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unlocktxt · 5 years ago

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the voice of paradise | c.sb

Choi Soobin

❦ genre: fluff, soobin x reader, soobin siren!au, maybe a bit of angst

❦ description: you had always loved the ocean and everything in it. all it took was one boy to remind you why you started liking it in the first place.

❦ word count: 7.3k

❦ warnings!!: mentions alcohol intake, making out, maybe a bit suggestive but not really. i didn’t proofread

a beach can be one of the most calming places. the heavy air blowing away your problems - the sound of the waves and smell of the sea taking over your senses with your feet in the warm sand. everything seems to come together - the sand, the sun, and the deep blue sea. albeit, every now and then the waves can be dangerous, rough as they pull you further in until you suddenly get dragged under - never being able to find your way back.

you happened to be one of those who loved the ocean in all of its blue glory, making sure to visit it every chance you got.

seeing how more than majority of the ocean is unmapped or unexplored, it makes it a mystery. and what could you say... you happened to be a very curious person.

nowadays you keep it on the downlow, but you swear you saw a mermaid when you were little. nobody believes you, but you could never forget the shiny purple scales, belonging to an abnormally large tail. ever since then you’ve aimed to find out more about mermaids and hopefully see one again.

living by the ocean had its perks. one being that you were able to live your college life on the coast, giving you plenty of opportunities to become a marine biologist. another being riding the waves, although you hadn’t done much of anything in the water. you may be obsessed with what lurks in the ocean, but for some reason when the water envelopes you, it sparks an unknown feeling within you.

when you were younger, you had gotten into a bad accident. it was so bad that you still - to this day- can’t seem to remember what happened that day or really anything before that day. your parents always said that you nearly drowned, but you had a feeling it was more than that. this feeling had probably stemmed from the fact that the one thing you were able to remember from before the incident was the mermaid tail.

you were lost in your thoughts, but the loud ruckus easily interrupted your thinking. it was an extremely hot day out, so everyone seemed to be chilling at the beach, you included. even though you were one to enjoy the beach by yourself, your friend decided to drag you out here with all of your classmates. while she was flirting with surfer boy beomgyu, you were stuck looking off into the distance.

the waves were kind of rough today, forcing out anyone who dare enter, out.

“y/n! do you want to come on in with us?” your friend, jisoo, asked pointing to the body of water.

you shook your head with a smile, “i’ll stick with my crab friends.” your friend, who had expected that from you, shrugged her shoulders as she ran into the water.

you couldn’t lie to yourself, there were times when you wished to join in on the cooling, salty water. the only thing that stopped you was the feeling that something was blocking you from the beautiful sea. it was similar to a mental block. today, this block seemed worse than other days. there was an odd feeling today, as if any attempt at touching the water, the troubling waves would release their wrath on you.

while sitting and enjoying the sun that was warming your skin, you couldn’t help but laugh at your friend, who continued to fall off of beomgyu’s board. “geez! one more wipe out and you may end up a water creature yourself!” you called out, laughing at the two heads that turned towards you. beomgyu laughed along before looking back at your friend, probably telling her what to do next time. jisoo, on the other hand, flew a middle finger at you.

shaking your head you wanted to see if she could actually ride the wave long enough. sure enough jisoo started off pretty well, until she once again fell off. this time she didn’t come up as quick, sending a jolt of panic through you. you kept your eyes on the water. she wasn’t coming up. beomgyu, who had been watching, also seemed panicked, but he couldn’t seem to make it to her. the amount of waves he had to go under, still not being enough.

your body reacted quickly, jumping up from your towel and running on the sand. when your reached the wet sand, it seemed like a last warning, the troubling feeling seeming to fight the adrenaline rushing through your veins. although hesitating a bit, you ran into the water, ignoring the shiver that ran up your body.

when you were waist deep, you happened to see the girl you were looking for pop up, laughing. “did I scare you?” she laughed. you didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry as your body told itself that there was no danger. now that you knew your friend was okay, you couldn’t help the feeling of being watched, however, when you looked around there seemed to be no one paying you any mind.

you let out a heavy sigh. “not cool.” you hit her in the shoulder. “just be glad i’m not drowning you right this moment.” your clothes were now soaked from the splashing that occurred while trying to make it to your friend.

