There we are in the quiet night sky, the cold air blows through the quiet evening. The cloudless night with countless stars strewn across the void all framing the large full moon casting its light upon the forest, that stretches fro miles on end. But even with the strong rays from the moonlight the dense green sea only absorbed the light, blocking any ray from reaching the ground casting darkness below the leaves. But underneath the large seas of leaves is the home of different creatures and even when the forest floor is cast by darkness, it was illuminated by the soft glowing lights from different species of Flora and Fungus casting the dark forest a magical and dreamy atmosphere. And amongst the magical forest is two kids walking upon a long BlueBells flower patch that stretches into a road through the dark forest.
"Man, how long is this forest? We've been walking for hours." Stephanie said with a tired voice as the bluebells softly rustled as they walked through the flowers while omitting their midnight blue glow. Lilian then stopped walking as he turned to face Stephanie. "Ok, let's rest for a few minutes."
Stephanie and Lilian then went to the side of the path as they both rested below a large tree. Lilian then dug through his pockets and brought up the pieces of chocolates he took from the party. "Woah, thanks, Lilian!." Stephanie then hurriedly took some chocolates and stuffed them down her mouth as Lilian on the other hand just simply unwrapped a few chocolates and slowly ate them. After a few minutes, almost all of the chocolates and small snacks that Lilian had were eaten. mostly eaten by Stephanie.
After they ate, both kids just sat down in silence and just admired the grand and beautiful forest. "This place is just, really beautiful," Stephanie said as wonder yet again captivated her eyes as a small smile slowly crept on her face. Lilian briefly looked at her as he also gazed at the branches and leaves blocking the sky as a small patch between the branches and sea of leaves showing the moon and stars with the moonlight seeping into the forest with both of them simply admiring it.
"It is, but it isn't home."
"But even if it isn't, this place is better than home."
Silence then returned as they both continued staring at the moon. After a few moments, Lilian then stood up as he turned to Stephanie. "Let's go, we've rested enough." Lilian reached out his hand as Stephanie then took it as he helped her stand up. "Fine, let's go," Stephanie said as she picked up the flower and gave it to Lilian, Lilian briefly flashed a small smile as he placed the flower on his tuxedo's chest pocket.
They continued walking upon the Bluebell path as it now winded from left to right, going upon small hills and going below large roots of the trees. Each minute they journeyed, their throats starting to itch from the sweets.
"Lilian-mhm, do you any chance have-mhm-water," Stephanie said while constantly clearing her throat. " I don't know," Lilian said as he also cleared his throat. The kids continued to walk through the path as they kept clearing their throats and now coughing. "Lilian, we need water." Stephanie now said with a slight hoarseness in her voice. And as if an unknown force granted their wish, the flower then started to shimmer as its white glow slowly turns into a shade of blue. Lilian then took out the flower from his pocket as he and Stephanie start to observe the flower's new behavior. He brought the flower in front of the faces as they now see the flower's petals start to change color into the same shade of blue it is now emanating.
What the hell is happening?" Stephanie said as she slowly took the flower from Lilian's hand as they both continued to stare at it. But as she took the flower, she noticed its glow starting to darken. She then quickly turned to face Lilian and the flower then started to slightly glow brighter.
"I think, it's telling us to go somewhere," Lilian said as Stephanie starts to walk in front of him using the flower as their compass and into the shrubberies quickly disappearing from Lilian's view. "Stephanie wait!" Lilian said as he followed her, but before he disappeared through the bushes, he quickly took out the wrappers he stuffed into his pockets and placed a few upon some flowers as he then quickly disappeared as well, trying to catch up to Stephanie.
Both kids now journeying through the denser part of the forest as the shrubberies start to be thicker and trees starting to be more compact to each other as Few flowers now grew on the vegetation leaving the darkness to slowly creep in. Stephanie held the flower upon her hands as the light started to shimmer brighter, she coughed as she cleared her throat and continued forward. Lilian on the other hand placing wrappers as a trail behind him quickly called out to Stephanie as his voice cracks mid-sentence. "Stephanie can you sLOw down?!"
