Chapter 8 The Forest

If you had told me at the beginning of the school year that someday I would manifest some weird shit and go into the woods with a handsome mysterious boy who had the ability to control minds, I would have laughed in your face and kicked you where the sun doesn't shine.

The past few weeks has been a rollercoaster for me moving from one problem to the other, one weirdness to the other. It got to a point were I actually lost control of the whole thing. Most times it was as if I was watching my life like a TV show but I wasn't part of the show. Maybe all that happened to me was a warning sign that death was nigh and his royal darkness was my reaper. For all I know he could be leading me to my demise but I had lost all sense of reasoning the moment fire shot out of my eyes.

We trudged through the forest going deeper and deeper. Branches scratched me everywhere, things crawled all over me but we kept moving. He paid deaf ears to my cries and protests to stop and rest. We moved so deep, I couldn't see the sun anymore and the small path that led back to town disappeared. He was moving so fast that I had to run to keep up with him and when he finally came to halt I practically ran into him. We stood in front of a stone wall with strange markings whose height went up for miles. I have never heard of any walls in the forest before.

"Where are we? What's this wall doing here?"

He turned, stared at me for a while and answered, "The answers to all your questions lie behind this wall"

Tired from the long walk I sat on a small patch of grass.

"So what is this wall doing here?" I asked looking up at him. He seemed so tall now it made me dizzy. As if he knew how I was feeling, he dropped to the ground and sat in front of me with his hands on his raised knees.

"The wall was built centuries ago to keep our two realms apart so humans couldn't accidentally enter our realm and we wouldn't 'accidentally' kill them"

I stared at him mouth open. Ok this dude was full blown crazy.

"Excuse me. Did you say kill? And what do you mean by 'humans' like you aren't one? And realm?"

He sighed and stood to his feet, "this isn't the place to start explaining things to you"

I stood up and faced him, "well there's nowhere else to go. We're literally at the end of the forest. Or is the edge of the world? It is, isn't? Isn't it?!" I screamed wildly raising my hands.

He moved closer to me and covered my mouth with his hands, his eyes searching around us. I stopped moving, stopped breathing. His eyes met mine and stayed there. Green to black. Emerald to night. My heartbeat increased and I could have sworn I felt his pulse quicken. He slowly removed his hands from my mouth.

"Stop shouting like a lunatic and lower your voice, we might be on Watch"

I looked around quickly, "what? Someone's watching us?"

He nodded and moved towards the wall. He studied the markings and drew a symbol on it with his hands. The ground shook a little and the wall parted letting in a small ray of sun. He turned back to me and said, "Come"

I hesitated. This is it. All the answers I need about everything. What I couldn't get from my father or grandmother was just a few steps away. But was I doing the right thing leaving behind everyone I love? What would dad do? And what about Chloe, Will she be okay without me? Will the she devil torment her even more in my absence? So many questions that I had no answers to. But I guess the first step to answering all questions was right in front of me. No going back now. That's if there's even a way back.

Inhale and exhale. Here we go.

I moved forward. He turned and went through the gate, I suppose that's what it is and I followed.

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Wouldn't you know, on the other side was more forest, more thick bushes and trees. Yippee. We kept moving for about twenty minutes or was it an hour or more, I didn't know. My head was foggy, I couldn't focus on anything. The noise was deafening. Birds chirped, I think I heard monkeys howling. Was that a waterfall? Noises blended into one another going straight to my brain. I tripped and fell. I struggled to stand up but my knees were week and I fell back down.

I tried calling out to Alex but my mouth was sealed shut. I could feel my eyes closing, vision blurring. I caught a glimpse of Alex ahead still moving. His hands moving around widely as he slashed through the thick branches. Wow, dude was relentless. Wait, where did he get a sword? I lost sight of him. I'm sure he will notice I'm not behind him anymore. Any minute now he will come back for me. Any minute now. Eyes fully closed, noises fading. Any.... Sec..... Darkness descended.

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I had no idea how long I was out cold. I heard the sound of birds from afar. The monkeys had finally stopped howling; thank God. I had no idea where I was, I might have even forgotten my name. I felt like I was floating, being carried on clouds. I gained consciousness for some seconds and I saw the trees moving. A shadowy figure hovered above me. Oh God. I'm dead. I'm dead. The Grimm reaper has come for me. Oh who sent me to come here? I should have just stayed at home today. Panic overwhelmed me and I lost consciousness again.

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No matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. One day, you're 18 and you're planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.

"Jade"

Peace. Sweet peace. I found the darkness surprisingly calming. Beckoning me to join them in bliss.

Wait. Them?

"Jade!"

Who's calling me?