“hey! you made fun of me first besides at least I got you out in the water.” she did have a point, but it made you aware that you were now in the cool water. you missed the feeling, but there was apart of you that was screaming at you to get out.

beomgyu has finally made it to jisoo. “never do that again! i thought i killed you.” his face had worry written all over it as he wrapped an arm over her shoulders.

you gave a look to jisoo, wiggling your eyes, to which she narrowed her eyes and mouthed shut up.

“I need to go change, so you two have fun together.” you smirked at jisoo before turning around and making your way to the safe, warm sand.

“oh yeah! y/n don’t miss the party here tonight! i’ll be expecting you!” beomgyu happened to love parties on the beach. i found them a little dangerous due to the drinking, but there were time when you could just stare off into the abyss as the alcohol seemed to take over. you threw a thumbs up as your feet hit the wet sand. your body seemed to long for water, but your mind continued to tell you that it was a bad idea.

as you were trying to shake off the sand off your towel, you happened to see something reflecting the sunlight. when you turned your head to discover what had caught your eye, you saw what you thought was a purple tail off in the distance. even though your heart jumped at the thought of it, you decided not to get your hopes up. you could of just mistook it as something else.

you left the beach behind to change into dry clothes before the party tonight, unbeknownst to the disaster heading your way.

you couldn’t help the feelings arising in your chest. it seemed as though there were a war going on, not knowing whether you were nervous or excited. there wasn’t any specific reason for feeling this way, you just did.

you had already finished changing a while ago, wearing a comfortable white tube top, paired with some everyday shorts. it would seem to do, not that you would hang around everyone for long.

it was already dark. not letting this rush you, you took your time grabbing what was needed for tonight. there was no use driving, so you planned on meeting jisoo at the bus stop.

the night time breeze eased you as it swept through your hair. the humidity surprisingly wasn’t that bad at this moment. the people that were left out in the dark at this time were all coming home from work or going to parties- similar to what you were doing right now.

the glowing of the bus stop lights seemed to add to the lulling feeling that only seemed to travel through your body. this light feeling was easily disrupted when your excited friend couldn’t hold herself back.

“omg! i’m so ready! beomgyu messaged me saying he wanted to see us a the party. he even said he had a surprise for me.” you couldn’t help but smile at her jittery movements while she stressed about what the surprise could be. her eyes seemed to shine when she talked about him and although you were scared for her, you were also happy.

“why don’t you just confess your feelings for him? also you still need to be careful around your drink with him... i know he’s a good guy but you can never be too cautious.”

“well... it’s not that easy. what if he just sees me as a friend? also gyu wouldn’t do that, but i will still keep track of my drink.” jisoo was now playing around with her fingers, something you didn’t see from the outgoing girl often.

“you think too much about these things. i bet the surprise from beomgyu is a kiss smack dead on the lips.” you smirked, watching as her eyes widened, cheeks turning a light pink shade. jisoo, who didn’t find it funny, hit you on the arm with puffed cheeks.

“what’re you going to do while we’re there?” jisoo asked, watching the bus arrive.

“i don’t know... go wherever the wind takes me,” you chuckled before continuing, “i’ll probably take a walk on the beach with my drink in hand... thinking about how you and beomgyu are probably going to have babies together.” the bus doors opened, so you took this as a chance to escape from the wrath of you best friend. rushing to the seat with a glaring jisoo on your tail, you held your hands out.

“stop teasing me y/n. karma will hit you and then i’ll have a chance to tease you.” you shook your head laughing.

“that is highly unlikely.”

the bus ride didn’t take long- you didn’t live too far from the ocean. before even stepping on the beach, you could hear the chatter and lights from the party. this wasn’t anything unusual... the students from universities around here loved to party.

“y/n speed up! it’s time to have some fun!” jisoo grabbed your wrist, pulling you closer to the ruckus. you weren’t in a party mood, but for some reason you still wound up here. The tiki torches lit the path towards the bonfire. You wouldn’t lie, your classmates were good at hosting parties.

the closer you got, the louder the music and cheering got. one of you classmates, mina, came up to the two of you, tying a rope around your hand to a red solo cup. this would help with picking up the beach later on as people wouldn’t be able to set their drinks down and forget about them.

you could tell your friend was looking for beomgyu, who was nowhere to be seen, probably surfing or planning the surprise. giving up on finding the messy haired boy, the two of you filled up your red solo cups with alcohol.

