The Wood

Written by: RavenHeart101

Disclaimer: I own nearly nothing?

Summary: Two mysterious children fell out of a wood in Italy eleven years ago. Now, when both children are sixteen they will be called back. To fight a war between the two fairytale lands.

Warnings: Slash (M/M pairing), fantasy, swearing, mature content.

Chapter 2

In a city in northern Italy, a girl with cropped short blonde hair and rich chocolate brown eyes sat on the doorstep of her parent' store. Her skinny white jacket was propped against her shoulders a sketch pad laid out on her light blue jeans, her bright yellow T-shirt being blown by the wind every once in a while. A pencil was being harassed in her mouth. Chewed on, thoughtfully. The small shops across the street were being attacked by tourists, looking for cheep rip offs of the souvenirs. She chuckled as a little boy came up behind a couple on their honey moon and bumped into the man, his hand inconspicuously finding its way into the cheep sports jacket. He quickly apologized, removing his hand just as fast (if not faster) than he had placing it inside. Shaking with mirth, she looked back down at her drawing, than back up at the statue in the town square. A lion stood poised next to St. Mark, his wings spread out behind him. He looked fierce as the tourists snapped pictures every which way.

Rose looked back down at her drawing, a piece of blonde hair falling into her face. She scowled at it, before placing it back behind her ear. Something, what ever it was, stood before her in the picture. Crafted out of perfected grey pencil streaks the something looked scarier than anything she had ever seen. Including her mother and father going at it. She swallowed and turned her gaze over to the next page. The same picture and same picture for the next five pages. Each one more detailed than the last. Each one of a once beautiful woman, a pile of bones in front of her elegant blue dress. Some kind of animal was hovering over her. It had dark grey skin, and colorless eyes. It was completely naked, which she really did not want to think about why it had neither male nor female parts, and grey hair down to its shoulders. It had blood dripping down its chin and onto the woman's beautiful dress. The woman was crying in agony, messing up her mused hair even more.

Rose sighed angrily, running a tanned hand through her hair, spiking it even more than it already was. "What!?" The sixteen-year-old jumped at her father's yell. She picked up her sketchbook and entered the used bookstore, curiously following the sound of her father's voice. "Che fare tu cattivo stato un incidente?" Marcus Justull's terrified voice cut through the receiver of the old dial phone. Rose watched as her father paced up in down in his office. He stopped in front of the window on looking the river; a happy couple rode by in a gondola as he ran a shaking hand through his long brown hair.

Marcus paused in his yelling, listening to the person on the other end of the line. "Ÿ Diane va bene?" He questioned attentively. His usually calm voice shaking slightly. Rose gasped, holding a hand over her mouth. Diane? As in Aunt Diane? What did he mean by is Diane okay?

"E Max?" He asked after the person answered again. He let out a shaky sigh, a relieved one. One that calmed Rose's nerves for a while. "Grazie Dio." Marcus exclaimed. "Thank you." He said in English. The thing about Marcus was that he was fluent in Italian, since it was where he grew up. However, ever since he had adopted Rose, he had to learn English, since that was the only language she knew.

He hung up the old black phone and dropped into his wooden chair behind his desk. Rose bit her lip, before knocking lightly on the doorway. Marcus looked up, startled, his hazel eyes flaring up. He caught sight of the teen in the doorway, and the look melted. "Rosee, darling." He said quietly, beckoning her closer to him. "I should have known you'd be listening." Rose smiled slightly at him, her brown eyes wide with fear.

"Is Max-?" She began hurriedly.

"Max is fine-."

"And Aunt Diane-?"

"… She will survive." He answered after swallowing a cup of ice-cold water.

"Wh- what do you mean she will "survive?" Survive what?" Rose asked apprehensively.

"Sit down Rose." He ordered her coolly.

"But daddy-"

"No arguments flower. Just sit." Rose complied, dropping into the cushioned mahogany chair in front of her father. "There was a fire at Diane's place." Rose gasped, holding her hand in front of her lips. Her eyes began to well up with tears, for what reason she did not know. "Diane was hurt severely and Max needs a place to stay. As I am his godfather, he is to stay here, with us. We will be picking him up tomorrow."

