FOREST OF THE LOST

PART TWENTY ONE

37.

Time is a storm in which we are all lost – William Carlos Williams.

***

Having come to be in a new town, Terrence involved himself with something he thought he knew well or as well as one can before moving forwards, but he didn't. He knew nothing of a particular woodland area prior to coming to this new town despite the possibility it had been calling him for many years. He assumed he came to this town out of a want, a need for something else.

He thought he needed to get away from the life he had, if only even for a certain undetermined amount of time, and he felt this breakaway would indeed be something temporary in nature when in actuality there was nothing wrong as is or as was, there was nothing he actually needed to get away from.

Despite the temporary part of the assumption, Terrence went and purchased a house. He did not rent, taking on a lease of any sort had not been considered, neither had a stay in any kind of hotel or bed and breakfast. Terrence had flat out purchased a house, and he done so sight unseen. Yeah, there was no prior visitation before his move, not that he was aware of at least.

The town too ... it was a place he had never been to and had no direct knowledge of. Yet, he just had to go there. He knew not why, and freely accepted all reasoning as something perhaps subconscious, for perhaps that is just what it is. Sure, once you enter that park, you are there for all of time and not just from a linear perspective. In a way, and on a technicality, Terrence had been within that park long before he made the move to the town it exists within.

Quickly feeling some sort of responsibility, Terrence rushed into something while fully expecting to be fully successful in any quest he may take on. In truth, he could never fully know what he would be walking himself into. Again, perhaps an unconscious calling got the better of him, or simply was always meant to be.

If he had taken his time, if he had taken more time to research further to a degree then he could have at least been a little more equipped to deal with what may come his way. Some kind of investigation had come, though that intrigued him and possibly sent him to a certain location a little quicker than what he what he would have otherwise done.

There is no point in thinking about what might have been or what is, and there is no point in dwelling on what might come, he has tasked himself with making an exit and he'll be damned if he does not get to achieve this.

History, all towns have history, and if Terrence had done some further research, some proper research involving the town history, more so than just finding out about those who went missing then he would have discovered that this woodland area dates back at least to the mid nineteenth century. It had been a new town, a growing community with plenty of land, it came together quickly and planted the beginnings of what exists now.

This woodland place quickly grew to become something quite impressive, so impressive that the town elected that a new town church would be built within its grounds. From just beyond what now is a roadside entrance, the entrance at the opposite end to when Terrence had entered, if you were to enter and turn left, then walk a little while, you would come to the spot where this church had been built.

By the beginning of the last decade of the nineteenth century, monks took a hold on this building and used it as a retreat, a special place they could use to withdraw from the world and live by the restrictions they put forwards for themselves. The surrounding town would build a second church close to the village and this church would take over as their main place of prayer.

So often and after dark, a number of monks would go walking through the woodlands, three abreast with flame torches to guide their way and as they walked together, they would chant to bless they grounds they walked upon. The reasons for this and the exact nature of their activities within that church of theirs and the surrounding areas are a source of great speculation, so much so that many a book has been written on the subject.

Unfortunately, history did not officially record how this church, this former building of retreat, ended up becoming what today is more a shrine, a ruins of that which once was. Many say that there were no monks; they say that a practicing cult had come to take charge of the building, not to worship God but rather worship Satan or some other dark force or entity.

Many sacrifices were said to have been made, human sacrifices as well as animal sacrifices. An evil grew and ghosts became plentiful, and a permanent darkness took hold upon the woodlands. Whatever entity had been worshipped, wasted little time in becoming sentient, and it now is the park itself ... they are both one and the same.

Indeed, by the mid twentieth century, the woodlands had fallen to neglect due to the fact that many said it had become home to the dead, a home where ghosts would roam freely, ghosts of people who were long gone yet still present within. It wasn't until the late nineteen seventies that the woodlands would be reborn and renewed.

Whatever had remained from before had not completely left the grounds. It had not completely gone away despite the few decades it remained alone. Time came to no longer matter; time could not kill any evil or darkness trapped within these grounds, so time no longer matters. Nothing can be guaranteed as evil or only evil, perhaps something was just lonely, perhaps some other reason exists as to why things work the way they do.

Whatever lived in darkness could only affect a few; whatever does live within these grounds can only feed or gain strength from a few. Whatever remained, whatever this place had become, may have grown out of an evil, or was created in the dark arts, but it also came from good, it is a darkness which seeks light. More than anything, perhaps it seeks companionship, it seeks company.

Only a few could hear its call and from those few who could hear the call only some would enter and only a few of those who would enter could sense something more to these woodlands, but none could totally understand it, none could understand it that is until a certain someone decided that it was time to make a move to a new town.

Cecil Lynch has an understanding of this place but was as close as it got until there was a certain someone by the name of Terrence Williams.

Maybe sometimes it is best not to know but then again what benefit could any of this knowledge of the past be to Terrence if he were to know of it prior to the moment he is in. Could it have been of aid to him? He may be wanting to leave this place, and he may just have it in him to achieve this but there is more to come his way before his attempt at an exit could be properly made.

Maybe a lesson in history would better be something learned rather than being something of an unknown. Experience may be the key. Interaction, companionship, loneliness, all things needed to be shared.