Fogotten Tale Prologue

Forgotten Tale

Prologue

Shaden disliked the woods even by day, but now, in the middle of the night, he positively hated them. What little moonlight filtered through the dense trees only served to create shadows which appeared to be alive and moving. The flashlight his best friend Derek was carrying didn’t help in the least. Not that he’d ever admit it, but Shaden was scared. He knew if he let his fear show, Derek would never let him life it down.

“You think, we’re gonna be there soon?” Shaden finally forced himself to ask. Though he did care about the answer, he mostly wanted to break the silence.

“I sure hope so. If I trip over one more root…” Derek replied.

“You could try pointing the flashlight at the ground instead of the sky.” Shaden was sure he could hear a frown in the way Derek’s breathing changed at his comment.

It was a while before either boy spoke again.

“Maybe we should just turn back?” Shaden proposed quietly. Immediately Derek whipped around, pointing the flashlight straight at Shaden.

“Are you mad?” he asked. “After what happened? We’re never going back. You promised me that.”

“I know, but…”

“No buts. We’re on the run now. Deal with it.”

“You’re right. It’s just… I’m tired of walking and I’m cold.” Shaden backed down, giving up the argument before it even started properly. Besides Derek really was right. After what had happened earlier that night, they had no choice. Running away was their only option. Shaden quickly redirected his thoughts before they could stray to what happened earlier. He didn’t want to hear the screaming again.

“Look, I’m sorry”, Derek began.

“No, it’s all right, I’ll be okay.” Shaden waved him off.

Before Derek could try to apologize again, they broke into some sort of clearing. In its middle stood a huge abandoned looking manor.

“Great! We can spend the night here”, Derek enthused. Shaden was less taken by that idea, the old house looked scary and somehow dangerous, but Derek had already opened the door and entered.

“Come on!” he called and reluctantly Shaden followed him inside.

As soon as Shaden had crossed the threshold the huge oak doors slammed shut.