Halloween special
Happy Halloween! Sorry this is late, I've had midterms recently. Enjoy the holiday special!
To visitor: I read your Cantella story! I was so happy when I read it, finally another sinei! The ending made me kind of sad, but it makes sense. Thanks for telling me about it!
So I got a review awhile ago from a Sinei story asking if I was going to do something with Kouen objecting to Sinbad and Hakuei because they are a ship. The answer is no, I will not. While I don't personally prefer the Kouen and Hakuei ship I don't want to go out of my way and bash it just because I don't ship it. We are all free to ship what we want! (: In most of my stories I operate under the line that he doesn't care for Hakuei in that way.
Note: This story does mention potential murder, suicide, death, mentioned adult content (Maybe?) and some gruesome details. While I wouldn't exactly call this story a horror, it is supposed to be scarier than most of my stories. So for anyone who gets frightened easily, be warned.
Do you ever wonder what goes bump in the night?
What makes your skin crawl?
Have you heard the snap and crackle that sends you running back to your home?
What sets you on edge?
What is it that just doesn't seem right?
What
Is
Out
There?
For the residents of the city of Kou, that was a question none of them dared to answer. Because they didn't know what it was, but they knew where it was. And they knew what happened when you went there.
The Haku-Kou family used to have six members. But only two were left.
The scared mansion hardly depicted the glorious home of the past. Charred pieces of wood had been permanently fixed black with ashes. The house which used to be three stories high only retained the floor, with the two higher floors scattered around the ground. The remaining siblings could remember what it was like living in the house. Where their beds were, where the library used to stand and the secret entrance to the garden at the back. It was supposed to be a house that would last forever.
Perhaps they shouldn't have built a house so close to the trees.
Hakuei Ren could still remember the first time she had laid eyes on the forest. Shortly after her youngest brother had been born the family had moved into the new house. Her father had thought that it would be good for their family to be closer to his brother's family, so they could find someone to help when needed. Hakuei remembered the cold shiver that had run down her back when she'd went out to the back yard. How she turned and froze at the sight of the forest. It wasn't the glooming trees that seemed to sway against her every move. Or the way the light never seemed to reach anywhere below the highest branches.
It was that she knew she was being watched.
Strange things happened to those who went to close to the forest. The family learned that in time.
"What's in there?" Hakuei had asked her mother who had come to make her unpack her things.
"I'm sure it's nothing sweetie," her mother had answered. "Just some wild animals." Gyouken seemed unaffected by the same fears that told the rest of the family to stay away from the trees. She seemed immune to the icy chill that would set over them when they got to close, or the feeling of dread when one of them turned their back towards the wood. She thought they were all being silly.
Only later did they realize that was meant she was already caught.
The police never found out how she had started the fire. The house couldn't find a lighter, a match, no gas or lamp that could have been the cause. When they checked the sprinkler system and smoke alarms they could find nothing wrong with them. Yet the fire that had trapped Hakuyuu, Hakuren and their father inside had been able to engulf them without any resistance. Hakuei and Hakuryuu came back from visiting their cousins to find their house in ashes, barely a corpse to bury their family. The police had nothing.
Nothing but a suspect.
Their mother didn't make it too hard on them, which Hakuei was sure the police were grateful for. Even when they had no evidence or cause, they found her the same night, sitting underneath a tree of the forest. Her grin was far too wide and her eyes extremely bright. Hakuei remembered her shouting as the police took her in. "I will stop Solomon! I will save our father! I am Arba the witch!" The policemen said she had lost her mind. All the doctors concluded that it must have been from the guilt of killing her eldest children and husband. That her mind had snapped under the pressure.
But in secret, everyone had their own suspicions.
Especially when they had found her dead in her cell with the word 'witch' burned into her forehead.
"Maybe the forest is haunted," their cousin Kouha had wondered one day after Hakuei and Hakuryuu, the only survivors, had moved in. He glanced over the textbook he was supposed to be studying from and gave his new siblings a wicked grin. "Maybe someone died in the forest and never got justice. Now it wants revenge on the people of the town who wouldn't help it when it was alive." A small Kougyoku shivered, curling into the arm of her eldest brother who sat on the couch next to her.
"Ghost's don't' exist," Hakuryuu retorted stubbornly. "Don't be silly." But Hakuei remembered back to the first day when she saw the forest. She had been watched. Something had seen her from the forest. Was it a ghost?
