CHAPTER 2

I walked this path once more as I had done a million times before on similar days like this. However, this time it had to work. The timing was exact, the weather was exact, and the day was exact. Everything had aligned absolutely perfectly, and I knew that because I had made sure of it before I had even left my parent’s house this morning.

Every detail was crucial to my cause.

I had tried everything else over the last 10 years, and this... this was my last hope.

Pulling my brown fleece jacket closer around myself, I desperately tried to ignore the coldness seeping into my bones despite the thick coat I had on. I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from doing this today, even if it meant the shivering and the teeth clattering painfully.

The well-worn cobblestone walkway twisted and wound around the green grass that highlighted the red and yellow leaves hanging from every tree and bush that lined both sides. Autumn had come in a vibrate flash of rainy days and colors. Normally, I would be in heaven walking along such a picturesque path. But today my mind was on my brother and not the beauty I was surrounded by.

I strained my eyes to see past the bright foliage to the dirt path I knew would take me to The Archway. Okay, so it wasn't truly much of an archway. It was more of an opening between two trees, yet it was still what the people used to refer to it as The Great Oak Archway. It was always spoken of by the older people in reverent whispers. Ones that I never paid attention to growing up. What child listens to old wives' tales, anyway?

At least, that's how I had thought of the stories until my brother went missing.

10 years ago, to the day, my brother went for his morning jog around the park and never came back. Nothing was ever found of him. No clothing, no shoes, no body. Nothing. The only clue the police had to go on was his footprints that were found on the dirt trail until they disappeared at The Archway. They suspected foul play, except there had been no witnesses and no other clues left to follow.

That was the day that I began believing in those far-fetched tales.

My parents had been devastated and had too easily, at least in my eyes, given up hope.

Me, on the other hand, I delved deep into the history of our town, knowing that the answer had to be there. When I found the lore about the Great Oak Archway, I knew without a doubt that my brother had found the portal from the stories of the Old Ones.

Every day for a year, I tried coming out to this very spot and walking through the opening; and every day for a year, there was nothing. I spent the next year researching different rituals, spells, incantations, legends, anything that would give me a hint as to how to open the stupid thing.

Nothing worked.

When my parents found out what I was doing, they flipped out and forced me to stop. Once I graduated and went off to college, I made mythology and folklore of the paranormal my focus. Much to their dismay, instead of studying a "decent career path", I delve even further into the occult, supernatural, and the paranormal. Hell, I even took several courses on aliens and UFOs just to cover all my bases.

When I graduated with honors and a Master’s degree in paranormal research, my parents reluctantly showed up at the ceremony only to a congratulated with sad, disappointed looks on their faces.

Still, I didn't care.

I was going to find my brother no matter what happened.

My first order of business was to delve into the history of the place. All the way back as far as the Native American tribe that used to roam these lands. Much to my surprise, the Archway had been a part of their stories as well. They spoke of it in hushed tones as a place where their ancestors would greet the travelers from the stars.

That was one of the things that intrigued me so much about their fables. That's why I knew I had to be on the right path.

It became even more clear when I stumbled upon an incredibly old news article about several disappearances that had been happening over the years at this exact spot.

In the last fifty years, at least four people, including my own brother, have disappeared in this exact area.

Before that, the superstition and folklore about the area had stopped many people from venturing into the woods. Especially after their own spattering disappearance around the time that the valley was first settled. If there were any missing from the Native American tribes that had once roamed the area, they either didn’t blame the Archway, or they celebrated them.

However, this was enough to go on. I looked deep into the disappearances and found so many amazing similarities that I was able to recreate the circumstances. I knew deep in my soul that this had to work.

I had everything perfect, everything exactly right, everything, down to the number of grasshoppers there were in the woods that year. Everything was precisely the same.

As I walked up to The Archway the wind picked up slightly. I was smart enough to see that this was a sign that I was on the right path. Yet, the twisting in my gut told me the wind was trying to warn me away from the portal.

Stubborn and undeterred, I continued forward, not allowing anything to stop me when I was so close. Out of nowhere, a thick cloud of fog grew and streamed through the trees until I could hardly see my hand in front of my face.

“I know what you are,” I said out loud to the fog. “I know what you are hiding, and you cannot stop me.”

Keeping my eyes on the ground, I pushed ahead pointedly ignoring the blatant warnings to leave. There was a voice on the wind screaming at me to get out now before it was too late. I had come this far, and I was not about to let anything else stand in my way I told the voice silently.