Clementine's Dream

Prologue

Evan

"I dare you to go into the woods! He says, there's nothing that'll kill you in here, he says!" He groaned, pushing apart the thick bushes blocking his path. "If this place doesn't kill me, I swear he's next." He continued mumbling to himself. He found himself encased in towering trees which swayed with the oncoming wind, ferns grew to his shoulders as he dragged himself through the mud and moss that was the forest bed.

"Come on, Halseth! We don't have all day!" His friend's teasing echoed around the towering trees entrapping him. "Did you guys want to do this instead?...No? That's what I thought!" He should of never agreed to going through here, why do they always insist of upsetting their neighbours? Around him the trees were swaying with a gentle breeze, his sneakers were pulling up mud, his pale skin dotted in grass stains and his eyes failing to find the right direction.

Supposedly their new neighbors now reside in a worn-out two-story house, he watched the moving trucks disappearing through the trees and come out with their drivers shaken. Or that's what Laurence told him happened, he had yet to be proven right. 

The breeze picked up around him, flowing through his blonde curls which almost dared to get tangled in the branches hanging before him. "I'm not missing your ma's cooking for this! I'll eat your plate if you don't-" Behind him he heard the loud screech of tires coming past, he'd be murdered by his mother if she found him exploring on the side of a main road.

"You eat from my plate and I'll drag you to an early grave!" He shouted out, he'd be damned before he let Lyle steal his fair share of his mother's cooking. The wind was picking up around him, shaking the very thoughts from his mind.

"Do you three ever shut up?" A more agitated, smaller voice caught him off guard. The mud underneath him sent him flying backwards into a shallow puddle of sticks and fallen leaves. He felt one scrap against his back with a wince, "Why do you always have to stick your noses in places you shouldn't?" An ache bloomed up his spine, groaning he rubbed the mud from his eyes.

Towering over him was a boy, who seemed to be his age with dark hair curled down to his shoulders, it was intertwined with small braids and stray leaves. His skin was pale and freckled and stained from dirt. "How...What are you doing out here? How do you know-" He was eating his own words. This boy wasn't meant to be out here, neither of them were. 'It's dangerous in those woods, Ev. My Ma tells me they're cursed.' Cursed. Why did he think this was a good idea?

"I would guess private property maybe?" He was dressed in corduroy pants in a wine red, brown dress shoes shined with the puddle water, his shirt was collared and a mixture of blue and red stripes reaching down to his wrists.

Evan frowned, "It's where the new people are! You know they don't even realise how cursed this place is, we had to introduce ourselves" Darker eyes roamed his face, the curiosity in them burned into a suspicious glare. The tip's of Evan's ears flared red. "So your friends dared you to come through the woods to do that? For a friendly, warning, chit chat?" He hadn't expected to speak a word to the kid if he was being honest. He had planned to turn around when he caught just a glimpse of this haunted house. He heard the distant wails and howls from here each night, he wasn't about to get caught up in business like that.

"Exactly" He hated the shaky pitch of his voice. "It's been too long since we've had a new neighbour, we don't want them getting into trouble already." He shrugged off however the other's glare remained burning and true. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you around before."

He finally rose to his feet, cursing at the feeling of his wet jeans. He attempted to rub the mud from his palms and extended his stinging hand towards the other, "I'm Evan. Evan Halseth." It took a heartbeat for him to stick out his own hand and shake. "Louis" He didn't elaborate further. He wasn't about to ask why.

"Nice to meet you, Louis. Which neighborhood did you move into? Do you go to the Northside primary? You can hang out with us! We always have a spare seat." Behind him he silently cursed at the distant honking and his friend's demanding calls. Lyle dared him out here, he could at least wait. Louis gestured to the forest around him where the wind seemed to settle into a gentle breeze.

"I live here." He had to be kidding. "In the mud and dirt?" Evan glanced around, staring down at his puddle-soaked clothes with a frown. The boy sighed, "Yes, in the mud and dirt. I made a small house for myself out of what I could forage and plan to keep it that way." A pleased grin split his face. "Care to get off my land now?"

"You haven't given me any details on you yet." Evan dug his sneakers firmly into the dirt. "I did, I told you where I lived." "What about school?" "The animals teach me enough" The smile on Louis' face widened. Evan rolled his eyes, "Do you give proper answers?"

"When someone asks me a better question, sure." He tilted his head and continued, "Are you always this demanding?" Evan clasped a hand over his heart, "I'm not demanding!...I'm suspicious of you." More like extremely curious.

Louis' brows shot up, "I'm the suspicious one? Do you know how shady you and your friends are right now? You could of just taken the drive way!" He extended a hand towards a few steps to their left where surely a driveway emerged through the breaks in the trees. "That...wasn't apart of the deal." He mumbled. The other's grin had disappeared into a impatient stare.

His friend's calls got increasingly louder along with the slamming of car doors, it wasn't until a piercing yell seemed to make the wildlife around them scatter where Evan froze. His racing heart coming to a immediate stop. He knew that yell.

He dared a glance over his shoulder where a 1965 chevy impala was parked on the side of the road, it's cherry red colour an eye sore. He could just make out maroon wings which fluttered impatiently, "You should go, Evan." Louis took a step back, "Before you get cursed." There was a bitterness in his voice, a frustrated bite that nipped at his heart.

"I...Louis, I don't actually believe that kind of thing. I was just playing into-" He raised his hand, cutting off the rest of his stuttering speech, a desperate attempt to fix a wrong. "Everyone does. You don't want to be the first to believe it's a lie, I get it." He turned away from him, "You should work on your lying, your ears give you away." His hands shot up to cover the pointed tips.

"Go home. I'm not the only thing in these woods with teeth." He went to open his mouth again but a echoing honk stole his reply. The wind around him began to pick up as he watched the other quickly disappear behind the trees, becoming but a distant memory of revealing stares and red. A deep, unsettling red.