The family hardly spoke of what had happened. A few years later Hakuei discovered that her brother Kouen had been looking into the incident to find out what had caused the incident. "I doubt it has anything to do with the forest," Kouen admitted, doubting anything supernatural unless proven through his books. "It's possible there is a toxin in the forest that caused your mother to hallucinate."
"But then what started the fire?" Koumei asked. Kouen didn't have an answer.
Slowly the memories of the fire started to fade. The house that the two siblings moved into was far away from the forest and they made a point never to cross paths with it again. The forest became just another nightmare, a small part of their memories that they knew about but was hardly thought of. The only times the memories would resurface was when others would go near the forest. They heard stories of groups of teenagers daring that brave or foolish couple to go fool around together in the forest, and they would come back with their lips sealed shut. How a man once walked in to try and get some wood but came out instead covered in strange markings. And those were when the people would come out. They all grew up in the area, they all had grown up with the same, simple rule.
Don't go in the forest.
Something happened in there. Something lived in there. Something was wrong with it. No one was sure which, but whatever it was, it was bad. It was wrong. There was something deeply unsettling that their human instinct told them to stay away from. All the children had asked the same questions.
"What's in the forest?"
"Why can't we go in?"
The parents didn't answer. They didn't have to. Even a child could tell there was something dangerous about the seemingly innocent trees that no one dared to cut. Anyone who went near it were trained both instinctively and socially to never go inside. So they didn't. No one went into the forest.
Except for the time someone had no choice.
That had never happened before.
Hakuei wasn't sure what led her back to the house that had been the king of her nightmares for so long. Was it because it was the anniversary of the day they had first moved in? No, that day passed every year without a second thought. Was it because the city finally decided it was time to put a gate around the forest to keep stragglers out? That couldn't be it. But nevertheless, Hakuei stepped around the area that their garden used to be. Only weeds and long grass remained where orchids and roses used to be. She risked a glance towards the forest, daring to take it all in for the first time. The truth was the forest was beautiful. The trees were tall, strong, and the grass always seemed a touch greener than anything she had laid eyes on. It was easy to see why someone could be tempted to just take a peek inside.
The forest seemed fine.
So what was wrong with it?
"Excuse me?"
Hakuei nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden disturbance. To her right she found a stranger, walking over to her with disarming smile. The man had long purple hair tied back with a string that went down to his waist. Despite the cold he wore a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up top underneath a black jacket, along with a purple tie to match. Hakuei couldn't imagine why someone would wear such a fancy looking suit so casually. The tie was loose and a few buttons of the shirt were undone. Perhaps he was coming back from a wedding? Or some other formal engagement? Either way, his tanned skin and the curve of his eyes didn't match the people of Kou. Perhaps he was foreign? There was something odd about those eyes. They were gold, the same colour as the money in her purse. But there was something…Something off. Something wrong. Something she couldn't name.
How did he get so close without me noticing him? Hakuei wondered. The man held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you! I just wanted to know what such a beautiful women was doing out here all alone?"
Her guard went up when she heard the obvious flattery. People don't give compliments to strangers so quickly unless they wanted something. "I was simply taking a walk. Is there anything I can help you with?" The man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'll admit I am lost. I was looking for a little girl…oh well. I suppose she ran off. Her mother probably brought her home." He took a second to turn and examine their surroundings. "What an odd place to be going for a walk. Why not in the forest? It must have nicer views than," he waved towards the black pieces of tinder. "…This."
He must be a foreigner if he's considering going into the forest. Hakuei mused. "I would rather not go into the forest right now. I actually came to see the house…Or what's left of it," She admitted as an afterthought. The man raised an eyebrow at the wreckage.
"What happened here?"
"Fire," Hakuei replied. "What else?"
"It must have been an awful fire," he mused. Then, as an afterthought, he gave her another smile. "Sorry, where are my manners. My name is Sinbad, pleasure to meet you." He stretched out a hand towards her, waiting for her to take it. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to discover more than the surface gave her about the stranger. She had learned to be cautious of those who did not fear the forest. Either they were brave enough not to care or foolish enough not to believe in the danger. Usually it was both. And either way always led to disaster.
But there was something in his eyes that refused to let her turn away. The golden light kept her trapped where she was, close to the stranger. What was it about those eyes that was different compared to others?
