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Alex watched as the flat stone he had thrown skipped across the lake that he stood in front of. A shiver ran down his spine as the October air surrounded him in a cool breeze, just like it had been doing every few moments since he walked outside from the school.
He leaned down and grabbed another smooth stone on the shore he stood on, ignoring the chill that he could feel coming from the water. Without missing a beat, he quickly skipped the stone across the water just like he had done with the other, watching as it skipped three different times before finally sinking.
A frown pulled at his lips as he picked up another stone and watched it skip on the water, just like he had done so many times before. He did this again and again, watching as the rocks skipped and sunk until there was a small area that he had cleared thanks to what he was doing.
For a moment he looked at the cleared area before moving to sit down in it and cross his legs. As he sat down, he picked up a twig that was next to him in the dirt, like sand that was around him. With the twig in hand, he began to drag it through the dirt, making cuts and lines through it as he did.
Alex knew that today was Halloween, which is why he was trying to clear his head near the lake so far away from his school. Alex just wanted to forget that today was Halloween and luckily his school treated it like any other day that couldn’t be said for some of the other students though. It’s not that there was a celebration going on at his boarding school and it wasn’t that he didn’t like Halloween it was the fact that knowing what today was left an unpleasant taste in his mouth and a sore spot in his heart.
The reason for this is that this was the first Halloween that he would spend away from his family, and it was the first Halloween that he wouldn’t get to complete the Halloween tradition that his mother and he had made when he was young.
Halloween had always been his mother’s holiday and his holiday a day where they would the entire time together eating Halloween candy and Halloween-themed sweets while watching horror movies, both old and new. They would mostly watch black and white horror movies since those were his mother’s favorites, and because of this Alex had grown to love them as well. They tried to get Alex’s sisters and father to join them, but Halloween was as important to them as it was to Alex and his Mom.
The frown on his lips tugged downward even more as he dragged the stick through the dirt once more, running over the other lines he had made. Alex knew he wasn’t supposed to be this close to the lake without a teacher with him, but he honestly didn’t know what to do with himself. He missed his family, and he had been missing them since he started at his new school, but at this moment the homesickness he felt only seemed to be worse.
Alex made another line in the dirt, breathing in the October air that made the homesickness he was feeling even worse. He felt a slight sting in his eyes as he a few tears started to well up in them. He quickly brought the hand that wasn’t holding the twig up to his eyes to wipe them away. It jolted his glasses slightly as he wiped the few tears away, but he didn’t really mind.
As he sat there staring at the ground trying hard not to sniffle as he let a few tears slid down his face, he felt another sharp sting but this wasn’t from the tears in his eyes.
Alex winced as a pulse went through his head, almost like how he would imagine static to feel like. He winced as the feeling of his mind buzzing got stronger causing him to drop the twig that he had in his hand.
He looked up from the dirt trying to figure out what had caused the sudden static to appear in his mind and then the sudden feeling of fear washed over him. Alex felt like he couldn't breathe as he looked around the feeling of eyes on him causing a chill to go up his spine.
The static only seemed to get more intense as he looked forward to the other side of the lake. His eyes widened as he saw a flash of white the same kind of white he had seen earlier that month in class. As he kept his eyes forward he heard movement that he hadn't heard before as if whoever was watching him had been there for a while and was just now letting Alex know they were there.
Alex didn't take his eyes off of the spot as he reached around with his now empty hand trying to find another rock in case he needed to defend himself. He knew that sound silly that there was no way that whoever or whatever was on the other side of the lake could get to him since the lake was so huge but something in Alex told him that wasn't the case.
Another rustling sound filled the silence across from him and Alex felt stupid for just now noticing how silent the world had gotten. Alex's hand closed around a stone just like the ones he had been skipping before, he knew it wasn't a good weapon but anything at the moment that he could use to defend himself was good enough for him.
He kept his eyes on the tree line across from him and just like before he saw another flash of white and his head filled with the loud pulse of static. Alex felt his nails sink into the stone as he waited for something to happen as he waited for something to shoot out across the water and attack him.
“Mr. Van Helsing, you know you're not supposed to be near the lake by yourself," An older man's voice said from behind him causing Alex to jump and release the rock letting it slip from his hand and hit the ground beneath him. Alex quickly moved to see what was behind him ready to shove himself up from the ground to run.
As he turned to face the season person who had stuck up on him Alex relaxed at seeing who it was knowing that he wasn't in any real danger. Now he might be in for detention for being so close to the lake without an adult but that didn't bother him any.
“Mr. Sangster!” Alex breathed out with a sigh upon seeing his literature teacher standing behind him with a few grocery bags in one hand showing Alex that he had just gotten back from town. Alex quickly pushed himself up off the ground to look at his teacher who was just now realizing how relieved Alex was upon seeing it was him.
“I’m sorry I Didn't mean to startle you,” Mr. Sangster said as he looked at his student who was busy dusting the dirt and sand off of his clothes. "I thought you heard me coming," He said honestly looking over the young man who for some reason kept looking behind him at the other side of the lake.
“It's okay," Alex said as he looked up at his teacher who was even taller than him now that he was standing on the lower ground of the shoreline. "I was so lost in my own world anyone could have snuck up on me not to mention scared me," He explained as he wiped his hands off on the legs of his jeans. As he looked at his teacher he noticed a flash of something in his eyes something that seemed like worry and an emotion Alex couldn't place fast enough since the look was suddenly gone.
Alex watched his teacher for a second noting how the man kept looking in the direction that Alex had been looking at only a few seconds ago before Sangster had surprised him.
“Well, it's Halloween," Mr. Sangster said after a few seconds of silence turning his gaze back to Alex who was staring up at him. "I guess everybody's entitled to a good scare,” He said with a slight laugh making Alex calm down slightly as he nodded his head in agreement with his teacher's statement.
“Yeah," Alex said with a slightly nervous laugh as he moved towards his the small hill that led back to the higher ground. "I guess you’re right,” He said with a nod of his head as he went to walk up the small slope.
"You still shouldn't be near the lake by yourself though," Sangster scolded him as Alex walked up towards him with a slight disapproving look in his eyes. "It's deeper than you think and we wouldn't want anything to happen to you kids," He explained to his student who was finally down walking up the tiny slope. Upon seeing Alex closer Sangster felt a little bit of guilt at seeing the young man who he could now tell had been crying but Sangster didn't know from what.
"Sorry, sir," Alex said with a shrug not really knowing what else to say as he watched his teacher nod at his words.
"It's okay and I won't tell the headmaster if you're worried about that," Sangster told him as he reached out and gave Alex's shoulder a slight squeeze of comfort wondering if it would help the young man in any way. "Just don't go near the lake or into the woods unless you have someone with you," He explained letting his eyes drift back to the area where he and Alex had both been looking. "There's no telling what's out there," He said his voice slightly darker and slightly sterner than before making Alex look at him in wonder.
"Yes, sir, I won't do it again," Alex said with a nod as he watched Sangster honestly wondering what his teacher was talking about.
"Good," Sangster said with a nod before holding out his arm towards Alex and motion him towards the school. "Now let's head back inside," He said and Alex nodded his head before he walked towards his teacher and towards the school.
As they walked back towards the school the only sounds were their feet crunching against fallen leaves and the sound of Sangster's groceries lightly tapping against one another.
Alex couldn't help but take note of how Sangster had talked about the woods as if there was some kind of monster in them but Alex knew that couldn't be right since monsters weren't real and they never would be.
That thought process didn't stop Alex from thinking about what Sangster had said and it stop the plan that was forming in his mind to go out into the woods at night.