Last edited: August 1st, 2016
It's the heat of the sun ultimately wakes me, basking on my face until I have no choice but to get up and face a new day. I groan in a futile protest; everybody has to wake up and face responsibilities, but they don't always have to like it. Today I lose this battle, as I attempt to roll over and steal away a few more precious moments of sleep.
Except my body freezes up because something doesn't feel the same. My mind is still waking up; I slap my palm to the ground and startle to hear grass of all things. While I've slept outside before, I was certain last night wasn't one of those nights. I'm fully awake now and open my eyes. Directly in front of my face is a ragged looking crow, who's seen better days, that's for sure. It cocks it's head to the side while looking right at me and for a moment I entertain the idea that the bird can even see into my soul. Finally deciding to get up and figure out how I ended up outside over the course of the night, I shoo away the bird, who gives me an indigent caw before flying away in a flurry.
Before I could even take in my surroundings, my vision was filled with black -or more specifically- black pants. Slacks, by the look of them; far fancier then anything my family ever had the pleasure of owning back when things such as wealth mattered. I follow the legs up to their owner, a man wearing a clean, pressed suit with a cigar lazily resting between the crook of his fingers. He looked like he called the shots and knew it.
He takes a small drag and I watch as the smoke gradually floats around his head. The smell of fire and ash that I normally enjoy is snuffed out by the stench of tobacco; this is one of many reasons I refused to pick up the vice.
This brooding figure bend closer to my level. "You look confused." A smirk adorns his smug features and I'm tempted to wipe it off his face. All it would take is to get my lighter out and hope i could catch those dapper slacks before he could get away from me.
He's walking away now, a saunter to his steps that reveals he is a predator, not prey; he stops when he hears me get in up a hurry.
"Here's the only tip you'll get from me." There's a pause as he takes his time with his cigar. "You should get started right away, the dark only has so much patience in this place. Trust me, I would know."
With those closing words, the figure seemingly vanishes in a swirl of shadows that leaves my hair standing on end.
I'm stuck there staring for who knows many minutes while the reality of this situation sinks in. I look around, turning on the spot when necessary, and realize I have no idea where I am. There are trees surrounding me on all sides, however they're not densely compacted like where my cabin was located. I don't recognize a thing.
A caw draws me out of my thoughts; I turn to see a crow perched on a berry bush. It was full of bright red berries that were almost begging to be eaten. Wasn't there a fact somewhere that brightly colored berries were most likely poisonous? A type of natural warning sign, if a berry could afford to be brightly colored and draw attention to itself, it had to have some countermeasure for survival.
The avian hopped a bit on the branch, cawing once more.
Insistent little thing.
I walk over to the bush, the bird fleeing when I step closer. I pick off one of the berries, rolling it between my fingers. Never seen this type of berry before. Juice dribbles out the top where the stem used to be. It leaves a rosy hue on my skin as I squish the fruit. There's a curiosity taking hold in me as to what it tastes like, but I wasn't hungry enough to risk death over a berry. I wipe my hand on my clothing to clean to stickiness off.
The sun will set soon, I note, looking upwards with a hand to shield my eyes. I glance back at the berry bush, then observe my surroundings again. It didn't offer much in the way of shelter or resources, so I needed to move on.
I remembered my time in the Scouts as a kid; Hell, I'd even earned all the badges, only time would tell if my wilderness survival skills were actually useful out here.
Choosing a direction, I begin to aimlessly walk forward. The sun casts heat on my back, which only causes me to increase my speed. I need to find some sort of landmark; I had to get home. As I traveled I pondered the intimidating man that greeted me. Was I just imagining things? How else could he disappear into thin air?
Here's hoping I'm not simply going crazy and wandered into the wilderness by myself.
Myself. I was alone out here, with little but the damn crow for company, if one could call it that.
The terrain changes from green grass and trees to a hay scattered field, tufts of hay still scattered around the area. There wasn't much else, however, so I keep moving. Midday is nearing its end. Sunlight loses all stark brightness, replaced by a warm glow of honey and orange. I start jogging, still trying to find shelter to avoid any creatures of the night. Up above I heard a familiar bird's call. I look at the crow circling overhead, wondering if this is still indeed the same bird, before shaking away the thought as soon as it came. How ridiculous to think a bird would actually be following me. I watch it complete a couple more loops before it dives down in front of me, righting itself in a single direction different to the one I was going.
Maybe I'm looking too much into it; it does sound ludicrous to think of a bird willingly helping out a human for no apparent reason. Either way I choose to follow it; what's a different direction matter when I don't have any clue where I'm going?
The crow led me through a rocky landscape, there were places where I could see a shiny ore poking through rubble and stone. A place I hoped I could remember in case I needed to return. I'm continued to be led into another field, much like where I started. I almost stop and go back the other way, thinking this bird was simply trying to fuck with me by taking me back to where I started. I shook my head, since when do I believe in stuff like this?
Since you watched a man vanish into thin air.
I keep up the pace, almost losing my flying company several times in its haste to beat the nightfall. It'd better hurry. Already the light was losing it's warm glow; the rays of fiery color engulfing everything the moment the sun starts to lower itself towards the horizon.
Up ahead I heard a triumphant caw. I rushed to catch up, feeling slightly out of breath because the bird seems to like dragging me through all of the woods first.
