Oakside Forest (My 'Masky' and 'Hoodie' origin story)

Chapter 9: Compulsions

We talk about random things that happened in college while we wait for our coffees to arrive. "Remember that time when the teacher came in drunk?" He says, laughing at the memory. "Oh yeah, he had nearly, what? Twenty bottles of beer in his bag?" We both laugh. We didn't have to do anything that period, since he said that as long as no one knew, we could do whatever we wanted. He also offered the class beer, which pretty much everyone but me took. But what did I  expect in college? For everyone to say no to something they hardly ever get? Yeah right. "Oh, and that time when the teacher just left us in the class. That was so funny!" I say, making us both laugh even harder. She hated us, but we wouldn't do what she wanted. So halfway through the cover lesson, she just slammed her hands on the desk, said 'I can't do this anymore', and walked out, leaving the whole class to their own devices. She got fired nearly immediately after. We drink our coffee and leave, heading to the pharmacy which was pretty much directly outside the entrance to the forest. I slow down a bit while Tim speeds up, going into the pharmacy,  desperate to just get the pills and leave. I look at the entrance, the darkness beckoning me to enter. I wonder what else is in there.. "Brian, what the hell are you doing!" Tim yells at me, grabbing my arm and stopping me just inches away from the treeline. I step back, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Tim starts leading me away from the forest, making me begin to struggle. "Brian, what's gotten into you?" He yells, putting the pills in his pocket and grabbing me with his other hand, physically dragging me away from the trees. "Tim...Let go..." I say calmly. I didn't say that. I begin to panic, trying to regain control of my body as this other force fights back. "Brian, what the hell is wrong with you?" He says, still pulling me backwards. "...Let go..." I say, a bit more aggressively. He doesn't. I begin to panic, having flashbacks to my nightmare. I beg for him to let go in my head, knowing what was going to happen next. "Let go of me, Wright!" I yell, punching him hard while breaking away from his grasp and running into the forest. I thank God as he stays outside, his hylophobia being too great to follow me in. 

I run, the sun being blocked out as it gets darker. I keep running, hitting a tree and falling to the ground. I look around, beginning to panic. I've regained control of my body but the entrance is nowhere to be found. I get up and start to run again, my breathing getting faster and lighter. I search for an exit, none in sight. I find the Silo, going around it to the trail. I run down it, coming to the entrance...which is blocked off. The gate has been closed and trees are blocking my only way out. I pound on the gate, screaming for someone to let me out. I back away from the gate and run back to the silo, tearing the page off it. I keep running, grabbing the page on the rock and the wall. I can feel the sickness begin to affect me as I cough while running blindly through the forest, but I feel compelled to collect them. I find an abandoned car. How did it even get here? I begin to cough a bit more violently, running around it and tearing another page from it. That's 4. I don't bother to read it as I continue to run, slowing down slightly as I cough. I see the creature and fall, blood dripping onto the floor as my coughing becomes heavier. Getting up, I run deeper into the forest. The trees surround me and I slow down, not being able to stand any longer as I fall. My hand grazes a piece of paper as I do, it being enough to get it off the tree and landing where I can see it clearly. 'CAN'T RUN'. It's true, I can't. I feel myself lightly coughing as the creature appears, taking the papers that were scattered over the floor. What does it want from me? I feel it's gaze shift to me, the sickness getting much worse. "You did well, Brian. But not well enough." it says, teleporting away. I lie there for at least 20 minutes waiting for it to come back. It doesn't. I get up, looking at my leg as it bleeds. I somehow cut it while I was running. I don't feel the pain though. I look around and notice i'm back at the entrance. I go around the forest for hours, the same thing happening. I'd reach 3-5 pages, then pass out. I decide to go left this time to see if it'd be different. I walk for a minute until coming across a really unnerving tree in the middle of the path, a note stapled to the side of it. I tear it off and begin to hear a light static again. I've figured out what he's doing. It's like a game. You need to gather all the pages, however many there might be, and then pray he'll let you leave. I move at a quick pace, following the trail to the car, the wall, the rocks and the silo. The page on the rocks being gone. That's another thing i've noticed: they seem to change location every time. I follow the trail, coming across a few trees that have had their tops cut off. There's a note on one of them as well. I grab it and start to run. That's 5. I keep looking around as I come across 10 pressure vessels. I look and find a page pinned up on one of them. I grab it as I run to the next location. They looked to be bathrooms. I run in, finding a page in there. I take this opportunity to rest for a second, being extremely out of breath from running everywhere. I look at the pages. 'DON'T LOOK OR IT TAKES YOU, HELP ME, NO NO NO.., FOLLOWS, ALWAYS WATCHES - NO EYES, and LEAVE ME ALONE'. That's 7, the most i've ever gotten. I don't know how many more there are. I look out the window and notice how foggy it's gotten, to the point where I can hardly see outside. I take a deep breath and run out of the bathroom, going any direction until coming across...A tunnel. It's exactly like the one in Rosswood. I stop dead as I notice it, taking a step back. I get hit with sudden disorientation, the earth beginning to spin below me as I fall to my hands and knees in a coughing fit. I get up, running over to the tunnel in hopes that there was a page in there. I look forward, the creature suddenly being right in front of me. I hear static, screaming at the sight as I fall backwards, pushing myself away from the creature. I get up and use the side of the tunnel to walk, my vision beginning to fade as I feel my hand brush paper. I grab it, tearing it off the side of the tunnel before collapsing and passing out.