Every step they took under the skeletal branches, Will expected the monster to burst out from behind a tree or drop down on their heads and tear the two of them apart.
Hell, a good part of him expected the teen to turn around and his face split open or something equally horrifying.
The strange wasn't helping, billowing around them in convoluted patterns and making moving shadows out of nothing. With a small yelp, Will stumbled over a branch, breath catching as his adrenaline spiked.
But a strong arm caught him around the chest, and he felt himself lifted up and set back up on his feet. He stared at the black head bent over, and the nimble fingers plucking a thorny (dead) raspberry vine out of his pant legs.
He carefully stepped out of the tangle and looked around again, that eerie predatory prickle still digging into the base of his nape. He couldn't decide if the teen was actually a friend, or if this was some other trickier monster of this world.
"So what's your name?"
He was being led by the hand again, toward a section of old apartments on the edge of the forest that Will couldn't remember ever visiting. Maybe that's why he didn't recognize him?
He opened his mouth to answer, but a flash of that eerie blue glow had him snapping his mouth shut again. The thing-that-looked-like-a-teenager swept its gaze at the trees behind them, then up into the boughs as the two continued. A thousand entries in journals, monster manuals, and old stories reminded him that giving your name to a supernatural being was a Bad Idea.
He swallowed, wondering if he could even play this game, or if… he was already trapped.
"What's yours?"
Blue eyes flicked down to him, and Will swore he could see amusement.
"You can call me Danny."
Will swallowed, nodding. (You can call me) – Was that even his real name, or was it a lie?
"Nice to meet you, Danny."
The teen flashed a small smile, before stopping them again and dragging the smaller boy down into a crouch, herding him into a thick tangle of bramble. Sensing the sudden urgency, Will was quick to curl up and make himself as small a target as he could.
Danny tracked something through the fog, though Will couldn't see what it was through the thin branches that dug into his arm. A thorn pressed into his thigh, but he refused to move as the teen's gaze suddenly jerked upward and to the side – well above where any ground-dwelling creature could walk.
This close, he could see the slivers of green within the other boy's eyes, and the eerie way shadows were pooled across his face when lit from within. Black frazzled hair seemed to smooth down on its own, and Will stared at the sudden change in hair style with clarifying wariness.
'Hackles Raised' was supposed to be a metaphor, not an actual thing humans could do.
The piercing eyes flicked down to meet his own, and Will averted his gaze, fumbling with the corner of his jacket.
"You look cold" Danny repeated, and scooped him up by the armpits out of the brambles.
"I'm not helpless." He protested, as he was set down again.
A strange look passed over the teen's face, as slender shoulders shrugged nonchalantly. The larger hand slotted back into his own, and Will tried hard to keep an eye on his surroundings while staying clear of any more branches.
"How'd you end up here, anyway?"
Danny looked down at him, brows furrowed.
"I should be asking you that."
Will shrugged back, eyeing the chain link fence of the apartment complex, and the old trees whose bark had grown between the links, almost consuming parts of it. The image made him uneasy for some reason, and he was painfully aware that the teen hadn't answered his question.
Danny unlatched the back gate, swinging it shut and latching again after they both skirted inside. Will swallowed anxiously, but followed the teen into the decrepit brick building despite his own misgivings.
With the click of the door behind him, darkness truly fell, and Will felt his pupils straining to find shapes in the darkness. He ended up wrapping his arms around himself, following the pathway lit by the teenager's glowing eyes.