck and then back to the boys. Their faces read the same as hers: What do we do now? Jamie screamed again. Jenny snapped to her. “I know, I know, we just –” she stopped when she saw Jamie lift a hand to point past her. Jenny turned around to see the large upper branches of the tree dig into the ground and push the trunk upward. “Oh no,” she said. “Back in the Center!” yelled Luke. No one questioned him.

21

Back inside, Jenny tried unsuccessfully to stop her mind from replaying what she had just seen. Over and over she saw large branches lift off the ground, bend in monstrously human ways, and push upward. She saw the trunk rise up like a torso. It hadn’t been just a tree, it had been something else. She didn’t want to think about Sean’s ramblings, but the idea that they were surrounded by a group of ancient tree gods seemed more realistic than she ever would have liked. Around her, everyone was frazzled. The boys were talking in quiet but serious voices, and they were not agreeing. Jenny was by herself in the middle of the room while Jamie was slowly, cautiously, making her way toward the fireplace. Jenny watched her there, concerned with her pace until she saw the look of sheer terror on Jamie’s face when she sat down. Jenny walked over and squatted down in front of her. “Hey,” Jenny said, trying to comfort her. “This is all my fault,” Jamie said. Her voice was quivering and her frantic eyes were on the verge of tears. “No,” she said. “This is just – well, we don’t really know what it is.” “It’s the ritual. We messed up three years ago and we messed up again tonight.” She was probably right. It was all so unbelievable, yet when Jenny put all the pieces on the table, the only logical explanation for what was going on was within the realm of the supernatural. Indian blood rituals didn’t exist, but neither did walking, violent trees. And if the latter ended up being true, she couldn’t deny the former. It all lined up. Either it was all real, or someone was very accurate with their fiction. “If it was the ritual,” Jenny said slowly, more to herself than Jamie, “Then it’s not your fault.” Jamie cocked her head. “Maybe you brought us back here, but it was Blake who screwed up. You were just playing your part.” “But last time –” “It sounds like that was Evan’s fault. Right? Trees didn’t start coming after you then. He made a choice. The wrong one.” “But –” she started. She was crying now. “But I made him stay.” “You didn’t. I don’t think you believe it. I don’t think the Croatoan believe it.” Jamie looked up at Jenny, sniffling. “Really?” Jenny didn’t know, but nodded anyway. It had just come, and while it caught her offguard, it felt like she was speaking the truth. Luke and Sean came up from behind. “You guys okay?” Luke asked. “Physically, yea,” said Jenny. “Good.” The wind tore across the parking lot outside, but within the building it was quiet. The group exchanged glances for a moment, Jenny not really sure if she should bring up the conversation she had just had or not. “So we seem to be safe in here,” Luke said, gesturing around the Great Room. “Yea,” Jenny said. “But what does that mean, we’re stuck?” Luke gave her a defeated look. The male pow-wow had to have come up with a better solution

