My sister found something in the woods.

Back in 2008, my sister went missing. <br><br>She had just turned 18, so she was leaving home. She’d been looking for a job as a waitress or at the fast food joint near our house. Once she’d found somewhere, she told us that she would be moving out. <br><br>I don’t think my sister had even left the county before, she was extremely shy and never liked making friends. She did have one best friend though, and that was Amelia. <br><br>Amelia was 16, and as confident as my sister was shy. They would be constantly together after Amelia turned 12, even to the point where Amelia would stay over night. <br><br>One year, we had a huge blizzard hit our home. There was a lot of snow, and I was actually off school for a few weeks. The storm lasted for another 4 days after that. We were snowed in, and the internet was gone too.<br><br>I must have been 7, as my sister was 11 at the time. She was making hot chocolate for Amelia and herself. She was bubbling to me about how much fun they were going to have, together.<br><br>When I asked her why she was making so much hot chocolate, she replied that it was for her and Amelia. <br><br>I immediately began to tell her that Amelia couldn’t make it, as it was snowing too much. <br><br>But my sister insisted on telling me that Amelia wasn’t a real person. <br><br>I think I was confused, I mean, she would talk to Amelia as if she was a real person. <br><br>I asked her more, but she said that she made up Amelia because she was lonely, and Amelia made her feel less lonely. <br><br>I didn’t say much after that, I was only 7 so I didn’t know much if I’m being honest. But the most disturbing part about it all was that as I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed Amelia’s presence in the house. <br><br>Not physically, but more like...I mean did she ever really disappear?<br><br>When I look back on it, it really does make a lot of sense. And it’s not just me, I’ve asked other people in my family as we grew older, and they’ve all said the exact same thing. <br><br>It was as if Amelia was invited to the house, as if my sister was talking to her in the flesh, as if she was always there. <br><br>You can’t forget something like that. <br><br>We’ve always known that Amelia wasn’t a real person, as much as my sister would like to think that she was. <br><br>But you can’t forget someone who you’ve grown to know, it just doesn’t make sense. <br><br>Now I know that it sounds strange, but I’ve grown to know Amelia as well, and I don’t like the idea of her. <br><br>I mean as a child I knew she was just an exaggerated version of my imagination to my sister, but when I grew up and I actually started to think about the presence of Amelia, it did creep me out, as it did to other family members. <br><br>But as for my sister, Amelia is her best friend. Her only friend at that. <br><br>We’d always watch movies and be together as a family when my sister was still at home, as that was how we’d all bond.<br><br>I must have been 4 when this happened, my sister was 8, and my dad really liked making movies, so he had a home theatre set up in the back of our property. <br><br>We would always watch movies together, and my sister would always talk to Amelia as if she was there, right next to her. <br><br>I don’t think anyone else has ever gotten used to Amelia. <br><br>But as they got older, they would start doing things together as a family. <br><br>We’d go camping, and my sister would always sit next to Amelia. <br><br>My mum would always feel like she had to make my sister feel more comfortable with Amelia present.<br><br>So she made a decision to set up a tent for my sister and Amelia, just so that they could have some more space.<br><br>When I look back on it, I can see how creepy it must have been. <br><br>I mean as a kid I didn’t really think about it, but now I think about it a lot. I wonder if Amelia was real, if she was a spirit or not. <br><br>I wonder if she’s still with my sister, haunting her as much as she haunts me.<br><br>I can never stop thinking about it.<br><br>And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s good that I don’t have Amelia in my life like my sister does.<br><br>It’s good because...<br><br>My sister went camping last year with Amelia. <br><br>She called me when she came back as she was frantic. <br><br>My sister found something in the woods. Something that I can never unsee.<br><br>My sister and Amelia had left their campsite after 4 hours.<br><br>They had decided to go for a walk into the woods, to talk about something. She never told me what they were talking about. She just said that it was something that she wanted to tell Amelia. <br><br>She never told me who was really there, so I don’t know whether it was Amelia as my sister’s conscience, or whether it was Amelia who my sister had been communicating with.<br><br>But Amelia told her to be careful.<br><br>And for some reason, my sister listened to her. <br><br>My sister said that she was walking as she usually did, with Amelia's voice in her head. But as she walked further and further, Amelia started to talk more. <br><br>She told her that something was coming. <br><br>That something bad was coming. <br><br>My sister didn't say much after that, but she said that it must have been Amelia's intuition that triggered what happened next.<br><br>As she walked further, my sister tripped. <br><br>And when she tripped, she fell down a slope. <br><br>She landed on her stomach, and the wind was completely knocked out of her. <br><br>She told me that Amelia was screaming in her head to get up, to get up as quickly as she could. <br><br>My sister said she didn’t know what it was that made her stand up as quickly as she did, but she didn’t wait. <br><br>She said she heard something coming as she stood up, it was like footsteps. And as much as I tried to press her, she said that she had no idea what it was.<br><br>My sister tried to run, but it was pointless.<br><br>The slope was so high that she couldn't even run up it fast.<br><br>So as she stood there, she felt something grab her. <br><br>She fell down onto the forest floor, and started to scream and kick at it. <br><br>She kicked and screamed until something was ripped from her shoulder.<br><br>And as she laid there, she saw that it was a piece of fabric.<br><br>She looked up at the slope, and then she saw it.<br><br>It was a cave, but it was covered in debris. And half of it had fallen down, so you could see something. <br><br>My sister crawled over to it, and Amelia started to be quiet.<br><br>And as my sister looked at what was in the cave, she screamed and found her way back to camp. <br><br>She didn't tell me what was in the cave, but she did tell me that she hadn’t stopped screaming for weeks. <br><br>She told me that she struggles to erase the thought of the cave from her mind, and that it haunts her everyday. <br><br>And as she told me everything, she didn't say a word about Amelia. <br><br>I think Amelia was there though, even if I couldn't see her.