The way they reflected the light?
The gold colour Hakuei was not used to?
No.
No, that wasn't it.
There was something strange
She was taking his hand before she knew what she was doing. "It's nice to meet you," her automatic response came but without letting her choose her words. The man smiled, appearing oblivious to her inner turmoil.
"So tell me," Sinbad began, tilting his head towards the wreckage once again. "What would it take for me to get you to tell me the story of this old house?" It took Hakuei a moment to shake her thoughts clean and focus on what he had said. When she figured it out she hurried to shake her head no.
"Oh-It's a long story. Really not that interesting. Everyone around here knows it."
"All the more reason I should learn it," Sinbad decided. "How about dinner? Does that sound like a fair trade?" he covered his eyes as he looked towards the setting sun. "It's around dinner time now, right? You must be hungry." She was. Hakuei hadn't realized just how hungry she actually was until he mentioned it. Her stomach growled in protest when she considered saying no. Hakuei still hesitated. The way he was asking her made it sound like a date, and she was extremely uncomfortable with dating strangers. Actually, she was uncomfortable with doing anything with strangers.
"I really don't think…"
"You can pick the restaurant," Sinbad added. "I don't know anything around here anyway. And I'd love to have someone I know in this town instead of lots of strangers." The part that told her no was still holding most of the cards. But the sly voice in her head told her to relax. He said you can pick where you're going, it told her. And he's just trying to get to know someone. It doesn't have to be a date. But it was hard to see it as anything but. If they had been old friends going to dinner that would have been different, but they were strangers.
As a last futile defense she tried, "I…you seem very nice, and I'm flattered, but…"
"Oh, no," Sinbad waved in front of his face. "It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want to. I really just want to learn a bit more about this town and the people in it. It's a wonder to me how I've lived so close to here and hardly know anything about it. The only people I know are the ones who come visit me. I'd like to say I know at least someone here." The smile he gave her would have made a stubborn mountain move. And she was already swayed by his thoughts.
"Well…I suppose dinner couldn't hurt…There's a nice diner down the street from here. They have some delicious fish and pasta." Hakuei purposefully chose the one that was close to her home. Couldn't hurt to be careful.
"Great!" He offered his arm out to Hakuei with that same smile. "Lead the way Hakuei!" She decided to smile as she took his arm, gently leading him in the right direction. He seemed nice enough. And it was just getting dinner in a public place. What could go wrong?
Huh, Hakuei mused. Did I tell this man my name?
They were seated at the restaurant quicker than Hakuei would have thought possible. The diner was one of the most popular places in the city and it was near impossible to get a table without waiting at least 15 minutes. Perhaps it was the smile Sinbad flashed at the waiter. He nearly melted under his gaze, and Hakuei didn't blame him. Somehow they got a nice private table by one of the windows. Their waitress seemed to find an excuse to come and see if everything was alright every ten minutes or so. A few times Hakuei caught her sending wistful glances at Sinbad and jealous glances at her. "If you were looking for a date this evening, I'm sure that waitress would be happy to take my spot." Sinbad cast a lazy eye over to the waitress as she made an effort to fix her posture.
"Some other time perhaps," Sinbad replied, though his tone said he wasn't making any plans. "I'm enjoying myself now more than I have in a long time." He took a bite out of the fish that their waitress had brought them while Hakuei scooped up a piece of her penne pasta. "You were right about this restaurant by the way. This is really good!"
"I'm surprised you've never heard of it," Hakuei admitted. She had to hide her giggles at Sinbad's goofy smile. He reminded her of a little kid opening Christmas presents. "This place is famous in the city."
"I don't doubt that," Sinbad nodded as he slipped in another bite. "It's delicious!"
Hakuei laughed, slowly starting to relax. "What are you doing in Kou anyway? You said you live close to here?"
Sinbad nodded again as he finished his bite. "I'm just here for a visit," he admitted. "See the city. Look for someone."
"Who are you looking for?" Hakuei asked in curiosity. She remembered him saying he had been looking for a little girl whose mother had likely found her.
With the hand that held his fork he waved the question away. "No one anymore," he declared. "I found you didn't I?" there was a small smile that forced its way through at his words. Sinbad pulled his seat forward and leaned forward. "Speaking of which, I believe you promised me a story."
