Into The Woods // ✓

Tertium

•If you bring a knife with you, name it. Otherwise the blade will turn against you as soon as you try to use it

When did I find the time to write that?

I had clambered up a tree, there were numerous branches and they are sturdy enough to hold my weight.

I pray.

Because I don't want to fall down anytime soon.

The audacity of this situation was almost humorous.

Here I am, a deranged, hallucinating human stuck up a tree.

Woeful.

The beetles surrounded the tree, but none of them dared to climb the tree.

The tree was secreting some sort of fluid from its base, it deterred the beetles, for now.

The oozing liquid was a sickly green tinted with the colours of the earth.

It was odourless, but the beetles seemed to be appalled by its mere presence.

I tried to steady my racing heart. I turned the pages of my journal, I turned it back to the date where my downward spiral started.

I glared at the almost illegible words.

'I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault.'

Oh, but it was.

My head jolted up faster than the speed of light, was it that voice again?

"Hello?" I croaked, my voice barley making it past my vocal cords.

It's me, Dean lanson.

"No, no, no," I lamented, covering my ears.

I can never hear that name ever again, it brings back sorrow.

I continued my protest, as I slipped deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

Although, I already know the nightmare was coming.

I tried to fight of the impending slumber, but it felt like thirty hands were grabbing at my mouth, clothing me in some sort of sleep solution, pulling me into their embrace.

I don't want to go.

The setting sun faded to nothingness as my eyelids dropped over my eyes.

I remember it all like it was yesterday.

This nightmare was more civilised, I could only hear the audio, I was unable to see what I had went through.

"Please stop! Stop!" The pleading voice cried.

"It's for the best." The other voice was filled with remorse, but was blanketed by such severeness it was hardly detectable.

I heard the thud, and I knew.

There was no saving my future self at that moment.

I resurfaced from my sleep, it felt like I was revitalised, I had broke the surface, I hadn't let my nightmarish past take me over for long.

It was progress.

I felt a presence in my coat pocket, a familiar shape that wasn't there before.

I reached into my pocket, carefully, I could never know what these woods would have in store for me.

I pulled out the metallic object.

It was a knife.

I had to hold back my vomit, I couldn't see this, not after what happened.

Was it just me? Or did I see a droplet of crimson blood race down the reflective surface.

Blade, beetles, death?

Hmm, seems to add up.

Before I could doubt myself I slowly climbed my way down the tree.

My head was pounding, I was trapped in my own pain.

The beetles halted

And I stumbled, and I fell towards the bugs.

I tried to use the knife, I used all of my energy to embed it deep into the trees inner core.

The blade seem to repel the trees bark, it was like two magnets put at the same ends, the two surfaces pushed away from each other at an alarming force, it slightly winded me and I fell to my doom.

Had I really done it for a third time?

I better name my blade now.

I descended to the ground but I felt no pain, the beetles had joined together, their tough husks stopping me from touching the ground.

They kindled me and protected me from the elements.

"Thanks." I replied, getting up from my beetle throne and shaking myself off.

I raised my knife, "and no thanks to you." The knife glowed a ghostly white in reply.

"Mortem... that's your name."

In this whole ordeal I forgot about the beetles, but right now they didn't seem to be a threat. They saved me, if I had bruised my tail bone I may have not been able to hobble myself to safety.

With my new companion Mortem, I walked my way deeper into the woods, the beetles followed in pursuit, but keeping a fair distance away.

Maybe this trip could make me forget who I was?