The Fairy

Chapter 5 - The Book

Kenzo's POV

"Sorry. I've been busy and haven't had much time to clean," Rodner stated fighting back a cough and swatting the air to clear it.

"It's no problem," kalmadong saad ko. "But how does what appears to be a legend turn into a town of people fearing the woods?" tanong ko.

"Yang libro," he stated pointing at it, "Contains all of the stories about the forest walker that have been passed down from generation to generation in my tribe. I started writing them down when I was young. I got them from the elders, my relatives, and many others before they all passed. I'm the last one and I figured someone should document this so others can know what we witnessed." pagpapatuloy niya.

Rodner sat back in his chair again now that the dust had settled.

"Lahat ay nagbago noong may dumating na mga dayuhan. Noong una isa lang ang dumating. He was an explorer. We did not see him as a threat so we let him pass. May nakita siyang mga ginto sa ilog. At noon marami nang dumating. They brought furs, meats, beads, and guns. They were willing to trade for small pieces of land so that they could live here while they prospected. We agreed. The prospectors were supplying us with new things and we were trading small parcels of land for them. The outsiders cut down trees to make the clearing in which out town sits now. They built houses. They hunted and fished. We no longer sent one of our own into the forest every full moon."

"So the sacrifices stopped because you were getting what you needed from settlers?" I questioned. "What about your deal with the creatures?"

"Namuhay kami ng payapa kasama ang mga dayuhan," Rodner started again. "The forest walker were angry that we had broken our deal. It would watch us from the tree line in the shadows. It's anger could be felt. One night several prospectors who were fishing the lake came home through the forest late. The walker took one of them violently in front of the others. Their screams filled the night air. The survivors fled and never returned. They left their belongings and even their gold because they were so scared. Soon people who were in the woods past dark began to disappear. No trace could be found."

Daniel sat up and took a deep breath. "When people started to avoid the woods after dark it started to trick people into coming into the woods. It would mimic the cries of children or loved ones during the night. Anyone who ran into the woods to save them would be taken. They took three mothers of our tribe once because the walker cried like babies on the forest line. The women ran to save the "babies" only to be taken away. They only took one person at a time but they started taking them more often as revenge."

"So it can mimic sounds or voices?" I questioned a bit confused.

"Yes," he began while rubbing the side of his head. "It can take anyone's voice or sound like anything that would entice you to enter the woods. The greed of gold was greater than the danger of being taken and more and more outsiders showed up until so many had disappeared that the word had gotten out that this land was cursed. Many people left but those who were widows with small children stayed. Everyone who lives here now is a relative of someone taken. My tribe helped them and welcomed them to stay here. It became forbidden to enter the forest at night." pagpapatuloy niya.

"Eh bakit may mga tao pang naninirahan dito?" pagtataka ko. "Why not pack up a leaved this place if it cursed?"

"My people made a pact with those who were left from the prospecting rush. We agreed to guard this place and keep people from the evil here. We would tell no one about this place. We had made a deal and broken it. We had put others in danger. However, no matter what we did or said the word always made it out about the fishing and hunting or the gold in the river. People would come and disappear. Together we would warn them but they would disappear in the woods after dark. Once in the 60s a group found out about the fishing and tried to build a lodge on the lakeshore. They are all gone. We tried to warn them but they called us insane. It is only recently that this town and forest have gone unnoticed by the outside. There have only be a few disappearances in the last 10 years."

"I've seen the foundation." I sat up in the chair as I was drawn into his stories more and more.

Rodner got up and walked over to one of his filing cabinets. He pulled open the top drawer creating another small dust cloud. He reached inside and pulled out a black binder that was stuffed full of paper work.

"Here," he said motioning for me to take the binder.

"Para saan to?" I questioned taking the heavy binder from him.

"It is all the open missing persons cases that I am in charge of. They are all from here." saad niya.

"That's crazy," I said as I opened the binder. "There must be hundreds of cases in here."

"Some people say I am a shit detective. I know what happened to those people but it's not something you can put on an official report and still keep your job. If you look at the reports they all have the same pattern. These people were all last seen before dark in the forest."

I ended my conversation with Daniel, as he was about to get ready for work. He was working a missing person case from two towns over. He let me borrow the case binder and the book of his tribe's stories.
___________________________________________________

Follow me po
Vote and Comment your thoughts

ramz_15