Whispers Beyond the Forest

Chapter 9

Emily walked back and forth, biting her lip, the trees gently swishing around her.

I shouldn't be here, she kept thinking. I should've listened to Eddy. This was a bad idea.

But then she'd turn around and think, No! Eddy is keeping things from me. I need to know more. I need to find that boy.

She turned and paced the other way. But I promised Eddy I wouldn't come here!

But I have to know!

Eventually Emily stopped walking and looked around her. "Okay," she told herself. "I can do this. I've been here in the forest for ten minutes now and nothing bad has happened. It's fine."

She took a deep breath. All she had to do was go a little bit further into the forest. All she had to do was look for him.

She took a hesitant step forward. The shadows covered nearly everything beyond the clearing. Emily could hardly see anything. The thought of having to go through that darkness, having no idea what was beyond it, terrified her.

Groaning, she stepped back into the middle of the clearing. "I can't do it," she muttered miserably.

Well, there was always plan B. Less dangerous, but also a much lower success-chance.

Emily took a deep breath and placed her hands in front of her mouth like a cone. "Hey!" she shouted into the forest. Birds immediately flew up in the air, startled by the noise. This would've been much easier if I knew his name. "Hey! Are you there? Come back, we need to talk! Hey! Are you –"

"Will you stop shouting?"

Emily flinched when she suddenly heard another voice through her own.

It was him. The boy with the sad eyes, now with a worried look on his face, stepped out from between the trees. Emily smiled, hardly believing she'd found him.

The boy glanced around uncomfortably. "Have you gone mad? You have no idea what – or who – could hear you in here."

"I didn't know how else to find you," said Emily.

The boy narrowed his eyes. "Why would you want to find me? You don't even remember me..."

The hurt in his voice didn't escape Emily's attention. But there was nothing she could do about it now. She had to understand first, before she could fix things.

Taking a deep breath, she explained, "I've been in an accident and when I woke up, I'd lost all my memories. I can't remember anything from before the accident. Anything at all. I'm trying to piece everything back together, in hopes that I might get my memory back that way. But to do that, I need to know everything." She gave him her most pleading look. "I'll need to know about you."

The boy leaned against a tree, staring at her. He fiddled with his sleeves. After a few moments of silence, he averted his gaze and said, "It's better if you don't know, Emily."

Emily's jaw dropped. "What? No, you don't understand, I need my memory back. You can help me. Please, you've got to help me."

But the boy just shook his head. "Go home," he said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have talked to you in the first place, I just..." He turned around and continued over his shoulder, "Don't come back."

Emily watched him walk into the shadows, her mind panicking. This was her only chance to find out more about him. She couldn't just let him walk away. "Wait!" she shouted. "Why do I have a picture of you in my room?"

The boy was just close by enough for her to see him freeze. He turned to face her once more.

"You still have that?" he asked, voice wavering.

Emily nodded furiously. "I found it hidden inside my mattress. I figured it was a secret, so I was afraid to ask Eddy, or my friends."

"They cannot know." The boy's eyes went wide.

"Okay," Emily agreed quickly. "But I've got to know more. Please."

Sighing deeply, the boy stepped back into the clearing.

"Fine," he muttered. "I guess I can tell you a few things."

The pair sat down on the fallen log, Emily smiling with hope, although the boy still wouldn't meet her gaze.

"What's your name?" she asked curiously.

The boy let out a joyless laugh and rubbed his face. "My name is Sylvester – you used to call me Syl."

"Syl," she repeated after him, trying to find familiarity in the name. "How do we know each other?"

Syl looked up at her and stared into her eyes, the sadness ever present. "We were friends," he said. "We've been friends for years. We met right here in the forest and we've been meeting up here ever since."

"That sounds nice," said Emily, in a weak attempt to cheer him up a little bit.

"It was," he said. "For as long as it lasted."

A wave of guilt washed over her. It was her fault Syl was bummed out like this. It was her fault he was upset. If only she remembered.

"Look, I'm... I'm really sorry," she said. "I'm trying so hard to get my memory back. I want to remember you."

Syl nodded. "I know," he said. "I just... I miss you. I miss my best friend. You've always been there for me and..." He rubbed his face. "I want to be there for you, too, but I think it's better if you stayed away. It's not safe in the forest, Emily."

"Because of the Others?" she asked, sounding more grumpy than she'd meant to.

He glanced up at her, narrowing his eyes. "Partly, yes."

She sighed. "You just told me that I've been coming here to meet you lots of times before my accident. Why should that suddenly change? Why would it suddenly not be safe anymore?"

"It was never safe, Emily," said Syl. "You've just been too stubborn to care. But now... Now that you can't remember anything, it's up to me to protect you." Something in his eyes hardened, as if he'd put up a wall. "Don't come back here. And definitely don't shout like that. There are wolves in the forest, you know."

Emily jumped up. This boy, Syl, the boy in the drawing in her mattress, he'd been her last hope. The last person she could go to for answers. She'd felt even more hope when he called her his best friend. But now, even he was turning her down. How was she supposed to get her memory back if everyone was keeping secrets from her? Didn't they understand that she had to know?

"You don't get to decide that for me," she said, he hands shaking with frustration. "You said I'm your best friend. So why won't you help me? Why won't you help me get my memory back?"

Syl stood up, too, lifting his hands in the air in a helpless gesture. "You won't get your memory back, Emily! They've been taken from you, they're not coming back."

Emily hardly even heard his words, as she stared in shock at his arms. When he lifted them up, the sleeves of his sweater came down. What she saw made her step back in pure terror.

"What's that?" she whispered.

Syl followed her gaze and pulled his sleeves back down with a sigh. But it was too late. She'd seen the markings, the intricate pattern, just like Eddy had told her. "It doesn't matter. Look..."

"You're one of them?" Emily breathed. What have I done? He'll kill me! They'd killed her mother, they'd kill her, too. Why hadn't she listened to Eddy? Thoughts raced through her head as she kept stepping backwards, back into the forest, in the direction of town. She held her hands in front of her protectively.

"Emily, stop that," said Syl, exasperated. "You don't understand."

"I understand enough." With those words, Emily turned and dashed off as fast as her legs would carry her. She had to get back to town, back to safety. She had to get away from that boy, with the tattoos on his arms. Her chest heaved and her heart pounded as she ran, but she wouldn't stop, not until she was safely back home. She heard him shout after her, making her run even faster.

Syl was one of them after all. How wrong she'd been. He was one of the Others, a thief, a vandal, a murderer. She had to get away from him, before he'd hurt her.