Chapter 141 - Ghosts Of Willow Creek

Before Julie knew it, the bridge in front of her disappeared, and her mouth was left hung open. "Where did the bridge go?!" she muttered under her breath, and she quickly tried to look for it by walking straight ahead of her. But the more steps she took, she was greeted with nothing but more trees. 

"You must be kidding me," said Julie, turning behind her, where there was still thick fog, and soon the fog started to wrap around her. "Rome!" She called Roman's name, but the only response she received was the echo of her voice. "Crap." 

What was she going to do now? 

Julie was sure she had been standing right next to Roman and hadn't moved too much to end up on the other side of the bridge subconsciously. Her eyebrows furrowed deeply, and she looked around her before deciding to move to a spot filled with less mist. 

She started to walk from there, and when the density of the fog appeared to be lesser, she noticed a board that hung not too far from where she stood. 

Though she had been curious to find out the truth and see what truly lay in Willow Creek, this was not how she had expected it to go. 

Willow Creek was a ghost town. Because it had been cursed for so many years and continued to stay cursed for the people who once used to live there, and no one from the other side was able to find it. 

"Okay, let me think," thought Julie to herself. There should be a way to get out of here, right? But what if there was no way out? She doubted herself. Even though Julie came from the same lineage as the great witch, who had cursed this place, she doubted she had the powers to stable the bridge that appeared only when it wanted to and disappeared. 

Her stomach growled, and she placed her hand on her stomach. She was not only lost, but she was also hungry. 

She wondered if there were any trees that she could pluck fruits from to eat. She brought her hand forward, hoping it could create some kind of time loop where she could go back in time, but even Julie knew that it was nothing but wishful thinking of hers. 

After walking around the forest aimlessly without stepping inside the town, Julie finally noticed a tree with berries hanging in one of its branches. After jumping with her hand raised, she sighed and wondered if it was time to climb the tree. God only knew how long she would be stuck in here, and she could feel a light headache approaching her because she had been starving since she woke up. 

Looking at the bark of the tree, which looked sharp, Julie pulled the sweater that she wore to cover the palms of her hands before she tried to climb the tree. Desperate time calls for desperate actions, she told herself. 

Her leg hit a stone where the dried leaves had come to settle around. After two more tries, she finally climbed the tree, and her hand reached for the berries on the branches. 

Julie stretched her hand, which flailed to reach towards the berries, while she tried to hang near the bark so that she wouldn't end up slipping and falling on the ground. But she had failed to notice the thorns, and just as when she went to grab the berries, which was closer to her reach, she ended up grabbing the thorns that dug deep into the palm of her hand, and she cried in pain.

"AH!" her eyes squinted, and she took a deep breath while internally cursing herself. 

She tried to pull her hand away, but she had wrapped her hand tightly in an attempt to grab the berries. She slowly uncoiled her fingers, and while doing so, drops of blood fell on the ground. 

She finally pulled the berries from its place and slowly slid down from the tree before jumping on the ground. 

Bringing her hand in front of her, Julie tried to look at her palm, which looked like it had holes and the wound was fresh. She looked around the place, wondering if she could find a stream of water or perhaps a river so that she could wash her hands and drink water. 

After entering Veteris, Julie had tried to understand how people could have coped with living in the past without any technology or immediate access to things. Julie kept walking until she found a stream of water. She washed her hands and felt a slight pain from the wound before she wiped her hands on her sweater, which left red spots on it. 

While she had knelt, her ears picked up on something, a similar whispering as if someone was speaking a secret and no one was supposed to know about it. She suddenly turned her head to the side, as if someone was whispering in her ear, but she was all alone there. 

Even though it had been morning in Veteris, where the atmosphere was warm and pleasant, this place here though… it was gloomy. The sky was filled heavily with dark clouds, making it appear as if it would rain anytime soon. But there was no thunder, nor was there any lightning. The only thing she could feel was the mist and the air that gently blew across where she was. 

Standing up, Julie tried to find an exit one more time by going back to the same place she came from, but the bridge was nowhere to be found. 

It was obvious that she was going to be stuck here for a while, and she turned back to look in the direction of the path that led inside the town. Somewhere she was scared that she would end up meeting ghosts of people whose souls probably didn't leave. Why else would she be hearing all those whisperings?

Her hand clenched, and when she clenched it tighter, the wound that she had received from the injury made her wince, and she loosened her hands. 

Julie started to walk, walking past the board that hung, softly creaking before the gentle breeze shook it. 

She had to push through the branches and the bushes that seemed to have grown without any care, obstructing her path. When she finally stepped into the town, her face turned pale, and it wasn't because she saw ghosts in here. Her brown eyes slowly moved from left to right, taking in the scene, and she softly gulped. 

It was as if Willow Creek was celebrating its own Hallow day, where she caught sight of people, standing there frozen, or sitting on the ground, some leaning, and some as if frozen in their movement. And they were all skeletons, with no flesh as if dried and withered in time. 

She wondered what kind of curse had been put in here. It didn't look like people had died because of some plague or famine. It looked like their time had stopped. The town, though having many skeletons around, felt deserted and quiet. 

Julie walked around, looking at the skeletons, and while she was doing that, she caught sight of a few skeletons that were loosely either tied to the burnt wooden post or had fallen on the ground. There was one skeleton that was on the ground and in front of the gallows. As if the person was on his or her knees, with their forehead touching the ground. 

Her gaze moved up from the person on the ground to look up at the gallows, where she noticed a small wooden platform, on which skeletons laid with the heads that were severed and laid next to the bodies. 

Julie pursed her lips, staring at the skeletons for a while. She remembered Roman mentioning what happened here, the curse of Willow Creek placed by the witch. 

As if a sudden strong wind blew across the town of Willow Creek, Julie brought her hand towards her face to stop her hair from coming to fall all over her face. She heard something creaking, and her eyes fell on the skull at the edge, which fell right on the ground. 

Snow started to fall from the sky, and Julie looked up, watching the snowflakes make their way, moving gently in the direction of the wind. She pulled the black sweater that she had worn closer to her body while fog escaped from her lips. 

When the town of Willow Creek had been mentioned to her, she had believed that it would be empty and dry, with not a soul, and the sight right now made her remember a movie which she had not dared to watch again. 

She stepped away from the gallows, walking backwards before she heard the croaking of a bird, and she looked in the direction of a black bird. A raven. She walked towards it, wondering if it was a Corvin, she spoke, 

"Do you know how I can get out of here?"

The bird stopped croaking, but it didn't speak to her, nor did it move from its place. It stared blankly at her, tilting its head and Julie wondered if it was just a regular bird. She felt like pulling her hair because she wasn't sure how to open the portal to the other side of Willow Creek. 

While Julie was trying to figure out what to do, back in the place where she had earlier climbed on the tree and hurt herself, something or someone moved. The stone with the dried leaves on it, which she had earlier stepped on, slightly moved. 

The wound Julie had received earlier had spilt the blood on the vampire and the fresh scent of blood woke the vampire.