“hey jisoo... i think i’m going to go walk around for a bit.”

“okay... just be safe and don’t drink too much.” she left towards the bonfire to converse with the rest of the students while you went to the right, towards your favorite part of this beach.

the moon seemed to be asking for admiration, glowing bright and reflected off of the dark sea. the moon was even accompanied by the clear sky, showing the many many stars. if you knew where any of the constellations were, you could easily find them on a night like this.

you were walking slowly, but it seemed that before you knew it, the background noise from the party seemed to disappear. although the further you got, the more distinct another sound was. you couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but your curiosity got the best of you. at first it was so quiet, you thought that you were hearing things. maybe you drank some alcohol, but if you did you didn’t recall. your pace quickened, now hearing a humming.

the humming turned into singing. the voice was smooth- soothing as it pulled you closer. it seemed refreshing, you could listen to it constantly. you didn’t even realize how close the male voice was until you locked eyes with a pair of deep blue eyes. instantly you felt your body stiffen once the singing stopped. the two of you just stared at each other, not even letting out a breath. his purple hair moving with the wind, so perfect that it seemed the wind was on his side. his lengthy body laid relaxed against the rock. your favorite rock, hidden away from the rest of the beach.

“hello there.” the boy smiled as he got up from the sand, walking towards you. you didn’t know how to feel as he walked towards you. was this what it felt like to be awe struck? he was serverly attractive, but why did you feel stuck. the closer he got the more intoxicated you felt. did you even drink before seeing this man? your mind was turning into mush.

“i’m sorry... did i interrupt you?” the words flowed out of your mouth, it was as if you couldn’t control your own body. everything just seemed to slow down, looking into his dark orbs didn’t seem to help.

“not at all. in fact i was getting kind of lonely.” he seemed to scan over you, head to toe. he was handsome and delicate and you couldn’t seem to keep your eyes off of him. he chuckled, noticing your staring. “my names soobin.”

“y/n,” you blurted out, trying to collect yourself, “my names y/n” you needed to get ahold of yourself. when he went to shake your hand, you stumbled. what the hell is wrong with me?

“woah there... i’m guessing you came from that party.” he moved himself beside you, trying to wrap ur arm around his neck. this was a failed attempt as you were too short for him.

“i swear i didn’t drink.” you frowned. but why does it feel like all your senses have gone awire? soobin seemed to be looking at your hand and out of curiosity you witnessed the empty red solo cup attached to your hand. well... this doesn’t help your case.

“okay... i’m sure you didn’t, but let’s get you back to the party. why don’t you get on my back?” he sounded as if he was talking to a puppy. he didn’t believe you, making you huff.

“you don’t believe me. for all we know, i could’ve spilt it. i’m sober, so I can walk myself back. thank. you. very. much.” you spun around, ignoring the dizzy feeling it had stimulated. you heard the boy sigh from behind you.

soobin was frustrated. he knew you didn’t drink the alcohol, after all he was the one who poured it out of the cup. he wondered why you couldn’t just get his help. he knew he could have this affect on people, but they usually listen to him.

“i don’t think that’s a good idea.” he walked behind you, just in case. also waiting for you to stumble, so he could convince you to get on his back. to be fair... this whole situation was kind of sketchy.

“i think... it is an amazing id-” your body dropped. the falling feeling freaked you out, but as you looked around you realized you were now stuck inside one of those holes that people make out of boredom.

“y/n! are you okay?” soobin rushed towards the man made hole, peeking in at your sandy figure.

“yes i’m okay. i just need to get out of here.” you tried climbing out, but the sand continued to fall, not giving you a chance to actually climb.

“here let me help.” soobin leaned towards you, reaching his hand out for you to take. you looked at it, debating whether or not to actually take his hand.

