I sucked in my stomach and slid through a small gap in a silver gate. There was a narrow grey road that led through the middle of the giant forest made up of tightly packed towering green trees.
I spotted his small figure in the distance. He stood frozen, his back to me. He wore the same clothes he had on from when I last saw him, yet, something about it didn't seem right. His white shirt appeared muddy.
Everything got darker they further I got into the forest. The branches lightly swayed from the calm bitter breeze, and an eerie silence in the air made me feel uncomfortable.
Just as I reached him and stretched out my arm to grab him, he started to walk away in a trance-like state.
I cautiously trailed behind him out of the forest where we reached a lake. I stopped at the long rushes and stared out over the rippled water. On the other side, there were houses dotted in different spots located in front of two high mountains. The sky above was blue with little cloud, unlike the other side of the lake, which was grey and miserable.
"Where are we?" I quizzed and looked back at him. He had vanished.
Panicked, I scanned the area and caught eye of him strolling down a narrower lane lined with lengthy bushes. He followed the bushes around a corner, out of sight, and I gave chase.
I ran for some time, I wasn't sure how long. However, running was not my strong suit and eventually my legs began to buckle and my breath picked up pace. I slowed down back to my original pace.
I nosed at the view of bushes that seemed to go on forever. He was completely out of sight once again. After more time passed, I ended up back in the forest, the trees thin and shorter now, all spaced out equally. There were blackberry scrubs with tiny white flowers ready to bloom into berries. Purple plants added colour to the dull brown ground mostly covered in dried leaves.
I blinked, and when I opened my eyes again, he reappeared in front of me. He had a slight smirk of his beautiful face, the smirk that I had missed so much.
"Come home. Why are you doing this?" I wanted to ask.
"Come on. This way, " he suddenly spoke, beckoning for me to follow him. As he lead me further through the trees, every so often, he would glimpse over his shoulder and smile, enticing me.
The deeper we got into the forest, the thicker and closer the trunks became once again. We trailed by a tree that towered above the rest. Again, I slowed down as I inspected the beauty before me.
"Look how tall that is, " I said to him in amazement, but he never responded. I glanced to see where he had gone and saw just his arm as he walked behind a different tree.
"Hurry. This way, " I heard him whisper, however, his voice sounded off. A bad feeling in my gut grew.
"Hang on, " I called back and ignoring the feeling, I jogged up to where he had been. When I got around the other side of the tree, he started to playfully run, and I did too.
We ran under some more trees that hadn't quite fully grown and leaned towards each, lacing together to create an archway. He looked back at me again, and giggled, enjoying the chase.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, but he never replied. Soon, he hurried out of sight, and I lost control of my breath. I stopped and pressed my hands on my knees as I tried to gasp for oxygen. As soon as I regained it, I tracked down the muddy path.
I shouted his name numerous times, however, like before, I got no answer. I considered going back but carried on anyway, too far to give in now.
The strangest thing about a forest is the nature all seems so familiar, even though they are not. Every flower to a patch of grass appears the same as before, leaving you confused as to where you are. You convince yourself you've gone in circles until you spot something new and realise you haven't.
I passed two stumps with what my father would refer to as 'magic' mushrooms growing from them. I studied them, hoping a fairy or some mystical creature would pop out from beneath them, but this was the real world, of course. They didn't exist.
I drifted by a large rock, covered in moss, and prayed he hid behind it. He wasn't. Again, I called his name.
My shoes squelched when I made a turn and came to a second unique tree – oak. It wasn't as tall as the earlier one, but it still stood big. It sat alone, surrounded by many dark green shamrocks, no sign of floor beneath them. Many branches poked out in many different directions and bright coloured leaves sprouted from them.
I heard a whistle come from close, distracting me from my daydream. My head snapped towards the sound, and a rustle came behind a blush.
Quickly, I jogged to it as I repeated his name, but a bird flew from it, startling me. I jerked backwards.
The wind picked up all of a sudden, and a gust blew past me, taking parts of the forest with it. I shivered more now and hugged myself for warmth. I wanted to get out of here. It scared me. I wanted to go home. Still, I couldn't go without him, though.
"Keep going, " his voice whispered in my ear. "We're almost there."
"Where are we going? Where are you taking me?" I demanded and spun around to where his voice came from but of course, he wasn't there.
I carried on in search of him. He already went missing once; he can't this time.
"Where have you been this whole time? At least, tell me that. Why are you placing these stupid game? " I raised my voice, anger in my tone. Still, nothing.
"Everyone misses you. They want you home. Please come with me. Whatever you have done we can work this out together."
A few minutes went by, and I discovered I had ended up back on the same road I had started. Irritation swept over when I noticed we had done one big loop. I let out a growl.
Then I found him stood there. There was less of a distance between us compared to the first time, and this time he faced me, tilted his head and grinned softly. From what I could make out, there was hurt his eyes, and they were wet like he'd been crying.
My mouth dropped open to ask what the matter was, but he put a single finger to my lips and held out his hand for me to take. Hesitantly, I did, and he twisted on the spot, dragging me down the road.
I wanted to question him once more but kept it to myself. Something about it didn't feel right. The more we walked, the more a dark cloud that hovered above me became like I was about to adventure somewhere I didn't want to.
Out of the blue, he froze, and his head creepily rotated to the side. He let go of my hand and slowly, he climbed the bank that his attention had fixed on. I tried to follow, but my legs refused to move until he climbed down the other side and out of view.
"Wait!"
I ran up the hill of dirt, fell then forced myself up again. When I reached the top, the blood drained from my body, and I stiffened. Fear and panic built up.
"No!" I screamed, pained.
There he laid, at the bottom of the slope.
My feet slipped and I glided down on my ass, crashing into a rock. I jumped up and rushed over to him. I rolled him over, and his one arm and head fell to the side. I backed up, horrified at sight. His skin was pale, and his lips blue. Insects crawled over his decomposed body, flies flew above his head, and his eyes stared at me, a milky lifeless colour. My stomach heaved from the strong smell of rotten flesh and sick travelled up my throat.
Tears swelled on my waterline. I brought my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth as I cried.
No, sobbed.
He was dead. He clearly had been for a while. Only Tuesday he had been reported missing and yet, here he laid dead in some lonely forest. How long had he been here? How had he died?
I let out another sob, the words "oh my god" kept escaping my mouth.
"Help me!" his voice suddenly pleaded from next to me, and I screamed louder.
