The Forest

The Encounter

Eduardo sat up in a daze, rubbing the back of his head. He looked down at his hand and saw a small amount of crimson red blood. He grimaced at the site of his hand and wiped it on the ground. Then he noticed something. There was no carpet. In fact, he wasn’t even in the house anymore. He didn’t know where he was. It was just dirt and trees. But this forest looked unfamiliar to him. It was still dark out, the only source of light being the full moon that hovered in the sky as it watched over everything. The only sounds were the rustling of the tree leaves in the wind and a few night crickets. He must’ve been dreaming. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to wake up but failed. The reality sank in that he wasn’t dreaming. He looked around for Tom but he was nowhere to be seen. He glanced around nervously as he slowly started to panic, the anxiety and paranoia setting in his mind. He closed his eyes tightly as his fingers became numb, his breathing short and shallow, he paced around before falling to the ground and backing up against a tree. He rocked back and forth, clutching his hair tightly as everything became distorted in his head, his thoughts scrambled as perceiving things became difficult. But the feeling dissolved quickly as he was filled with a sense of inexplicable calm. He opened his eyes and looked up as he saw a large fox. But it wasn't like any other fox. This one towered over him, its eyes being black holes with purple glowing pupils and an eerie amount of purple smoke floating around it. It had a sleek grey coat of fur and three long bushy tails. Eduardo was in awe but the feeling didn’t last long when he realized what he was looking at. Not as nervous anymore, he had the courage to run away from the creature. The monstrous fox stood there and watched him run.