Boy Of The Forest [Malum]

Chapter 3

        Scared. It was an understatement. Michael was more then scared. He was mortified. Any small snap of a twig or a rustle of leaves, would make Michael jump as high as the tallest tree in the forest. Why he was so scared of this, was the thought that was on his mind. Why was he so scared?

        Maybe it was because, his father always told him not to go into the forest. It could be because he knew that if his father found, he'd been six feet in the ground within a second. Could it be because he didn't know what was out here? Or was it his own self, that he was so scared of. Michael normally didn't do something this adventures, but for some reason, he felt like breaking the rule. 

        Michael felt free for once.

        Michael's fears continue to grow as Ollie started to bark at something. "Ollie, calm down. Please, calm down." Michael begs his dog, trying to keep a hold on him. The dog continues to bark and soon starts to lung trying to get to whatever it was hearing.

        "Ollie. Please." Michael does his best to hold onto the only thing that was going to keep him safe in this forest. But Michael's best wasn't enough as Ollie rips out of Michael's grip. "Ollie! Ollie come back here!" Michael yells after the dog, but it continues to run away from him. Michael tries to follow, but his luck was cut short when he trips over s small stump, falling to the ground and losing sight of Ollie.

        "Dammit. Why was I stupid enough to come out here?" Michael snaps at himself, sitting on a stump that was near him. He hisses to himself as his knee was scarped. He pulls off his backpack going to look for the first aid kit.

        Michael continues to say things to himself in his mind such as; "Why are you so stupid Michael? If you would have just pulled Ollie back in the house and not looked at the forest, you wouldn't be in this mess. You'd be at home, on the couch playing video games while Ollie laid on the follow next to you waiting for the next time he was going to get outside again. Why did you have to go and look into the forest?" 

        The list grew for the words that Michael spat at himself, as he put a bandage on his knee after he had cleaned it the best ht could. Knowing it was just a scrape was he wasn't complete worried about it, but then he didn't want it to get infected or anything, within the time that he was going to be out in the forest.

        Michael hears a loud snap from somewhere around him so he stands and looking around him, trying to see what it could have been. Michael's mind races as he tries to think of what it could be. His first and main thought was the boy from his dreams. Michael prayed that the boy was who he say before, that way this whole thing wouldn't have been for nothing.

        Michael turns in a circle a couple of times, soon stopping when he sees something standing 5 feet away from him hiding behind a tree. A hand sits on the tree, a head hangs half way out from the tree, watching him was Michael stares back. Michael opens his mouth to say something, closing it as whoever was there hides completely behind the tree. He couldn't just stay quiet though. 

        "Hello. Have you perhaps seen a German Shepherd have you? I lost my dog, and I have no idea where he could have gone. Could you maybe help me?" Michael asks the person taking some steps closer. The person behind the tree looking out from behind it again, eyeing Michael before running off. 

        "Wait! Please!" Michael calls after, going to follow behind, but knowing that he'd just get lost even more then he already was if he did follow. Michael sighing and mentally scolding himself, sits down on the tree stump again, playing with a Tulip that was broken off from the rest of it's bunch. He figured it broken when he fell, and felt bad about that for some odd reason. He plays with it before putting it into his backpack, figuring that it might get crushed, but he didn't care. He was hoping that it would be a souvenir for whenever he got out of there.

        "Here." Michael let's out a small yelp at the voice that was quiet, but rang through the forest enough for it to echo for at least 10 seconds. Michael looks up at the place where a boy was standing with Ollie next to him.

        "Ollie!" Michael exclaims, slowly standing and walking over to the boy. "Thank you. Do you maybe know the way out of here? I'm kind of lost." Michael shyly says taking Ollie's leash from the boy. The boy only nodded waving a hand for Michael to follow him.

        Michael doesn't speak a word as he follows behind this boy. He examined him though. Finding features that he hoped the boy would have so that he was the boy from his dream. When the boys arm moves, he sees a bird on it. Not a living bird, but a tattoo. He'd seen it before. In his dreams, Michael had seen that tattoo clearly, every night and possibly every time he closed his eyes. It was something that always played over and over.

        "Can I ask you something?" The boy stops walking at Michael's question. He looks at him, questioning if he should let Michael continue. Nodding the boy turns fully to Michael, crossing his arms over his chest. Michael gulps taking a deep breath.

        "Have you ever had a dream, constantly, where you seen the same person? Like it was the same dream but different, and it was over the course of your whole life. Sometimes it was a nightmare, and other times it was the perfect dream. But the problem is, you never knew who exactly was in your dream. Have you ever had a dream like that?" Michael felt bad, for putting this boy on the spot like that, but he only wanted answers. Just one answer, that's all he needed. He didn't want a "oh hey, yeah, I've had those dreams before; I think you're the boy in my dreams, and I'm the boy in yours." type of answer. He just wanted a simple answer, as to if someone has ever gone thought the same thing as him.

        The boys watches Michael, before looking up at the sky. Michael wished he knew what the boy was thinking, but he didn't. He couldn't read minds like superhero's. Michael was going to be left clueless it seemed. "Sorry. That was a stupid-"

        "A dream that continues, starting when you were young, and still continues till now. It's like a book with too many cliffhangers, every night ending in a way that you didn't. Whoever was in the dream with you, you hardly knew what the person looked like, but you feel as if you grew up with them." The boy had repeated what Michael said, but it sounded less complicated when he said it. Michael felt like he knew this boys voice too, like it was imprinted in his mind. Which it so happened to be.

        "Yeah, exactly. How did you-"

        "Trust me, my pale friend, you aren't the only one that goes through that type of thing." My pale friend. Michael was called that so many times in his dreams. He had many nicknames, but that one always managed to stand out somehow.

        "Are you the boy? The one from my dreams?" Michael stares at this boy. Feeling that he was the boy of the forest. Michael had it in his mind that, this boy was the one that he had known for his whole life through his dreams. 

        "Are you the boy from mine?" The boy looks at Michael, his eyes glowing in the dim light that showed them to each other. "You'll be out of the forest if you keep walking straight. Don't trail from that. You'll be home before you know it." The boy says going to walk away from Michael.

        "Wait." Michael's hand flys out grabbing the boys arm. "Can we talk again? Maybe after tonight we will have our answers." Michael pleads with both his voice and his eyes to the boy.

        "The edge of the forst. Meet me there tomorrow morning." The boy says pulling his arm from Michael's grasp. They share one last look before the boy run deeper into the forest. Michael watches for a while, and stands there after he can no longer see the boy.