“curse whoever made this so deep.” you mumbled as you looked away from soobin, grabbing his hand. he picked you up with ease, making you realize how strong soobin actually was. the touch only seeming to relax your body as you leaned against him.

your legs were slightly wobbly now, but you didn’t want him to know. pushing yourself away from him, you started walking... very... very slowly. you didn’t want your shaky legs to give you away, so you were extra careful with each step. the sand was all you were focusing on as your feet came in contact with it. you heard a deep sigh from behind you, before feeling human contact and a gush of wind as your feet left the sand. when you looked at the culprit, he wasn’t looking at you- his eyes trained on the direction of the party. you were pressed against his body, face not to far from yours.

“i can walk.” you mumbled, for some reason you were nervous looking at his concentrated face. he didn’t say anything as the chatter of the party came closer. the music seemed to be gone, signifying it was about to end.

“y/n! what the hell? you were gone for so long- who is this?” jisoo ran up to the two of you, eyeing the boy holding you. beomgyu came up from behind her not long after.

“i’m soobin. she ended up running into me and seemed pretty tipsy.” he didn’t even look at you, causing a pain in your heart. you don’t even know why that upset you. he put you down after that.

“y/n i told you not to drink too much... thank you soobin. without you who knows what could’ve happened to her.” you were glaring at the ground now. nothing would’ve happened because I didn’t drink, you thought angrily to yourself.

“jisoo why don’t the two of you sit down. i’ll finish cleaning up and then i can take y’all home.” beomgyu suggested, looking between you and jisoo. jisoo nodded before taking you over to the bonfire. when you looked back at soobin, you could see him and beomgyu conversating.

to say the least, the rest of that night was awful. jisoo spent her time lecturing and teasing you and the intoxicating feeling seemed to disperse not long after soobin left. although you may of preferred the intoxicating feeling over the massive headache you had afterwards.

you had school today and felt a little bit better than last night, the headache slowly subsiding. it was a simple morning- get ready and drive to school, although once you got to the school there was nothing simple about it.

with your car parked you could already see people swarming around the enterance at the school.

“what the hell?” you opened the car door, grabbing your stuff while looking at the loads of people. how were you supposed to get to class with all of these people blocking the enterance?

shutting the car door, you prepared yourself for the pushing you were going to have to do. saying a quick prayer, you headed into the war zone. you tried to peek inside the circle of people- you didn’t want to run into something dangerous. the gossip from the girls however, alerted you of the safety.

“oh wow.”

“he’s cute.”

“i’ve never seen him before.”

you rolled your eyes at the comments, did they really block the enterance for some guy? seeing a small opening, you took your chance to slide through the many many unmoving bodies. you managed to cram yourself in the crowd of people, barely managing to scutter through the small openings. just a few more people and you could make it. the view of the concrete without being infected with feet was calling your name.

“i’ve got this.” huffing, you pushed people aside, eager to reach the spacious area. you had finally managed to escape the last clump of people, finally breathing in the oxygen that they had taken up. readjusting your bag on your shoulders, you left the crowd of students.

“y/n?” your eyes widened as you turned to see who it was that called your name, although as soon as you processed the perfectness of his face, you narrowed your eyes.

“since when did you go here?” you asked, walking towards the door to the school once more. he seemed taken aback by this question, eyes wide and looking around.

“i actually... this is my first day here.” soobin smiled, clutching his backpack straps. cute. your small smile was swept away before anyone was able to tell, at least you hope so.

you crossed your arms as you looked at the boy, while doing so you happened to notice the hundreds of googly eyes coming from behind him. geez creepy much.

“cool.” you dragged out. “well i’m gonna head to class. you have fun doing whatever it is you do.”

“wait!” you stopped on your heels, hearing the quickened footsteps that came closer. “i actually was wondering if you could show me around. wouldn’t want the new kid to get lost right?” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his large hand. seemingly very charming as he looked down at you.

you looked at him, deadpanning while looking at his close up eyes. what a mistake that was. you could get lost in those eyes, sparkling deep blue. they held a mystery in them, calling you in. the longer you looked, the more they felt familiar. you didn’t realize you leaned in until the whispering of the girls got louder and you were met with a wide eyed soobin. his face was inches away from yours, you could’ve felt the heat of his breath if he wasn’t holding it. blinking a few times you backed up, trying not to show your embarrassment.

