It started with a wolf.

Chapter 3: Ella

Ella

Rhys came and sat next to me, this time not worried about keeping any distance between us. I guessed he had been worried earlier, incase it had been his dad’s footprints coming down the stairs, instead of his mum’s. The conversation had efortlessly drifted to include Rhys. ‘How are your parents, Ella?’ Rhys’s mum asked me. There was obvious dislike in her tone. ‘Oh, well. You know. Good, I guess.’ I replied, wanting to leave it at that. I was sure Rhys’s mum would too. I struggled to think of something to keep the conversation going. I looked up at Rhys for inspiration. ‘Uuhh-uhh, has Rhys shown you his latest sketches? There are some brilliant ones of the lake…’ I said. I glanced back at Rhys. He returned my gaze with a look with enough venom to kill small animals.

Rhys’ mum suggested we go out to the woods. I wasn’t entirely sure which part we were going to, but as long as it was away from my house, I didn’t mind. As we turned each corner, and walked down each road, I wondered how Rhys could remember such a complex order of directions. We went went down alleys I wouldn’t even have noticed if we hadn’t been together. He had me claiming over fences, squeezing through gaps of wooden paneling and attempting to jump over brooks. But all our hard work was rewarded. We rounded a corner on the stone path. What I saw before me was pure beauty. Hundreds if not thousands of trees, all glistening white from the late morning frost. The sun was directly over head, making the trees and grass look like they had been studded with thousands of tiny diamonds. I chanced a look at Rhys. Again, that intense look on his face as if he was studying me.

I wondered how Rhys could remember a path so complicated, or why we didn’t follow the walk way at the end of his garden. I didn’t ask for an explanation. With Rhys, there didn’t need to be one. The route we were taking felt like it was going up, but only steadily. After making our way through thorn filled ditches, and squeezing through crooked, old fences, Rhys stopped. ‘Close your eyes. Just for a minute.’ He asked. I didn’t object. I slowly brought my mitten covered hands up to my eyes, wary in case he was planning on surprising me. He placed his hands gently on my back, persuading me to walk forward. I walked slowly, one foot in front of the other, until suddenly I was spun round to my left. I felt Rhys’ hands nudge my back. I carried on walking. Slowly, one foot in front of the other. All of a sudden, two strong hands gripped my elbows. Pulling me to a stop. ‘Open.’ Rhys ordered. I did as I was told. I reluctently removed my hands from my eyes, trying to savour the excitement. I blinked, the bright sunlight startling my eyes. They quickly adjusted to my surroundings. I breathed in, taking down all the tiny details of everything I could see. The beauty was so overwhelming, I had to sit down. I’d forgotten we were in Winter, and the grass would obviously be cold and wet. I jumped back up, rubbing my mittens against the back of my jeans, desperate to transfer some of the coldness. Rhys was acting like he was completely oblivious to my actions. His attention was concentrated on a single point in the forest below us. I followed his gaze, but I couldn’t exactly tell what he was looking at. I took his hand in mine, and notioned for us to go and explore. I didn’t know what we were going to look at, so I allowed Rhys to lead. He was so sure of where we were going, I admired him. Running downhill whilst the floor was sodden with water, was not a good idea. Within a matter of minutes, we were both on floor. Slowing to a halt where the muddy floor beneath us evened out. I staggered up right, waiting for Rhys to join me. He looked up at me and chuckled. I bent my head round to look at my back. The entire side of my coat was a disgusting, watery brown with bits of grass stuck to it. I tried reaching round to wipe it, but it was hopeless. I just smeared the mess around, not really making any difference at all. Rhys stuck his hands into the mud, hoping to prop him self up. His hands just sunk, even deeper into the mud then they were before. As he began to pull one of his hands out, something caught my eye. A creature, bent over under a bush. The creature looked to deformed to be a human, but it didn’t have the right build to be anything else.

I left Rhys to struggle on his own, and began to make my way towards the strange being. Something snapped under my feet. The creature’s head instantly swung round, he lifted his body up. He was a boy. Young in the face, but with eyes a startling green. Eyes that looked like they had seen far more then his face portreyed. I couldn’t help but notice his strong, muscley body. Covered only in what looked like clothing which was several sizes to small, and a scraggly string of beads tied around his neck. His gaze lingered on mine. His stance was so tense, almost as if here were protecting something. My eyes dropped to his feet, curious to see what he had been hunched over. It just looked like a pile of leaves. The boy noticed me studying what was behind his feet, and moved to the side. It was like he was asking me to look at whatever it was that was on the floor. I creeped forward, making sure not to startle him. I bent down ot observe the pile, placing a hand on the leaves, I looked up at the boy. He simply nodded. I took that as a sign to carry on. I swept the leaves aside, checking the boy’s face to see if I were doing what he wanted. He carried on staring intently. I pushed the last of leaves away, shocked to not see mud. Where muddy water should have been, there was a trap door. Wooden, with an old metal handel. I felt someone’s breath on the back of my neck. I gasped. I had expected it to be Rhys, creeping up behind me. But he was stood to far back. Instead, it was the boy. Leaning in closely over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure what he expected me to do. Surely he could open the door if he wanted. The boy crept infront of me, his place instantly taken by Rhys. He pointed at the handle. I removed one of my mittens, and gripped my fingers around the frosted handle. I tried to yank it up, but it would not budge. The boy almost looked disappointed. As if I hadn’t fulfilled his expectations. He pointed again, this time to a paragraph below the handle. I scratched at it with my fingers, determined to discover what it said. ‘The power of friendship conquers all.’ I was confused. Why would this boy want us to know that? Surely other people wandered through this part of the forest. Rhys pulled me back and herded me away from the trap door. That night, thoughts of the boy from the forest filled my dreams.