Verboten
(adjective of German origin. Meaning: forbidden, especially by an authority)

Author note:

It's been a while since I've had a spark for writing. I would love to continue Eidolon, but I'm having a major writer's block with it. My current job causes me a lot of stress, so I know that is a major contributor. As such, I cannot guarantee regular updates.

Regarding the story, this is an AU. I have recently been listening to stories regarding strange unexplainable disappearances within the forests not only in my home country, but around the world. The strange facts of the cases combined with some old folklore have stirred some ideas in my mind, so this is what was created.

My only advice to you is not to follow the beckons of the strange things that lurk in the woods. Do not touch them, and do not touch anything they may offer you.

With that, let us begin.

When he was five years old, Danny went missing for two weeks.

Most of the time when a child goes missing, either they get lost or they are taking by something or someone. In Danny's case, those involved tended to believe it was the former, but there were a few details which caused the veteran searchers to scratch their heads.

All parties involved, Danny, his family, and the men and women who searched for him, agreed on the most basic details. Danny and his family were visiting his mother's sister Alicia at her home in Arkansas. The house sat on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. While her five acres had been cleared of most of the trees to allow for some farming, an old forest surrounded most of the property.

That particular day in early August, his aunt took him and his older sister, Jasmine, out to pick some blackberries. Although Alicia was best known for her rhubarb pies and jams, she also made incredible blackberry pies, and according to her, the best blackberries were found about a mile away from the house inside the woods.

She was a tough woman who knew the dangers of the woods and would always carry protection with her. Before she took her niece and nephew with her, she clearly warned both of them they needed to stay within eye sight of her and listen to her. Her instructions were stated in front of both of their parents, who were able to collaborate it for the police report. In this instance, she also took a walkie-talkie with her as a precaution. When asked about the communication device, she reported it wasn't normal for her to bring one, but something in her gut told her she might need it that day.

The three of them left around nine in the morning and reached the patch of blackberries in about forty minutes or so. The three of them picked berries until their baskets were full. As they were getting ready to leave, Alicia caught sight of Danny looking up at a squirrel in a nearby tree. She glanced towards Jasmine to make sure she was good to go, but as she turned to call to Danny, he was no longer there.

A few choice curses escaped her as she began to look around and call out for her nephew. Jasmine assisted her but couldn't offer any information regarding her brother. She hadn't seen anything strange.

After several minutes of frantic searching, Alicia contacted her sister, Maddie, and her husband, Jack, through the walkie-talkie. Although she could hear Jack yell in the background, Maddie, while obviously shaken, was able to get in touch with the local sheriff. If Alicia had to guess, either her sister wasn't initially frantic due to shock, or she was able to remind herself she needed to keep calm until she could talk to the police.

Within the hour, Alicia and Jasmine were back at the house. About thirty minutes later, the police and a team of search and rescue folk had arrived. By this time, it had been almost three hours since Danny had gone missing.

After the officers took the statements from Alicia, Jazz, Maddie, and Jack, the men asked Alicia to lead them to the area where Danny was last seen, and she gladly agreed. Although Maddie and Jack wanted to go as well, they were told to stay at the house with their daughter. She hid it well, but Alicia was glad they stayed behind. Jack was bumbling and too loud for his own good, and Maddie, as brilliant as she was, could easily get sidetracked if something interested her scientific curiosity.

When the group arrived at the berry patch, Alicia pointed out the place where she last saw her nephew as the search and rescue team began their process of systematically combing the area. One of the officers led her back to her house before he returned to the search. The waiting began after that.

Hours passed, and no word was received. Maddie's shock wore off, and she picked a fight with her sister. Alicia couldn't blame her, and she was also angry at herself. She knew those woods could be dangerous, but her overconfidence in her own abilities might have caused her nephew to vanish.

Sometime during the search, one of the police offers asked Alicia about her ex-husband. The two had a very nasty divorce the previous year, but to her knowledge, he had left the state and moved to a city somewhere. Since the split had been volatile, the police wanted to get in touch with him as a precaution as there had been previous cases where an ex had abducted a family member. Although she gave him the information, she knew it wouldn't amount to anything. Although she had several choice words regarding her ex, she knew he didn't have the backbone to harm her nephew.

Day turned into night, and night turned into day. There were no signs of the boy. The search and rescue dogs could only follow his scent so far before they just laid down in defeat. Unnerved by their responses, the rescuers continued to search for other means. The police and searchers did make periodic updates with the family and were at least able to assure them that there did not seem to be signs of a bear or coyote attack.

Days continued to pass, and even with the searchers using infrared radar and overhead searches, there were still no signs of the boy. The press had somehow gotten word of the case and had swarmed the house and demanded interviews with the police, searchers, and family. Instead of being helpful, they were more akin to pests who just got in the way.

After a week, the search started to die down. The professionals had been called away for another case, but offered their sincerest apologies before they departed. The police also were forced to turn their attention elsewhere. There were still volunteers out searching for the boy, but with the amount of wilderness, it was unlikely they would find anything.