than “stay here”. At least she hoped. “We can’t just sit here waiting.” “Why not?” said Luke. “I don’t think we can leave. The cars are wrecked.” He stopped for a moment, absorbing Jenny’s disapproving stare. She wanted to be able to trust in his decisions, sit back and let him take care of things, but she couldn’t. Not if his decision was to wait. “Plus… Jamie, what was it about sunrise? And the ritual? Can’t we just wait ‘til sunrise? “Luke, it’s the longest night of the year.” “You have to finish the ritual by sunrise,” said Jamie. Her sniffling had stopped, but her voice still wasn’t back to its normal self. “Oh,” Luke said. Jenny looked to Sean. What Jamie had said, about completing the ritual, that seemed like the course of action to take. What else could they do? Sean’s face confirmed what she was thinking. Now they just needed Luke. “That’s it,” Jenny said. “We need to do the ritual. Look, dangerous or not… It seems like the only option.” “Wait, you –” “It’s not like its human sacrifice. Kids do it every year. Like blood brothers, right?” Jenny said. “Sean? Jamie?” They both nodded. Jenny stared at Luke, trying to drill the answer out of him with her eyes. Luke sighed. “After what Blake just did to you… You want the rest of us to complete this ritual? Just do the same thing and hope it will make things better?” “Yea,” Jenny said. “It won’t make them worse,” Jamie added. “Three years ago, Evan didn’t want to do it. Blake and I did, cut ourselves with the knife, continued partying; we were still here at sunrise, he was gone.” “What other option is there?” asked Sean. Luke was still quick to answer. “Stay. Leave. Hide. Wait.” Jenny couldn’t tell if it was him being practical or just trying to give a voice to logic. Or denial. “Luke, you saw everything we did,” Jenny said. It was more scold than plea. “Our friends are dead. The cars are ruined. There’s something going on here that’s not natural.” “Come on,” Jamie said. As Jenny looked at Luke, a slight noise pricked up in her right ear. She disregarded it at first, but then it touched a familiar note. It was the sound of tree bark scratching against a surface, faint and muffled but becoming ever more clear. It was coming down, perhaps from the ceiling, and fast. Jenny quickly spun herself to face the closest wall, to the right of Jamie and the fireplace. “What?” said Sean. “Shhh!” Jenny hissed, holding out a hand. The sounds had evolved to a scratching, as if on stone, but she still couldn’t see any movement. Then it clicked. The chimney! “Jamie!” Jenny yelled, but it was too late. Two spindly, thin tree branches snaked out of the fireplace and took hold of either of Jamie’s arms. She screamed in vain as the limbs were recalled back up the chimney at an insane rate, taking Jamie with them. Her screams were drowned out by the sounds of scratching and snapping. Jenny turned a horrified gaze to Luke. Before he could respond, the windows on either side of the front doors shattered and tree limbs shot through. Luke took off on his own but Jenny had to grab Sean with a flailing arm to jostle him to action. They all had the same destination in mind, the last place inside that was still safe: the exhibit wing. Jenny found herself tugging Sean on more than she would have guessed. He was stunned and hopefully not in shock. “Come on!” she yelled. As they ran, the other windows around the Great Room shattered, one by one, the tree gods making use of every possible entrance. With the amount of windows in sections of the exhibit wing Jenny only hoped they weren’t running toward their doom. She knew the first few rooms would be safe, but when they got to the exit for the Mystery Room, what would happen there? It had to be done. They had to get to the Mystery Room and the Raleigh dagger, and Luke and Sean had to do their part of the ritual. Jenny knew her part had already been played, whether it was the central piece of all the turmoil of just the first one to finish. The thought of Blake lunging at her

with the knife flashed in her head as she ducked into the exhibit wing behind Luke. The two of them yelled back at Sean as he hustled to join them. Once more they closed a set of doors in hoped of finding safety. Their cage was shrinking.