“i was trying to see if you wear contacts.” you shrugged, knowing full well that was not what you were doing. he didn’t reply, so you coughed trying to ease the tension. “why not ask for someone else to help you?” the best way to avoid what had just happened was to change the subject, which is what you had done.

“i mean... i guess i could’ve, but i’ve met you. here let me compare our schedules. if they’re different i won’t bother you.” the paper in his hand indicating that he was, in fact, looking for his classes. he had his hand out, which you blankly stared at.

“okay fine, but if we don’t have classes together then you have to find someone who does.” he put his hand down once he realized you were just going to look at his. grabbing the paper roughly from the boy, you skimmed his classes. eyes growing wide with each class you read. how is that even possible? it was an exact copy of your schedule, but with soobin’s information on it. soobin had been studying your expressions, that ranged from your furrowed brows in confusion to mouth agape shock.

“we... we uh... wow.” you couldn’t form words as you scanned over his schedule repeatedly. you couldn’t just be seeing things right? “are you stalking me?” you asked, now facing the purple haired boy with skepticism.

“what’re you talking about?” he was clearly confused, trying to peek at his schedule to see if you had seen something he hasn’t.

“nothing... it’s just that we have the exact same schedule.” you handed him his schedule back, still somewhat suspicious of how this happened.

“great! you can show me to our classes and get to know each other. killing two bird with one stone.” his wide smile showing his shiny white teeth, showed no sign of shock. did he not find this weird? the warm contact from the smooth hand enclosing around yours brought you out of your mind. when you looked up at the owner, he had a giddy smile as he waited for you to lead to way. your heart almost melted, but you had to stay on track. something about him was off and you wanted to find out.

rolling your eyes you finally continued on your way to class with a perky lengthy figure beside you. he had started humming which was no doubt as smooth as his singing, if not smoother. the vibrations escaping him and into the air clear as day, canceling out the locker slams and side conversations. you found yourself getting lost in the sound, body loosing up as a floating feeling came about. the weight seemed to be lifted off of your shoulders, stress had vanished into thin air replaced by the relaxed feeling spread across your body. you were so care free at this moment that you didn’t even pay mind to soobin intertwining his fingers with yours.

when you looked back up at him the humming had stopped, causing your mind to long for more. although the floating feeling had left you minutes after, the stress seemed to never find it way back. perhaps that’s why you didn’t mind the way soobin inched closer to you, placing his free hand on your cheek as his thumb ran over it.

his eyes glistened even in the schools bad lighting, but his sparkling eyes were instantly replaced with dark hard eyes. “you really need to remember.” his words sounded harsh, filled with poison, but there seemed to be a bit of hurt. almost as if he was pleading for something. his hand came down to his side while he roughly pulled his other away from yours.

you were frozen, trying to process what had just happened. as the gears turned in your head you couldn’t help but be a little aggravated. “remember what soobin? the class is right there you’re acting as if i got us lost.” you laughed, trying to ease the tensed boy infront of you. this was your way at giving him a warning to calm down.

“but i lost you.” soobin mumbled, it was barely audible, however, you still managed to piece the words together. what nonsense his he speaking?

soobin didn’t say much after that, walking into the classroom as i tailed behind him. you tried to get his attention a few times only for it to fail. it didn’t take long for you to give up, after all if he wouldn’t give you the time of day then why should you keep trying.

the day seemed to go longer today, and you blamed this on the tall lanky figure you couldn’t seem to escape. he didn’t bother you after that, practically ignoring your existence. you refused to be hurt by this, instead choosing not to care.

it was finally time for you to meet up with jisoo at the burger place down the street from your school. at this point you were starving, your stomach whimpering to alert you of it’s needs. you rushed to your car, fumbling with your car keys. all that was on your mind was the juicy thick cheeseburger with a refreshing soda.

the small building known as mac’s burgers had never seemed better as you walked in with a big smile on your face. you would save your little happy dance for later- when you actually take a bite. your footsteps were quick as you headed to the booth containing your best friend.