At first her mind was blank to his meaning, then she remembered their earlier conversation. "Oh, the house! I…" She didn't like talking about the story. Everyone in the city knew what had happened, and few liked to bring it up. The only time she'd had to discuss it was with the police all those years ago. Again and again she had to tell them all she remembered, relived the screaming of her mother and the sight of the fire. The flames that never deceased. Her mother on the floor with a necklace of her own blood. "It's…not that interesting."
"Let me be the judge of that," Sinbad replied. Either he was ignorant to her discomfort or blatantly ignoring it. "Please?" His gold eyes seemed to capture her once again. They looked so…She didn't know. It was as if they glowed. They were absolutely captivating…but in a bad way. Like the sugar-coating to the poison. A temptation to the flame.
A temptation that was hard to resist. Hakuei sighed, bracing herself for the story that was to come. "Well…There was a family that moved in there. Three boys, a girl and their parents. One day their mother started a fire and killed her husband and the two eldest boys. Later she was arrested and her youngest children moved in with their cousins. Later the women was found dead in her cell." Hakuei purposefully tried to make the story as boring and distant as she could, hoping he wouldn't ask too many questions or tire of it in general.
"Sounds like a regular ghost story," Sinbad observed, declaring Hakuei's plan unsuccessful. "Do people believe the house was haunted? That's why the mother snapped?" Hakuei's mind immediately went to her cousin Kouha stating that the forest was haunted.
She poked at her pasta which was slowly starting to look less appetizing. "No, I don't think it was haunted. At least no one believes the house was," she added as an afterthought.
"So what's the explanation," Sinbad asked as he finished his meal. "If the house was fine, then what?" Hakuei hesitated. It seemed silly saying it out loud. Blaming the death of more than half of her family on a forest? A cluster of trees that just happened to look more foreboding then another group? The people of the town had seen what it could do, so in their minds there was no doubt. But to try and explain that to a stranger made her sound like she was a superstitious person who believed in ghosts and zombies and wore tinfoil hats to avoid alien encounters.
But she decided not to lie. She couldn't if she tried. "Some people like to blame the forest," She answered reluctantly. Sinbad tilted his head to the side.
"The forest," he repeated, lacking the usual surprise she expected.
"I-It sounds strange," Hakuei admitted. "But weird things often happen to people who go near the forest." Realizing her addition just made her story sound even crazier she added, "A-A few people say there are toxins, or some kind of poisonous plant in the forest that effects the human brain."
Sinbad almost coughed out his drink. "Toxins?"
"It's a theory," Hakuei stated. She decided not to mention the lovers that had come out with their mouths sealed shut or the man who came out with strange markings. "But whoever goes in there always ends up…getting hurt."
"I see," Sinbad replied, sounding far too interested in the topic for Hakuei's liking. "If it's so dangerous in there, why doesn't the government send people in to chop it down? Find whatever it is that causes these injuries and get rid of it." The thought almost gave Hakuei a heart attack. A few years back the city council had tried that and sent in a team of construction men to try and cut down the wood. Of the ones that came back they were each missing a different limb, their memories of the past few hours and had a large, frightening smile that would stay there until they died. Hakuei herself had met one woman who had lost her right hand in the forest. Another had lost his nose. A third man that Kouha told her about had lost all the skin on the lower half of his body. Hakuei wasn't sure if he was teasing her or not. The only thing they were sure of was that after that the city had decided never to try something like that again.
It almost felt like the forest was taunting them.
"They try not to send people in the forest anymore," Hakuei replied. "It's dangerous.
"Oh, I agree with that," Sinbad chuckled as he took a sip of his drink. She couldn't tell if he was teasing her or not. "But why don't people go in?"
Hakuei thought she had just answered that question. "Be…because it is dangerous! If people go in they would get hurt! The city doesn't want to send people in when they don't know what would happen to them."
Instead of agreeing with her, Sinbad just observed her words with interest. "Hmm…" Sinbad finished the last of his drink as he considered her. "That is a problem." Hakuei didn't understand what there was to debate. It didn't matter the number or the power, people should never go into the forest! And yet Sinbad seemed obsessed with the idea of sending more people inside. Had she not explained herself enough? It must have been because he wasn't from there. Even the children of the city knew the rules. Even the drunkest fool would never break it.
Why did Sinbad not seem afraid in the slightest?