22

Jenny was in a state of sensory deprivation for a few moments. The first few sections of the exhibit wing offered no natural sort of light, and with the late hour and the overhead light being off she was plunged into total darkness. In a way, it wasn’t bad. Her ears picked up on every little thing and made granular analyses of individual sounds around her. Most important, there was nothing that involved bark or wood within the room. She filtered out the thumping of her heart in her chest, the most prominent noise. Next was the cacophony of sound outside, a mix of a monstrous wind storm and any army of lumberjacks attacking an old grove. The crashing of glass had subsided, likely due to the finite supply of exterior windows, but now there was little sound from the direction of the Great Room. It was curious but comforting. Once all the overpowering sounds were out of her ears, she listened in on the quieter stuff, the noises that had more immediate relevancy. On the left, Luke’s deep, controlled breathing, an athlete at a break in play. Calm did not describe it, as she could feel the intensity coming off him. It was invigorating, all that potential energy right beside her. On the other side, Sean, taking short, unsteady breaths, his aura conveying nothing but fear. “Sean,” she said softly, reaching out. He grabbed her hand, his grip expectedly light and shaky. Luke moved, first forward and then back. He grunted, then started feeling around the walls. “Switch is on the other wall,” Jenny said. When Blake and her had been in here earlier they had been initially met with the same darkness. “Sean, you have a light?” “Y- Yea,” he stuttered, fishing in his pocket and handing her his lighter. “Luke, hold on.” Jenny let go of Sean and started to gingerly feel her way across the room, arm outstretched. She remembered the general path, but flicked on the lighter for support. What it illuminated stopped her in her tracks. The closest thing to her was an information placard, but scratched into the sign was the word “CROATOAN”. Beyond it, carved into the wall, the same word. She looked into the diorama, which included a mock-up of a forest scene from the fifteen hundreds; etched into the fake tree trunk was an angular “CROATOAN”. As Jenny’s eyes darted from object to object observing the recent vandalism, Luke made it to the opposite wall and flipped the light switch. The room sprung to life and Jenny gasped. Every surface, from the glass barriers to the walls to the garments of the Native Americans further into the display, had been scrawled upon with the ancient message. It made Jenny’s head spin. “What the hell?” started Luke. “Just like at the Lost Colony,” said Jenny. “But who wrote this?” said Luke. The wind continues to batter the outside walls. “Brandon?” “I can’t imagine. Guys, I don’t think this was a cry for help or a clue like everyone thought,” Jenny said. “I think this is a warning.” “So you’re saying the trees –” Luke couldn’t finish his own sentence. It was too much to bear, too much supernatural to believe in. He had seen things with his own eyes, but vocalizing them was a step he was not yet willing to take. “So are we too late?” asked Sean. “I don’t know. I really don’t know. But we’ve got to try; we’ve got to make it to the Mystery Room.” “Okay, let’s get moving,” said Luke. He surprised even himself. Whether it was a sudden change of heart or just to appease her, Jenny didn’t know, but she was glad to have Luke at her side. He may not have accepted everything she had as reality, but he was certainly ready to take on whatever challenge presented itself. Confidently, Luke took the lead. The three made their way around the twists and turns of the first two rooms, each trying to avoid staring at the eerie scrawl surrounding them. In the third room, where the panoramas start to include white men, the sounds of the storm picked up. The next room

would feature the first interactions between the natives and the colonists, and also bear the exit to the courtyard and the Mystery Room. That was the goal, and the sounds of the outside, just recently a sound of fear and danger, excited Jenny, the rasp of the wind sounding like a building drum roll. Jenny made her way into the fourth room eagerly behind Luke. While he proceeded swiftly toward the illuminated exit door, a shimmering caught Jenny’s eye in the diorama. Most of the figures and objects were dull, matte wax or clay or wood, making the surfaces even under the intense display lights. One figure of a colonist, however, glinted. Jenny turned her focus to the figure and immediately noticed something was very off about it. The size, for one: She had always found it interesting how small Europeans from the sixteenth century had been, yet this model looked like a modern athlete. Suddenly it hit her that this was no wax figure at all. “Oh no!” she gasped. Luke and Sean turned. The simmering Jenny had seen was a red patch, still expanding, on the colonist’s shirt. Whereas earlier that night the colonist had been positioned next to an Indian and the two had been shaking hands, now the same Indian was driving a knife to the hilt into the colonist’s side. And the colonist was actually bleeding. More to her horror, she recognized the colonist. Although dressed in period correct clothing, the person standing there was unmistakably Brandon. “Oh, shit!” Luke said, running over to the display. He grabbed Brandon’s face and patted it. “Brandon?” Nothing helped. Jenny could tell from watching that the boy was dead. His body was completely stiff, like and of the other mock figures, but it was real. In vain Luke wrestled the knife out of Brandon’s side and pulled the body back, but its weight soon got the best of him and crashed to the ground. Luke knelt down next to Brandon as if to attempt to resuscitate him but stopped. He looked up to Jenny who simply shook her head. “So what do we do now?” asked Luke. “We still need to get to the dagger in the Mystery Room. It’s right out there in the middle of the courtyard,” Jenny said, pointing at the exit door. She wished she could see outside, but just the lack of breaking windows made her strangely comfortable with the plan. Luke nodded and stood up. “I’ll go check if it’s clear. You two be ready, okay?” He walked over to the door and pressed his face up to the glass. After a moment of cupping his hands over his eyes, he said, “I think we’re good.” Jenny turned to Sean. It should have felt like the homestretch, on last dash for the rom and everything would be over. No more trees or rituals or death. But deep down she was worried, and the look of fear on Sean’s face brought her own doubts to the front of her mind. This was all a hunch, this whole plan. The events of the night were so unbelievable she couldn’t fool herself into thinking she really knew what was going on. “Guys?” said Luke, turning to them. Immediately Jenny buried her doubt deep within. It was her plan, and she needed to inspire the others. After all, it was Sean and Luke that were taking the real risk. “Let’s go,” she said.