“hey jisoo!” you smiled, turning to slide into the opposite booth only two be met with two other familiar faces. well... you weren’t expecting that one. your smile seemed to turn fake as you made eye contact with those deep blue eyes, reminding you of the ocean.

you scoot into the booth with jisoo in it as you turn to beomgyu, “hey to you too beomgyu.” you smiled, ignoring the jittery boy next to him. were you being a little petty... maybe, but he started it.

jisoo seemed to notice this, giving you a questionable look- elbowing you in the side.

“and hi again soobin.” you made sure to exaggerate how you were clearly displeased he was still around you.

soobin didn’t seem to mind as he shot you a small smile and mimicked your sentence, but with a pleasure filled tone. your blood started to boil and you don’t really understand why. it just seemed like he was testing your limits today and you were not having it.

silence seemed to envelop the four of you as the air became awkward. “okay well... why don’t i go order for us?” beomgyu smiled, attempting to sneak away from the tense air by taking note of our orders.

“so soobin... are you single?” jisoo leaned against the table- placing her chin on her palm. “i’m asking for a friend.” she added. of course she would be trying to set you up with this dude.

you looked away from the two of them, focusing on the couple diagonal of your booth, in order to look uninterested. it’s not that you cared... you were just curious.

“yes actually...” a small smile adorned your face as you bit your tongue to stop yourself. “however there’s this girl that I’m interested in. she doesn’t even seem to remember who i was to her.” your smile didn’t last long, suddenly back in a bad mood.

“then why not show her?” you turned your head to soobin, completely forgetting that jisoo was there. you looked pretty irritated, not understanding why he couldn’t just tell the girl who the hell he was.

jisoo sat there eyes wide- shocked at your sudden outburst. “y/n...” her voice was quiet, but was strong, warning you to stop.

“what? i’m just being honest. she must be pretty forgetful if she can’t remember someone like him, so if she’s worth it then why not just remind her.” you huffed, shrugging your shoulders. it was simple to you... soobin’s voice gave him away, he longed for this girl, so he should go after her.

the booth had once more gotten silent, nobody knowing what to say, until soobin started bursting out in laughter. he was laughing so much he had to gasp for air. “you’re right! absolutely right.” soobin wiped away the stray tear that accumulated from his laughter.

beomgyu has already been approaching, relieved that there seemed to be some talking going on. on the other hand, when you and jisoo heard the laughter you both thought he had lost his mind. a very small awkward smile adorned your face as to try and fit yourself in with his laughter.

“looks like things have lightened up a bit.” beomgyu placed the food down on the table while scooting next to soobin with a smile on his face.

“yeah... you could say that.” jisoo looked between you and soobin, soobin looking at you and you looking at the food with gleaming eyes and a watery mouth. something seemed to click in jisoo’s head, but she remained quiet, observing.

at this point you seemed to block out the conversation around you, something about arcade games and the beach... you don’t know. you were focused on grabbing your hamburger. you took you first big bite into the burger, closing your eyes as the taste covered your tastebuds. you couldn’t help but let out a nice hum in content. when you opened your eyes, you met eyes with beomgyu, holding back laughter. your natural reaction was to freeze, moving your eyes towards the other two people in the booth, who had also been watching you. soobin had a cheeky smile on, adoring the way you looked right now.

you swallowed the food, “what?” you asked, making sure to wipe your face and fix your posture.

“well we were talking about what we wanted to do after this and me and beomgyu really want to go to the arcade.” you nodded along in understanding. “the only thing is... soobin wants to go to the ocean like badly, so we thought you could go with him.” you had taken a sip of your drink, nearly spitting it out.

“what-”

“we know how much you just love the beach. you always want to visit it, so it’s a win win situation.” jisoo wore a tight smile as she looked at you, sending a shiver down your spine. this bitch was scary.

“yeah yeah whatever, i’ll go.” you looked back at soobin to see his dark blue eyes shining, his body moving a bit from his leg bouncing up and down.

“we can even make some seashell crowns.” you shook your head, air blowing out of your nose from the little humor. you forgot all about earlier in the day, now enjoying his company.

the four of you had chatted a lot, having so much to say that each one of you would add input with the food in your mouth, sometimes even choking in attempt to talk while swallowing the food. even after finishing your food, you wasted a few more minutes to talk.

the four of you were now parting ways, you and soobin heading towards the beach while the other two were strolling to the arcade.

soobin seemed to be a bit more happy than earlier, a bounce in his step as he walked beside you. cute. you couldn’t help but skip along with his upbeat steps. the beach was only a block or so away, so you didn’t have to worry about transportation.

