Chapter Text
He could feel His heartbeat pond in his ears as he ran. The boy stumbled through the thick trees, tripping on rocks and fallen branches as he ran. The thick trees blocked out any light the moon might give and he had long lost his flashlight, leaving them to dash blindly through the forest. Hot tears filled their eyes, blurring their vision even further. Warm blood trickled down from his ears, causing everything to sound distant. But even then the teenager could tell the snapping branches weren’t far behind Him. They just had to find the street, any street, then they would be safe. Then he would be able to find his siblings. Then this would all be over.
The rock his foot landed on, slid out from the loose earth around it, sending him crashing to the ground. He screamed as his head hit the cold, wet dirt, far colden then it should have been on a summer night. They tried to scramble up, to keep running. But his hands slipped in the now bloody ground.
He heard the heavy breathing standing over him and could smell the faint scent of lighting. The teenager sobbed as pale, porous, stone creeped through the earth. They cried as the freezing mineral gripped his hands, tying him to the forest floor.
“No, no, no, no, please.” His voice was hoarse and scratchy as she pleaded. He fingers clawing at the dirt, desperate to run. A long, cold, pure black hand grabbed their head and tilted it back. His breathing quickened and tears streamed down his face, streaking through the blood and dirt. His blue eyes were forced up, staring into the black sky. No stars illuminated the never ending balck and no moon floated peaceful in the void. Just the cold, harsh, empty black, that bore into his eyes. his bones, his blood, his heart, his mind. The empty black that broke his mind.
A scream echoed through the forest, located just outside of the town Fable, at 1:45 am July 12th, 1986. 20 minutes after this, 2:05 am, July 12th, A group of three teenagers ran into the station to file a missing person’s report. Each kid was covered in various scrashes, bruises, dirt, and blood. When questioned they claimed they were not the one in danger, but someone they called “Al” was. They all refused to be separated for the interviewing process.
The Eldest of them, Endrian Realms, caved and agreed to talk to me alone if I could promise to believe her. She claimed that her and her siblings, Fable Realms, Nethrum Realms, and Alerion Realms, had decided to explore the woods, leaving their home around 11:00 pm. Around Midnight, she claims they stumbled upon a creature she could only describe as “a monster of pure void”. Supposedly this creature had chased them deeper into the forest, causing them to get separated from Alerion. Endrian then said she believed the scream to be Alerion’s and that he was in danger.
I can only chalk her statement up to the panic and fear of losing her brother is causing her to hallucinate. Best case scenario the scream was the teen’s attempt at finding help, worse case he’s gotten stuck in a cave. Either way I assured the teens we would look for him at the first sign of light and they shouldn’t be worried. We have also called their parents to inform them of the situation.
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July 8th, 2010
Athena stared out of the car’s window, watching as tree after tree, after tree passed them. They sighed as they adjusted his headphones, there was only forest out here. Nothing interesting. He was mad, he knew he shouldn’t be, but he was. What did her uncles expect when they made her move across the country, into the middle of nowhere, all for some stuipd family manor? She turned her attention from the forever spanding forest to her family in the seats in front of her.
Rae had his hair pulled back, and his white shirt was wrinkled from the suitcase. The bags under his eyes seemed to be worse in the rearview mirror, Athena had caught his eyes flicker from the road to him multiple times throughout the trip.
Caspian checked in on them more frequently, making no attempts to hide any worry that filled his head. He had a plain shirt and jacket that they could never understand why he would wear in the summer.
They watched as he fumbled with a map before pointing a road out to Rae, who nodded and said something to get him to blush. Caspian rolled his eyes and turned to Athena, he tapped his ear, asking them a silent question. They recently tugged the headphones to rest around their shoulders. Instantly they were hit with the rock music his uncles insisted on listening too.
“We’re getting pretty close to ‘Thena, only about ten minutes until we get there!”
“Caspian, are we sure this place exists? I’ve only counted 3 cars in the last half hour. Are we sure Maine exists?”
This caused both older men to laugh.
“Yes Athena, I am sure Maine exists,” Rae smiled “If it didn’t we would be driving in void.”
“There are only trees out here Rae, so for all we know there could very much just be void.”
“I’m not the scientist here, but I don’t think that is how matter works.”
“As the scientist here, I can confirm that’s not how matter works.” The car slowed to a stop and Rae flicked on the turn signal. The slight clicking noise filled the small area for a moment while they waited for the only other car to pass them. “But seriously I think you’re going to love it here ‘Thena, there is so much to explore around the town, and on the outskirts. It’ll just take some adjusting.” The scientist smiled at them in the rearview mirror.
“I know.”
“You’ll get to see Sherb again!” Caspian mentioned in a desperate attempt to keep spirits high. “When was the last time you saw them?”
“A while, Uncle Fable’s funeral maybe?”
“So it’s been at least 6 years.”
“Oh god, I guess it has been.” Rae sighed, “It’s been too long since any of us has seen them.”
There was a beat of silence as they all thought of the past few times they all had seen Sherbet. They had isolated themselves after their father’s passing, locking themselves up in their apartment, only ever leaving a few times a year.
“Athena, look!” Caspian broke the tension by pointing ahead, where buildings were now in view, along with a sign that read ‘Now Entering Fable: Welcome Home!’ “We told you buildings were out here!”