23

The temperature outside was hardly noticeable anymore to Jenny given the amount of adrenaline she had pumping through her veins, but the screaming and the force of the coastal gale stopped her in her tracks. Moving forward was actually difficult. She held her ground until the gust lulled and then she started off again behind Luke. It was only a few yards to the room but it felt like she was trekking across the tundra. It was difficult to see anything in the darkness, but Jenny kept her eyes wide. Not that she knew what to do if she did see something, but she would not want to be blindsided. Another few steps passed and the Mystery Room suddenly seemed like an attainable goal. Inside, they would still need to find the Raleigh dagger and the boys would still need to perform the ritual, but those things would take care of themselves. Jenny refused to acknowledge the sudden fear that Blake had taken the dagger with him and that this whole expedition was for naught. She did likewise, and even quicker, for the

notion that the blood-letting would do nothing to change their fate. Luke grabbed the door handle and turned back to Jenny and Sean with a smile on his face. It faded quickly. “Sean!” he cried. Jenny turned to see a branch swinging for Sean from the side of the sound. She took a step and dove in the way, completely blocking Sean from the assault. The branch hit her square in the chest with a thud, causing her to momentarily lose her breath. She gasped as she hit the ground. The blow was strange, in a way. It had been coming at an incredible speed, yet as it hit her it did not appear to have much force behind it, almost as if it had slowed down before impact. With that thought in her head, Jenny jumped up as fast as she could and positioned herself in front of Sean. The monster came into view, this one smaller than the others they had seen, not more than double the height of the boys. It looked incredibly humanoid, so while it may not have been as large, it was certainly more terrifying than the others. This time, instead of lunging an arm branch out, it simply stood, seeming to look at Sean and Jenny. “Jenny, what’s going on?” Sean asked. She answered by stepping back toward him and grabbing him with her right arm behind her. “It won’t attack me. Not on purpose, I don’t think.” She pushed him left, toward Luke and the Mystery Room, and sidestepped to keep in front of him. “They’ve got no fight with me.” “Jenny…” Luke said nervously. “I’ve got it,” she replied, glancing over to him. “No – look,” he said. He pointed behind her, toward the closed end of the courtyard’s ‘U’. There was a second tree creature standing there. Jenny calmly rotated herself around Sean.

“Luke,” she said, head turning from side to side to keep an eye on both creatures, “Go inside and find the dagger. We’ll be in after you.”

Luke did not need to be told twice and immediately ducked inside. Jenny started backpedaling, moving Sean quicker.

“Just go,” she said. Sean obliged, turning and quickly taking the last few steps into the room. Jenny was now alone with the two trees. Her heart was racing but she kept her breathing low

and steady. She was nervous about the situation, but was not worried about herself; she knew the Croatoan would not hurt her. They were the gods of her ancestors, and they were there to protect the land. Now she just had to make sure Sean and Luke held up their end of the bargain, assuming it was still on the table.

Jenny took one last look at the creatures, hoping it would be for the last time, and stepped through the doorway to the Mystery Room.

The boys were rummaging through shelves. She had hoped they would have at least found the dagger by this point, if not already be done.

“It’s not in the case?” she asked, instantly realizing that was not helpful. The glass case on the other side of the room where Blake had pulled the dagger from had had the top shattered. In the same glimpse, Jenny noticed the surfaces in this room were likewise covered in etchings of the word “CROATOAN”, only this time it seemed more urgent and more angry. Neither boy looked up. They continued their search, frantically throwing objects out from display cases with abandon.