“hey soobin...” he looked at you, wondering what you were about to say. he stopped walking to match you. “tag you’re it!” you tapped his arm before running as fast as you could, that man had long legs you never know how fast they could go.

“wait!” his call did no good, not giving him a chance to catch you. when you looked back you found yourself plenty of feet infront of him. he continued to trip over his own feet, causing you to laugh.

“have you never ran before?” you yelled with your hands around the corners of your mouth in attempt to make you voice louder. the sight was pretty funny... his long legs acting as if they have never went faster than 1.4 (m/s)

“just you wait!” he stopped for a bit, running in place while you stood with your hands on your hips, smirking. at this rate he was never going to catch you, so you could catch your breath.

once it seemed like he was done warming up you turned around, walking because you’ve gained quite the distance. it was peaceful...that was until you heard heavy footsteps approaching. in confusion you looked back, only to be met with the once clumsy boy speeding towards you like a man on steroids.

“holy shit!” you squealed while running for your life. your heart was pumping, you were not expecting that one. he was gaining a lot of space, which you didn’t like one bit. it felt like a bull was tailing you, practically fearing for your life.

“i’m catching up~” he singsonged from only about twelve feet away. you were so close to the beach, wanting to escape this victory chasing boy.

“if i make it to the sand then i made it to base!” you tried running faster than you previously were, but the silence from behind scared you. when you turned your head to look behind you, you found you made a big mistake. a wide grin was merely five feet away, his hands reaching out for you. while looking at his attractive terrifying figure, you tripped over the steps onto the beach, slowing you down. this led you to your doom.

soobin grabbed yourself wrist, pulling you into his chest. you collided into him with a thud, shocked at what just happened.

“tag... your it.” his voice was husky and low as it was whispered into your ear. it was attractive and you couldn’t deny the heat that occurred down below.

you were pulled away from your trance as he moved to the side, rushing to the sand. you shook your head smiling as you slowly followed after him. he deserved the win.

“what was that? have i ever ran before?” he laughed picking fun at you for losing.

“to be fair that’s what it looked like until you became road runner.” you couldn’t miss his furrowed brows.

“don’t tell me you don’t know who the road runner is...” you looked up at him with a skeptical look that he only replied with a shrug.

“you know... the bird who goes beep beep. it actually sounds like meep meep though.” his lips were in a thin line, showing no sign of a lightbulb going off. “ok wow... your poor childhood.” you gave up trying to convince him that there was no way he didn’t know.

“so... what do you want to do first?” soobin asked while looking off into the ocean, his eyes narrowed as if looking for something that was hard to see. you tried looking as well, but caught nothing that stood out.

“well... i want to show you my favorite spot on this beach.” you were playing with your fingers now, showing him this spot was something special. you don’t know why you wanted to show him the place that no one else seemed to know about, but it just felt right.

“ooo... your favorite spot huh?” soobin was smirking while wiggling his eyebrows.

“get your head out of the gutter.” you punched him, rolling your eyes as you grabbed his soft hands- leading the way. “it’s this way.”

soobin stole glances at you, not very subtly, so you had to call him out causing him to become red in the face. this gave you joy, especially since he won the game of tag.

it didn’t take too much time to arrive to your favorite spot, now thinking about it, soobin had met you here on the night of the party. the large rocks hiding you from civilization, it even extended into the ocean.

“this is your favorite spot?” soobin sounded surprised and when you looked at him all you saw was hope, his eyes getting watery. you tilted your head at this, wondering why he seemed to get emotional.

“yeah... i’ve always seemed to wonder here and just wait. for what... i don’t know.” you walked towards the ocean, taking a deep breath as the breeze took over.

soobin approached you, nodding his head. “y/n i have something to show you.” he seemed a little scared, causing you to worry a bit.