At the end of the meal Hakuei tried to pay for her own meal but Sinbad insisted. "I brought you hear to tell me a ghost story. I invited you, it's only fair." Part of her wanted to argue, but the other part told her, hey, its free food. And she couldn't complain. Like him, she had to admit that the evening, other than the blast back to the past, had been one of the most enjoyable she'd had in a while. Definitely more fun than her original plan to just hang around her nightmare scene for a while.
As Sinbad paid the bill Hakuei noticed the waitress had added her phone number. "For a man who claims he doesn't live here you certainly are quite popular." Sinbad smirked as he took out a few bills. Hakuei raised an eyebrow when he not only left the phone number but left a very substantial tip. "You might be sending mixed messages if you leave the number but give her a big tip."
"I'd like to call it an apology for not taking it," Sinbad replied. "I don't have a phone."
Hakuei blinked, caught off-guard. "Why don't you have a phone?"
Sinbad shrugged. "Never needed one."
Hakuei wondered what kind of adult living in the twenty first century could possibly survive without a phone. He looked like he was a working man, judging from the kinds of clothes he wore. He seemed like the responsible type, if not a little laid back compared to most. Or maybe she just worked too much. As they left the restaurant Sinbad asked if she had far to go. She admitted it was a little far, so Sinbad decided to go with her. "I'll walk you back," Sinbad offered. "Your place is on the way to mine anyway." She wasn't sure how he could possibly know that, considering she hadn't told him where she lived. But she found she just couldn't argue with him. She wasn't sure what it was about him that drew her closer but he just seemed so…right.
Something was wrong.
But being around him felt right.
He was bad.
Yet good.
There was something she was missing. Hakuei knew even through her decision that there was a piece of the whole puzzle she was missing, a rule to a game she had not chosen to play that no one had bothered to tell her about. Why did she let him lead her home, saying he knew a short cut to a place he'd never been to? There was something wrong, but she went along with it. Why? How come she spoke to the man like it was natural, as if she could tell him anything? Why did it seem like he knew it all already? He was normal. He was kind. But…
But….
"What about you then?" Sinbad asked as they finished a conversation about her latest case in her law firm. "Have you ever wanted to go into the forest?"
"Me? Never!" Was the automatic response. When he tilted his head to the side in doubt however Hakuei felt obliged to give an honest response. "I mean…I know it's dangerous. I've seen what happened to people who go in there, and I know to never actually follow but…something about it is interesting. Tempting I guess. I hear about it all the time and yet no one truly knows what it is like in there. Sometimes I just get…curious." She paused, Sinbad remained silent as he waited for her to continue. Eventually she shook her head. "But I still know that I should never go in. I suppose people are just drawn to what is bad for them."
"People are drawn to what is bad for them…" Sinbad mused under his breath. A small smile played at her words, as if she had said something that pleased him greatly. "That is an interesting point. But have you ever heard of the story being told the other way around?"
Hakuei glanced up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Sinbad answered her. "What happens when the darkness is the thing that is drawn to the light?"
Hakuei stopped. She stopped because she had never thought about that before. She stopped because she wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about anymore. She stopped because she didn't understand how a forest could be drawn towards something, no matter how unusual it could be. She stopped because she realized something. She realized just where they were.
"What are we doing here?"
Sinbad tilted his head to the side. "You said you wanted to go home."
"But…but this isn't…"
How did she not notice? How could she have not seen where he had taken her until they were already there?
The charred remains of the house were exactly as they had left it. Piles of wood and bricks that had used to be walls and furniture piled together, rotting where they would stay for their entire existence as no one would dare let make them move. Weeds and sticks that had replaced the once blooming flowers overshadowed any reminder of the joyful life that had once been there. Plains of grass that Hakuei and her brother used to run around in for hours were frozen to the ground, never moved, never disturbed.
The trees of the forest loomed over her with a smile of triumph.
"Why didn't you tell me you were the daughter who got away?" Sinbad asked. He didn't sound offended, simply curious to her answer. Hakuei couldn't answer, to many questions forming in her mind. The golden eyes that had seemed so charming an innocent before started to look like temptation itself.
"How do you know I used to live here," Hakuei countered. "I never told you!"
"You didn't have to my dear," Sinbad explained as if it should be obvious. "I already knew." Hakuei could just stare at him. Any words that would have made sense in that situation were lost on her. From his reaction he hadn't expected a response. Instead he turned towards the forest once again, eyes roaming over it like a hungry wolf. "The forest looks quite lovely tonight," he changed the subject abruptly. When he turned to her the gleam in his eyes definitely was more frightening than welcoming. "Would you like to go inside?"
