Chapter 7

Wilson jolted awake with a cry, pushing himself off the ground. Strong, large hands pushed against his chest to hold him back, but he ignored them. He was in a cold sweat, shivering as the shock coursed through his body. Like a punch the agony of his shoulder finally hit him, sending him back to the ground with a thud. Wilson hovered there, fighting to stay awake as he took in as much air as possible with grateful gulps. He was hanging on the edge of consciousness, lightheaded and weak.

"Um…Wilson?"

When he opened his eyes again, Willow and Wolfgang's face were frightfully in-focus above him. It was a shock seeing them there; so real, that for a moment Wilson thought the whole thing had been nothing more than a nightmare and that he was still back at camp. Glancing from one pale, anxious face to the other Wilson found his voice.

"What... happened?"

Willow shared a nervous look with the strongman before frowning down at him. " You… don't remember?"

Remember? Now you that he thought about it, what had happened? He'd fallen into the cave network, that he did know. Then the beast… his shoulder had been hurt and then... Then what? He couldn't quite remember anything after that. It was like a piece of his mind was missing, a gap that for some reason he couldn't recall. Gently he placed a hand on his forehead, grateful for the cooling of his skin. Yet it did little to clear his mind.

" I… I remember the Treeguard. Then I fell down into the caves because I couldn't see it below me. And then…" He paused, straining his neck to look at the trees around him. Patches of cloudy sky peeked through the gaps in the leaves, leaving him more confused than ever. " Wait. How… how did I get here?"

"We were hoping that you'd fill us in." Willow sighed, clearly relaxing as she settled into a more comfortable position. " I don't know how you survived the night without a fire and with that wound. Yet as to be suspected you once again did the impossible."

Curious, Wilson looked down at the wound on his shoulder. His vest was gone and through the gasp of his shirt, he spotted a mash of pinkish liquid covering most of his torso. A small poke rewarded him with a burning sting, confirming what it was.

" While you were out I killed some spiders for you." Wolfgang boomed out with too much force, clearly trying to hide his fear of the little monsters. "The Salve part was my idea!"

"Yeah… I can definably feel it," he winced as the wound stung like crazy, waiting for it to settle. " Thanks. How long was I out for?"

"Only a few hours. " Willow replied, taking out some berries from her pocket. However, she quickly hid them again when Wolfgang went to take them, slapping his hand away. " These are for Wilson. You've already eaten half the forest! At least leave something for us, you idiot! Are you hunger, Wilson? I can cook them if you'd like."

He waved off the offer and slumped back onto the ground. "No thank you, I don't think I could stomach them right now." Taking a deep breath Wilson relaxed his muscles, letting the stinging ebb away. Yet the creature came back to his mind, bring with it worry for his companions. What if it still lurked in the shadows. "The beast…" he muttered, bringing the other's attention to him. "Have either of you spotting a strange monster lurking around while I was out?"

"Monster?" The strongman froze, whipping around to scout the clearing. Willow however frowned, shaking her head.

"Good," he sighed with relief. A fight would be unwise now, and he needed to get back to camp as soon as possible. The hounds would be only a day away now, and with the strange events happening being separated would put them all at risk. Everything that could heal him was in his tent. Learning about this new monster would have to be saved for later.

"What do you mean there's a monster hanging about?" Willow puzzling question may him sigh. It was embarrassing remembering how stupid he'd been in the dark.

"When I fell into the caves, there was an odd monster at the bottom waiting for me."

"Caves?"

At the sound of her confusion, it was Wilson's turn to frown. " The giant hole in the clearing. I stumbled into it last night and fell into the cave network."

Both of his companions shared that worried look again. "Um. Wilson. I hate to say this… but there's no cave."

"What? That's impossible. You can't miss it."

Struggling to sit up Wolfgang tried to stop him."There's no hole-"

"Yes there is!" Wilson snapped and seeing that he wasn't taking no for an answer the strongman leaned him against the tree trunk. However, when the clearing came into view Wilson's heart jumped into his throat.

There was no chasm.

