Later that night, I went to bed with a heavy heart, dreading the next day. Over the past weeks, I had come to enjoy waiting for five, and now, there would be nothing. However, it was a small price to remain safe. Never again would I be so stupid. I fell asleep, and gladly slept in the next day, not waking up until around one in the afternoon. I decided to get up and after fixing myself breakfast, decided to go watch TV, while pondering how I was gonna spend the latter half of my day now. Would I continue to run...? I couldn't deny it didn't feel good, and it was a good way to remain in shape. As I flicked through the channels, I thought back on the events of yesterday. Sam and Alex were my best friends, and had helped me determine for myself that the girl I had thought I had known definitely had a few skeletons in her closet. Yet the hurt look in her eyes...

I closed my own eyes, remembering her face. She had really meant what she was saying...or maybe that was just my bias towards her. I shouldn't think too much on her; she's no longer a part of my life now. However, I instinctively turn off the TV, and seemingly get up, walking towards the door. What am I doing...? I thought to myself. I checked the clock. "oh..." I mumbled aloud. It was almost five. By force of habit, I usually waited on my porch for her. Out of curiosity, I went with my whim, opening the door and standing outside, observing the road.

I checked my wrist watch. Five P.M. However, I did not see the girl. I frowned, looking left and right. Did she decide to no longer go down this way? I had no idea if she had multiple routes or not. Given those pictures, I assumed she went down several different paths. Maybe because I, her target, had discovered her intent, ruined the value of going down this way. Maybe she had found someone else. I did not know, nor did I care. However, looking down the road, I remembered the dreadful feeling of that road.

It was unearthly, unnatural. With the threat of that girl gone, maybe I could safely tackle the road. Determined, I slowly did my stretches, my eyes set on the path ahead. This road....I won't let you conquer me. I had always gone down this road before on grocery trips every so often, and it had never given me troubles. So why now? I began jogging forward, easing into my usual run. It felt strangely hollow running without her beside me. I realized then, that I felt even more unease than I had when I was with her.

It was as if her presence provided a comfort that allowed me to push farther. I looked to the side as I ran past Samantha's house, and then forward once more, eyeing the curve ahead. I ran forward, determined to see just for myself what this road had to offer. I moved around the corner, and found myself staring down the long stretch of road that led out of my neighborhood. As I began to move down the road, I felt the terrible feeling before.

But it was so much stronger. A deathly feeling overcame me, and my entire body seemed to vibrate internally. This was wrong. I should not be here. As I ran forward, I pushed forward, singlehandedly driving myself against the impenetrable wall. The unease grew into a mighty terror. I gasped, falling on my knees and struggling to catch my breath, an overwhelming fatigue consuming me. I realized then, that I had broken into a cold sweat. As I looked forward, the road seemed far darker, the world ahead dull in color and inviting an unfathomable horror. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. I could hear nothing but the beating of my own heart, which was unnaturally fast.

What the hell? This wasn't even half the distance I had ran with the girl. Why was it impossible for me to advance now? My thoughts were interrupted by the crackling of loose rocks, a car pulling up beside me. "Yo, you ok Smith?" The voice was familiar. I looked up and into the eyes of the kind gentleman. "What? Oh...uh, yeah. Fine." I replied, trying to play things off. "I just tired myself out...." I stood up, smiling awkwardly. The gentleman studied me with suspicious eyes. "Hm, alright..."

"Hey, why are you leaving? I thought you didn't work this late...." The man laughed softly. "Perceptive as ever, I see. Something came up. I gotta cover someone's shift. If I don't, the office will get swamped and then my paperwork increases tenfold...." I nodded, looking down towards the road. "Say...do you feel unnerved going down here...?" I asked. The gentleman frowned, tilting his head. "...No. Are you alright?" I smiled awkwardly. "No, it's nothing." The man slowly nodded. "You shouldn't go much farther. I don't know the details, but apparently the neighborhood next to ours isn't so nice. Lot of bad kids there. I don't want to see a kid like you be influenced by gangs or something..." I couldn't help but smile at his concern. "Yeah, I was thinking of heading back. See you around..." The man smiled back, then focused on the road ahead and began driving forward, seemingly with no issue.

I looked forward, and the road itself seemed serene, no longer as dark and forbidding as it once had. I also realized then that one, it was significantly darker than it had been when I had first come down this road, and two, I no longer had a desire to go down the road. ...is it a reaction thing? IN every instance, the terrible feeling overcame me when I tried to go down this road. But the moment I stopped thinking about it or even turned back, it withdraw almost instantly. I turned around, realizing then that there was no way in hell this was normal. There was no scientific explanation for this.

The only answer then, for me, to draw upon was that this was a supernatural occurrence. Either that, or something else. Something outside the realm of science. With this revelation, I also realized that perhaps the girl herself, too, was not of this world. The end of this road had a secret, a secret I had to know. And the girl had offered herself to me, a key, to unlock that secret. I put two and two together.

Without her, I would never make it to the end of this path. I would never find out the dark truth that chilled my heart whenever I thought about it. After a hard run back to my house, I came to the conclusion that I had to apologize to the girl. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe something else made these people disappear. Maybe the secret she was hiding had nothing to do with the people. Feeling thirsty, I made my way to the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out the pitcher that had ice tea in it. As I set it down, my eye was drawn to the telephone embedded in the wall, as well as a slip of paper on the counter beside it. I picked it up, staring at the number which I did not recognize.

Oh right. It was her number. I realized then that I had a means to my end. Picking up the phone, I punched in the number and waited. Almost immediately, there was a click as the phone was hung up. I tried again. Same result. A third time, and this time I got an answer. "What do you want, Smith?" I winced. One, I had not expected her to pick up so soon. Two, I had no idea how she knew it was my name. There was no way to tell who was calling, not with the phones currently available. My best guess was she assumed that I'd probably call soon to apologize. "Look, I wanted to say sorry. I made a bad call, but there's something-"

"Let me guess, you went down the road, didn't you?" I flinched. "H-how did you know?"

"Curiosity killed the cat. You're not the first, Smith. And you certainly won't be the last."

"What the hell is with that road?" I asked her. "Do you even deserve to know? You were awfully quick to turn on me. Since my word has such little value to you, why would you even listen to me?" I flinched at the scathing remark. "...yeah, I get it. I was an asshole to you. But I mean..it's been weeks, and I don't even-"

"Esther. My name is Esther." I fell silent, my mouth hanging open at how readily she supplied her name. "A-are you serious?"

"Yes, although after that debacle, you certainly don't deserve it." She was right, of course. "Look, I know I'm not getting past that road without you. I don't know why its stopping me, but you're the key to all this. Alex and Sam seem awfully keen on keeping you away from me, and that's kind of suspicious..."

"....why the hell are you so perceptive? You're the first one who's come to that conclusion so quickly."

"I assume I"m right?"

"...yes. You're friends...aren't really your friends. The world itself is...I'll tell you later. I'll come over tomorrow, and then I'll tell you everything when I get there. And then...we can leave this behind. All of it."

I had no idea what she was talking about. Leave this behind? What? I opened my mouth to speak, there was only a long tone. She had hung up. I placed the phone back, and sighed. So her name was Esther...I'll be. It was an archaic name, as far as I know. It was a name belonging to a different era, one long past. Coincidentally, I figured that maybe this was a good thing. Now that I knew her name, I finally felt closer to her than before, which was a good thing. Thinking back on it, I realize I may have jumped the gun.

But honestly, what else was I supposed to do? Just believe some girl who wouldn't even tell me her name over my two, life long friends? It was pretty late...I decided to hit the hay for the night.