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The Whispering Woods had a way of always being alive with noise at any hour of the day. Gentle bird calls came early in the morning to rouse everyone from their slumber while the gentle buzz of insects continued on far into the night and created a soft lullabye to fall asleep to. The Whispering Woods never had a quiet moment, always buzzing with soft, pleasant sounds. Now it stood silent against the darkness.
No more birds chirping or owls hooting, no more gentle lullaby from the insects, no quiet calls from the animals awake at late hours.
The screaming had stopped a while ago. House stood silent and firm against the trees and the black sky. When did it go silent? When did the screaming stop? It felt like it had been hours and mere seconds at the same time. There was no real way to tell how much time had passed ow how long he had been hiding. He had been awaken by the sound of his father’s roar-
of battle. The first real taste of true combat that he experienced. It was what he had been trained for since he could remember and what had become everything he knew. The only difference was that it was no longer a training simulation but the real thing. And one of their own converted to the enemy side. Someone that had grown up with them, someone who had been apart of their team, now stood-
in the doorway of his room where he had curled up under the blankets of his bed. Almost in an epiphany of childhood stupidity, he had curled up under the blankets of his bed. As if the blanket would become a shield against whatever had moved into the room. The sound of heavy weight being dragged along the floor accompanied whatever - monster - was in his room with the stench of something metallic following it. It was close to his bed. He had to conjure all his strength into forcing himself into being still and to show no sign of being awake. The thing would just go away then, right? His breather caught in his throat as the edge of his bed dipped with the weight pressed down on it and he screwed his eyes closed. It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything would be-
Okay. They were okay and safe. No major losses after everything that had happened beside some lost resources. It had looked like they were going to win the battle. They had gotten so close. A hand on his arm as the other checked him over, eyebrows drawn together. He wasn’t the most injured soldier by far but it was nice to have someone worry about him like that. Like he really was important. Kyle sat right-
Across from him. Features forever frozen in a look of pure terror with blood pooling in his lap and around him. Unseeing eyes stared directly at his son’s form and, maybe, if the boy looked than he would say that they were staring into his soul. Off to the side, his mother was sat on the floor with her back propped up against what had once been his toy box. The same expression of terror was stuck on her face as hollow eyes stared toward her son. Positioned and propped up like dolls. Like his parents were just play things, toys, to whatever it was. To whatever had snuck in to their house.
It took what felt like hours of convincing himself while in reality it was only a minute or so. He slowly pushed his face out from beneath the blanket he had hidden under and took a moment to allow his eyes to adjust. Stomach lurched at the sight before him and a hand came up to cover his mouth. Muffling the horrified scream into a pathetic whimper as tears brimmed the corner of his eyes. The thing was still there in the darkness of his room and he didn’t want to give any real indication that he was awake. Not with the thing there.
White eyes in the corner of the room while his window provided enough glow to make him notice a sharp red glow. The thing’s gaze was directly on him now as they spoke with an eerie calmness- As if they hasn’t just horrifically killed his parents and wasn’t a member in his house.
“Come now, child.” Their voice was calm and somehow soothing.
“R-
ogelio!”
There was a sense of pride that swelled through his chest as his name was called. He had done well and served his team. Not the best, really, there were already two neck-and-neck for that spot while Lonnie fought viciously to move from second (third, really) to first place. Everyone brought their own things into the team, he speculated, and he was the strength of the team. He was-
Terrified and alone. How long had it been since he was home? Since his parents had died? The thought hit him like a well placed kick to the gut. All while he struggled to ignore the pain in his chest. A broken heart? He guessed with no real desire to find out the truth. Maybe it was because he knew the truth, deep down, he knew he was right.
(It was no dream or nightmare. More like a reliving of memories that he had pushed deep down into his subconscious. It was the realization that all of his life had been a lie and he had been betrayed by the most important people in his life. The people that he considered, more or less, his family. He had to wonder if the others knew. How many of his superiors -his idols- had known the truth the entire time?)
A small cabin that stood silent and still against the trees and the black sky of the Whispering Woods that echoed the silence. There was something familiar about it that he just couldn’t figure out. But what he did know was that the place felt familiar while a sense of dread went along with it. It almost felt like he shouldn’t be there but it also felt like he belonged there.
Homesickness mixed with terror circled through his core. Its ugly claws sunk into his gut and squeezed.
Inside the house where the silence seemed to be deafening. The inside was dark and dirty, holding a terrible escence. Something bad was in the house. A part of it. He was trained to be a soldier who could face anything head on with no fear but it still settled. A rock in his gut.
Splashes of crimson on the floor flashed obscenely as he moved through the hall towards the back of the house. It reminded him of something-
(White eyes a red gem shining crimson dimly in the shadows of his room).
His feet made their way down the hall with no thought about it or where he meant to go. A door seemed to grow out of the darkness right in front of him and he pushed it open without question. The smell made him gagg first before his stomach lurched at the sight before him.
Decomposing. Bloody. Hollow. Bits and pieces missing from bugs and animals.
Mom. Dad. Momma. Papa. Momdadmammapapamomdadmammapapamom-
* * *
He woke up with such a start that his forehead ping-poned painfully on the bottom of the bunk above him. A pained groan while he rubbed at his head with one hand and tried to calm himself down. Everything was fine, he tried to convince himself. You’re not in some cabin in the Whispering Woods with two decomposing bodies. He was back in the Fright Zone where they were all healing after the failed battle against She-Ra and the Princess Alliance.. He was home. Everything was fine.
Eyes squeezed shut to try and rid the image of that cabin, of those bodies, from his mind. He was a soldier taught to dismiss this fear like he should dismiss the stupid nightmare.
Rogelio took a moment to calm himself down and run a hand over his face. Another moment and he was able to flop onto his other side and curl up to sleep again. Unusual since he was a child, he pulled the blanket from the end of his bed up to cover himself with it. He curled up into an even tighter ball and tucked his face into the pillow. Relax and go back to sleep.
“Come now, child.” Their voice was calm and somehow soothing.