The Boy With The Blank Stare: Future

Chapter Twenty-Six: Elysium

Ouma's POV:

I ran past the trees, the dense forest clawed at me with its vines and roots tried to trip me. Wolves howled in the distance as the moon was painted in a deep scarlet, casting the night sky with a malicious presence, I felt my legs burning with each labored breath. The wind rustled through the trees as the sound of the raging storm threatened the sky overhead, I ignored the calls of thunder and thanked whatever god had taken pity on me for the lack of rain in the dry forest, as my eyes searched for any sort of escape from the pandemonium. 

Hidden among the trees the shadows gained forms, bright yellow eyes stared into my soul. I froze as the figures reached for me. Their arms were blue and rotted, I could smell the heavy decay in the air as I kept my gaze to the ground to avoid their glares, whispers of my classmate's voices and figures of long-gone people screamed at me incoherently as I tried to block out the loud noise tears of frustration threatening to take over me.

"Stay with us"

"I'm scared"

"You deserve this"

"How could you?"

"He should have died instead!"

Tears threatened me as finally, finally, a break emerged in the distance, I practically lept as I saw the sea in the distance, the smell of the saltwater providing a moment of relief as...

The rocky cliff terrain remained the same as I finally began slowing down, stopping just at the brink of the cliffside. The terrain was thin and could easily break with enough pressure, the grass was dying the closer to the cliff a stiff contrast compared to the lush and vibrant forest, one booming with life. If the forest occupants had been a bit kinder, maybe I would have been tempted to avoid this but...

Anxiety clung to my heart, the open sky just beyond the horizon seemed to try and invite me, despite the bloodied sky, the silver full moon illuminated the sky brightly as I saw her figure in the distance, her shadow stretched across the terrain and seemed ominous. It was almost as if despite her small frame of a child, a child who could have passed for much younger than she had been, was as threatening as the monsters trapped inside of the forest. I gently rested my hand on the trees as I felt exhaustion clinging to my bones.

The cold grip of the shadowed figures tightened. Regret and confliction filled my mind as if the forest was trying to tell me something, as if the endless labyrinth was my true salvation rather than the cliffside as I finally took a step into the moonlight, letting go of the old tree.

Silence quickly filled me, the voices finally released their grip on me, and I almost cried in relief despite knowing better. The scent of salt freshened my senses as I closed my eyes trying to regain my sense of self. A sense of what world I had been dropped into, yet the silence offered no answers, only a slight comfort. 

Only the crashing of the waves in the distance could be heard, as I approached the cliffside, the figure was sitting against the cliff as I began hearing a soft song, some humming of a tune I didn't recognize. Yet my heart seemed to clench itself from that unknown tune, drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

She turned to me.

Her dark red hair looked like blood with the oppressive lighting, cascading and framing her face like a waterfall, deep amber-like green eyes stared at me with a neutral expression, but a slight smile began forming on her face, a cruel smile, it sent a sense of unease through me.

She was wearing a school uniform, our middle school uniform, she wore it neatly something she never did in life, as she tilted her head towards me expectantly, playing with the ends of her hair as if bored by my presence and the world around us.