I could hear a familiar voice but I couldn't remember who it was. In my unconscious state I tried scanning my brain trying to remember what happened. A slice of sharp pain tore through my head. I felt my eyes roll back. Guess my brain is still scrambled. My mind went blank as I slipped into another oblivion.

I was in deep dark place. Shadows surrounded me, suffocating me, pulling me deeper into the dark.

"Jade. Come on wake up"

That voice again. It called to me. For some reason it soothed me, drawing me out of the abyss.

"Wake up Jade. Follow the sound of my voice"

Yes. Voice. Follow. I could see the light now.

I fought my way out of the dark following the voice. The shadows grew hands, pulling me away from the light.

"Jade. Please wake up sweetheart"

Must. Follow. Voice.

I fought harder. I could feel my body heating up. I saw beams of light coming from my hands. The shadows hissed in pain and terror and withdrew away from me. The light from my hands disappeared and everything became clear. I floated towards the direction the voice came from. Yes. The light shone brighter now. The voice grew louder and louder and louder..............

I opened my eyes and sat up immediately. A sharp pain sliced my head. I screamed and leaned towards the side of the bed and vomited the contents of my stomach into a bucket. How did the bucket get there? I felt so weak and dizzy after throwing up. I lay back on the bed. It was then I noticed I was actually lying on a bed. I turned my head and looked at my surroundings. I was lying on a king sized bed in a furnished room with a nightstand, wardrobe and everything. The floor was covered with a deep blue carpet and the walls were brick red in colour. There was only one window and the bed was facing it. There were two doors; one the left and the other on the right. How did I get here? Where am I?

The door on the left opened and Alex stepped in. He looked even more magnificent than before. He still wore the same black pants he had on in school but he traded his shirt for a black undershirt. Wow dude must be black obsessed. But boy o boy those muscles. Hmmm. I could see the outline of some six packs through the undershirt. Or is it twelve?

I sat up and rested my back against the headboard. He stood there staring at me with a glass of water in his hands. He walked towards me slowly. Or was it my brain playing it in slow motion? Either way I was enjoying the view. He sat at the foot of the bed and handed me the glass of water. I leaned forward and took the glass from him, our fingertips slightly touching. A shock rippled through me and I yelped, my hand jerking backwards letting go off the glass. Before the glass could hit the bed, Alex had it in his hands. I blinked several times. What....... How.......? I didn't even see him move. Before I could blink he was sitting right in front of me. My head spun and I laid back against the headboard.

"Drink this and you'll feel better" he said in that gruff sexy....I mean strange voice of his.

I reached out to take the glass careful not to touch any part of him. I looked at him and saw that he was watching our fingers. Was that disappointment I see in his eyes? I brought the glass to my lips and took a sip. My eyes widened. It was sweet and went straight to my brain refreshing, rejuvenating. I held the glass tightly with both hands and downed the contents. Now I know water has no taste but this, this was amazing. As I drank I felt myself feeling stronger, my eyes closed slowly. All the fluids I lost throwing up were refilling. My brain opened and I started remembering everything that happened in the last ten hours.

It's my birthday today and I am eighteen years old. I had visions of a young girl who looked like me, following me everywhere. My dad told me to stay home. Alex told me to be careful not to let anything or anyone provoke me. But I threw that piece of advice out the window when Mirabel Snow aka the she devil started bullying my best friend Chloe. I went crazy and almost burnt the school down literally. Strange things have been happening to me recently and I displayed it in front of the whole school.

Oh God! The news have spread round the town by now probably the whole country if anyone posts it on social media. I'll be the freak of Bayersville, a government property to be experimented on. Who knows what will happen to dad and grandma.

Wait a minute. More memories rushed in. Alex did something, he said something. I remember his eyes glowed bright green and he told everyone to forget what they saw and leave and they obeyed. They freaking obeyed him without question. How the hell did he do that? Who was Alex? He knew what was going to happen to me today, he warned me and he showed up just at the right moment. He said he had answers and led me to the forest, pass a wall or gate. But that was it. I couldn't remember anything after that.

Now I'm here alone with the strangest boy in school who can apparently control people's minds. Nice decision Jade. Oh wait. Maybe I'm not here on my own free will. Did he make me come here forcefully? That's it. He must have controlled my mind the way he did to those kids at school. That is the only logical explanation for all this. I mean why will I trust someone I don't even know and follow them blindly into the forest to be raped or killed?

I threw my eyes open at that thought nearly choking on water. I dropped the glass on the lamp stand next to the bed and looked down at myself. I gasped. I was wearing just a night gown. What the? Where are my clothes? I looked up at Alex who was starting at me with that annoying expressionless look.

"Why am I wearing a night gown? Where are my clothes? What did you do?!" I basically screamed at him.