Fantasy Forest 3: Ressurection

5. Blood Rush

The boy Seally practically pushed me into my room as he ordered me to get dressed before shutting the door behind him. I was wondering if he just wanted me out of the living room so he could steal stuff but we didn't have much to steal and I needed to get dressed anyway so I pulled on a pair of jeans and a checkered blue shirt which, in all honesty, I was beginning to believe by the fit that it wasn't actually mine and instead was just something Earnest left behind on one of our many group sleepovers. It was comfy though so I wore it anyway not caring at all that it slid over my right shoulder slightly revealing my tan bra strap. Upon exiting the room I found Seally standing in the hallway outside my door looking at the pictures my dad had hung up on the wall.

"Are you snooping?" I asked.

"No." He said casually as he looked me over before roughly handing me my sneakers which he had probably fetched from the front door. "Put these on." He ordered and I sighed and did as told. Why was I listening to this kid again? Half of me thought it was curiosity while the other half was just bored and looking for something to do. I put on my shoes and followed the younger boy out of the apartment and out into the hall. I stopped to lock the door behind me and as I did so I caught sight of a familiar face approaching down the hall.

"I can't believe you're still alive." Vince said as he came up to us at a brisk pace.

"I can't believe you ditched me in the woods." I replied.

"I forgot I had somewhere I needed to be." He said as he picked at his fingernails.

"So you just left me?"

"You're old enough to handle yourself." Vince stated with a smirk that made it obvious that he wasn't sorry at all about ditching me and instead found the whole thing amusing.

"Do you need something?" I asked him. "I'm busy."

"What are you doing?" He asked as he eyed Seally who was staring down at the floor to hide his eyes from the older and much taller male.

"I'm hanging with a friend." I stated.

"This kid?" Vince asked as he pointed to Seally with his thumb. I nodded and Vince snickered. "What is this?" He asked. "Are you two on a date or something?" I ignored him and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Seally flinch but he remained composed.

"We gotta go." I told Vince quickly as I flashed him a "fuck you" smile before I grabbed Seally by the wrist and pulled him down the hall. I left with Vince hollering after us but I ignored it till we got outside.

"Is he a friend?" Seally asked as he finally looked up at me, his green eyes flickering in the morning light.

"Kinda." I answered.

"I don't like him." Seally replied.
"No one does."

There was a moment of silence before Seally just sort of huffed and started walking in a single direction. I stalled for a second before following after him as he led me down dark and shadowed alley ways and vacant streets away from the more traveled roads. I noticed how he walked at a brisk pace and how he made a point to avoid the areas where people gathered as we zigzagged through the city before stopping at the large gates that separated the town from the forest.

"Are we really going in?" I asked him and he looked at me and nodded with a expressionless face. I climbed over the gate and hopped down onto the dirt ground and when I did so I was surprised to see that Seally was already with me on this side.

"How'd you get over so quickly? I didn't even see you." I asked and he shrugged and walked away. I followed and quickly took note of how much calmer the boy seemed now that we were in the woods. He walked at a more relaxed pace and the atmosphere around him wasn't so guarded and tense anymore as he seemed to deeply breath in the damp and mossy air. I also noticed how the forest didn't seem so dark and foreboding when I was standing next to him, almost like there was a sense of safety.

"So where exactly is this castle of yours?" I asked as I slowly came to realize that there was a good chance he was just leading me out here to kill me. Still there are worse ways to die.

"In the forest." He answered.

"But where?"

"Further ahead."

I sighed and ran a hand through me hair, pulling it back into a messy ponytail before tying it off with a rubber band I had around my wrist from the previous day. I had several around both wrists. I stopped when I noticed Seally staring at me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"What is that?" He asked back. I paused before realization dawned on me as I slid another band off my wrist.

"Stand still." I ordered him and he stiffened as I walked closer and quickly tyed some of his hair up with the band I stood back and held back a giggle at the sight of this tiny little ponytail sticking out of a mass of thick black hair. His hair was just barely long enough to tie up but still so short that I could only tie an inch or two.

"What is this?" Seally repeated.

"It's a hair tie. It ties up hair." I said and he paused before slowly pulling the band out of his hair with a twitch and staring at it in his hands.

"Have you never seen one?" I asked and he shook his head.

"In my time girls just used strings or ribbons." He said.

"That's too much work." I stated. "And ribbons are two girly."

"I think you would look nice with a ribbon." He said with a small smile as if imagining the thought as he handed the hair tie back to me and turned to keep walking. I paused before following as I felt a small blush in my cheeks. This was one cheeky little kid.