A White Van
The afternoon was cold, and at such an early hour the sky was growing dark. Paige walked along the road out of school, later than everyone else. She had had a meeting with the teacher but he had mysteriously ‘forgotten’ what it was about! Weird!
The little lane was lonely and isolated and Paige shivered but not particularly for the cold. The quiet lane was spooky when it was empty, and the leaves rustled loudly in the wind.
She hated to walk home alone but as she had had a ‘talk’ with the teacher, her friend had left without her. A twig cracked behind her and she jumped, startled. Always jumpy, she was. Quickly forgetting about her fright, she began to walk faster, the cold affecting her.
Beginning to fret, she walked even faster, nearly jogging. Her Gran would be worried; she hated it when Paige was late. She was always very protective over Paige; Paige saw it as over protective.
Finally she reached the main road, relieved to leave the spooky road, and then shuddering slightly she remembered the next part of the journey. A walk through a small wood. Paige was a wimp really in her heart but she was determined not to show it, her thoughts drifted to an incident which proved that fact…
1 month ago
It was a mild winter day, slightly chilly but not freezing. Paige was walking home with a few friends, Alisa, Phoebe and Aneliese when they approached the shortcut through the wood. They all stooped and gazed into the depths of the small wood. Phoebe started to say she didn’t want to go through it and privately Paige agreed, the wood was not the nicest place in the world, spooky really. Alisa always liked to play dares and predictably she set a dare, ‘I dare someone to walk through the woods alone!’ she said with a fiendish glee.
‘Of course, Alisa would never complete the dare herself!’ Paige thought silently to herself.
Phoebe obviously refused immediately and Alisa made her excuses as always. Aneliese said she would do it but talked herself out of it before she even a neared the wood. So, it was left to Paige.
Looking into the wood, it seemed a whole lot scarier now she was going in it. The wood frightened her to the core but she really wanted to make herself look good.
‘Shallow, really.’ Paige thought.
She nearly bottled out but the determination to reach her goal won over all fears. But even determination needs courage. Paige showed the courage and determination she had to her three best friends and without another word marched into the wood.
The wood itself was deeply scary to the newly turned 10-year-old. To her the trees looked like wizened old men and she thought all old men were frightening, no matter how many loving tales her friends told her about their grandfathers. Though only early afternoon, the wood was dark due to the heavy canopy the leaves created and the dark, spooky shadows she saw provided her imagination with ammunition. Vivid mental pictures came into her mind, and she saw atrocities that could have been committed here. Breaking into a run, she reached the other edge of the wood quickly before her friends reached it. Gasping for breath she congratulated herself on her strong determination to reach her goal.
* * *
Her mind returning to her present situation, she realised she had reached the edge of the wood. A nondescript white van was parked outside the wood and Paige looked at it. A memory came to mind, a younger Gran shouting at the driver of a white van, a white van parked outside their house. She was shooing a toddler version of herself into the house. This white van looked identical to that van that day but her memory couldn’t be trusted from that long ago and honestly don’t all white vans look the same?
Curiosity overcame her and she peered into the passenger seat window. The van was empty. Losing interest quickly she turned around disappointedly. A loud crack sounded behind her as she walked onwards. Scaring her she ran into the wood, the fear of the noise surpassing the fear of the wood itself.
Slowing suddenly, Paige scolded herself for freaking out like that.
‘Someone probably dropped something heavy!’ she thought to herself.
Continuing her walk, she began to enjoy the trees. Losing herself in the beauty she didn’t notice a man approaching her until it was too late…
Slamming Paige against a big oak tree, the man glared at her menacingly. He had short bristly hair and his gorilla like arms held her firmly against the tree. Starting to cry out, Paige was kicked in the shins. The man started to grunt out a sentence,
‘Tell Ellen, she had better come around or we’ll be paying the girl another visit’ the sentence had clearly been memorized and Paige started at her Gran’s name. Obviously not caring for her health he knocked Paige out, leaving her lying on the forest floor.
* * *
‘Come on Paige! Wake up, please!’ a voice called through the black. Blinking furiously, the world started to form around her. Paige began to make out trees and a friendly face looking at her concernedly. Sighing with relief, Ellen smiled at Paige. Beginning to sit up, a massive headache hit Paige like a tidal wave and she grimaced. A worried look crept on Ellen’s face and she began to question Paige,
‘Paige, what happened here? Are you hurt? How’s your head? ‘The questions came like bullets in her head.
Clutching her head, she started the story. About how the man with gorilla arms had attacked and left her with a message and how he had knocked her out and left her on the forest floor. Ellen’s face was a picture of horror and she looked very upset. Then, she asked for the message.
Paige with a 10-year-old innocence, gave her the message and Ellen’s mouth tightened. Before Paige could ask about it, she was being led by the hand home, bewildered and quite scared.
When they reached the house Ellen sat Paige down on the chair and sat opposite.
‘It time I told you about who you really are.’
A/n - Thanks to my friend Kate for helping me with the names of Paige’s friends.