"Impossible." Wilson breathed out. It had been there. How could such a large hole just disappear like that?

Wolfgang suddenly beamed, chuckling at Wilson's dumbfounded face. He was about to say something when Willow cut him off. " Why don't you get some supplies before we head to the Beefalo field. There's no point heading back to camp now, so we might as well move on. I'll check to see if his wound's healing."

The strongman laughed but nodded all the same. With a grunt, he bounded across the clearing, clearly in a show to prove that there really wasn't a cave hidden there. Yet Wilson's mind was reeling. What had happened could not be a dream. The wound on his shoulder was proof of that. But the fact that the cave was gone set in a sinking feeling in the bottom of his gut.

"Wilson…" Her worried voice made him look back at her, fearful at what she was about to say. "Are you... are you sure you don't remember anything? I mean…when we found you were, you know... a little mad."

He reeled, trying to recall what had happened. There was a gape in his mind, something that he needed to remember, but when he searched there was nothing. Nothing but fog. "No...Willow that can't be right! I distantly remember the cave, the hole in the ground. That monster stabbed my shoulder with its claw. You've seen the wound, it was real!"

"Maybe, but it could have been that shadow monster too. Hell Will, maybe it was all in your head and you did make a fire or something. This isn't the first time this has happened." Of course, it wasn't the first time he'd imagined things. Visions and nightmares haunted him all the time, bending reality. But something told him this time it couldn't be fake. Yet gently Willow placed a hand on his shoulder. "You got to admit it's possible, right? I've had my fair share of crazy episodes too."

She had to be wrong, he thought. That what happened last night had happened. He would be dead if it wasn't. But maybe... maybe she was right? Could he have lost his mind so badly that he had imagined everything in some twisted dream? At that moment he believed that it was, his fear for their future playing tricks on him. The cave entrance was gone... wasn't that proof that he had gone mad?

"You could be right... " he muttered, sinking back against the tree trunk. Willow sighed, smiling weakly back at him. At that moment Wilson knew something else had happened; that the reason why she was so tense was that he had done something insane when they found him.

"I did something, right? Said something horrible to you?"

Her hitched breath was all the answer he needed, but she gave him more. "Yeah, you kind of went hysterical at me when we found you... you were..."

"What?" he said bluntly, heart sinking at the thought he'd hurt her in his madness. When the others find out Ms. Wickerbottom will never let him out of her sight again.

"You... mention a door, something about a door we had to find."

"A door," he repeated and frowned. Somehow he knew he should know about that. A door that led to many worlds. A door that they needed to find. An image flashed in his head, a wooden thing that was sinister and foreboding. The sound of creaking wood and hissing of steam, whispers as a face of wood jeered down at him. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold the memory. But it was gone.

"Do you know about a door Will?"

"No," he whispered, placing his good hand on over his eyes. " I don't know."

In truth he felt lost; confused as to what was real and what wasn't. Had that image been something he remembered or was is a trick from Them? Sometimes images haunted him, shifting into things that he didn't know. Maybe now was the same. Perhaps this world itself was nothing more than an illusion like he'd believed so many times over.

With heavy steps, the strongman returned, breath heavy after running up to them. " Sorry little Mille, but we got to move. Night's coming."

"Right, " Willow stood, grabbing his vest and folding it over her arm. "Can you walk Wilson?"

He didn't feel like moving ever again, not after what had happened. Before he could reply he felt the strongman scoop him up, jarring his shoulder. He cried out, vision flashing as Wolfgang tucked him in his arms. Wilson immediately complained, flushing at the embarrassment pose he was in. But Wolfgang brushed of his weak attempts to escape out of his grip and jogged over the clearing.

It was clear to Wilson that the man did it on purpose and Wilson grumbled as the man smirked down at him. "See Little Man, no cave!"

Wilson grunted back. " Thank you for breaking my pride more."

He saw Willow quickly follow in step smirking too. He scowled, pointing at her. "You two better not tell the others about this."

"Why of course not," Willow chuckled, Wilson gulping down his nervousness. She wouldn't dare, right?