The Masks We Wear

Ch. 14

I seemed to be in the middle of what looked like woods. Everything was so dark as I walked calling out for, well, anyone. It felt like I was the only living being here. I soon started running, trying to find a way out, a person, anything at all that helps me. I ran and ran, but all that was there was darkness as terror and confusion bubbled within my stomach.

"Help! ... COME ON I CAN'T BE THE ONLY THING HERE!" I screamed before I took off again. This time I fell and slid on the ground before getting back up. Having decided to stop running wherever I was going, I continued hoping that whatever this was wouldn't require me to fight to much stuff. The senary was very dark and dry, as though the sky itself was created by the black leaves, which completely covered everything above it. Eventually, after walking for a while, I heard a rustling in the distance.

"Hello!" there was no response as I walked towards the area I heard it come from as the forest seemed to get darker. Soon I stepped over a large, for most, bush only to have my heart stop. I looked at the back of a mildly tall guy about six foot one. He was wearing a black winter coat with a hoodie up and black jeans. The bow and arrow in his head told me exactly who it was. I had seen the same bow defeat my cousin once and many others. I was speechless as the teenage hero in front of me took off his hood, revealing the long blond hair that was tied neatly behind his head into a bun.

"Smool?" I asked quietly. I heard him let out a small quiet laugh as I stood there absolutely confused.

"Where were you?" I started to choke when he said that.

"I-I was busy ... I had practice."

His voice let out a calm laugh, "Why am I not surprised? Here I thought we were friends."

"You ass that's not fair! After everything I've done for you, you have no right to say that. I was busy with basketball, plus how would I have even known you were in trouble!"

"Cut the crap. You're always too busy. Too busy for anything or anyone, even when you're not doing anything at all. The fact is you only care," he turned to me, revealing his pale shriveled up face, the puncture wounds in his neck, and the knife in his chest, "about saving your ass!"

I gasped and covered my mouth for a second before closing my eyes and growling. I knew that this couldn't be real. Smool was dead, there was no way he was coming back. 

"I don't know who the fuck you are ... but just for that ... YOU'RE DEAD!" I said as I opened my eyes to see that he was gone as if he was never there to begin with. I started walking further in that direction, still enraged and with an eye open looking for whoever caused that illusion. Despite wanting to beat that person into a puddle, I knew that I had to get out of this forest as fast as possible. The most frustrating part about that objective was that as I kept walking nothing seemed to change until I started hearing a stream. I knew that most civilizations where made by some form of water, so I made my way to it. 

Not long after, the trees began to change, becoming wilted and dry the despite the leaves seeming incredibly wet. It seemed as though they were drowning while being drained of all types of liquid at the same time. Suddenly, I got to a massive ditch that seemed to stretch out for a while. The bottom painted in mud. I was so confused as I had no clue where the sound of running water was coming from. I tried to listen for where it was coming from, as I could have sworn that it was coming from where I was right now, but instead started to hear the sound of crying. I turned to see a tall, light-skinned black male with short curly hair and a semi muscular body. His legs seemed to be slightly longer than the rest of his body. I just looked at the crying boy stunned as his crying slowly stopped. He then started to look up at me making it clear to me. I was looking at myself. I then saw the broken smile and dead eyes on this version of mes' face.

"What the ..."

He slowly stood up and looked at me, revealing the chains that bound his arms and legs together. He growled and shot at me. I felt a powerful fist force itself into my gut. My eyes widened as I looked at this person who was also me, as my surroundings slowly got darker and darker. Suddenly, I saw Will and a wolf that I knew to be Mr. J. standing over me. I quickly sat up gasping for air, terrified by what I had just seen.

"A-are you okay?!" Mr. J asked as he turned back to his preferred form. I quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom to throw up. I was stunned. It wasn't until I was done I noticed my hands were covered in black fur with sharp claws at the end of my fingers. Caleb came in and patted my back as I vomited. Soon I was done barfing, feeling felt exhausted. "What ... was that?" I asked weakly before vomiting again.

"You were losing to yourself. That's why you turned," Mr. J said, "here I'll get you some water," he said as he left.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asked seeming worried as I forced myself to turn back to a human form.

"Yeah ... just exhausted," I said before barfing again.

"That's not what I meant," he looked at me as though I was a child, "You were crying."

"I'm. Fine."

Soon Mr. J came back with a glass. "Here, you should probably stay in the same form as me for a bit. It tends to be the healthiest form for us to be in."

"N-no thanks ... I'm fine." Mr. J looked at me still concerned but I didn't care since going to any form aside from this one was just ... to exhausting for now.