Stephanie then turned to Lilian who was a few feet behind her."Oh Sorry Lilian, but we're almost there! The light is glowing brighter." Stephanie then stood as Lilian then finally caught up to her while patting his hands together to remove a bit of dirt on them. "Steph, I'm starting to have a bad feeling about this part of the woods." Stephanie then finally noticed the changes in the surroundings. The forest which was full of different colors and soft vegetation is now filled with larger and much more sinister-looking trees, unlike the inviting ones that were upon the BlueBell path. The trees had fewer flowers on them having shadows being the more dominant aspect of the surroundings. The flowers on the bushes now were dimmer than the vibrant ones on the path as now visible fireflies were seen. And now unlike the path where different bugs were chirping in their choruses and their soft and relaxing tunes, it was dead silence as only the quiet rustling of the leaves can be heard by itself. Bith children felt a slight chill run down their spines but were quickly replaced by the first they now both experienced. "We need water Lilian and the flower can lead us there," Stephanie said as Lilian then crossed his hands with a look of doubt and the question is vacant on his face. "But how can we know that's what the flower is showing us? What if it's something else, something dangerous." Stephanie now had a doubt in her eyes as she looked back to Lilian. "But we just gotta try." She then continued to walk to the direction the flower shines the brightest as Lilian followed her while coaching wrappers behind her. The forest then continued to change, slowly and at the same time dramatically. The flowers and lights start to disappear one by one, trees start to compact even tighter as the bushes begin to be even denser leaving the kids to wade through countless bushes cutting themselves with the branches leaving small cuts on their arms, hands, and faces. And now the scene finally was embraced the darkness as two small wisps of light walk through the void, one was Stephanie walking with the flower and Lilian behind her with a flower she picked from a bush but was dimmer than Stephanies. Absolute silence hugged the air, with only the sounds of leaves rattling through the cold air that carries whispers undecipherable to anyone who listens, and the shaking of Bushes as the kids journeyed through seeking water to quench their throats.
As the kids continued their journey, Lilian ignores the feeling he had, the feeling if being watched. The feeling slowly grew overtime yet was unnoticeable by Stephanie who just continued walking with a determined face. The darkness around him amplified the fear as a cold chill ran down his spine as he cautiously looked around the darkness, trying to identify any threats or anything at all. It was as if the void stared at the travelers, slowly watching as they wade through its chasm of darkness. Lilian's hand started to shake as he pulled up another wrapper to drop on a bush, the pressure now weighing down on his shoulders as he now starts to sweat. The feeling now made Lilian swallow his saliva as subconsciously in his mind, he knew that whatever was watching them was coming closer, ever so slowly and silently yet the distance between them and it was dropping each step they took.
The force now stronger, made the sweat on Lilian's head drop more, as he now held the back of Stephanie's dress unnoticed by her. The hair on the back of his neck now stood upright as he felt the feeling becoming stronger as it weighed on his shoulders, his lips trembling with his breath becoming short and quavering, and now the presence was so close to Lilian, tears start to fall on his cheeks as his eyes and legs start to quiver as well, his strength slowly seeping away from his body. Lilian dared not look behind him, for his fear gripped his heart as he now looked to the forest floor, he now started to whimper as his hair felt as if it will jump out of his skin. he closed his eyes as his grip of Stephanie's dress became even tighter, and now he swore on his life that he felt the cold breath of something upon his nape. His eyes sprung open with fear consuming his heart and being the color of his face now beginning to disappear as he started to feel some pressure on his shoulders, he couldn't scream nor make a sound as his vision starts to blur with the cold breath on his back start to become even colder. But before he could black out, Stephanie then lurched forward and a white light blinded him.
Both children now tumbled down a small cliff and upon the familiar and soft grass. "We're here," Stephanie said with joy in her voice. They arrived at a clearing in the dark woods. The trees that surround it bore what looked liked crystalline flowers in different colors as within their core shone what looked like an orb of light letting its structure refract the light to the surroundings. It had crystals that grew out of their branches, trunk, and roots with some jotting out of the ground. But amongst the different colors, the color blue was dominant from them all casting the clearing in a blue atmosphere of serenity and peace. And in the middle of it all was a spring that emanated that shone a cyan blue color with its crystal clear water with little sparkles that looked like stars.
The fear and pressure that Lilian felt completely disappeared as he now slowly stood up but fell back down to the ground as his legs buckled under his weight. Stephanie, who was captivated by the beautiful scene before she noticed Lilian's struggles she quickly helped him onto his feet.
