‘Fancy some company’ said Rebecca, she was stood there with Ivy and Samuel, they had only come from next door but they looked soaked, Eileen was pleased to see them and to have some company instead of fretting about her husband on her own, she ushered them in, Samuel went into the living room to join Nathan, he seemed pleased to see him, Eileen grabbed the wine and held it up for Rebecca to see, she smiled and nodded in agreement, Lily and Ivy went upstairs to Lily’s bedroom, they sat on the bed, Lily came straight to the point,

‘My dad’s gone out to see what happens during the storm, he’s trying to find a way out’ she said in a disapproving manner,

Ivy’s eyes widened ‘it’s dangerous out there in the storm’

‘I know’ said Lily that’s why I’m sneaking out to see where he is, do you fancy it?’ she asked Ivy

‘You bet’ answered Ivy without giving it a moment’s thought’

‘It could be dangerous’ Lily told her,

Again without a moment’s thought Ivy answered,

‘Can’t be worse then what I’ve got coming for me’ and Lily thought she was probably right,

They grabbed some coats out of Lily’s wardrobe, 10 minutes later, with the two boys playing games in the living room and the two mothers sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of red, Lily and Ivy found themselves out on the streets in the pouring rain, fearless and determined.

The two men chained to the fence could feel the wind picking up and the trees shaking as if they were going to up root themselves, the two men glanced at each other and embraced themselves, hoping beyond hope they would find some sort of answer to the fate of Underwood, then they saw something that they never thought they would see, the landscape around Underwood, the landscape that consisted of only trees began to move, slowly at first, it reminded them of a merry go round, they were stood in the middle as the apparatus spun, but they weren’t in the middle, they were close to the edge, they just hoped the chains would keep them there.

The chains were around their waist and were strong and sturdy, but both Tony and Peter could feel the force behind them, as the storm tried to push them into the tree’s, the chains were digging into them, the keys were left in the padlocks in case they had to open them quickly, but neither man would do that, neither wanted to head into the trees, it was far more powerful than they ever imagined, it was then that Peter believed that this place was not of this earth, there was no feeling like this when he entered Underwood, they had just woken up and there it was, he prayed there was no one on the other side tonight.

Lily and Ivy were walking up Waltwood, at that moment a fair distance away from the trees, but they could feel the wind as they struggled to walk, they grasped each other’s hands tightly as they proceeded, then they could see the trees in the distance start to move and for a moment the two girls stood still in fear as the trees picked up speed and the wind grew stronger, pulling them, pulling them towards the trees, just ahead of them they could see a house with a brick wall at the side, they forced themselves against the wind and manage to snuggle up against the wall, it sheltered them considerably against the wind and both girls gasped a sigh of relief, they huddled together, there body’s soaked to the skin.

‘We wait for it to calm a bit, then we go on’ said Ivy,

‘Thank you’ replied Lily, they huddled closer together,

‘About time this place found a bit of bollacks’ Ivy said and both girls laughed until the tears mixed with the rain.

Meanwhile Steve Duce was sat in his home in Elm, his mini bus parked up outside his home, he would stay awake during the storm. For he knew as soon as it was over, it was his job to pick up whatever it was the storm may have brought, when he did pick people up, a lot of the time they were glad to see him, but they had been caught in the storm and was not aware of their destiny, it was just his job to deliver them to that destiny, it was a good job, he sort of liked it, and he liked the No.64 bus that went with it, he hoped there would be a new resident today, it always made the new sheriff happy and he would always be well rewarded, he loved the summer storms, they were the best, there would be no homemade beer for him tonight, he had to remain sober and as he puffed on his cigarette he sat back in his armchair and thought of his rewards.

Delyn Brown closed her eyes and tried to doze, she had tried her phone again but the signal was completely lost, she didn’t want to look into the trees that surrounded her, she wondered if there any predators in there, she shivered as she quickly took the thought from her mind, she couldn’t remember being this scared before, she wasn’t sure whether she could reverse back down the road when it became daylight, if she couldn’t her plan was to walk down until she found a signal, then she would call her dad, her dad will help her.

As she sat in her seat with her eyes closed, the rain beating on the car felt soothing as she fell into a restless sleep.

The trees were really spinning now almost unrecognisable as trees by both of the men who remained chained to the fence, for in front of them was just a whirl, something either man thought would never happen, Tony had never seen it before and in a sense he wished he wasn’t seeing it now, as the suction from the trees was pulling at his body as the chains dug deeper, he clung to the fence with his fingers seeking extra support, he hoped it wouldn’t last to long for the chains would break his ribs, he never knew it was going to be like this, he thought about the powerful entity they were taking on, there was no going back now.

Peter dug his foot into the ground trying for extra support as he lay sat against the fence next to Tony, he had never seen a phenomenon like this and had no idea what was about to happen, looking at the trees spinning was making him feel sick, he tried to look at the ground in front of him as he dug his feet in further and the rain pelted him, then he heard a crack, Tony heard it to and looked towards Peter, both men looked at the fencing Peter was chained to, it was coming away from the concrete post such was the suction, panic rose on both men’s faces as the fence holding Peter started to break away.

Peter only had one choice, the fence wasn’t going to hold him and he didn’t want that fence chained to him, he found the padlock and released the chain from around his body, and at that moment he wished he had said his goodbyes and told his family how much he loved them, the next thing he felt was being lifted off the ground and hurling towards the trees, Tony just looked as his new friend disappeared, it had all gone wrong so badly wrong, he gripped the fence tighter hoping he wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

Lily and Ivy sat huddled against the wall, they were some distance away from the trees and the walls was still protecting them from the wind, which now seemed to be easing as the rain became lesser, once they were sure that the worst of the storm had gone, they would continue to the top of the estate to find Lily’s dad.

They held hands tightly, two people from two different worlds bonded in a moment of terror, and a friendship that will last a life time, however long that life was.

Delyn didn’t know how long she had slept or if she slept at all, it was the morning  sunshine shining through the trees that awoke her, for that moment it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, as she looked out of the car windows, she could see no road in front of her or behind her, her head was still in a whirl and she wondered how she managed to drive through the trees, she was hot and sweating as the sun had warmed the inside of the car, dressed in a purple dress that ended above the knee she got out of her car, her sandled feet sunk into the mud, but just in front of her she could see some huts, and that’s where she walked with just a purse and a phone feeling thankful that she was still alive, chastising herself for thinking the worse, upset with herself for missing her best friends hen night, she thought of ways to make it up to her as she walked.