"Pick him up? When are we leaving exactly? Whatdoyoumeanbysurvive?" Rose asked in a jumble. Marcus chuckled silently, looking up at his blonde daughter. His hazel eyes regarded her coolly.

"Yes we are going to pick him up. We will be leaving to pick him up at 5 am. And I mean she will survive." Rose sighed, angry with her father for avoiding actually answering her last question. "Trust me, flower. Max and Diane will be fine. In all honesty, I am more worried about Max. The emotional trauma." Marcus shook his head in dismay.

Rose sat back in her seat, throwing her head over the top of it. "Grazie Dio."

The plane ride was terrible, boring, agonizing, terrifying and just plain restless. The woman next to Max on the plane held a crying baby who just would not shut up. After about five hours of listening to the cries of the annoying child, Max snapped. "Argh!" He yelled angrily. The woman looked at him apologetically. Max jumped up from his seat, ignoring the flight attendant's frantic yells telling him that he should sit down. Max ignored her, running into the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and leaned against it, his hands holding his head as if it were about to fall off his shoulders.

"RUN! GO CHILDREN! GO TO THE EDGE OF THE WOODS AND PASS THROUGH! NEVER COME BACK!"


"Mommy?"


"Don't you know what will happen?"


"I'm sorry to tell you this Mr. Justull… but your mother-"


"You're involved in this one way or another, I know it."


"If she dies because of you-"


"I have no clue-!"


"What are you accusing me of?"


"Of your mother's attempted murder."


"Why would I kill the one person who's been there for me when ever I needed her?"


"Stranger things have happened."


"I love you, Max."


"I love you too, mom."

"Please don't go."


"You can't escape me!"

Max let out a frustrated yell, before he slid down the door, hands covering his ears. "You can't escape me, Max." His hands clawed down his face. "You'll die. Just like your mother."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Max whispered, wrapping his arms around his knees and throwing his head into his arms.

"You will die, Max. Just like your mother."

"Shut up." He whispered desperately. The voice kept on talking, coaxing him. It was neither male nor female, but it held a malice that none other had. "Shut up." He said a little louder.

"You have to want it to happen, Max. You have to try." Said the voice again, a smirk in its voice.

"Shut up." He said louder yet.

The voice laughed. "Want me to shut up Max. Really want me."

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" The malicious laughter continued, causing Max to start rocking back and forth. "Stop it! Stop!"

"No, Max, you have to want it!"

"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!" In a matter of seconds, the voice was gone. It was quiet and all was still in the bathroom. He was crying, he had had enough of crying. Frustrated with himself, Max wiped at his face furiously, and pushed himself up off the tiled bathroom floor and walked over to the crystallized, granite sink. He raised his head to look at himself in the mirror. Red scratch marks were formed all down his face, looking like he had been crying out blood and it had dried the moment it hit the air.

He rubbed his fingers across the marks silently. He shook his head, wincing when he pressed to hard against one of the red Niles. Max looked himself in the eyes, wondering if anyone on the plane had been alerted of his yelling. Hopefully not. He just wanted the cuts gone. Disappeared, to never be seen again. In less than five minutes of looking at himself in the mirror… his eyes turned from their crystal blue to an emerald green and the cuts slowly began to heal. Max did not even realize what he was doing until it was already done. The cuts were glowing with a golden light… than they were gone. His face stung a little from where they once were… but they were not there. Max's mouth was wide as his eyes faded back to their original blue. Immediately he felt light headed and had to sit down on the toilet seat that was (luckily) right behind him. Nock, nock, nock! Someone was knocking. He turned his tired gaze onto the door and waited for it to stop spinning before shaking his head and walking over to it. The flight attendant stood out side of the door looking nervous and scared. "We're going to be landing shortly sir." Max looked at her blankly before remembering his manners.