“Are you sure Blake doesn’t still have it?” asked Luke. “Yes,” Jenny hoped out loud. She looked behind her, but could not make out anything beyond

the windows. The screaming wind, that was all, and a constant rustling of branches. It seemed like they had time.

Jenny thought back to her confrontation with Blake. He had been holding the dagger when he attacked her, when she had been standing in much the same place as she was now. After he lunged, she had shoved him backward, sending him across the room to the left of the Croatoan board display in the center. It was possible he lost the dagger in that direction.

Jenny jogged for the other side of the room. There was a large bookcase close to the wall and a trash can beside it. In the small gap between the two, Jenny saw the dull wooden handle of the Raleigh dagger, barely protruding from the shadows.

“Got it!” she cried as she bent down and picked up the dagger. Both of the boys stopped and turned. All three could hear the sounds of branches scratching on

the wood walls of the room. It was coming from all sides at once. Luke was closest to her, so Jenny handed him the knife. “Here,” she said. He hesitated with the knife in his right hand. The wind was ripping outside and the branches

were thrashing the exterior walls. Jenny could hear wood snapping as she watched Luke, his confidence completely lost, put the tip of the blade to his palm. He looked up at her.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Luke!” both Sean and Jenny screamed. “Okay,” he said, loudly but still barely audible over the storm’s crescendo. He took a deep

breath and closed his eyes, then tilted the dagger almost perpendicular to his palm. Before he could complete the motion his arms flung wide and his back arched. A horrible noise

erupted from him as a slick, slim branch burst out from his chest and anchored itself in the wall on the other side of the room.

“Luke!” Jenny screamed again, this time in shock. His body went limp and the dagger fell from his grip. Jenny started toward him but quickly

stopped and changed course. Her heart wanted to embrace him, comfort him, attempt to save him from his fate. She wanted to think it was a wound she could heal, but she knew none of it was the case. At the start of the night she had been a normal teenager dealing with normal teenager issues, but now that was all out the window. This was real and dangerous and very serious.

She knew the only thing she could do now was try to save Sean from the same fate. She dropped down and grabbed the dagger from the floor, than ran across the room to Sean. He was frozen, a look of terror on his face, his mouth moving just slightly. Jenny grabbed him around the shoulder, pressing her chest into his back so that she protected him and could still see in front of them. The branch that ha pierced Luke quickly withdrew, letting his body crumple to the ground. The window behind him shattered and one of the Croatoan stepped inside, ducking its large tree-trunk body through.

Jenny did not want to see what happened next. “Hand!” she yelled, grabbing Sean’s left wrist from behind. She took the dagger in front of his

body and drew it across him open palm. There was nothing at first, but then a small stream of blood came forth from the wound. A droplet built itself out of nothing, one large bead of Sean’s essence making its way to the edge of his hand. Jenny saw all this and also saw the Croatoan before them rearing up to strike. She wrung Sean’s wrist, shaking his hand violently. The bead of blood released from his hand and fell down to the earth, kicking up a small cloud as it struck the dirt.

One last crash of wind sang out, and then the gale quieted. The branches stopped their racket and the air calmed in the room. The Croatoan relaxed itself. It seemed content, fulfilled. Jenny wasn’t sure how, but she knew. It grew rigid and its limbs raised up like normal tree branches. What had looked like a body and even a face smoothed and flowed into nothing but a tree trunk. Almost without her realizing, it was just a normal tree again, rooted in the ground of the Mystery Room. On any other night Jenny would have questioned what she had just seen, but tonight she accepted the spectacle. She let Sean go, then stepped back against the wall and let herself slide down, finally able to relax.

Sean stumbled, then caught himself and followed Jenny’s lead and made his way to the ground. He squeezed his fist then opened it, letting another rush of blood out into the dirt. In rhythm their chests rose and fall, slower, and slower, calm setting in. The world was still. Then, as if emerging from a long slumber, the first ray of light shone into the room, the first ray of the morning, the first ray of spring. They had made it through the deepest depths of the winter.