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Doug was never the kind of person who got in trouble as a kid. Not that they exactly kept up their poster child appearance throughout high school or college, but growing up, they never felt the need to rebel. Always the helper, never wanting to cause worry, the only times they allowed themself to be loud was by themself. They didn’t mind that, though. It was just one of the many reasons they loved growing up with the Witchwoods right in their backyard, they got to spend many afternoons playing in the forests before dinner.
Doug grew up in a fairly nice part of Hatchetfield. A nice, suburban type of neighborhood with white picket fences, decent size houses, big yards with trails that twisted and connected throughout the forest.
When their parents weren’t busy with work or other household duties, they’d often take hikes into the woods. Many times just to collect wood for bonfires, put taps on the trees to collect syrup, or simply getting the family dog some exercise, but Doug always loved it. They were amongst their fonder memories of growing up, the feeling of childlike wonder from their 6 year old self was left untouched by the years of severed contact that would disconnect them from their past so many years later in their adult life.
None of that mattered in their memories of the Witchwoods, though. What mattered back then, was that they were allowed to play in the yard along the line where the trees met the property, being given the full trust of their parents.
Of course, some rules simply had to be broken. In their mind, it wasn’t so dangerous to slip away just a little further down the trail than they were allowed, just as long as they knew their way back. And they always did, of course. They had been in and out hundreds of times before, and they knew their trail as well as they knew the rooms of their house.
Once at the edge of the property, they stole a quick glance back at the house, careful not to be seen. Once they were in the clear they bolted down the trail as fast as their legs could carry them until they could no longer see the white paint of their house when they turned back.
A mischievous grin came over them, feeling like they had all the freedom in the world to be who they wanted. Oftentimes that would entail being a knight for the evening, climbing trees to befriend the dragon at the top. Other times it would be the chosen hero, jumping over roots and climbing over fallen trees to rescue a princess.
Today, they didn’t have enough time to decide, because the sound of a voice caused them to spin around, nearly tripping as they tried to spot where it had come from.
“Hi,” the voice had said.
“Hello,” they offered back curiously.
They tried to follow the direction of where the voice had come from, peeking their head past the trees on the side of the trail, but finding no one.
“Where are you?” They asked.
“I’m right here,” she said, causing them to stumble backwards, falling down on the dirt path.
They rubbed their ear, taken by surprise at how close the voice was, seemingly right beside their head. They looked up, fully taking in the height of the tree. It wasn’t the tallest in the forest by any means, in fact, but it was shorter than any of the trees that bordered their yard, but it surely towered over them.
They hopped to their feet, dusting themself off before extending their hand out. They hoped if there was a girl behind the tree, the gesture would encourage her to come forward.
“Hi, what’s your name?”
“My name’s Casey. What’s yours?” the voice said.
They let their hand fall back to their side, accepting their unreturned handshake. It was okay, they understood being shy.
“Uh,” they began to introduce themself, scrunching up their nose when they gave her their name. It always felt foreign on their tongue when they said it.
“That’s a pretty name,” Casey said.
They could hear her voice a little clearer now. It was soft and hesitant, but she sounded older than them.
“Thanks, I don't really like it, though,” they frowned.
“Why is that?”
They tiled their gaze toward the ground and shrugged, not quite sure of the answer themself.
“Well it’s nice to meet you, no matter what your name is,” she assured. “I don’t see people very often anymore.”
“Why not?” Their eyebrows knitted together in confusion. They hoped she hadn’t been alone for too long.
“It gets scary out here sometimes. Not many people come by, and even less can hear me.”
They nodded, not quite understanding, but knowing it must not be a very nice place to live.
“Do you have any friends?” They asked.
“There are others like me, but there isn’t much to talk about around here,” she explained. “So I talk to anyone who can hear me that passes by. Most people don’t stay this long.”
“That’s okay, I don't have a lot of friends where I live either,” they said, giving a comforting pat to the side of the tree bark. “Hey, how’d you get out here anyways?”
The men with hatchets planted me here a long time ago,” Casey said sadly. They could almost see the frown on her face in their mind as she spoke.
“Planted?” They questioned, “were the men with hatchets your friends?”
