NOW PUBLISHED!!
This is the unedited version of The Collected. You can now get the completed version with the link
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The story of a lost boy, a fisherman's daughter, a heartless soul and a lonely mechanic lost in the stars.
The Collectors a...
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I had accidentally wandered deep into the woods again. I knew my mother would be worried sick by now. She may have even sent my stepfather out to find me. But I couldn't make myself go back, not yet. I couldn't tear my eyes from the canopy of leaves that shone splintered rays of sunlight across my face. No noise except for the rustle of bushes and wind in the trees. Birds singing and my footsteps on the uneven ground. I'd wandered deep into the forest, it just kept drawing me in. I knew the path back, I'd wandered down it myself many times. I was far passed the boundaries my mother had set down many years ago. Back when I was five and we'd first gotten a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. Back when my father was still around.
I shook the hazy memory of his face out of my head and focused in on the small details. The moss that climbs its way up the tree trunks. The intricate spider webs that many would just brush past. If I hadn't been walking so slowly, breathing so little, I wouldn't of heard the faint whimpers. They just drifted along the air, too human to be an animal. But they just didn't sound human either. There was a strange hum to them. A frown easily found its way to my face.
Go home Max.
Sadly I never listen to the voice of reason in my head. So I continued to cut my way through the undergrowth, towards the strange noise. I moved off my regular path knowing I could find my way back. I always did.
The sound became louder as I made my way to it. Silent through the trees, not a branch snapped under my gentle footsteps. It was definitely whimpering, whatever it was, it was in pain.
I knew what was wrong, and it made me sick to my stomach. My stepfather set many of his traps out here, another reason I was restricted to my mothers boundaries. A flutter of anger erupted in my chest. The poor animals had never done anything to him. He didn't even use them for food. Instead my peaceful cabin had become a trophy case for his prizes. I often liked to imagine his head next to the deer, see how he liked it.
A branch scraped its way across my cheek. Just adding to the many white lines that littered my arms and legs. However I didn't look up to make sure there weren't anymore in my way, I kept my eyes trained to the ground. Careful that I didn't find myself stuck in a trap. I took a few more steps before the whimpering to stopped.
I finally looked up, as frozen as the creature on the edge of the tiny clearing. I blinked multiple times, my mind never catching up to my eyes. My blood rushed through my ears. Fear and curiosity running through my veins.
It wasn't an animal in the trap. This thing was almost human-like. Yet still far away from it. Its skin was blue, matching the sky above. Its limbs were long, with four arms instead of two. One of its legs was stuck in the trap. The blood that poured from the wound was an even lighter blue than its skin. Its head was bald, dotted with white speckles. There was a fin like growth that started at the base of its neck and continued down to its tail bone. Then there was its eyes. It's eyes were a dark blue, purple almost. I felt them bore into my my skin. It whimpered again. The sound vibrating through my ears.
