Even if using flight significantly cut down on travel time in comparison to if they drove like his dad wanted, the whole adventure was still a massive waste of his time. Not only was it a weekend for him to have a break from school, but it was being wasted on a funeral for some random jackass. And he knew it was completely pointless to him. For one thing, they lived in fucking Colorado which was way too far away for anyone relevant to him to live. Their name also didn't even ring a bell though.
Rogers.
The teen practically hissed in his mind. Despite it being internal, his emotions apparently showed clearly on his face since his mom began to snap at him for them.
"Alexander!" She began. Before she could continue to actually berate him however, his father placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to both get her attention and to halt her. It worked, but she was left giving her husband a rather worried look as he decided to step in instead.
Now moving his hand from wife's shoulder to his son's, he gave Alex a small, innocent smile.
"I know scowling is your natural state, but try to use what acting you've learned to not offend everyone."
At the suggestion, his wife, Sophia, gave him another look which lead to both of them being glared at by their teenage son.
Scoffing, Alex backed out of his dad's touch before proceeding to cross his arms in front of his chest to further pout about this unfair situation. He didn't bother to make any retort. Knowing his dad, it would likely be thrown back in his face in a more expertise way than he'd ever be able to manage. The only apparent perks of being a bloodsucking lawyer it seemed. Aside from of course nice paychecks. Not that Alex ever believed his dad even deserved such a handsome pay, but he thought he himself did so he'd just have to get over it.
"How about instead of having to bother acting for random-ass nobodies that thought it was a good idea to house a serial killer, I'll just go explore and let you enjoy the funeral."
Despite his best efforts, he still found himself trying to counter his dad and somehow get out of this weekend chore. Of course mocking his apparent deceased relatives didn't bode well for him as his mom was quick to smack him.
"It's one day, and not even a full one." She scolded. "So you're going to behave and not talk to anyone more than a simple greeting for the hour you're there. After that, you can go explore, but I swear to god if you upset anyone, you won't be having your sixteenth birthday. So for all we care, you'll remain fifteen until you either die or until you start acting your age."
In another poor attempt at retaliation, Alex replied with
"But I am acting my age." He assured. "It's not my fault you guys were blatantly unprepared to deal with children. Or at least, until they stopped being adorable little dolls and actually got minds of their own." The boy derided as he pointed towards his baby sister who was waddling next to him and soon clutching onto his pant legs.
A furious expression on her face, Sophia snapped
"That's it! I don't have a son! So go ahead and get lost in the woods!" She shouted, grabbing Lucy from his side, consciously being gentle in pulling the four year old to her own. "I'm sure you'll fit in with wild animals much better than you do with civilized human beings!"
Watching his mother stalk off with her husband and baby girl in tow, Alex was left smirking to himself. Sure he probably got grounded for possibly just the week, but it's not like he ever had time to do what he actually liked anyway. His schedule was always full of shit they wanted him to learn so he highly doubted they'd take his lessons away from him. Besides, those had to be paid for so there was no way they'd actually cancel them just because he didn't feel like wasting his time at some pointless family's funeral.
I'll probably just get a slap on the wrist if anything anyway.
The boy grinned to himself with confidence.
Since he was going to be getting off scot-free, as well as simply being free to do as he now pleased, Alex set out towards the woods. Supposedly that's where the son's body was found, all charred up because the idiot thought it was a good idea to set the street and fucking trees on fire in order to escape. Surprise surprise, he got himself trapped and killed.
Because little dipshit Rogers tried to burn down the woods, it was extremely easy for Alex to find the spot the police apparently found his body, that and locals helped point him in the right direction. At least, easy to locate that point anyway. It did take a bit for him to actually find the woodland area in general, as well as quite the walk. Luckily for him he didn't mind a pleasant stroll. It was nice and peaceful thanks to him being allowed to roam on his own. Being alone also enabled him to freely use his camera without worry of falling behind.
Already with numerous pictures and camera footage of nearby homes, streets, parks, people, and bits of the untouched grove, the young teenager at last ventured into the torched part of the woods. Regardless of the tragedy that occurred there only about a week prior, it was just as peaceful as the journey there had been. It was destroyed, sure, but the ashen smell was something he always loved. Combine that with the still standing trees and bushes on the outskirts of the devastation, and it was truly a sight to behold and experience.
That of course meant he needed plenty of footage of both the destroyed area and the normal, undamaged areas outside of it to later admire once more. As Alex captured the images of the beautiful scenery, what happened to the family he was supposed to be paying his respects to did come to mind. They were apparently a typical bunch. Not well off like he and his family were. Quite the opposite if anything. Supposedly the father, who happened to be related to and a friend of his own dad's, had become an abusive drunk after their killer son was born. Curiously enough though, their son didn't seem the type to up and murder anyone, let alone the father he was afraid of.
Toby apparently had a sister too, but she died a bit ago. Alex mused to himself. I guess losing someone he was so close to drove him mad.
