The Mystery Boy

Darkness

If the north woods get chilly at night, then it was nothing compared to being in the chilly north woods at night, while soaked to the bone and wandering alone in the dark.

I cursed myself for not bringing a jacket outside and shivered as an eerie breeze whispered through the trees, chilling me to the bone. The after-effects from my crazy high had long since worn off and now I had a pounding headache. The sun had set hours ago, which meant I had been wandering blindly for awhile. It was then I noticed that I had no trail to follow... And no idea what direction I had came from.

'God Layla, why are you so dumb?' My concience screamed.

I turned around, trying to grasp the fact that I was alone, lost, and had no sort of protection at all. My head spun and I fell to the ground in a heap. I felt my world caving in, imagining my parents having my dead body delivered to our cozy house... It was so warm in the winter... When Father lit a fire in the fireplace and the whole house smelled of pine and hot chocolate... Home... Warm...

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I don't know for sure how long I had layed crumpled on the ground, shivering from the chills, my heart pounding. It wasn't until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder that I drifted into conciousness.

"ℓαуℓα, ωαкє υρ. ωαкє υρ. ¢'мσи ℓαуℓα..."

I jumped to my feet, now aware that I wasn't alone in this forest.

"Hello?" I called out shakily. Judging

by the outline of trees I was surrounded by, I could tell I was in a clearing. I turned myself around in a circle, taking in my surroundings. I called out again, with no reply. The voice I had heard before- and the person it belonged to- had completley dissapeared.

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It was probably close to midnight now, I thought as I sat on the ground, throwing rocks into the darkness. It was the perfect time to call out my faults.

POP!

I'm an idiot for coming here.

POP!

I screwed up at the party.

POP!

I lost myself in the woods.

POP!

Mom's gonna kill me when I get back... Wait, IF I get back.

POP!

The hell with this... I need to get back home. Now. Somehow.

SNAP.

I startled from my half-awake state, jerking my head towards the different noise. That wasn't the sound of a rock, THAT was the sound of a tree branch.

Slowly getting up, I never took my eyes off the clearing of trees where the noise had come from. I inched my way forward, step by step, trying to see just what was out there.

Once I reached the outskirts of the trees, I tried to look harder. I've always sucked at night vision, and to be honest, I probably couldn't see a completley gold Ferrari with flashing lights driving Elvis singing 'She ain't nothin but a hound dog' while a death cloud of screaming girls followed behind asking for autographs and pictures- Let's just say it wasn't my specialty.

Now, my mind focused back on the tree line. I was so close that I put my hand on the tree and leaned in to get a better look. Just my luck, it was still dark, which means I still couldn't see

a god damn thing. To be truthful, I was half scared to death. I was alone in the fricken WOODS. No food or water. No way to get to shelter. It was times like this that made me think to myself, 'Damn it, should've signed up for Girl Scouts when I had a chance."

Now, nothing could really help me. But I had to find out what was IN there... Before it found me.

But that was before the voice from behind me purred, "Don't be afraid Layla. I'm here for you."

Before the mysterious voice had hands, turned me around, and his perfect warm lips met mine.