It was around midnight when I went into the woods. It was pitch black outside, so dark that I couldn't even see my next step. The darkness seemed to take away all the sounds of the woods. The trees swayed in the wind and looked like they had arms trying to reach out and grab me. The wind whipped my hair but my feet kept on walking. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. My breath was short from fear. The winter night air was cold.

My mind kept playing over the story my brother told me. There once was a young lady who lived in a cabin. That cabin was in these very woods. She lived alone and she barely ever talked to anyone. Her name was Lilly. But suddenly she started talking to people and going to social gatherings. Her life was going well when one night her neighbor heard her scream. When he went out to find her... he found her dead, murdered.

No one ever did find her killer. People say she haunts the woods searching for the man who slayed her. Searching for revenge. Some people claim to have heard her scream. Even though I knew this, I kept on walking like I had no control over my feet. The wind sent a shiver down my spine. But I kept on walking.

As I walked that story kept playing over in my mind. I was so frightened, so scared yet I didn't turn back. I kept going, kept walking into the blackness of the woods, into the emptiness. Then I heard a scream pierce the air, a blood-chilling scream.  

I froze and tried to breathe. I tried to scream for help but all of the air had been sucked out of my lungs. Suddenly the shock wore off and the fear took over. I ran as fast as I could. The bushes snagged at my clothes and the branches grabbed at my hair. But I still ran as fast as I could. The thought of what was in the woods propelled me on. So I ran.

I could hear the wind in my ears and it felt like it slowed me down. But I had to keep running. I was scared out of my mind but I ran. When I finally reached my house I saw something white with an odd yellow glow. I heard a scream, but I didn't know it was me who had screamed. I was too scared to think. I was trapped! I couldn't go back into the woods and I couldn't run right into whatever was standing there. I knew I couldn't stay where I was, but I did anyway.

I was rooted to the ground. Even when it started to come toward me I didn't move. It was about five feet away from me. I knew it was her, Lilly. She had white hair and was wearing a beautiful ball gown. Then suddenly the door to my house banged open and the ghost left like she had never been there. But I knew she was, even if no one else did.

The next night I went back out, my fear overpowered by my curiosity. The woods were just as dark as before, the trees still had arms, the wind still tugged at my hair, and it was as quiet as ever. But this time the woods didn't seem nearly as forbidding as before.

As I walked, it wasn't the story of Lilly that was haunting me. It was the events of the night before. The scream, me running, trying to get away from whatever was in the woods, the ghost…Lilly.

That night I was looking for her, the ghost of Lilly. As the trees above me blocked out all the light from the moon, casting shadows from above, I walked, waiting to hear her scream. As I neared where I had been the night before, I slowed down, sat, waiting. I soon saw a faint glow in the distance.

“Who are you?” I heard a soft whisper.

I didn't know what to do. I hadn't thought of what I might say if I really saw her. I waited to see if she said any more. She didn't. I continued walking. As I neared the glow, it got brighter. Soon I was standing not five yards away from her.

“Who killed me?” She said in a whisper, then disappeared.

I stayed there, her voice ringing in my ears. Even as I grew up and moved away, her voice stayed with me. She stayed with me.

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