Lucas [♂] && -Currently Unnamed- [♂]
Told from the point of view of,
Atten [♀]
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I'm writing this as a warning. A warning to all those foolish people, those who are much like myself, who are ever presented a chance to go into the Forest. Be it for mystery or for pleasure- or possibly to retrieve a lost pet, as I had- I urge you to fight against your instincts, for I believe that I very nearly lost my life that night. Or possibly, I could have sealed my fate to something much, much worse.
And the same could easily happen to you.
It started, as I had mentioned, with my dog Toby. He was a curious little thing, full of life and so young and-- maybe I should just keep to the facts. There is no use in letting my emotions get the better of me.
In any case, I often kept Toby tethered to a sturdy tree while I was at work. He liked the outdoors, and it simply killed me to keep him cooped up all day in the house. The rope I used as a leash was thick and without frays; you could not break it with anything short of an axe. And Toby was just a little thing...
But that evening, when I returned to my humble home, I found the rope had been ripped in two. Curious and frighted- as Toby was my only companion- I began to call for him. That's when I noticed the tracks. Toby's paw prints had left unmistakable marks in the damp soil and continued to the edge of the forest, where the soil turned to squelching mud that quickly covered in any footstep left behind. I must admit that I was curious about the forest; many men had entered in the past, and yet none had returned. And it was untimely my curiosity, combined with my fear of loosing my only companion, that drove me forward.
It was many hours later- after being scratched by the branches, dirtied by the mud, and wet from sudden, unpredictable drizzles of rain- that I came to that terrible house. It stood like a dark monster above the otherwise lush landscape, built like a miniature castle. As I neared it, I noticed the grass becoming brittle and yellow, the mud turning to powdery dirt, the trees loosing more and more leaves the closer they where to the building. By the time I reached the door, the only sign of feeble life where the pots of dying flowers hanging from a second story window. But despite the- I must be honest- terrifying atmosphere of the place, the sky had long since darkened and I had no desire to risk a night with the bears. The terrible miniature castle was my only choice.
I knocked on the wooden doors and the sound seemed to echo throughout the house. I waited- perhaps it was abandoned?- for what seemed like hours before the doors swung open and I was grasped by my shirt collar. I very nearly died of fright. But when I turned around, my captor, a very handsome man I must admit, was smiling cheerfully at me. He gestured me in.
"Ah, hello," He said, "I'm sorry for that little... fright. We hardly ever have guests, you see." And I most certainly saw why. "Won't you come in? You must be exhausted, running around in the forest like that. Little girls shouldn't be out this late, much less treated in such a manner. Come, come, sit; won't you tell me your name?"
I had no time to voice any objections- though I don't know if I was going to voice any at all- for he grasped my wrist and led me into an elaborate sitting room, shutting and quite possibly bolting the doors behind me. He served me tea from a kettle that I don't think I saw just a few moments before, and smiled, waiting for my answer.
"Oh, I-I'm..." I couldn't speak very well, for I was weary with exhaustion and fright. My host seemed patient enough, though, and waited for me to recover. "I'm Atten. And you are...?"
"I am Sir Lucas, at your service." His smile never faltered, but it seemed to be much too kind for his surroundings. "Would you like to rest here for the night, Miss Atten? I'm sure that my family would be most happy to have you, as would I."
The mention of his family caught me off guard, as it looked as though no one- not even the man himself- had lived there for centuries. Everything, aside from the tea set and my host himself, was covered in a thick layer of dust. But then I remembered the flowers hanging from the window, and the man, Lucas, did not seem like the type to garden.
"Would you like to meet them?" He asked. I found myself nodding without even realizing it. He eagerly grabbed my wrist and lead me up the stairs- where we arrived face-to-face with a large door. He opened this with several different keys, and shortly led me into a large room which looked much more lived-in than the first. Still, there was no one there but ourselves. "One moment, please, Miss." The man said and motioned to a large sofa, "Please rest while I get my son; my wife and daughters are asleep at the moment, I'm afraid, though I'm sure you'll meet them tomorrow if you stay for breakfast."
I did as he said and he shortly disappeared down the stairs again. As I sat, I mulled over how odd this whole situation was- why did he offer to introduce his whole family when he knew his wife and daughters where asleep? And why did he go back down into that abandoned room, when there where several doors just to the right of where I sat? Did no one live there?
