Forlot: Forgotten Forest - Book Eight {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Collin - or what was a replica of him - took off his glasses and breathed on the lenses. He rubbed the lenses against the fabric of his Camp Forgotten shirt, cleaning them, and put his glasses back on.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "I had to clean my glasses because I did not hear you clearly. Or maybe I had."

I could feel tears coming on and shut my eyes, trying my very best to fight off the sadness, for I did not desire to give my friends - or whoever they were - a hint that I was sad. I clutched the doll and pressed it against my chest, hugging it.

No. Not it. My real friend. My true boyfriend.

"For a girl who was just reminded that it is her special day, her birthday, you are awfully quiet, Ari," Debra commented.

"Do not be sad. Be happy!" Debbie said, as if she read my thoughts. Her teeth showed as she smiled. "Put away that lame doll and follow us downstairs."

I sniffed and stared at them. "Why do you want me to follow you guys? I-is it a trap?"

"A trap? Gosh, no," Ethan denied. "Downstairs is where we set up your party. There are decorations with your favorite colors and presents that will be useful to you. Plus, we need the room to play games, like Tag and Hide 'N Seek."

"It will be fun," Collin said, trying to reassure me. "I promise that you will not regret it." He held out an open palm. "Now, hand over the doll."

A whimper escaped from deep within my throat, and I wrapped my thumbs and fingers around Collin the doll, my palms covering it.

"Why do you want my doll?" I quickly asked.

Collin clicked his tongue and seemed to be growing impatient. "Is it not obvious? You are growing attached to it. Besides, that stupid doll does not belong to you."

"Hey! Collin is not stupid! And he is no doll either."

His eyebrows narrowed. "I am Collin. I look like him. I act like him. You should not forget that."

"You are not Collin. How do I know? I watched him get turned into nothing but a stuffed, lifeless doll!"

"That was only a dream. You were dreaming."

"I was not! All of this, what is happening right now, is not real."

The seven of them gasped and looked horrified, as if I had murdered someone.

"How could you say that?" Josh asked. "We are your friends. You should be relieved and grateful that we are very much alive."

"None of you are my dear friends. You are only pretending to be them, whoever you are, but I know better. My true friends are dead. David and Garcia murdered them. With the help of that wizard."

Ethan ran a hand through his hair. "I told you. The wizard was never real. I was dressed up as him."

"Oh, yeah? And how did you manage all of those magic tricks?"

"Uh...special effects?"

"David and Garcia did not murder us," Valerie said. "Everyone was in on it. Even your sister and Belinda."

"I do not believe that for one second. And for the record, Sheila and Valerie are not part of my friend group. They are my and Collin's bullies. That is another reason why I am sure that this is not real."

I had let my guard down as I was attempting to get them to admit that I was right, and before anybody could respond to my statement, before I realized it, Collin - or "Collin" - reached out, snatched the doll out of my grasps, and scurried up to the only window in the room. The window had no glass and was carved from wood.

"No! Collin!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I ran up to "Collin" in an attempt to grab my boyfriend back, but it was too late. "Collin" raised the doll high and threw him out the window.

"Ah!" I wanted to jump out the window. Jump and retrieve Collin the doll. Unfortunately, "Collin" grabbed ahold of my arms and pulled me away. I kicked my legs and thrashed my arms, hoping to get free. Surprisingly, he was too strong for me.

"Who are you?!" I shouted through greeted teeth. "What are you?!"

He whispered in my ear. "You know that it did not have to go this way. If you went along, everything would have been alright. But no. Ari Samson desires to do it the hard way." He let go of me and shoved me hard.

I landed on my stomach. "Oof!"

"You could have had it all," Debbie said as she and the others slowly walked up to me. "You would be in a world where you could be so sure that your mother was free of cancer and your father was free of pancreatitis. You would have your family. Your friends. No bullies. Even your soulmate, Kyle, would make you the happiest girl alive."

"But how can she be the happiest girl alive..." Sheila began. "...when she is dead?"

A shiver shot down my spine. "D-dead?"

Collin smirked. "Yes. You are dead, Ari. Forgotten. But you would have not needed to be aware of that if you just went with the flow." He took my hand into his and kissed the back of it. "We would have been so very happy." He let go of my hand and started to change.

Change into a creepy creature that no human has spotted before.

This creature had a gray body with black scales all over. It had small, red eyes with black pupils, small hands with sharp claws, and was on its hind legs. It also had sharp, yellow teeth and licked them.

I glanced at the others. They had transformed into the same thing.

"You could have had it all," the creatures said in unison, repeating the phrase over and over. "You could have had it all."