"Lilian are you alright?" She asked as she supported Lilian on her side, Lilian now standing then looked at her with his pale face, quickly hugged her tightly as he buried his face on her shoulder. Stephanie was knocked back slightly by the force with a surprised expression as she confusingly then returned the hug while patting him on his head. Lilian's grip then tightened as Stephanie now felt him slightly shake. With concern now plastered on her face as she gave then rubbed his head with her own leaning on his as she tightened her hug as well.
After a few moments of the embrace, Lilian now calmed down broke the hug and looked at Stephanie with color returning to his face and with assurance and safety filled he gave a small smile to Stephanie. "Are you fine now?" Stephanie said with concern on her face.
"Yes...I am now." Lilian said as he then released a deep sigh, Stephanie also released a sigh of release as she now rubbed his hand. Stephanie then coughed and cleared her throat. "I think, we should drink the water now."
Lilian just nodded as they both approached the spring. The water now showing their faces as they both bent down as cupped some. When they drank it, a huge feeling of relief and satisfaction ran through them.
"Whoo! That's the stuff." Stephanie said as Lilian just smiled and chuckled at her. They kept drinking the water until they felt they were hydrated enough. They were now seated upon the soft grass resting from their journey.
"Why were you so scared?" Stephanie asked as she looked at Lilian, she had the same concerned look as Lilian then looked down doubting if he should answer. After a sigh, he then replied to Stephanie without looking at her. "When we were walking through the forest, I felt that....something was watching us. You didn't notice but I did, something in the darkness was following us ever so slightly but was there. I didn't know what but I knew, It was dangerous. Fear engulfed me and I didn't know what it was but my whole being just felt fear. The closer it got, the fearful I became and the darkness just made me even fearful as I never know what it was but... I think it was better for me to not see it. I mean I couldn't scream."
Lilian then stared back into the pond as he continued. "Whatever was in the darkness, It was dangerous enough that its mere presence, enough makes you faint. It's still there waiting for us to return, I escaped barely but I know it's waiting for us to go back." Lilian now gripped the grass as Stephanie noticed. She then placed her hand on top of his. "Hey, at least now we're safe." She assured him but Lilian looked her dead in the eye. "But sooner or later, we have to get back to the trail." And they both looked at the darkness that surrounded the clearing, the void eating the light and staring back at them. "And we have to go through it again."
Both children now silent as doubt and fear overcame them. But in their silence, the flower that Stephanie had then started to glow again. She picked it up as both children now saw the spring shimmering the same as the flower was. They both stood up, now curiosity plastered upon their faces, they approached the spring. But when they did, they noticed the spring water slowly moving, it slowly flowed to make what looked like a vortex. The flower now glowing even brighter making the spring shine even more.
Suddenly the flower flew out of Stephanie's hand and onto the middle of the whirlpool. "What the!?" Stephanie said in surprise with a shocked look on Lilian as they saw the flower float above the middle of the spring. Water droplets now start to arise from the spring, defying gravity as it starts to swirl around the flower, the water spinning faster and even faster as a sphere of water completely covered the flower both shinning brighter and brighter that both children had to cover their eyes. And suddenly, Lilian's inner pocket starts to feel warm as he reached in and pulled out the pollen who was now shaking and beginning to feel warm. "What the hell are you doing Lilian?" Stephanie said as she covered her face even more with the light shining even brighter. Lilian confused, squinted his eyes trying to see the pollen through the blinding light ignored Stephanie's question as he then picked up a few polled spheres and outstretched his hand. The pollen grains start to float towards the sphere. They then floated around the water-like planets in a solar system as they start to spin quickly picking up on speed, the process continued as suddenly, there was a large explosion of light which knocked back both kids onto the floor. The light receded as both of them now sat up and saw two objects in the middle of the spring. Floating above the water, was what looked like a pendant and a ring. Both accessories emanated the same color from the lake, they had an unknown alloy with the color of dark blue and they both had what looked like a blue crystalline-like gem, they were the source of light as they shone bright bathing the whole place in pure cyan blue light. Both accessories then floated from the lake and in front of the kids. They outstretched their hands as the pieces fell upon their palms with the Pendant on Stephanie's hand and the Ring on Lilian's they both looked at each other as they both said the same question.
"What the hell just happened?"