|| 𝐴𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 || [𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝙃𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜]

Prologue

"Aless! A-less!!" A boy called, pushing his way through the lush green bushes and ferns that sprouted from the ground.
He heard giggling coming from his left. When he turned, he saw a piece of frilly white fabric peeking out from the side.
Grinning, he quietly tiptoed to the tree.
"Aha! There you are!" He shouted, jumping out behind the tree and clasped his hands on the shoulders of a not-so-much-younger girl, who screamed.

///

He laughed 'til he was out of breath.
"Hahaha! Did I scare you?" He said in between breaths as he laughed.
The girl trembled softly.
"Don't do that, Karl! I thought you were one of the monsters!" She said sternly, stomping her little foot onto the ground.
Karl wiped a tear from his eye and sighed
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that much. Y'know, you're not very good at hide and seek, Aless."
Aless crossed her arms and huffed.
Karl's eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Wait, come here, I wanna show you something." He said, wagging his finger.
The two walked down the hill, past the brook, into a small enclosure made of sticks they made a few weeks ago together.
"What is it?" Aless asked, her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Shh. Hold on" Karl hushed as he fumbled around, trying to find something.
Suddenly, he pulls out a small, slightly rusty, metal object.
"Oooh what's that?" Aless squealed.
He turned the knob on the side.
A gentle warm light shone out of the object. A horse shape coming from the light spun around the enclosure gently.
"Whoa!" Aless gasped. Her eyes widened, as she leaned over out of curiosity. Her pale green eyes met his, her chin length wavy hair swept over her face.

///

"Where did you find it?!?"
Karl smiled and shook his head.
"I didn't find it. I made it." He said
Aless looked down at the object, then looked up at him.
"You made it?" She gasped.
He nodded.
She chuckled.
"No way! That's so cool! How??" She asked, astounded.
"Father made me a nightlight. I watched him make it. I thought you might like it," He said as he gently put it down. They both went to the corner and watched the horse slowly gallop around the room.
"It's so pretty" Aless whispered. Karl looked over to her eyes, which were focused on the horse. Her smile was so big and wide, and her hair softly swept in the breeze.
"Du bist so hübsch" he replied softly.
Aless looked over to him, a bit confused. "What does that mean?"
Karl's face quickly flushed. "Oh.. uh.. uhh.. I was agreeing with you, it looks really pretty." He said, flustered.

///

Aless raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
The dainty girl stood up, her white dress flowing softly as she moved. She picked up the object and turned the handle, which shut off the light with a quiet click.
"We should probably head home now," she said, with a big smile. Karl grunted softly as he stood back up.
Aless was about to exit the enclosure, when she stopped. She glanced down at her shiny little black shoes, and tip toed over to Karl.
She kissed him gently on the cheek.
"Thank you. I really like it." She murmured warmly in his ear.
Karl's ears and cheeks went red for a moment "u-um, you're welcome"
Aless waddled out of the enclosure and sprinted over to a tree, waiting for her friend to exit as well. When he joined her, they went back over the brook and walked on the path, chatting.

///

Suddenly, the two heard quiet growling from within the trees. Startled, they both stopped.

The monsters.

Karl stood in front of Aless, his head moving around left to right like an axel on a swivel. His eyes went to a thick, long sharp branch that had fallen to the ground. He grabbed it and held it in front of him with two hands.
"Run!" Karl cried at Aless.
"What? What are you doing??" Aless gasped in fear.
"I'll fend them off! Just run!" Karl yelled. Human-like monsters began to creep out of the trees, snarling.
"No! I'm not leaving without you!" Aless yelled back at him. She grabbed his arm and tugged. "Let's go!"
Karl turned his head. His eyes met hers, her shiny pale green orbs stared back at him, frightened. Tears welled in her eyes.
"KARL! LET'S GO!"
He shook his head. "I said RUN!"
"NO!" She sobbed. She dragged him close to the bridge, even though he kept pulling away. The monsters inched closer.
Then, he successfully pulled away. She sobbed, clasping the horsey light in her hands.
Alarmed, Karl shoved her onto the bridge path. He was afraid, but he refused to show it.
"RUN! RU-"
A monster charged at him. He tried to swat it away with the stick, but failed. The monster scratched him across the face. Aless screamed.
He cried in pain. Hot tears welled up in his eyes.
BANG!
A gunshot was fired, then a few more. The monsters dropped dead.
"Are you alright there, son?" a man called.
Aless shuddered and yelped. "Karl!"
She rushed over to him, putting her arms around him.
She'd never forget the look he gave her, the large gaping scratch across his face, dripping with crimson blood.
"I told you to run." he cried, tears mixing in with blood as they ran down his face.