The Forest : Demons in the Mist

Chapter 3: Spring Cleaning

I was stuck in an office, Slenderman staring right at me.

Toby and Jack were on either side of me, Toby ticking nervously and Jack facing down at his cold coffee. I sat quietly, my hair falling into my face a bit as I thought about what he had planned for me. The way Toby described it had me terrified for my life.
"Avaline."
I looked up instinctively and stared at his blank face.
"Y-yes...?"
"How are you?"
I leaned back slightly, I opened my mouth and closed it again. This was no where near what I thought he was going to say. I more imagined a harsher tone to what I saw and what I knew.
"I-I suppose I'm alright...Just a few bruises and cuts here and there."
He nodded and scribbled something down.
"What were you doing in the forest?"
"I don't know...I just kinda woke up on the ground."
"Do you remember anything before that?"
I thought for a moment, but all I could think back was to the forest floor and the mist surrounding me.
"I-I'm sorry...I can't."
He nodded and scribbled a bit more. I sat quietly, turning towards Jack who fell asleep and then towards Toby, ticking like crazy from nervousness. I hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder and threw a tiny smile.
"Has anything strange happened over your stay?"
I looked at Slender and shook my head.
"Not that I know of."
"What about the nightmares?"
I froze a bit, accidentally grabbing Toby's shoulder hard.
"Y-you know about them...?"
"Tell me about them."
I gulped a bit and nodded. "I only remember running in the forest. Except towards the end, there's always a deep growling from the darkness."
"Any specific words, colors, or symbols perhaps?"
I shook my head.
"Just a deep growl...it almost sounded like a laugh."
Slenderman marked his paper a bit and placed his pen.
"Would you be willing to stay for a while? I would like to study these nightmares you have."
"Am...am I in trouble...? They're just nightmares!"
"Of course not. I just want to make sure my suspicions are cleared before we send you off."
I sunk into the seat a bit, actually hoping my dreams didn't fit whatever weird suspicions he had about them.
"You're free to go." He said, standing up.
He left the office and smacked the back of Jack's head with what seemed to be a tentacle of sort from his back. They looked similar to the snakes in the forest but I couldn't be to sure. Jack jumped awake, spilling his cold coffee on his jeans.
"Son of a bitch..." he muttered standing up and pulling his jeans a bit.
Toby stood up and tapped me on the shoulder. "Let's get yourself a room okay...?"
I nodded quickly and jumped up after him, leaving Jack to tend to his soaked pants.

~

Toby and I climbed the stairs cautiously, the tension growing stronger the longer the silence lasted. We walked down the hallway and stopped at a scratched up, white door. Toby jiggled the handle a bit as it leaned slightly sideways and was dented inwards. He opened the door swiftly, dust from the floor being pushed by the wind.
"It's not...not much, but it's what we've got..." Toby looked over at me and smiled.
I stepped in cautiously, the dust clinging to the bottom of my feet. The whole room smelled moldy and dusty, cobwebs and dust on every surface and spiders crawling in the corners. I flicked the light switch a bit with no response from the exposed bulb on the ceiling.
"It's perfect..." I took a breath and immediately coughed from the dust. "J-just perfect."
I smiled weakly at Toby who was focusing his attention on the floor.
"I'm sorry Avaline...I probably got... got the both of us in trouble."
"Toby...don't say that." I walked over to him and cautiously put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry I walked away instead of waiting for you."
"It's alright, I'm  glad...glad you and Jack are getting along."
I smiled shyly and then back at the room.
"I suppose I should get started..." I said, laughing nervously.
"I'll leave...leave you to it then." Toby smiled and walked a few steps backwards, waving. "See ya Avaline."
I waved and turned back to the room, groaning.