It still seemed like a bit of a stretch considering the kid was supposed to be a diseased mess, at least assuming his dad wasn't lying as he mulled over the odd incident on the plan ride there. Unfortunately for the Rogers family, he wasn't a detective, so he wasn't about to suddenly become some master inspector and find out what really happened and discover that their son was actually still alive and all of this was just some horrible conspiracy that movies often told of.
"As great as movies are, they never happen to come true so sorry, Toby, but your death is your own fault." Nevertheless, he still held a sorrowful tone before allowing himself to kneel on the soot covered woodland floor. And putting his camera down by his side, he hunched over slightly and bowed his head. With his hands cupped together at his mouth, he uttered a small prayer for his newly discovered and lost cousin, or second cousin rather.
"I know we never knew each other, but I heard you were always in pain." He began. "I hope after all these hardships you finally find peace with your departed sister." When his message was stated, he performed the usual sign of the cross before retrieving his camera and standing up again.
Going to put the device away in the camera bag that hung around his neck and at his side, the sound of a twig breaking ahead of him caused him to snap his head up with a jolt of terror. Instant relief fell over him as he found it to just be a deer which really, he should have assumed. He was stupid to fall for such a cliche' trope.
Chuckling to himself to calm his nerves more, as well as simply because he deserved to be laughed at, Alex brought his camera back up and aimed it at the fauna. Just as he went to click and take the picture, the deer lifted its head up and directed it's gaze at him. It didn't move other than that, allowing him for an even better picture than he'd have gotten before. And while holding back the sudden tickling he felt building up in the back of his throat, he successfully took a photo of the animal.
Satisfied with his shot, he allowed himself to succumb to the cough that built up. It was a little harsh because of that, but considering the loud noise drove the deer off, he found having to hold it back to be worth it. It wasn't bad even if held for a few seconds but it was somewhat lengthy, leading him to believe he might be coming down with something. Because of that, Alex begrudgingly decided it was about time he should head back to his family. They were probably done mourning anyway and possibly worried over where he went, but really, he doubted it. If his parents had been, they could easily just have texted him.
Speaking of which, it was a little strange that he hadn't heard anything this entire time. He'd told Lene that he was off the plane and now available to chat, but she hasn't gotten back to him yet. She was usually pretty immediate with her responses so being off the grid for about an hour was unheard of for her.
"I don't think my phone's on silent or anything and I sent her a message so it should be off plane mode or whatever the fuck." He muttered softly to himself between more small coughs.
Only one way to find out for sure which meant taking his phone from his pocket to check it. So far so good. Until he clicked it on to the lock screen anyway. Instead of the picture of his little Maltese puppy, Rocky, it was more of a glitchy mess featuring a distorted photo of his precious dog.
"Wow, technology is fucking amazing these days."
All the more reason to head back since now he was getting sick for no goddamn reason, and his phone was broken for the same goddamn reason. With that resolve, he finally put his camera away, safe in his bag and turned on his heel. Immediately, the teen came face to face with what seemed like pant legs to dress pants for some reason. Understandably confused and somewhat startled, he still managed to be amused by the thought of it being some carny on account of the figure towering over him. Since he was curious who this sudden stranger could be, he followed the clearly stilted legs up to see the owner of the absurd but comedic attire.
What greeted him certainly wasn't what he was expecting. And again, it was a little startling and mildly unnerving even. Of course it was easy to assume whoever this was, was still using stilts and one of those stupid-ass masks so the feeling of unease mostly dissipated rather quickly. The parts that were harder to explain were the elongated torso and the long, spindly fingers they had that fell numbly against their sides. Those abnormalities left him with a bit of distress.
"R-Right." Alex nervously stuttered out, only to be halted by another set of coughs which seemed to be getting worse now. "Well." He tried but was interrupted once again. Since this carnival freak actually managed to intimidate him a bit, he made sure to politely cough into his arm and completely away from the newcomer. After the fit appeared to finally pass, the teen regained his composure. Once he had however, he came face to face with the other. What now appeared to be more of some boneless creature was hunched over in order to be on his level. Knowing that couldn't be at all possible with parlor tricks, he found himself frozen in place as his heart began to race while the otherworldly being appeared to examine him.
As it looked over its prey, Alex couldn't help but hear numerous voices coming from it. They all spoke in a different language, but they all had the same hushed and dead tone to them. It was beyond unnerving, but extremely entrancing as well. And as he was stuck, fixated on their voices, he heard the one that spoke English mention something about a ritual and something to take. After a few seconds of trying to further analyze the voice he could understand, Alex found his vision blurring. It was then that he realized he'd still been coughing mercilessly into his arm, even going so far as to begin to keel over more thanks to the lack of oxygen.
The creature continued to follow the boy closely as he succumbed further and further to his sudden ailment as though it was forcing him to the ground. Whether it was the cause or not, he wasn't sure. But within a few more seconds, he was no longer able to care as he was driven to unconsciousness on the woodland floor.