Hakuei had never heard anyone suggest anything so absurd. "I…I can't go there." Sinbad tilted his head to the side, the glow of his eyes enhanced by the moonlight.
"Why not my love?" Sinbad purred. His voice was velvety soft, temptation in soundwaves.
While her instinct told her something was off, her mind decided that he must be alright. He had the voice of someone who could be trusted, someone who knew what he was doing. "It…that's the forest. It's not safe in there. People get hurt," she told him, hardly paying any attention to the words that came out of her own mouth. "Be…besides, there is the gate!" She waved towards the new gates, thankful for the first time the city had decided to build them. "They keep the forest locked up. There is no way in." Sinbad chuckled, low under his breath. It sent shivers up her spine.
"The forest is locked up? Darling…" Sinbad let go of her briefly so he could walk up to the fence. Hakuei tried to protest, but the words were caught in her through when Sinbad turned back to her. His strange eyes were glowing. "This is a forest that cannot be caged."
With one swing he grabbed the metal bars and ripped it out of the earth. Hakuei held back a scream as Sinbad effortlessly threw the broken pieces of the gate aside. Next he made quick work of the rest, stomping down on the edges as if they were paper, tearing apart the lost ends as if he was tearing a pillow. As easily as one would destroy a Childs tower of blocks Sinbad annihilated the only piece of protection the city had against the forest. And he'd done it all with a smile on his face.
"That is much nicer," Sinbad huffed when he was done. He turned back to a shivering Hakuei, a wicked grin plain on his face. "Now would you like to come go inside? There is nothing stopping you anymore." Nothing? Nothing but the crippling fear that began to take over her whole body. It was a miracle her legs had the strength in them to stand because the rest of her body felt like jelly. It felt like a dream. No, definitely not a dream. A nightmare.
"Who…what are you?"
Sinbad drew back. Even with all that was happening, that question caught him of guard. "What am I?" He tilted his head back, trying to find the answer in the deep corners of his brain. "I truly don't know the answer to that. I used to know…A long time ago…but as they say, everything is lost in time. What am I…now that really is a puzzle isn't it? I'm something…different. I'm not like you. I'm fallen. I'm strange. I'm a terrifying mystery." His gold eyes fixed themselves on her blue ones. The fire in his eyes held no light, but all the potential to burn. "Would you like to solve that mystery? I am the darkness that calls to you."
Sinbad took a step closer to the forest. Instinctively she wanted to warn him, to tell him to get away as far as he could go. But then her instincts told her a different story. No, it's alright. He's not doing anything wrong. See hos perfectly he fits there among the trees? He's not out of place. That's exactly where he should be.
"You…you said you lived close to...my house." She thought he had meant the house she actually lived in. She'd assumed he lived in another house in the town over, or would head over to a bus that would drive him where he needed to be. She'd assumed he lived further than he actually did.
Sinbad's grin was like poison. "That I did."
"Where…do you live?"
"Do you really need me to answer that?"
The wind that blew through the trees sounded suspiciously like laughter. Hakuei didn't even notice as her legs crumpled underneath her, nor the grass that brushed up against her jeans. The forest was darker than before, more powerful than she had ever seen. And it was closer. Much closer. It beckoned to her like a magician ready to show her next trick. It had to be a trick. It couldn't be real.
But the gold of Sinbad's eyes confirmed what she feared. He was exactly what she was afraid of.
A hand slipped around Hakuei's waist as Sinbad forced her to her feet. Her eyes widened as he pulled her closer to the entrance. "Come on Hakuei, let's go home."
As her situation truly dawned on her she tried to resist. "G-go…I'm not going with you anywhere!" Regaining feeling in her arms she tried to push away from him and run back to safety. His arm remained permanently fixed around her waist. "Let go of me!"
"Hakuei!" Sinbad laughter brought no humor nor relief into the situation. "My dear, you should pay more attention. If I recall, I wasn't asking. I am bringing you home."
"That forest is not my home!" She cried in panic, her efforts to get away not even making him flinch. What was he?
"No. But it will be. Once I claim you as mine you will have nowhere else to go. You cannot hide from me anymore."
