• Forest Encounter

    "Boy? Boy, where are you?"

    The voice carried through the forest and reached a little boy. The little boy was around eight years old with floppy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing frayed clothes that had been washed countless times. He had wandered into the forest and lost himself amongst the towering evergreen trees. When the boy heard the voice, he crouched lower amongst some ferns at the base of one of the trees. The man's voice was one he did not recognise. A face peered around the trunk of the tree.

    “There you are!”

    The man was tall and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The man did not look older than forty, yet his hair was pale, almost white. He was dressed in a white, long-sleeved shirt, black pants and black cloak. The man crouched down, holding his arms out invitingly to the boy.

    “Come with me, boy. Your parents are looking for you.”

    The boy was hesitant. He recognised the man now. The man had often lingered around the fences of his parents’ farm, staring at him as he explored amongst the tall grass and fruit trees. The boy walked slowly towards the man, not quite trusting him.

    The man came forward and scooped the boy up in his cold arms. His voice was soothing as they started through the forest. After almost an hour of walking, they boy began to feel uneasy. They should be near the forest’s edge by now, but the man seemed to be walking deeper into the forest. The boy began to fidget and wriggled in the man’s arms. The man clasped him closer and more firmly.

    “None of that, boy,” the man whispered. His voice still sounded kind, and yet there was some hint of malevolence.

    The boy struggled harder, sensing something was amiss. The man growled and pinned the boy’s arms to his sides. The man’s grip was painful, and tears blurred the boy’s vision. The boy kicked out and caught the man in the stomach. The man released him, more surprised than hurt. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the boy took off as fast as he could amongst the trees. The boy had not run far when he heard the footfalls of the man pursuing him. The boy tried to run faster, his mouth dry as he panted, his legs burning with the effort. He constantly stumbled over roots and small bushes, slowing his progress greatly. The man soon caught up with him, wrapping his arms around the boy’s middle and lifting him up to prevent further running. The boy bit the man’s arm. The man hissed.

    “You’re a feisty child, aren’t you?” the man muttered, sounding amused rather than annoyed. “Well, if it will stop you escaping…” The man bit the boy’s right forearm.

    The boy cried out but stopped struggling. He could not move. Something in the man’s bite had paralysed him.

    The man removed his teeth, leaving two puncture marks on the boy’s arm. He smiled in satisfaction and stroked the boy’s head comfortingly. The boy was limp and unresisting in his arms. The man’s bite had drained the will and energy from the boy.

    “Off we go, then,” the man whispered. And he began to run.

    The man was running at a speed that no human being could ever hope to challenge. The wind whistled as they travelled, ruffling their clothes and flaring the man’s cloak behind him. The boy was too lethargic to notice the impossibility of the speed. A numbing sensation had started spreading throughout his body, beginning from his bitten arm. The man’s arms did not feel so cold anymore.

    The minutes flew by like the trees they passed. The man began to slow down and they soon reached a small river. The man paused on its bank.

    “And now we wait,” the man murmured.

    The boy never knew what happened next. The numbness overcame him, sending him spiralling into unconsciousness…

    And ten years in the future, a teenager named Nathaniel woke up.


    Go to: Chapter 1, Chapter 3