Boy Of The Forest [Malum]

Chapter 7

        Michael didn't have a single thought. His mind didn't really want to function. His focus was on Calum, finding him, knowing that he was alright. Michael couldn't lose Calum, not after just finding him. It wasn't in his mind set, not even to let the boy leave once his father came back, Michael wasn't going to let Calum leave him that easy.

        Michael didn't want to think this, let alone it be an option, but he knew that there was something deep down in him; something about Calum, about the both of them; that he knew would somehow have to be real, either it be in the near future, or it be in the far, it was going to be real, somehow. But what Michael's mind did want to believe, was that he was in love with the other boy. Michael couldn't believe what he was thinking, but knew that in some way it was true. He cared more for Calum, then he did his other friends, maybe even more then he cared for his own father. He knew that he most likely did love Calum, but if he was going to ever get to tell the other boy that, he had no idea.

        Michael just ran, he had no idea where he was going, Ollie had left him minutes ago, running off in some other direction, that maybe he should have follow the dog in, but for some reason didn't. There was something making him go this way, it wasn't his head or heart, no. It was something more like his gut, or just pure adrenaline, and he hoped that it took him to where Calum was.

        He had heard maybe three other gun shots, he wasn't sure, his head pounded, adrenaline pumped, making him only focus on one thing. He somehow even managed to come this far without falling, which did shock him, but wasn't shocked seeing that this was something that had to do with life or death. 

        "Calum. Fuck, Calum, where in the hell could you be?" Michael sighs to himself stopping to catch his breath. He'd never ran this much in his life, not even in gym class, so this was at a whole new level. Michael let his mind, his body, he was trying to let everything calm down. The forest was quiet, Michael only heard his breathing, and the odd bird every now and then. He heard no gun shots, no one fighting. It was a little too quiet for Michael's liking, and he knew that there had to be something wrong in that second. 

        That's when he hears a branch break behind him, making him jump, his breathing stops, as he turned around slowly, coming face to face with a hooded man holding a rifle in his hands. Michael couldn't bring himself to scream, let alone breath. But after holding his breath for so long, he had to take a small breath.

        "What are you doing out here boy?" The man asks, his voice ruff, and old. Michael tried to think of a lie, what could he lie about? He couldn't say that he was out here looking for his friend, who most likely had been looking for the man standing in front of him. Ollie. He could say that he was out looking for Ollie!

        "I-I'm looking for my dog." Michael said as loud as he could. He didn't want hsi voice to be so quiet that the man couldn't hear him, but he didn't want to be overly loud, and with Michael still trying to catch his breath, he let his voice be as loud as his lungs would let him be.

        "My friend was helping me, but I kinda lost him too." Wasn't all too much of a lie. He was looking for Ollie now also, and right now he didn't know where in the world Calum was.

        "Michael? Michael! Holy shit there you are! I went back to the house and found Ollie there, but you were nowhere to be seen. I came looking for you." Michael turns to his right finding Calum walking up to him. Michael grins hugging his friend, still scared half to death.

        "I was so fucking scared I lost you. Don't do that again." Michael whispers into Calum's shoulder holding the boy close. He was so glad to be back in the other boy's arms that he forgot about the man that was standing not to far from them. 

        Though when Michael turns around, there was no one there. "What are you looking for?" Calum asks, crooking his head and giving the older boy a questioning look.

        "Nothing, I just thought I saw something. My imagination is running wild." Michael shakes his head, thinking that he just must have imagined the hooded man. If Calum was asking him what he was looking at, even though Michael swore that he was still looking at the man when Calum had walked up. Still, he's now almost sure that he just imagined it all. Or now he hoped.

        "Let's go back to the house, it's going to rain again soon." Calum says grabbing hold of Michael's hand and starting to pull the boys back to the house with him. Michael walks close to Calum, holding onto his arm and hand tightly, as if he would disappear at any second. That was one of Michael's biggest fears, waking up one morning, and finding out that the short time that they have spent together, was all just a dream. 

        As the two take their first steps back into Michael's yard, the rain starting to fall making Calum frown, but smile. Michael was the same way, he didn't like being in the rain, but he loved the rain no matter what. It was calming.

        "Calum, you aren't going back to the forest right? You're gonna stay in the house with me?" Michael asks stopping them in the middle of the yard.

        "As weird as it might sound, Michael it's my home out there. It's a hard place to live in, but I like it, no matter how much I like being with you. The walls of your house separate us, a lot." Calum sighs, knowing that he would be stupid for him to go back into the forest, he now had a place to stay. He didn't have to sleep in the rain, he didn't have to pray that he'd find food easily; he now had easy access to a home, and it was Michael's home, the home that he was most likely always welcome in. So now how could he go back to the forest, if he had a home and someone that cared about him?

        "Please stay with me Calum, don't go back just yet." Michael pleaded, holding tightly onto Calum's hand. Michael knew that if Calum went back, they would most likely never see each other again. He knew that Calum wouldn't want to come back into Michael's world, no one ever did; so why would Calum be any different?

        "I-" Calum fought with himself. How did Michael want someone like him in his life? Calum was strange, he wasn't used to being around people that were normal in his mind, he hardly knew a thing about video games, unlike most boys his age, he didn't even understand how to use half of the appliances that were in the house. 

        "Okay," Calum whispers, pulling Michael into his chest, leaning his head on the older boys. He closes his eyes not wanting a moment like this one a end; but Calum could only hope that there would be more of them, so he let it end when Michael pulled away looking up at Calum.

        "Promise me something, Calum," Michael said as a loud clap of thunder boomed around them.

        "What is it?" 

        Michael looked away from Calum for a second, rethinking the actions that he was going to make, but then knew that it was now or never. He looks back to the boy that stood in front of him, moving his hand up to rest on his cheek. Running his thumb along Calum's cheek bone, a small smile lingered on his lips. Michael's eyes shut slowly as he leans up, letting his and Calum's lips meet. He kisses the younger boy for a minute, not caring he wasn't kissing back, he still did it. When he pulled back, Michael still let his face stay close to Calum's, keeping his eyes closed, slightly worried about what he had done now, but he was still happy with himself for doing so.

        "Promise me that, that, wont change anything between us." Michael whispers letting his hand fall from Calum's cheek, now turning his head. He moved from Calum's grip, as the regret really started to kick in. 

        "The door will be unlocked." Michael quickly said before he ran back to his house, pulling the sliding glass door open and closing it behind him. He didn't lock it, like he said. It was going to be unlocked, it will always be unlocked for Calum, like Michael's heart.