Maddie and Jack were crushed. Alicia couldn't imagine how they felt. The child was their own flesh and blood. Jack, who was usually boisterous and cheerful was now sullen and quiet. She found him tinkering with some of the spare junk parts she had. He said he was trying to make a radar of some sorts, but she thought he was just keeping himself busy to keep from breaking down. During the mornings, she sometimes found him wandering the perimeter obviously looking for Danny. Maddie turned most of her attention to her daughter to try to keep her calm.

Jasmine, on the other hand, knew full well something was wrong. The girl was bright and always seemed smarter than what was expected for a child of seven. She wanted to help with the searches, but she was wisely told she couldn't, and accepted the explanation that her parents would not be able to handle it if she vanished too.

…..

Nine days after Danny's disappearance, the Fentons were supposed to return to their home in a different state. The family was hesitant to leave without any sort of closure. Luckily, Maddie and Jack had a flexible job, and it would still be a few weeks before Jasmine needed to return to school. Alicia didn't argue with their decision, and just made sure to make a list for more provisions for them.

…

On the dawn of the fifteenth day, Alicia and the Fentons were awoken by frantic banging on her front door. Agitated, she opened it to find an excited yet somewhat perplexed police officer in front of her. Sirens could be heard in the background.

"Ma'am, are the Fenton's available?" he asked as he removed his hat.

"Yes. Should I brew some coffee? Or pour a shot?" Her eyes narrowed as she appraised the man's demeanor. With how long Danny had been missing, she knew he would most likely be found dead, but there was something about him which told her he may actually have good information.

"Coffee would be nice, but I'm not sure they'll wait long enough for it to finish."

Uncertain at what that meant, she let him into her living room and went to get her sister. Both Maddie and Jack were awake and stood at the top of her stairs. She beckoned them down, and the three sat on the old leather couch across from the arm chair the officer had claimed.

"Maddie, Jack, I can't believe I'm saying this, but we found Danny. He's alive."

There was a moment of stunned disbelief before everyone yelled. Alicia couldn't make heads or tails of what her sister or Jack said, but the man had scooped his wife up in an excited embrace. Once she was released, Maddie demanded to know where Danny was.

"One of our volunteers found him early this morning. We don't know how he got there, but he was only a few yards away from where you said he was last seen," the officer explained.

"How the heck is that possible?" Alicia demanded. She and several others had checked that area repeatedly.

"Ma'am, we honestly have no idea," he replied honestly. "He's been taken to the local hospital to check for injuries, but I've been told he's in good health."

It only took a few moments after that for Jack and Maddie to wake up their daughter and get ready before the four of them piled in the Fenton's vehicle and headed to the hospital. When they arrived and the woman at the front desk told them where they needed to go, they found Danny happily sitting on an examination table with a juice box in hand speaking with an officer.

The boy waved to his parents once he noticed them. Seconds later, he was safely wrapped in his mother's arms. She was crying in happiness.

Allowing the family their much needed reunion, the officer stepped outside and spoke to Alicia. "We're honestly at a loss for what happened to him," he explained. "Danny says someone asked to play with him, but he couldn't really explain who or what it might have been. He says the thing had red eyes and gave him food when he was got tired. He said his playmate wanted him to stay, but he wasn't strong enough yet. He said his playmate let him go with the promise of them meeting again in the future."

"That's very strange."

The officer looked her dead in the eye. "Ma'am, I'm sure you're aware of this, but weird things happen in these woods. We're lucky he turned up alive. In most of the cases I've heard like this, the child is never found. No trace of them what so ever. Or, if they are found, they're dead for reasons we don't understand." With that, he left her to her thoughts and went back into the room to finish up his interview with Danny.

…

A couple days later, Maddie and Jack had packed up their kids and began their journey back to their home. While she was glad everything had turned out alright in the end, she had concerns about her nephew.

Danny seemed off somehow. There didn't seem to be a change in personality, but she'd catch him sometimes stare off into the woods with a blank expression. His eyes also seemed somewhat different, but she was never exactly able to pinpoint why.

In the years that followed, she received word her family was doing fine. Danny seemed unaffected by the event and was growing up as a young boy should. Jasmine had begun taking an interest in psychology, most likely due to what she had witnessed when Danny disappeared. Maddie and Jack, however, had taken a personal interest in what happened to their boy. While they were already investigating what many would consider fringe sciences, they began looking into the tales of disappearances like their son's.

She was still unsettled by the entire event. Her gut told her whatever happened to Danny was only the beginning of something larger and stranger. If he disappeared again, she wouldn't be surprised.

That is it for chapter 1. Feedback would be wonderful as I am a bit rusty, and the idea hit me very quickly. I hope I got some of the uneasiness through that I was hoping to convey.

I would also like to point out the initial inspiration came from listening to interviews from the writer of the Missing 411 series. The books detail the circumstances regarding people who have mysteriously gone missing in national parks and forests where the normal associated causes cannot be applied. The author is a retired police officer and has made sure to investigate those angles before including them. There has been a lot of speculation as to the causes, but there has not been an explanation which fits in all described cases. If you are interested, the author recommends looking at his books at the CANAM Missing project due to weird issues on Amazon regarding price.

A few folklorists have mentioned that the aforementioned cases have a lot of similarities to folktales and myths around the world. I will be drawing in some of that information into this story.