Hide? Run? "I was never hiding!" Hakuei gasped, but even as she said it she knew they were lies. Wasn't she always hiding? Wasn't there a reason she hated talking about the forest, why she avoided going to close to the trees? Didn't she know something was wrong after her mother ended her life and the lives of her brothers? From the first day when she felt something watching her from between the trees, couldn't she tell that there was something watching her? Didn't she know she had to get away from it? From him? Desperately she tried to dig her feet into the ground has he brought her closer. "My brother and I got free from this place! We don't want to go anywhere near it!"
"Your brother?" Sinbad stopped, the hand around her keeping Hakuei from falling over. The look he gave her was of genuine surprise mixed with some curiosity. "Your brother was already caught in our trap. Didn't you know?" That made Hakuei freeze.
"…What? Hakuryuu?"
Sinbad nodded slowly. "Yes Hakuryuu. Who do you think brought the knife to your mother's throat?"
It felt as if everything Hakuei had once known was being torn to shreds. Her brother had done that? He had burned the words witch into her forehead? She knew that their mother had never been a good person but…for her own brother to have killed her? When he was so young? She had always thought it strange after her death how Hakuryuu had almost seemed reassured compared to her growing fear. As if he knew for certain that nothing would come after them again. "My…my brother…no, he wouldn't have done such a thing!" Hakuei fought back, helpless against the wave of fear that hit her like a truck. "You liar!"
"When have I lied to you?" Sinbad asked honestly, paying no mind to Hakuei as she hit his chest. "Everything I have told you is true, you just have to face it." He grew annoyed at her response. With both hands he grabbed her wrists, leaving her powerless. "There's no reason to worry about him anymore," Sinbad assured her. "Once caught is enough as far as the forest is concerned. He was released from its grasp long ago. Your brother can go on the rest of his boring, human life just like anyone of you would. Well…depending on how long he decides he can live with the guilt that is. He certainly didn't show any remorse when he was done." He was right. Hakuryuu hadn't shown any signs that he had just murdered someone. The police had never found out.
No one had any idea.
"It can't be true," Hakuei tried to force herself to believe, but any resistance was starting to die away. "It can't be true…"
"Now see, here's the thing," Sinbad continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Your mother was caught. It turned her into a witch. Your brother was caught and became an assassin. Your brothers and father became victims that were caught in the flames. But then there is you. What about you?"
"W-what about me?" Hakuei stuttered, desperation slowly creeping in. "What a-about you? Who are you? Why are you doing this? How do you k-know me?"
"How do I know you? Well that should be obvious by now." Sinbad shook his head. With his hands still around her wrists he yanked her to him, making her stumble as he held her hands out behind him. "But while our tricks worked easily on the rest of your family, the forest didn't catch you. You should have been caught by now, I should already have seen the end of our plans. But I haven't. Nothing happened to you. Can you tell me why that is?"
She shook her head, simultaneously trying to unravel the information and resist letting it in. "Our? You and the forest? I don't understand?"
"Well that's the most frightening part isn't it?" Sinbad told her. "You don't understand. And it's possible you never will understand." Sinbad's hair slipped in front of his face as he tilted his head to look at her from a different angle. "You've grown into such a beautiful women…You were just a little girl when I first saw you. I wasn't much older actually. Well…not compared to other humans of course. But for me…I'm a special case. Don't worry," he assured her, running a hand through her hair. "I'll make sure to explain all of this to you in time."
But Hakuei yanked her head away from him and stumbled away. Even the few steps that distanced them was like a breath of fresh air. "Stop! I don't want to know any of this! What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?"
Sinbad took an easy step forwards with every step she took back. He tried to close the distance while she tried to make it grow. "What I want from you is more…complicated than what the forest wanted with your family. The forest was interested in your family from the beginning. It always enjoys tricking the newcomers who ignored the citizens advice, who just so happen to choose a spot so close. I watched as you came to the house. I saw you in the garden, and for your few years of ignorant bliss afterwards. It was humorous to watch you all live on so happily, innocent to what was coming." She couldn't decide between her fear and the anger she felt. If he had seen it all, why hadn't he done something?
