Chapter 1 (cont.)

“Can we go now?” Janie whined.

Charlie moved along the wall in the direction they had come but heading home was not his intention. He began to study every inch of the wall, if there was a way over he would find it. Janie followed obediently behind him. It was actually Janie who saw the little gate first.

“Look there Charlie” she pointed.

Somewhat annoyed at her interruption, Charlie looked up with a sigh, and then his expression quickly changed from irritation to wonder.

The gate was fashioned in the same material and design as the main gates though this one was much smaller. As the pair approached they could see the metal was much more corroded with rust and age; it seemed unlikely that it would allow them entrance any more than the other.

Though neither of them voiced a concern, both children wondered how it had been possible to have missed the gate before. They would have passed it. Gates simply do not just appear out of this air.

The pair drew strength from each other’s touch and closed the remaining distance between them and the portal.

“Charlie look.” Janie whispered, slipping her hand once more into her older brother’s.

“I see it.” Charlie’s voice was shaky, though he tried to hide it. Not only was this small gate not secured with chains, the door was slightly ajar. The gap was small but enough for the children to slip through.

They passed through the entrance single file, hands still clasped, Charlie leading. The thick canopy of leaves blotted out much of the lingering daylight. The failing like gave life to shadows which danced and skittered around the trees. A swirling mist crawled across the forest floor. The ground beneath the children’s feet was soft, sponge like, each footfall created a soft sucking sound.  

Janie’s scream pierced the silence, as something reached out of the darkness.  Janie’s hand slipped from her brother’s.

“Janie!” Charlie whipped around, his heart in his mouth. In his mind’s eye he already knew what he would see. There would be only emptiness where his sister stood only moments before. He could see a small scrap of her dress clinging to a branch, and a few broken brambles where the monster had drug her small body into the forest. His sister was gone and it was his fault. And when the monster came back for him, Charlie would join her in death. 

“Sorry” Janie frowned, trying to dislodge the branch from her torn dress. “I …” tears began to fall, leaving tracks down her dirty cheeks. “I thought the monster had me.”

“It’s alright” Charlie sighed, relieved, though his heart still pounded. It had been selfish to allow his sister to follow. He should have fought harder to send her home. He had found solace in her company; her innocence and love banished his fear. But if a great evil truly dwelled here, she was in danger. “Let’s go ok. I will walk you back to the road.”

“We are going home?” Janie sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“You are.” Charlie snapped the branch holding his sister then took Janie’s hand and started back towards the gate. He would have sworn they had only moved a few yards from the small gate, yet it was nowhere to be seen. Charlie continued on assuming the exit was only obscured by the dense forest. The pair stumbled through the brush for some time until the massive stone wall blocked their progress. Charlie stopped, his breath escaping in warm puffs.

“We must have gotten turned around.” Charlie scanned the forest looking for any sign of the way out. Nothing. He decided the best course was to keep going, they could follow the wall until they reached the gate. 

Logical as this solution was it proved unsuccessful. They walked for what seemed an eternity with nothing but stone on one side and the dark forest on the other. Charlie did not need a break in the canopy to know it was almost full dark. Though exhausted himself, Charlie carried his sister on his back, making it even more difficult to maneuver through the thick underbrush. Charlie had grown too weary to speak, Janie cried softly.

Charlie had already resigned himself to the knowledge they were not going to find a way out until morning. It was much too dark now, the longer he pushed on the more treacherous the land would become. He had his sister to worry about.  If Charlie fell and broke an ankle who would see Janie safely out of that God forsaken forest. Charlie scanned the thickening darkness for some place that could offer them some small measure of shelter. Most importantly he wanted a spot where nothing could sneak up upon them in the night.

He soon found a massive tree whose trunk seemed to be hollowed out, perhaps the former home of some woodland creature. He gingerly sat is sister back upon her feet and inspected the potential shelter. It would do.

“Why are we stopping?” Janie rubbed at her tired eyes.

“It’s too dark to go one. It’s ok, we will be safe here.” Charlie assured her, though he himself was not convinced. He took off his jacket then sat down and burrowed his back into the tree as far as he could. He then tucked his sister safely in into his lap and used his jacket to cover them both.

“I don’t wanna sleep here Charlie.” Janie was again once the verge of tears.

“Why not?” he smiled with a cheerful he did not feel in the least. “It’s like camping isn’t it? Remember when father would take us with him when he would hunt? We slept in the woods then and that was fun.”

“But these woods are scary” she issued a small whimper.

“Don’t be scared. You get some sleep and I will keep watch see.” Charlie stroked her long matted hair.

“You promise not to fall asleep?” Janie’s words were spread across a yawn.

“Promise” Charlie had no intention of sleeping in that cursed forest. He would watch and protect his sister until dawns first light, then he would find a way out of there.

Janie drifted into a sound peaceful sleep only small children can. Charlie shifted slightly, not enough to wake his sister, but enough to clear the sleepiness from his mind. Now that he was no longer moving or powered by the adrenalin of fear he found himself exhausted.  How easy it would be to close his eyes he thought, how wonderful. Only for a second he thought, his heavy lids sliding shut. He forced his eyes to open wide, shifting his body again. He had to stay awake.

When Charlie saw the catlike eyes glowing through the lower branches of the canopy he was positive he had fallen asleep. He was dreaming, and he had fallen into a nightmare. Terror twisted his insides. He tried to tell himself the eyes belonged to a stray cat perched in one of the massive tree’s lower branches. But the eyes were too large to be feline, and they shone with an intelligence that could not belong to any in the animal kingdom. The eyes seemed to come closer, and Charlie realized in horror the creature was not crouched in a tree, it was standing erect, and moving towards him.

Charlie wanted to pick up his sister and flee but he was paralyzed, and he knew he would never out run the creature if he tried.  Charlie met the cat eyes with his own. As the creature drew near Charlie felt his hold on this world slipping away. After several attempts to keep his eyes from slipping closed, they finally betrayed him. His consciousness floating out from under him, he began to fall …. spiraling down into the dark depths below.