Chapter Text
A lone house stood in the middle of a clearing that was surrounded by dense woodland. The grass was cut short with not a strand out of place, the house itself had white walls with a light grey roof, the house itself has no decorations, not plants or flowers on the porch, the only splash of color was the light muted blue curtains that were on every window. The only noise that broke through the quaint valley was the chirps of birds, the ever-quiet sawing of trees in the wind, and the laughter of a young boy.
The young boy, who could not be older than 8, wearing no more than a plain white shirt and black shorts was running to the woods, laughing the entire way. His parents had just let him go out for his hour this week, and he was going to make the absolute most of it. He ran until he reached the fence that surrounded the entire property, which was a simple white fence that the boy had to climb if he ever wanted to see over it.
(If he wanted to see the barbed wire and untamed wilderness he was unaccustomed too)
He made his way to his favorite spot, it was one of the only places in the fence that bore a hole, allowing the boy to see outside. He smiled as he pushed his face into the hole, looking around excitedly as he took the outside world in. The outside world was colored in a wide range of browns, blacks, greens, and oranges, Fall was his favorite season mainly due to the number of colors the trees turned. It was amazing to the young boy.
He sits there for what to him feels like hours, but due to him not being called back to the house he knew it wasn't an hour yet. He stood there soaking up every detail, every stick, every leaf, and every movement of the wind. To anyone else, it might've been boring, but to the young boy, it was the height of entertainment, even if it was just staring at the same piece of a forest for an hour.
A small pitter-patter of footsteps could be heard from deep within the woods, but to the boy, the sound was almost deafening. He dared not to breathe as a small brown fox made its way to his field of vision. It didn't seem to know the boy was there. He watched in tense silence as the fox smelt the trees surrounding them, obviously looking for something. But that something had obviously not been found as the brown fox shook its tail, almost like it was irritated.
To the young boy who had only heard and seen cartoon drawings of foxes, it was a wonderful experience. The fox, obviously disappointed by its lack of findings, looked around and made direct eye contact with the boy peeking through the whole. The foxes' eyes seemed to widen, as the warm brown eyes- which looked strangely human-like, seemed to search through the soul of the blue-eyed boy. The boy froze, he didn't know if it was out of fear of being perceived or the excitement of the same thing.
"TOMMY"
The boy's head shot around at his name being called, had it really already been an hour? He turned back to steal a last glance of the fox, only to find the woods empty. It must have run off due to the loud noise, or it had simply became uninterested in the boy. Either way, Tommy walked back solemnly to the house, where he would remain for the rest of the week. Maybe, maybe he would see the fox again.
Tommy awoke in a dark forest, one that the young boy couldn't even see three trees in front of him. The fog that seemed to lay in the woods like a thick blanket was hugging the young boy, making him feel small and claustrophobic. He looked around, frightened by his surroundings before he stood up and did what any kid would do.
He yelled for his parents.
He heard his voice echo, once, twice, thrice, before his voice became so distorted that he couldn't make out the noise anymore. He repressed a shiver, it was cold in the forest, and it didn't help that he was wearing his sleeping clothes- a large white shirt with black shorts- for whatever reason. The boy felt tears start to prick at the corner of his eyes. He felt so alone in this scary dark forest.
Maybe he could find home if he started walking? To the eight-year-old, this seemed like the fastest way to get home, so he picked a random direction and started walking, more so trembling as the dark atmosphere seemed to close in on the young boy. Tommy sniffled, he just really wanted mother and father right now. He heard a twig break behind him and spun around only to be greeted by silence and a concerning lack of any animal.
"W-whos there?" He cried to the empty space. To which a loud silence responded, the forest seemed to be moving and frighteningly still at the same time. Tommy let out a shaky breath, the silence seemed to be louder than any jet engine the young boy has ever heard. His ears started to ring, the boy slapped his hands over his ears, in the hope to stop the piercing sound. The tears that have been threatening to spill for a while were finally released.
He ran.
He ran and ran and ran, he just wanted to go home, he wanted to play in the living room with his trains and he wanted to talk to his parents and- as he started to think of home more and more the boy sobbed harder. The trees seemed to move and bend in odd, unnatural ways, some seemed to move towards him while others leaned away. It could’ve been a trick of his already panicked mind, his vision already wasn't the best due to tears blurring his vision.