"But I realized something," Sinbad continued, not noticing her rage. "After you left. When my curiosity grew in the one girl that escaped the forest I looked back on my memories of you. The others pointed out to me how often I had left our little games to come and watch you. They mentioned how many more victims I took when you had left. I hadn't even realized how much of my time you had taken up. According to them I grew irritable the longer it took to see you. Apparently I was much crueler to lovers who came through my forest. Did you hear about the two who I sealed their lips shut. They were awful kissers anyway. I could hear that boy panting from a mile away and the girl had her eyes wide open." Sinbad shivered at the memory, visibly disgusted. "I still believe I did the world a favour."
Hakuei remembered hearing about how they couldn't eat or speak for days. Eventually they had both been so distraught they hung themselves.
"I never really figured out when it had happened," Sinbad continued on with the previous conversation. "When I started feeling something…different about you. It only got worse as you got older. The way you acted, the things you said, what you did…I was only sure what it was after that pathetic man Ryosai came around. Do you remember him?" A guttural growl emerged from Sinbad's throat. "I hated him. Who was he to think he could sabotage your case by manipulating the prosecutor? I made sure that man did not make it out of my forest alive." He waved towards the trees. "His corpse might still be in there."
The cold trickle of fear that went up her spine kept Hakuei frozen in place. It allowed Sinbad the chance to move closer to her, close the distance. With one hand he traced his fingers up her leg while the other went around to trace her spine on her back. "I finally figured out what it was that had been nagging me so long about you. What it was about you that had my thoughts coming back to you every day." Sinbad closed his eyes. Hakuei didn't even notice she was trembling until Sinbad leaned forward, placing his forehead on hers. For a moment they stayed there, and it was as if the world had stopped turning. It was just the two of them, frozen, waiting in agonizing pain for something to change.
"I wanted you."
Sinbad's eyes snapped open. In an instant he had grabbed her by the waist and yanked her into him. Hakuei gasped when he turned her against a tree and slammed her against it. His hands trapped her in place with one on either side of her head against the tree. One of his legs was pushed in between hers so he could get as close as he desired. There was no air between them, just the tree, her and him. His eyes were glowing with a different kind of fire that she knew he would do anything to satisfy. "Even after you left I saw you. When you walked past on the street, I wanted you. When you made new friends and tried to move on, I wanted you. After you turned 18 and went to university for law I wanted you. In time when you came back to join the law firm in town I wanted you. I wanted you, I needed you, I desired you in every possible way. I want you by my side every minute, I want you as the reminder of the humanity I lost long ago, I want you to be strong when I am not, I want you writhing underneath me absolutely helpless…"
Sinbad stopped.
He blinked.
He had realized something.
Hakuei could feel her breath coming out in short gasps as Sinbad tilted his head to the side, mulling over what had come to him. Then, a smile that meant nothing but trouble traced his lips.
"Ah…I see what you are now."
"What…What I am?" Other than absolutely petrified, Hakuei thought to herself. She couldn't move. She couldn't fight back if she wanted to, and she knew it was no use. After what he had done to the fence she doubted any amount of fighting would do anything but tire her out.
Sinbad's eyes returned to hers again, preparing to give her the worst news of the evening. "You were never left alone. The forest never left you go. The forest did catch you. It just didn't do what I expected it to. I wonder why…" A slow, malicious grin slithered onto Sinbad's face. "Perhaps it was as a gift to me? That was so sweet."
"What do you mean," Hakuei managed to get out without stuttering over her words. "What was sweet? What did the forest do to me? What am I?" The gold in his eyes sparkled as he watched the panic set into her skin. Those golden eyes took the time to examine every piece of her, take in everything about her.
His grin was nothing but poison.
Before she knew what was happening Sinbad had wrapped one arm around her waist, the other on her back to keep her steady. He forced her feet to move further into the forest, the deathly wood welcoming them in with open arms. "I know what you are," Sinbad was almost laughing, with excitement or relief Hakuei couldn't tell. "You tried to get away, but you kept coming back! You visited the forest so often and do you know why? Do you even know why you came back today? Tonight you came back and it was all thanks to the forest!" Sinbad threw his head back in laughter that echoed through the trees. "I finally know what you are! And it's just what I wanted!"
"What do you mean?" Hakuei screamed, kicking and fighting to get free to no avail. He had her right where he wanted her. There was nothing she could do as he closed the distance between them and the forest. Hakuei wanted to scream as the forest swallowed them whole.
No one in their right mind would ever go to the forest.
But no one had considered something from the forest would bring someone inside.
"You are mine."