Hide and Seek

Lured to the dark woods, what will be the fate of said nameless character.

The eerie laughter of the children who I called my friends split the dark silence of the old oak forest, small shafts of light penetrated through the lush green canopy, leaving the rest of the forest shadowed and foreboding. The earth I held between my hands was teeming with life, small bugs and worms squirmed underneath my fingertips. I was waiting, hiding within the small dark hole underneath the roots of a tree, it occurred to me that it may have been the den of an animal, but I am a child, playing a child’s game and I didn’t care about much else. I was waiting for the countdown to end, for the voice that called out the number to yell, signifying that it was time for the chase. Watching the drips of water fall off leaves, I heard the count becoming lower, “Five” The voice called. My hiding spot is absolutely perfect, they won’t find me, none of them will think to look this far, in this place.

“One” Is finally called, it echoes throughout the forest, slowly fading into the distance, a rush of adrenaline fills me as I nestle deeper into my hiding place. “I found you.” I hear the person finding us yell, a boy laughing. “Ah, yeah you got me.” It was then I began to realise that something wasn’t quite right about this game, I didn’t hear footsteps, occasionally there was a call of I found you, but the voices all seemed to be coming from the same place. The adrenaline which had previously filled me faded and a cold terror gripped my body, they aren’t trying to find me, they don’t want to find me… I’m alone, all alone… I hear voices getting further away, “We ditched him, as they told us to, he fell for it so easily.” They laughed, they were laughing at me, at how stupid I had been to trust them, even though I had never had a single friend, I had thought, maybe that was going to change.

My breathing quickened, it felt as if cold water was sliding down my spine, the fear suffocating me begins to intensify, I wanted to call out to them, even if they didn’t wish me to. But my voice wouldn’t allow for that, it wouldn’t come out, in the end I was just screaming out silence and I didn’t know why. Moment by moment I was getting more afraid and I couldn’t bring myself to stand up. Why had I followed them, into the expansive forest of which our parents had told us never to enter, “The wolves will eat you, they will eat you alive…” they had told us, but we didn’t believe them, it had never happened before, surely I will be safe, and someone will come and find me. But I couldn’t stop the words from echoing in my mind; Their going to eat you… eat you… alive… eat you alive.

With every passing moment I could feel my pulse quickening, every break in the silence marking the fall of another droplet, every time I took a breath it seemed colder than the last. The consuming sensation of pure terror sharpened with every heartbeat, clutching my heart with its icy claws. I could feel tears forming in the corners of my eyes, almost ready to fall and stain my face with lines of shame. I flinched, my heart stopping for a moment at the sound of heavy footsteps, was it someone, someone coming to take me away from here? I could hear discarded leaves being crushed under many footsteps now, I dared to raise my head, bringing my closed eyes slowly open only to see pools of black reflecting the moon surrounded by a ring of endless topaz. I had been here so long that night had fallen, but what time of the night, what was approaching me. Only one thought came to my mind in that instant: Wolves.

The black and gold eyes staring at me in the darkness took my breath away for fear of the salivating jaws filled with rows of piercing yellow fangs. There was a huge wolf standing before me proudly, it tilted its head, looking as if it were smiling at its newfound prey, then threw its nose into the ear and let out a joyous cry into the cool breeze, its call echoed through the trees like the moaning of a lost soul, a lost soul that I could only think of myself as becoming. The call was answered by not only the blood thirsty howls of wolves, but the joyous cheers of men on a hunt. Everything became distant as I stared into those eyes, my body seemed to cease functioning, if only for a moment. It seemed proud, it had found its prey, and already, it was victorious without a fight. I tried to withdraw deeper within the recess between the roots, but the hole was too small to put my body into, I became stuck, I was now trapped, with no means to escape. I was frozen, and I found myself staring into the beasts eyes again, with every breath it exhaled I could feel myself becoming closer to death, and all I could do was wonder why it hadn’t killed me already.

It seemed an eternity passed, our eyes locked on each other, carving fear and resentment within my mind, why would a proud beast such as this just watch, what was it waiting for. Finally a large group of footsteps approached, crushing the sleeping flora beneath their claws, among this group was the sound of rubber boots, not much different from the gumboots of which the children were wearing, if only it were them. Tears of fear had been flowing down my cheeks from my red eyes for some time, once again I lifted my sorry head that had fallen from drowsiness and fear.

A group of men in black lab coats surrounded me,  in their hands where the chains holding back the murderous wolves glaring at me patiently. 
“Good job K617” Cheered the shady bearded guy as he approached with ease. “He’s a fine specimen, tell those kids that they did a fine job.” He muttered enthusiastically as he rubbed the wolfs ears, then with the same hand he had patted the wolf with he reached out to me. He’s an adult right, he will save me, I reached out for his hand, seeking help and a release from this nightmare. The strength of his grip as his hand wrapped around my small one comforted me, he then pulled me forwards out of my hiding place with such force that upon reaching my feet I immediately fell forwards into the musty leaves. A heavy boot dug itself into my back, throwing my mind into turmoil as pain shot through my body and muddled my senses.

“Attack this child, he’s yours!” The shout echoed and the wolves howled with glee as they were released from their restraints. The men began to cheer, the weight came off my back and was replaced with piercing fangs that drove themselves deep into my body. The sharp intake of breath from the pain was followed with a scream, a scream that brought blood to my mouth, it hurt like nothing I had ever felt before, this was pain that I wasn’t meant to experience. The tears that were flowing down my face were no justice to the agony I felt, the jaws began to tear at my limbs, pulling until I thought I would break. I felt my bones splintering, my joints coming apart, my mind was flying about in a pained panic, why, how was I still awake, didn’t people usually pass out in this sort of situation.

Darkness had already edged my vision and was closing in fast,  I could no longer scream, nor writhe or even cry, there was not even any relief when the tearing and biting relented. All I could see was my own blood staining the dark soil in the shaft of moonlight illuminating the dark hollow.
“Do it now, before he goes unco…” No longer wanting to hear, I shut out their voices, but the torturous hands never ceased to leave my body, the sharp prick of needles and the warmth of something being poured onto my wounds, my body feeling as if I were melting. “Damn it has failed.” A man swore. Why are they doing this, what had I done to deserve this…that’s right, I trusted other people. The shadows began to overtake my vision and I let go of my last breath from my ragged body, hearing it gurgle out of my mouth filled with blood. I couldn’t even hear to words being shouted as I sunk into a watery darkness, of which I hoped I would never ever wake. 

Reviews

[Princess_of_Shadows]

it is a very intresting story it was good :)

[Kuro Okami]

Thanks, (I totally didn't just figure out there was a reply to review button)