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Parrot was the first to disappear.
It happened quickly, with almost no warning. Looking back, there were some signs that he was doing something strange. He was tired all the time, and he smelled like the woods when Rek woke up in the morning.
Rek had made tea for him, Jaron had told him to go to bed early, Branzy had set up cameras to stop him from going outside at night.
The cameras hadn't picked anything up, yet Parrot's shoes were muddy in the morning.
"Parrot, is there anything you want to... talk about?" Rek had asked carefully one day.
"Not really. Why?" Parrot had glanced at him.
"You keep going out at night," Rek had said. "There's mud on your shoes."
"Huh," Parrot had said to his face. "I don't go out at night. Must be the rain."
Then one day, he'd... disappeared. Branzy, Rek, and Jaron had gone all over town looking for him, called his phone, shouted his name from the hills. There had been no trace of him.
No trace, except his phone on the ground and blood all around it.
Branzy was the second.
He had been acting off recently.
Rek had noticed, said a few words, but Branzy had brushed it off. Said he wasn't getting enough sleep. He'd come back to their house at three in the morning, twigs in his hair and leaves stuck to his clothes.
"Careful where you're going, Branzy," Rek had said, spraying disinfectant on a cut Branzy had gotten on a late night walk through the woods. "I don't want you getting lost." Like Parrot, went unsaid.
"I'll be alright," Branzy had replied with a shrug. "Just walked into a branch on the way back. I can retrace my steps pretty easily. You don't have to worry."
"Rek's right," Jaron had spoken up then. "We don't- we don't want to lose another person."
Branzy had looked away. "Right."
There was still a picture of Parrot by the front door. The town had stopped looking for him after a couple weeks.
Branzy disappeared on a Friday, one year later.
"It's something to do with those woods," Rek said after another two weeks yielded nothing. Not even a phone, just blood.
"Don't get too caught up in it, alright?" Jaron reminded him. "It's not your fault they're gone."
"Yeah." Rek pulled his knees up to his chest. "I just wish I noticed earlier."
"Me too, Rek. It's too quiet without them."
Branzy should've been hammering away at a new robot upstairs, Parrot should've been recording another video, and Rek and Jaron should've been making dinner for four, not two.
Now it was just the two of them left.
A year passed.
Rek didn't know when the thought started invading his mind.
"Maybe they're not dead," he said aloud, staring at the wall.
Maybe they're hurt, he thought as he set the table.
"Rek, are you okay?" Jaron asked one day.
"Yeah, I-" he stopped.
I'm okay, I'll be alright, you don't need to worry about me. Parrot and Branzy's voices echoed in his mind.
"I'm just... thinking about something."
"What?"
Rek hugged a pillow and stared out the window. "What- what if they're not dead?"
"Rek, that's impossible. You saw the blood."
"I know, but-"
"Rek," Jaron said in a warning tone.
"You're right. Sorry," Rek said quietly.
"I wish they were alive," Jaron replied, sitting down. "But they can't be."
The thoughts didn't go away. They got louder.
Branzy and Parrot might not be dead. What if they were okay, and just waiting for them to find them?
Rek snapped out of his trance, feeling grass under his shoes.
"I hate this," he whispered. The woods loomed in front of him.
I hate this, too.
Rek startled at the sudden sound.
Come in.
"N- no," he muttered. "I'm not- I'm not-"
Come in.
Rek turned and ran. He ran and ran until he couldn't see the woods anymore, until the voice hallucination was gone from his head.
He found himself back there in a few days.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
You're here because I want you to be here.
"That's not- you can't do that," Rek said shakily. "What- what even are you?"
The leaves rustled.
I am a god.
"That's a pretty bold statement to make."
A deity, then. If that's any better. I am the woods, the wind, the grass under your feet.
Rek glanced down quickly. "Um."
Not literally.
"That's good to know. Uh- where are Branzy and Parrot?" he asked, stepping forward.
Where they should be. You, however, are not.
"Yep- that's- that's right! I should be going back home!" He backed up and started running.
Your home is not there, the voice growled inhumanly. Your home is here, with me. With us. You will come, and stay, just like your friends, and your friend who will soon be joining us after you, and you will-
Rek slammed the door shut so hard the doorframe rattled.
"It's not real," he said to the wall.
I'm real.
Rek jumped. "How- you can't get in here!"
I can now.
"Go away."
Not until you come to us.