There was a moment of silence, and they began to worry if the question had offended her.
“No. They planted me here. I didn’t wanna be.”
They could hear the tremble in her voice. They didn’t want her to be sad, so they decided who they were going to be today. They would be a protector, that way Casey wouldn't have to be scared anymore.
Their eyes scanned the ground before reaching towards the biggest stick they could find, puffing out their chest and holding it up in the air triumphantly as if it were a sword. They jumped atop an old fallen log to get to the high ground and began swinging the makeshift sword around as if fighting off enemies in an ultimate show of strength. When they finished their display, they climbed off the log, and stood before the tree. They bowed down on one knee, presenting their newly found sword.
“Lady Casey, would you do me the honor of being my friend? That way I can protect you from the hatchet men!”
For the first time since meeting, they actually heard her giggle. They looked up at her, grinning.
“That would be nice,” she answered. “Would it be alright if I called you My Knight in place of your name?”
“Really?” Their eyes lit up, moving to stand a little too fast, and finding themself on the ground for the second time that day. This time Casey let out a real, proper laugh.
“Are you okay?” She asked between giggles.
They sprung back up on their feet as if nothing happened, giving her a thumbs up to show they were fine.
They spent the rest of the evening sitting at the base of the tree, listening to Casey’s many stories, even learning she used to babysit before she came to the Witchwoods. Casey said they reminded her of her little siblings, and they accepted that as the highest honor imaginable.
They didn’t have many stories to share themself, most adventures of theirs being about collecting syrup with their dad, or getting firewood for bonfires, and they weren’t sure if that was insensitive to their new friend. That was okay, they were more of a listener anyways, and they did so happily until it was time to head back. Their goodbye was filled with promises that they'd return soon to see their best friend.
They held true to those promises as long as they could, each day returning to the same spot to greet their friend with a beaming smile. Even on rainy days, they’d always try to find a way to see Casey again by quietly slipping out the door when their parents weren’t watching, only putting on their raincoat outside once the crinkling of the plastic material could no longer be heard from inside. but sneaking around only proved to be their biggest, when they were caught on the trail as they made their way back home.
The long, late summer days made it impossible for them to realize it was time to go as the sun began to set, and it seemed they had been so lost in conversation with Casey that they lost track of time, and their mother had begun searching for them when she realized they were gone.
They didn’t see Casey much after that. Their parents kept them always within an arm’s reach, and only allowed them near the woods when taking them on hikes. Despite this, they were grateful they had enough time to whisper explanations to Casey while their father’s back was turned. At least she wouldn’t have to wonder where they’d gone. They said their goodbye with a heavy heart, but accepting that they had to part ways.
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In their senior year of high school, they had some… troubles, to say the least. Frequently getting in trouble for fighting with other students, leaving their only group of friends behind, they began taking walks to clear their head. Their parents had long since loosened restrictions about going into the woods within reason, and as it turns out, the forest seemed to have kept it’s comforting charm.
They briefly wondered about Casey. Throughout the years, Casey had faded to the back of their mind until she became a hazy dream rather than a memory. Still, they wondered. Wondering if maybe there was something more than just an imaginary friend when they were younger, but when they returned to that old spot at the base of the tree, it became clear Casey was just part of their childhood imagination. an imagination that seemed to be fading from them.
The elevated root that came up above the dirt no longer accommodated their height when they sat down, their knees almost coming up to their chest. The trail felt more claustrophobic than they remembered too, and the only thing that seemed to grow with them was the tree itself, still towering over them.
Ironically, that was the one thing they recalled hoping wouldn’t change when they were little. They used to wish every day to grow tall enough that they could talk to their friend without having to look up so far. Though they supposed that wasn’t very important now, anyways. There wasn’t much talking going on.
But there wasn’t complete silence either. It was almost as if they could hear a faint whisper in their head, though the voice merely felt as if someone took the memory of the friend they had last seen more than a decade ago, and turned the volume down. It was a washed out glimpse of the vivid, vibrant conversations they used to have in this very spot.
They sighed, pushing themself up before offering a final half-smile at the tree. They patted the side of the bark gently, letting their hand linger a moment before falling back to their side.