Underneath where it circled was a figure completely different from the previous. She was resting on her knees trying to attend to a fire pit. It was actually nicely built, with stones lining the outer ridge to prevent the unwanted spread of fire. She looked about my age and had blonde hair. The figure was observing the scene above her. I took the opportunity to walk closer before my attention was stolen by the crow's sudden departure into the woods. She follows it's path too, before returning to her task of starting a fire.
I approach cautiously, adjusting my stride to try and stay silent. I don't want to spook away or otherwise provoke somebody who could be an actual human companion. At least not until I can get close enough for her to hear what I have to say first, to prove I'm not a threat. Realizing how paranoid I must sound, I try to just focus on the task at hand.
Somehow luck is in my favor and she never looks up. If she did, I'd be completely exposed in this vast clearing.
"Hello." I call out dumbly. What a stupid fucking thing to say after all that paranoia. Couldn't I have thought of something better?
The woman looks up, startled. Being this close to her now I can see her delicate features and -currently wide- blue eyes.
I raise my hands up slowly in a peaceful gesture. I don't risk saying anything.
She quickly regains her composure. "Sorry, I'm not used to hearing real voices out here." Her voice is soft and tired.
Real voices?
I pretend to ignore that, and instead get down to business. "Do you have a map?"
She looks at me with a sad smile. "You don't know yet, do you?"
"Know what?" I feel a panic bubbling in my chest, this feels too familiar.
"You're trapped here." The rising fear and anxiety in my chest is out in full force now. It was too much, bringing back all the memories, of them.
The girls eyes look at me with sympathy, but I imagine them replaced with the cold venom of them. Her smile was intended to be comforting, but all I could imagine was them.
It's not long before my hands desperately grasp the lighter in my pocket.
The person in front of me looks at me with mild concern, but doesn't move to help, nor does she say anything else. Her fire pit still remained unlit, full of sticks and tinder and potential.
I quickly jerk forward, hands shaky as I strike the lighter. The flames quickly roar to life, vibrant arrays of red, orange, yellow, everything in between. It was wonderful. The scent in my nose? Smoke and ash and fire.
The blaze warms my face I'm so close; it doesn't hurt, far from it. It's exhilarating. Having the ability to destroy something because of a small spark of fire. Of color. Of the scent of smoke and ash. I feel myself grin, my heart racing, and my head hurting.
Then I remembered I have an audience. I tear my gaze away from the fire pit; already feeling it's addicting pull once more. "Excuse me," I begin with a waver, "I normally can keep a better composure then that."
"We all have our demons." She says simply, pushing around the fire with a stick. I'm lost in the motion, the wood bringing up embers and ash into the air as the burning logs start coming apart with crackles and pops due to the fire's spread. "Besides," She puts aside the prod, "You'll tell me when you're ready."
"Already planning on keeping me, are you?" I inquire in a joking tone.
The blonde shrugs. "It's obviously more convenient to band together to live in this place. My name's Wendy."
Just what kind of hellhole is this?
"Willow." I give her my name in return.
Silence ensues. Gradually the last of the remaining sunlight fades, leaving us in a cocoon of light and warmth against the sea of night. The stars aren't visible, despite there being no tree cover above them. How terrible it would be to rain.
I lay back on the grass, staring upwards towards what should've been a sea of glowing stars and a crisp moon; in reality it was an infinite void, inky black choking everything around them, suffocating, and closing in when the fire dims. It brings a feeling of dread in my gut even thinking of going out there, out of the cover of the light. What's weird is the fact that I have no fear of the dark. I've been out camping several times, having no choice but to sleep out under a night sky.
I found a small comfort in the orbs of burning, blazing gas being there every night.
Reliable. Now they were gone.
Wendy shuffles a bit and I look up, still not used to there being another person around me. I've never been a social person. Not since that fateful night when I was a child, still playing with fire but not knowing the dangers.
I notice her grab a wilted flower out of her hair. There was another one left remaining on the other side. How had I not seen them before? About to ask why she kept a wilted flower in her hair, the look on her face, the way she shook slightly as she brushed out the crinkles on the petals in vain, with utmost precision, it all made my decision to not bring it up. We all have our demons, indeed. I feel bad for her, that sweet face tarnished by a sorrow so deep it almost physically hurt to see. Does she know I'm still awake? That I can see her?
Rolling over, I grab a stick from a pile Wendy had set out beside the pit, sitting back up to prod at the fire, pushing everything back to the center in a flurry. The fire was on its way to going out so I put more tender into the pile, the flames growing agitated at the interference.
"We should get some sleep." I hear her mention; I nod and toss a handful of sticks along with a log into the fire. Just to be safe, needed to keep it going all night, after all.
Afterwards I sit back on the grass, much like I was before, staring up at the abyss above and hoping to see just one star.
"Hey, Wendy?" I call out, not looking over to look and hoping she wasn't asleep yet. She gives a hum of acknowledgement. "What do you mean, 'We're trapped here'?"
She doesn't speak for a while, probably contemplating over her words first. I'm patient. "Look, I've been here a long time..." The blonde trails off, "This place isn't normal, it may seem fine during the day, but you'll realize soon enough how evil this place actually is."
"Where are we that's so horrible?" Looking in her direction I see she's biting her lip.
"I don't know."