Tommy tripped on air, and he landed awkwardly on his right arm, which immediately started to sting. The boy was tired, all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry until his tears ran dry. But he couldn't because he was still stuck in the scary cursed forest. He looked around to gain some of his surroundings, he fell in a small clearing, one clear of any roots, rocks, or stray trigs. Actually, he couldn't see the tree leaves, all that surrounded the boy was unnaturally tall trees that seemed to go up for miles and miles. If it wouldn't have been for the cold grass beneath him, Tommy wouldn't have guessed he was in the same place.
However, as he looked around he found that he was not alone. There was another figure in the clearing, but every time he tried to look at it, it seemed to disappear. The boy couldn't get a clear look of the other person and that sent another shot of panic coursing through him. The person- or thing, hadn't seemed to notice him, which caused him to quickly silence his cries. No need to bring attention where attention isn't already drawn.
The boy started crawled backward from his awkward situation, the figure had large black wings, that seemed to be endless and cease to exist at the same time. He almost looked like a bird, they had tail feathers, which were like wings in the same big and equally small at the same time. They seemed to have giant stretching horns that looked to hold the earth around him. His mind felt like it was imploding on itself. Which he would note, was not a good feeling
He hit a rock with his injured knee, to which he let out an involuntary whimper, he was sure that it drew blood. The figure whipped around at record speeds and zeroed in on Tommy. He felt like he was being watched, and not just from his two pricing blue eyes, but it felt like there were eyes everywhere. It felt like he was being picked apart and put back together again, it made his skin crawl.
The eyes were the final tripping point, the dams finally broke and Tommy started to sob even harder than before. It felt like the world was ending, he wanted to scream and cry and hid away forever in his room but all he was able to do was a weak sob in front of a creature that was watching his every move. Maybe if the boy was more coherent he would’ve noticed the creature slowly creep toward him.
The thing cooed an unnatural and unnerving sound. “Hey, shh, how did you get here?” It cupped the boy’s face, making Tommy look at him.
The creature had a fairly human-looking face, it had dirty blonde hair that seemed to be tied back in a long braid, a pointed nose, and strangely enough, a green and white striped bucket hat that had multiple rings, feathers, and other assorted jewelry all over. A green gem- Tommy assumed emerald but he didn’t have enough knowledge of gems to say for sure- hung from his right ear, it seemed important.
At Tommy’s lack of response, it wiped a tear away from his eye. The young boy leaned into the touch, too exhausted from his crying fit and running to fight against his sleepiness. The bird creature thing cooed again, this time sounding more like a bird than any human but the boy did register it in his tired mind. All he knew was that he was tired and there was a warm body there.
“Go back to bed, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon” The creature sighed before Tommy was guided into a peaceful sleep.
Tommy shot out of bed, sunlight was creeping through his curtains. The boy struggled to catch his breath, and he kicked off his blanket, already sweaty enough from his nightmare. He strung his feet off its bed and shakily made his way to the bathroom. The white hallway- which was only decorated by the stray painting of a landscape and table with a flowerpot.
When he made it to the bathroom, he immediately went to go wash his face to wake him up, something that his parents taught the eight-year-old was that hygiene was the most important thing “a clean body means a clean mind” as his father once said. And also Tommy needed something to ground himself with after that hellish nightmare.
The cold water shocked his face, but in a way that felt refreshing. He let out a sigh of relief before he looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was obviously disheveled- he must’ve been tossing and turning, which was understandable. He paused, and took a step back from the mirror, hitting his back on the wall. Tommy’s eyes trailed down to his leg, his right leg to be exact.
It was bruised like it had been hit with a bat or a rock. He leaned down and took a closer look, it hurt, that was becoming clear as the rush of the nightmare began to wear off. The memories of the once vague nightmare crushed back onto him, Tommy felt like throwing up. He sat down on the cold bathroom floor and choked on a breath. He felt like crying again, but after crying so much in the nightmare- no, whatever that was, he found himself unable.
Tommy just hoped that no matter what happened, he wouldn't go into those woods again.
But the gods are not known for their mercy.