Chapter Nine
A three day walk? What a joke.
Alex was walking, at an albeit slower pace, because he was extremely frustrated. Every single person he had asked about the address he was given either hadn't recognized it, or looked at him in an affronted manner, and and how dare he ask for directions.
He was considering asking the person who owned the coffee shop nearby, but they looked awfully busy, and he didn't want to bother them.
He silently cursed himself for not bringing his phone. He had left it back it his flat, and was regretting it now, because this is the exact moment where Google Maps would come in handy.
Now, he was sitting in a bench (alone) and was contemplating his choices. He could head westward, but he was t sure which way was west. He could ask somebody else, but as he looked down the streets, he realized it was empty.
BHad he really not noticed the absence of practically everybody? He stood up, looking for a bus stop. Maybe everybody was going to the bus? It wasn't very likely, but it gave him something to do regardless,so he searched for a bus, or a line of people.
Strangely enough, he had found a bus stop, and it was being occupied by about half of the entire town. They weren't talking, or moving, heck, he wasn't even sure they were blinking or breathing. They were just standing around, as if waiting for something.
He backed away slowly from the crowd. Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it, even if he couldn't really understand how and why. Almost on a whim, he started scanning the tree s and building tops, as if he expected something to be there.
Of course, there was nothing.
He started walking, then running away. There was nobody to ask for directions anyway. He was better off just going in a direction, at least he knew he was going somewhere. As he was running, he heard footsteps. Footsteps that weren't his.
He stopped suddenly, and so did the noise. He looked around quickly, for movement, or anything out of the ordinary. He spotted someone on the top of a building, staring right back at him. For a moment, neither of them moved.
The figure continued to stare, until their hands reached for something in their back.
Alex shifted a little, to try to get a better look at them. The figure was wearing a black...no, maybe a dark blue cloak that concealed their face. The cloak moved as though it was being swept by wind, despite the absence of any wind at all.
As if noticing that he had been staring, the cloak stopped moving. The figure, now holding what he guessed was a bow with an arrow, was now aiming.
He quickly realized that they were indeed, aiming at him, and that he needed to move out of th e way before-
Alex was a bit too late.
He suddenly felt a sharp pain below his rib cage. Sure enough, there was the arrow.
He looked up at the figure, out of curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, he thought.
From below, it seemed like the figure was having trouble with their cloak. It kept trying to remove itself from its wearer, but they held it tightly. With one great tug, however, the cloak slipped free, and its wearer was exposed.
The wearer was a girl, maybe younger than he was, and they had darker skin and black (maybe that was just his vision going blurry) hair. She said something he didn't understand, maybe in a different language.
She finally noticed him looking up.
The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the look of pure hatred she gave him.
Alex woke up in an odd forest.
There were trees, and grasses, and flowers, sure, but they all had a certain grey tint to it, like a filter on a camera.
He pushed himself off the ground and stood up, testing for injury. Surprisingly, he was fine, except for the dull throb of pain he could feel underneath his rib cage.
Was he dead?
Is this place some sort of strange afterlife? He glanced around, looking for some indication of where he was. No such luck.
Was it just him, or was it getting darker? The tint of the forest seemed darker, somehow. It made him feel deeply uncomfortable, and he wanted to move, but where? The forest seemed huge. It could go on for miles. It was unfamiliar to him, so he'd be at a disadvantage. He decided to stay, against his instinct, which was to run, so he stood there slightly twitching, ready to move at any time.
He could hear a wolf howling in the distance. It unnerved him, hearing the cry of such a dangerous beast nearby.
Suddenly, he could something running towards him. It was getting closer. Alex stood there, paralyzed. He wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't sure if there was anything to do.
He awaited his fate slowly. The thing headed towards him was now slowing down, as though it was unsure.
It was so close now that he could hear what direction it was coming from.
It was coming from behind him. He quickly turned around, instantly regretting it, because the pain was only getting worse, for some odd reason.
Behind him stood a long-limbed wolf. It was large, he wasn't sure compared to what, but a wolf tall enough to meet his hip was pretty tall, in his opinion. It had well-groomed fur that shined, and a regal snout that was up-turned, as though it commanded respect.
Alex jumped back. An animal like that could easily tear him apart if it so pleased. Maybe this was his punishment in the afterlife, if this was indeed, the afterlife.
It had azure eyes that seemed to pierce him. It looked as though it was watching his every move for the best way to eliminate him.
It padded up to him, like an obedient dog to his master. Alex stared.
The wolf spoke in a somewhat deep voice.
"So you have returned, my friend."