“See you later, old friend.”
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It would be years before Casey crossed their mind again. They had begun packing their belongings to visit home from college on holiday break when they remembered their first ever best friend. It was odd to them how they still considered her a friend after all that time. Maybe they’d pay her a visit too for old time’s sake, they thought.
They never had the chance to, of course. Coming home with practically a whole new identity hadn’t exactly gone over well with their family, and after having to find a new place to sleep on Christmas Eve, taking a stroll in the forest was the last thing on their mind.
Returning to the property they were no longer welcomed in, wasn’t top priority either.
_________________________________
“My mom and Duke don’t like it when I talk to the tree people,” Hannah said, grabbing onto Doug’s hand as they helped her climb through the thick foliage that had grown onto the path.
As an officer, Doug didn’t spend much time in the Witchwoods unless it was part of their job, nor did they pay it much mind. Occasionally the station would receive a call out in the woods, and the squad knew that Doug knew their way around it better than anyone else, so they were always the one dispatched.
Sometimes the calls were about illegal hunting, trespassing, citizens getting lost, but more often than they’d wish to see, it would end with them escorting Hannah Foster back home.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?” They absentmindedly asked, doing their best to navigate through the clearing without touching any of the spiked vines that grew a little too close for comfort.
Hannah shrugged. “Mom says it freaks her out.”
Doug stopped in their tracks, nearly panting out of breath. They surveyed the trail for a way around the overgrowth without abandoning the trail completely, but coming up empty.
“Kid,” they turned to face Hannah, who looked far less fazed by the whole ordeal. “When I was your age, I was… a little weirdo. No judgment here. And I say if Webby or any of your tree friends got you this far into the woods alone without a single scrape, feel free to keep ‘em talking.”
Hannah only nodded, walking just a few feet off to the side of the path. Doug let out another deep breath, running a hand through their hair as they tried to think of another way back to the trailer park, and quickly before the sun set.
Most times they found Hannah wandering the forest, it would only take a few minutes until they were both sat on the steps of her trailer home, safe and sound while they waited for her social worker to arrive. But today, it took Doug almost an hour alone to locate the missing kid, and according to the time on Doug’s phone, it would appear that they’d been trying to find their way back for an hour more at the least. Doug was preparing to admit an unfortunate truth. That for the first time in their life, they had gotten lost inside the Witchwoods.
They would’ve accepted the blow to their ego just fine. The trails were tricky and disorienting, they wound in loops, intersected, and were often easily covered by leaves, or became too overgrown to see all together. It was far too easy to get turned around, and Doug was quite sure they had already done just that. No one would blame them for losing their way, but that was far less of the issue at hand.
Had it been themself alone in the woods, they wouldn’t have been so frantic, but they had Hannah to worry about. They had no clue how she even managed to get so deep into the Witchwoods on her own in the first place, but it didn’t matter all that much in their mind. All they needed to know was how to get her home safely, then they could unleash every unpleasant word that crossed their mind during this whole ordeal onto Hannah’s poor excuse of a legal guardian that let her stray so far in the first place.
But as much as they’d like to continue entertaining that hypothetical, they needed to focus on how they were gonna get themself and Hannah out of this.
“Hey Officer Doug,” Hannah called from off to the side of the trail.
“Yeah, what’s up, kid?”
Hannah turned to them with a smile, curiosity shimmering in her eyes. “I didn’t know you guys were friends. How do you know each other?”
“What?” Doug cocked their head to the side, walking to stand beside her. They lifted their sunglasses off their eyes, trying to find where Hannah was looking.
“Casey,” Hannah repeated, confused as if it were obvious. “She just said hi to you, she’s asking if you remember her. Can’t you hear her?”
A chill ran up their spine the second the name left Hannah’s lips. They stood deathly still for a moment, positive the color had just drained from their face. There was no way they’d ventured so far that they ended up there of all places, right?
No, it was near impossible that they’d gotten so thrown off track, not to mention the woods behind their home was perfectly maintained the last time they were there, though it had been almost a decade. Still, the name must have been a coincidence. Duke had told them Hannah had many imaginary friends, it makes perfect sense that there would be a name in common.
