It was dark. So, so dark. The trees surrounding him were dense, loose hanging branches whipping his face, arms and legs as he ran through, tearing his skin painfully. He pressed on, not daring to take a look back. In the shadows behind he him knew loomed something horrible... Something evil and menacing. Something that would torture his already dying body and something that would laugh as his red eyes welled with tears. He'd never known anything different. Kindness was unknown to the boy. Anything other than pain, anguish, anger and misery was unknown to him; foreign just like the world beyond his forest.

He made a sharp left, running as fast as his long legs could carry him. He knew it was futile. No matter how quick he went, no matter how stealthy, the thing would always find him and hurt him some more. It had happened when he was 8. When he was 11. When he was 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and now once more at the age of 17- or so he assumed. He knew not how to speak in any language other than screams; he knew not how to interact with any other human being and didn't even know of the existence of other human beings.

One branch led to his doom. He tripped over it, falling face first into the dirt floor. He scrambled to stand on his feet once more, only succeeding in crawling to the bottom of a tree trunk, his scarred back leaning against the rough wood. His miserable eyes darted from side to side, up and down in search of it. He learnt never to feel relief and never to show weakness. The thing /always/ found him. No matter what.

A moment of anticipation, the forest in a deafening silence. His breath escaped quickly, ragged and frightened as he curled up into himself and then it was there. The thing. The monster. Tall, a face so horrifying it cannot be described. Its body arched forward, face inches from the boy's. Its breath rank with the smell of death and decay. Its green, matter fur pressed to Gilbert's bare legs and it snarled. Clawed fingers forced Gilbert's chin up, scrutinizing the boy's face with blank eyes.

If a tree falls in a forest and nobody's around to hear it, did it make any noise?

The answer is yes. A hoarse cry pierced the night, the birds flying away in fright and cawing madly as the bloody mess.

And then, he was alone. It had gone. He no longer made a noise. His heartbeat so dull. His body mangled and his lips letting not even the tiniest breath escape.

The boy who could not speak; who knew not of other humans and only knew pain could truly no longer speak again. His mouth sewn shut with a thread so strong, yet so thin. A metallic thread, passing multiple times through his upper and lower lips, his face now coated in blood as red as his dull eyes.

Gilbert had nothing. He had no one and was abandoned by the only thing he could ever call a guardian, one last momento of their time together being his lack of voice.

Where the darkness could be one mans nightmare, the thing that held his worst fears come to life; it could be another mans comfort. It could be something he looked forward to, the thing that allowed him peace and tranquility because that man knew nothing to fear in the darkness. Where one may dread it's approach the other may wait patiently for it and welcome it with open arms.

Such was Matthew's feelings on the night. He'd lived alone mostly and never knew anything to be feared in the dark. As he sat on the porch he found serenity in the silence. Had he been in bed he most likely would have been asleep within the hour but it just happened to be one of those nights where he couldn't quite reach sleep. Reading his book as he pet his dog in the silence nothing could have prepared him for what came next. His dog had begun growling, poised for attack on whatever creature or person that might reveal them self but that wasn't what alarmed the blond.

What alarmed him was the shrill shriek that had come from the forest behind his house had been enough to instill fear where it had never been. In his fear he'd dropped his book and shrank back as if to make for his house should anything come out from the dark. It was confusing, to say the least, when normally it was peaceful. Supposing Matthew was a normal person he probably would have went inside and stayed within the safety of his home but, a it turned out, he was nowhere near normal and decided to pull on the hood that he had laid next to him. It was a cold night and he didn't expect to be out long but the hood was just in case. he picked up the lantern that kept the immoderate area around him lit and was off in search of what had caused the sound.

Lantern in hand, unfortunately without anything but his loyal companion to defend himself, he walked quickly and quietly. He only meant to satisfy his curiosity; nothing more but perhaps a walking stick of sorts, something to clear his path, would have been helpful now that he thought. It wasn't too late to turn back yet but by now his feet were moving of their own accord. He felt drawn to whatever it was that had made the sound and he was determined to find out.

Coming across a small clearing, something strangely new as could be told by the freshly knocked over shrubs. Holding the lantern a little higher he gazed around, brows furrowed together in confusion. He was about to pass it off as nothing, simply an enigma or an isolated incident of sorts until something caught his attention in his peripheral. The dog was already on it, it's ears pressed back in defense as the hairs on his neck bristled. Before it could act Matthew advanced. Passing a hand on the animals back to sooth it as he came closer to the thing that had caught his attention.

Once he was close enough he realized it was a person. One who was huddled up and looked beyond frightened. "Are you alright?" Matthew asked warily, his free hand shooting to cover his gasp as the light revealed the state that the other was in. Bloodied rags, nearly starved, with lips sewn shut.

Where the darkness could be one mans nightmare, the thing that held his worst fears come to life; it could be another mans comfort. However, it didn't take much to make it just the same for the other man. Matthew was frightened, not only for himself but for the other. Without thinking he set the lantern down and shrugged off his hood to offer it to the other. "Here. Take this... It's freezing out here!" He murmured in a soft voice. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten the other, especially since he didn't know if he was understood or not. He supposed he would just find out the hard way since he's long since destroyed his plans to satisfy his curiosity and gotten into much more.

Pooh: Gilbert's POV was written by me, as stated in our bio, and Matthew's POV was written by Honey! She checked all of this once more. This'll be a slightly more dramatic than usual story, so enjoy. And for now, Gilbert's 'guardian' shall remain anonymous *wink wonk*
Honey: vvv Because Honey's a butt she refused to write anything here :I Wow Honey. Wow.