"Thank you." He answered kindly, shocking the (poor) flight attendant even more. He smiled slightly before walking back to his seat, paying no attention to the people who were staring at him as he passed. Obviously, they had all heard.

Rose stood impatiently outside the airport. Marcus was inside, fetching Max. And Rose… well Rose was stuck waiting outside with her mother, Lisa. However, Lisa was off somewhere, with someone who was not her or her father. She had known about this for a while. Like when she got out of school early and had walked home. Rose expected to see her mother's car gone… but no, it was parked in their parking lot. She was excited to see her mother, so, of course, she ran inside to say hi… and stopped halfway into the living room. Lisa was sitting on the couch with another man, defiantly not her father… and they were doing things- things a married woman should not be doing with someone other than her husband.

Rose snorted unattractively and looked down at her Mickey Mouse watch. 1:15pm… and they had left at five. Gosh, what was taking so long? Just as that thought crossed her mind, Marcus exited the airport carrying two brown carry on bags and being followed by a dark haired teen. Rose felt her breath hitch when she noticed the light tear marks that were on her cousin's face. When she noticed how tired he looked, how harassed. How his hair looked like it got into a fight with the wind and lost. "Oh, Maxie." She whispered before running up to the boy who was dragging a suitcase behind him. Rose threw her skinny arms around his shoulders, jumping into his arms. She breathed in the familiar scent of New England and sighed, pulling away from Max after a minuet or so. "I am so-"

"I know." He cut her off, smiling slightly and sadly at her. Marcus shook his head when he saw the haunted look in the sixteen year olds eyes again. It was worse than he thought. Once inside the car no one speaks. Rose kept on glancing at Max worriedly, while Marcus kept his gaze strongly ahead, knowing that the boy would need some time to think. Max kept on flashing back to the house on fire… to the image in the mirror… to the plane… to the dream. He closed his eyes, trying to get the images out of his mind. It was becoming harder and harder to remember what had happened. He was not sure if that was a good thing.

"So Max," Stared Lisa, regaining her nephew's attention. "How's school going?" Her big lips were blotched with a bright apple red and her long brown hair was thrown over her shoulder. Lisa's big brown eyes were gazing at Max expectantly.

"Alright." He answered his eyes finding their way back to the window.

"How are your grades?" She tried again.

"Good."

"Everyone in school treating you okay?"

"Yes."

Lisa sighed and gave up. Rose grabbed his hand and smiled gently at him, causing Max to smile back. He rested his head on the window, watching as the landmarks flew by in a flash. None of them were processed in his head until they passed a dark wood. He sat up shocked, recognizing it from somewhere. Max began to hear a faint buzzing in his ears, getting louder and louder the closer they got. It became a high-pitched whine, it sounded like nails scraping across a chalkboard, it felt like his teeth grinding… he clasped his hands over his ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound and clenched his eyes shut. He leaned forward, almost screaming. Marcus immediately pulled over when he noticed the motions. Lisa's hands flew up to her mouth. Rose screamed falling over into a dead faint. The sound became louder and louder and he just could not hold it in anymore… he let out a painful scream and the edges around his eyes began to fade black.

Marcus and Lisa both ran over to the teens. Lisa had just managed to make it over to Rose when she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her back and she fell forward knowing no more. Marcus followed soon after. Max could not hold on any longer and he collapsed next to Rose on the leather seats on the car, a tiny trickle of blood falling out of the side on his mouth. The wood had begun its endless call. When the police showed up, the two teens were nowhere to be found.

Translations (Italian):

"Che fare tu cattivo stato un incidente?"- What do you mean there's been an accident?

"Ÿ Diane va bene?"- And Diane's okay?

"E Max?"- And Max?

"Grazie Dio."- Thank God.

Heh... these might not all be right, because I'm relying on an online translator for these... If anyone can help please do!

A: N- Heh... Is this moving too fast? Yeah... two chapters in one day. I'm worried that no one will read this... They probably won't. Because this story probably sucks.