"N- no. No. I'm not- I won't. Go away."
But I want you to be with us. You'll be happier. Just like your good friends-
"No- go away!" Rek curled into himself, pressing his hands over his ears. Distantly, he heard the door open. "Just stop it!"
"Rek, Rek, are you okay?" Jaron slammed the door open. The voice slithered away.
"Jaron?" Rek's heart was still pounding in his ears.
"Yeah- Rek- it's me. What happened?"
Instead of answering, Rek buried his face in Jaron's jacket and cried.
Rek was outside the woods again.
You're finally here again.
Rek's phone rang. He answered through a thick fog.
"Rek, where are you?"
"Next to the forest."
"I'm coming over there, just wait, okay?" Jaron sounded like he was walking.
"Okay."
It was cold as the sun moved- no, wait, the moon was already visible. Where was the sun? Not visible, right? It was nighttime. The sun wasn't there. That was the moon. And those were stars.
"Rek?" Jaron's voice snapped him out of his trance.
"Hi."
"Rek, what are you doing?"
Rek realized he'd stepped closer to the woods. "I'm going in."
"You can't go in there, Rek," Jaron said worriedly. "It's dangerous."
"I- I have to go in," Rek felt tears trailing down his face. "I don't know how I'll live if I don't know, Jaron."
"They're dead, Rek!" Jaron argued. "You can't put yourself in danger for a lost cause!"
"I just- I need to see," Rek insisted. "Please, Jaron."
Jaron stubbornly wavered for a moment, then huffed out a breath. "Alright. Alright, fine. Let's go. We'll find a dead body and leave."
They only took a couple steps forward before Jaron stumbled back. "I can't- what is this?"
"Are you okay?" Rek asked, alarmed. It set his heart racing, and he wanted to help Jaron, but the forest was so close...
"Yeah, okay. New plan. You keep me on call while you're in there." Jaron stood up and dusted off his pants. He dialed Rek's phone.
"Okay." Rek stepped farther into the woods. "Jaron, I need you to promise me something."
"What is it?"
"If-" Rek bit the inside of his cheek. "If I don't come back, don't come in."
"I can't- you're asking me to leave you behind?" Jaron stared at him, openmouthed.
"Promise me, Jaron. If I'm wrong, I'll come right back. But if I'm right? I might not be able to," Rek pleaded.
"I- okay. I promise I won't come after you. But you have to come back."
"I'll try." Rek smiled, memorizing every detail of Jaron's face.
He stepped into the woods, and the woods closed around him.
Rek shivered as leaves crunched below his shoes.
"Is anything happening yet?" Jaron asked, his voice crackly through the speaker.
"No, nothing," Rek answered.
Not yet.
Rek ignored the voice and kept walking. It was too easy. There was a catch somewhere.
The woods wanted him, and it wouldn't let go easily.
The winds shifted.
I don't play around, human. You'll be joining us soon enough.
A loud crunch sounded behind him, and he whipped around to see absolutely nothing.
"Jaron, it's getting really weird."
"Rek, you should come back," Jaron sounded worried.
"Okay, I-" Rek caught a glimpse of green and purple. "Wait-"
Two forms were sleeping in the middle of the clearing. Rek held the camera up.
"Are those- Parrot and Branzy?"
"Where? Your screen's frozen," Jaron frowned. "I'm looking at a pile of leaves."
"That's really weird." Rek tried tapping a few buttons, but the phone didn't react. "I'm gonna see if I can wake them up."
"Are you sure?" Jaron looked nervous. "Rek, you're not seeing things, right?"
"No I'm sure, Jaron!" Rek argued. "That's them, right there!"
"I can't- your phone- glitching- frozen- is there- bars?" Jaron's screen started breaking up.
"I don't- I don't think I like this anymore," Rek said frantically, tapping buttons to no avail.
"Who's that?" The sentence came through loud and clear.
A jester stood behind him, bells jingling softly as it tilted its head to the side.
The call disconnected.
You're an interesting one.
"Is that you?"
Who else?
Rek edged toward Branzy and Parrot, wondering if he could wake them up and start running.
Don't even think about it.
The tree branches curved down.
"Think- about what?"
In a flash, the jester was standing in front of him, holding his face and examining him.
Yes. Very interesting.
"What's that supposed to mea-" Rek sucked in a breath and twitched as the point of a scythe dug into a pressure point on his back.
You'll be an interesting one... to keep.