They took another glance at the tree, feeling like they’d regret it if they didn’t at least test it…
“Uh, tell Casey it’s been a while. It’s nice to see her again,” were the words they decided upon.
Hannah looked up at the tree, and Doug awkwardly tipped their hat, unsure what they were supposed to do.
“Doug says they-'' Hannah paused, her extended silence causing Doug to hold their breath. “That’s nice.”
She looked back up at Doug, who was barely masking their anticipation behind crossed arms.
“She says she can hear you, but she’s sad you can’t hear her anymore. And she likes your new name. It’s like the knight you used to play. She thinks it suits you.”
Doug stood dumbfounded. There was no way she could have known that. Sure, they supposed she could’ve figured out their name wasn’t the one they were born with, but how could she know about the knight? Besides, Hannah wouldn’t just make up something so deliberately. They swallowed back the lump in their throat, forcing themself to tear their gaze from the tree.
“What else did she say?”
“She said your old name made you sad, so she’s glad you have a new one. She hopes it makes you happy,” Hannah explained.
“It does.” Their voice came out almost as a murmur, so far from their usual confident, stoic tone.
Doug placed their hand against the warm bark, just as they had all those years ago. Their eyes reached the bottom of the tree, finding the roots sticking out of the ground exactly how they remember. They supposed they were more fit for someone of Hannah’s age, but even still it made an awfully small seat. Oh how much they’d grown since their last real meeting.
“What was that?” Hannah asked, snapping Doug from their thoughts. She hadn’t been talking to them, though. Instead she appeared to be listening intently to something Doug could not hear.
A few ‘mhms’ and head nods later, Hannah was ready to deliver a message once more.
“Casey wants you to know it’s okay that you haven’t come back, because now you get to be another girl’s knight. She said she’s really proud of you, Doug.”
Doug opened their mouth to reply, but no words came out. Words seemed to fail them when they came to stand before their oldest friend, knowing for the first time in twenty years she was really there. She was really listening.
“Huh? But why?” Hannah had begun to speak again to who Doug only assumed to be Casey, but the look on her face was more worried than they’d seen all day.
“Casey says we have to leave now, before it gets dark,” she relayed, the urgency in her voice catching them off guard.
They were at a total loss. Part of them wanted to stay. They had so many things they wanted to say, but that train of thought was quickly overtaken by the sensible part of them, knowing Hannah would always be the priority. They gave a wordless nod and with renewed determination, went to restart their search for another path, but Hannah stopped them in their tracks.
“She said there’s another way.” Hannah turned toward the direction they’d come from, pointing to the open path that was now glowing with the orange light of the sun. “Casey says the old trail you used to take isn’t clear anymore, but if we follow the direction of the sun, it should take us out of the forest before it’s dark.”
She was right. Even when they were small, the walk back to Doug’s childhood home was only minutes. They didn’t need the trail. With Casey’s advice and their muscle memory, they were confident they could get them both out safely, but they had to do it quickly before they could no longer use the sun as a guide in case they were turned around again.
“Doug?”
They knew that was their cue to go. They gave one last look at Casey, noticing how much she changed. How much they both had changed, yet even standing that 5’7 in height, they were still very much the little sibling she towered over all those years ago.
With a sorrowful smile and a careful pat on the side of the bark, Doug was ready to go. They pulled their sunglasses back over their eyes, an illogical decision in practicality with the darkening sky, but it was easier than dealing with the tears that threatened to fall down their cheeks. They didn’t need Hannah any more anxious than she was. Taking her hand in theirs, they began to lead her down the lit path.
“Right, let’s go.”
As the two made their way out the woods, Doug refused to let their mind continue to wander any further. Questions were for another day, another day surely it would be about the girl in the tree they promised to protect so long ago, but not now. Now is about Hannah, the kid who they became a protector for today, and who would always return safely on their watch.
It had been too long since they fulfilled their promise to Casey that they’d return. There were things they wanted her to know. Things about themself. If they had more time, they would’ve told her who they were, who they got to become, and hope that she’d be proud of them.
But again, that was for another day. And they were prepared to make good on their first ever promise. Doug would return.