~

I borrowed some short overalls from a closet and packed my sweatpants away in front of my door. I found a broom, mop, and a duster in another closet and immediately got to work, starting from the bottom up. I had to stand on my bed and a few tables, wobbling a bit as I attacked the ceiling with my broom, dust and spiders raining down. Occasionally a spider would land in my hair or shoulder, causing me to yelp and immediately step down to get it off.
This particular time it fell down my shirt, causing me to scream and attempt to fan it out of my shirt onto the floor. When it fell onto the floor, I grabbed the broom and stabbed it with the bristles. I groaned in annoyance, and looked up at the doorway where Jack was watching.
"What was it this time?" He asked.
"Just a spider...why?" I asked hesitantly.
He chuckled a bit and smiled.
"Please, continue." He said, leaning in front of the doorway.
"How would this be entertaining for you?" I asked, gripping the broom. "You can't even-"
"Can't what...?"
I froze and gripped the broom tighter. He laughed and smiled in my direction.
"I'm just teasing y'know..."
"It's hard to tell sometimes..." I pouted a bit and climbed up on a wobbly table to dust the ceiling.
"You're gonna fall..." he said teasingly.
"Oh shut it..." I muttered.
Soon enough, the table's leg broke and I crashed into the wall behind me, sliding down, and falling right on my butt.
"GOD-" I stopped myself and took a deep breath.
Jack was laughing hysterically, causing me to blush in embarrassment and glare at him, forgetting it wouldn't effect anything.
"If this looks so easy and I'm just so dainty and clumsy, why don't you do it?" I asked angrily.
He crouched down and smiled smugly. "It is your room Avaline."
I blinked a bit, surprised he said my name. I shook my feelings away and immediately went back to being angry.
"Well if you're going to stay and laugh at me, at least make yourself useful!"
"I guess I could..."
He sighed and turned his back, still crouched. I blinked a bit and raised my eyebrow.
"Jack...? What are you doing...?"
"Just get on my back..." he grumbled. "You asked me too and I've got nothing better to do..."
"But you barely know me..."
He remained silent, still in a crouched position. I looked at the broken table and then back at him, hesitantly standing up. "A-alright..."
I put one thigh on his shoulder and then the other, resting my weight on him. I wobbled a bit and grabbed his hair gently with my free hand.
"Please stop grabbing my hair..."
"S-sorry!!!" I let go and wobbled back a bit.
He stood up slowly, putting his arms up and behind me, holding me on by my lower back. I crossed my legs a bit, squishing his head between me slightly and I held on for dear life.
"Avaline...if we're gonna do this you need to stop suffocating me."
"Right...right..." I muttered to myself a bit, taking a deep breath and uncrossing my legs slowly.
I looked up slowly, using my broom to scrape the dust off the ceiling, Jack pressing on my back to keep me upwards.

~

Soon enough I managed to clean the ceiling and the walls, Jack stepping on the spiders for me as they hit the ground. I was scraping at the walls a bit, Jack peeled at the old wallpaper to reveal the naked wall behind it.
"So..." I started.
"Hm...?"
"You um...you okay?"
"Yea, you need to get down?"
"Oh! No, I'm just... uh..." I paused for a moment and pressed my lips together, brushing the dirt off the walls quickly.
"You don't have to force it." Jack said, grabbing the broom and peeling off a big piece of wallpaper. "I'm just helping out."
"But...why...?"
He shrugged, making me tense a bit. "You seemed nice I guess."
I paused and blushed a bit, smiling to myself.
"Thanks..."
He stopped too, holding a bit of wallpaper. "No problem."
We sat in silence for a moment and then got back to work. The room was finished up in no time, the ceiling, walls, and furniture were spotless. Even the floor was looking a lot cleaner than before. Jack and I stood in the doorway. I was looking at the room and smiling, Jack was just standing there with a fresh cup of what I think was water and holding onto my thigh. He sniffled the air a bit and sighed.
"Thank fuck...the dust was screwing with my nose."
I smiled a bit and pat his head gently. "Mind if I get down now?"
I felt his hand tighten on me a bit and then relax.
"Sure, sorry about that." He said, slowly lowering me back down. I rest my feet on the floor and hopped off, going straight for the window to open the window. I sat on the window seat, the curtains blowing into the room softly.
I looked out into the woods, the mist and dead trees covering the horizon keeping me from making anything out. I turned around and saw Jack had closed door and the hallway was dark. I looked to the right where the dresser was and saw my sweatpants and some sheets for my bed. I smiled and quickly fixed up the rest of my room, making my bed and and adding a few random objects onto the shelves on either sides of the bay window.
As I passed the window, I could hear laughs and screams in the distance. I assumed it had to be the other's inhabiting the mansion, but part of me was too terrified to let them have a way in. I shut the windows quickly and realized how tired I actually was. I walked over to the bed and fell on top of it, yawning softly as I slowly fell asleep.