Just as I thought this over, one of those doors rattled and out emerged a heavily-tattooed boy- he couldn't have been more than seventeen!- with soulless, black eyes that had no white. So taken aback by his eyes, I had scarcely noticed his other oddities, like his dark blue hair and tattered clothing, or his frightened expression. He strode over to me and grasped blindly at my shoulder, whispering,
"Who are you?"
I told him my name and situation, and his expression grew more and more worried with each sentence. Finally, with an air of pity and shared grief, though I don't think it was for my lost dog, he released his hold on me.
"Would you like my advice?" He asked and I nodded, before realizing that my suspicions where correct in that the boy was blind, and instead voiced a meek 'yes'.
"Run. Run far, far away from here and never look back." He said with such conviction and seriousness that I was struck silent. "Do not stay the night- don't even stay for dinner. That man is mad, and he will do things to you. Terrible things- inhuman things. If you trust me, leave at the first chance you get." Here he held out his hand for me, and I took it with some hesitance. He helped me to my feet. "Do not leave yet, though. He would undoubtedly blame your absence on me. But there is no time to rest, nor time to eat; I trust that you did not drink the tea?" Indeed I hadn't, for I was much to overwhelmed at the time. "Good. It had a sleeping pill in it. You should be okay so long as you do not eat or drink anything he offers you, and for Heaven's sake do not fall asleep. He only needs a moment of unawareness to strike. Leave as soon as you possibly can- and never, never return."
He had let go of my hand by this point, and I turned to him in fear of his own safety. "What about you, though? You cannot stay here, I simply couldn't leave you in the hands of a madman!"
The strange boy only smiled a small smile, the skin of his cheeks pinching up around his artificial eyes, and shook his head. "It's much too late for me, my dear."
At that moment, the doors opposite of us swung open again and out came my host, Lucas. He did not look at all stunned by the boy's presence, and instead said,
"There you are, son. I was looking for you. Are you okay? You did not hurt yourself coming up the stairs?"
The boy tensed slightly, "No, I'm fine... Father. Perfectly fine. I was only saying hello to our guest for the night."
If the man, Lucas, was put out at all by the boy's appearance, he did not show it. He only smiled and laid a hand on my shoulder. "I hope you two got along well, then! But it's time for Miss Atten to rest, now, as it is quite late. Would you like a glass of milk before bed, Miss?"
I declined, much to the strange boy's relief, and Sir Lucas and I headed down a hall after a few parting words to his "son". He then left me in a room at the far end of the hall with a plate of cookies and a glass of clear water. I did not trust either. With a kind and cheerful 'goodnight!', he left, taking his lantern with him. I waited for a few moments before making my move.
Judging my distance from the ground, I found it to be too high to jump from my window, but the front door was obviously out of consideration. So instead, I gathered up the bed sheets and made a simple rope, tied it to the bed post, and lowered myself down.
The second I hit the ground, I felt it. Hands, invisible hands, where clawing at my feet, at my clothes, at my hair, urging me back. I almost screamed before I realized that I might call the madman outside. It seemed that the rest of his family where already awake- for I heard screams and cries coming from the ground below. Taking the boy's advice, I ran- even with the hands clutching at me every step of the way.
I don't know how long I ran before falling to my knees, right in the middle of town. My town. It was early morning, I'm sure, and I heard the townsfolk calling out for me as I drifted off. I was safe- oh, thank god I was safe.
So there is my warning to you all- all children and adults alike. The men who ventured into those forests obviously became the madman's subjects, and I would have certainly followed if it where not for that strange, strange boy.
--If anyone sees a blind boy, possibly around seventeen with messy, dark blue/black hair, several tattoos, pure black eyes and wearing a mesh shirt, ripped jeans, fingerless gloves, and multiple white bracelets, please contact the author- Miss Atten Healer.
Aha, that turned out a bit longer than I thought. Ah, well, it's late- I can't write short stories when it's late. |D
It's actually quite tame, though, compared to what I could have done. Actually, I need a Black Eyed Galaxy for this to work, and I don't happen to own one, so I'll just use the archive picture instead.
Tigo the unicorn and 
Crystal the mosaic horse.