“okay...” you were hesitant, wondering what he wanted to show you.

soobin walked into the water, making you give him a weird look. is this really what he had to show you. you were about to judge him, when you eyes caught sight of the shimmering scales forming a purple tail. soobin’s hair only seemed to be glowing more now, his face had a few scales on the edges of his face, they were fainter and barely noticeable, unlike the ones adorning his forearms. your eyes got wide. yes you believed in mermaids, but you never thought you would actually get to see one up close. this could be your big break, but could you betray soobin like that? you would have to obtain some of his dna if you did decide that. your thoughts were jumbled and you didn’t know what to do, his majestic figure wasn’t helping your case. you were freaking out, breathing starting to become shallow. what do i do?

you ran. that’s what you did... or well tried to do. you didn’t get very far after soobin called your name, trying to get up to no avail. you could’ve gotten away, but soobin used his last hope... his voice.

please be my eternity~ please call my name... run away, run away, run away with me~

you stopped, his voice seeming nostalgic and in pain... a last call for love. even so... his singing was different this time, you could leave if you wanted to. you don’t know why, but tears formed in your eyes. there was a war going on, your heart battling your mind. you took a deep breath to ease yourself before you made up your mind. taking that one step away from him, until your body was spun around in a quick swift motion. you gasped, eyes wide and before you could even realize what was happening, a pair of lips brushed against yours.

“i can’t let you forget me. please... just remember me.” his voice was soft and pleading before he closed the small gap between your lips. it was soft... reminding you of all blissful things, reminding you of how the wind would flow through your hair, reminding you of your feet sinking in the sand, reminding you... of the young love you had for the man infront of you.

memories seemed to crash against your mind, like when a wave pushes you under. the two of you used to see each other all the time in secret. going out into the depths of the ocean just to see what his life was like. the promises you made to each other about when you would live where and how the two of you would plan a future together... how the both of you... would never forget each other.

you were crying now, the tears streaming down your cheeks as you moved your lips along his. his hand reached to the back of your head, pushing you slightly forward and deepening the kiss even more. you had placed your hands in his wet hair, just barely tightening your grip on it. the two of you sharing each other’s saliva felt right, barely parting for breath. you could feel his tongue swipe against your bottom lip every now and then, asking if it was okay with you. a tiny bite on his lip was enough for him to slide his tongue over to you, exploring your mouth. he started to ease the kiss, going slower until it became a peck.

the two of you were slightly panting, inhaling the air you had lost, with your heads and noses touching.

“i’m so sorry soobin.” your voice was barely above a whisper... while you looked at the ground in guilt. he had moved his arms to behind your back, resting there as he looked down at you.

“it hurt... i started to wonder why you didn’t come to see me for a year, so instead of coming back to this spot constantly... i waited until i heard you in the ocean, which by the way took forever. i actually almost gave up... until you called your own self forgetful.” he voice always seemed to comfort you, you missed being in his presence like this. even with his comforting voice, you couldn’t rid yourself of the guilty feeling, and he seemed to notice.

“in the end... all that matters is that i have you. in my arms and in my heart.” he let one arm make its way to your chin, lifting your head up. your eyes met his ocean blue eyes that shined in the sunlight.

“you’re so cheesy.” you smiled before wrapping your arms around his waist, pulling yourself closer to rest your head against his chest. when he laughed, you felt the vibrations through his chest, making your smile grow. with him you felt paradise and you never plan on forgetting your paradise every again.

“so... i should probably go meet up with yeonjun before he comes here himself to drag me back in the ocean.” he tried pulling away, but you clung on tighter, causing him to laugh.

“not yet... let’s stay like this for a while longer.” you pouted as soobin ran his hands through your hair, fighting through the tangles.

a while longer turned into hours later, the sun down allowing the two of you to see the bright stars in the night sky. looking at the purple haired boy, your heart felt warm. life just seemed perfect.

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francisdominictan · 5 years ago

Text

________________________________________________________________ I always caught myself reading books about creatures of the unknown. It started probably when I was a young kid and would watch documentaries series about aliens, elemento, Bigfoot, and the likes.

Because of that I earned my fair shares of names and bullying in school due to my obsession. Like a good freshman I pushed up my glasses and disregarded it and moved onto college where I earned degree in Zoology and eventually masters and now PhD. Along the way I had discovered the things life had to offer; women, gym, sex, alcohols, and other things. Though, my first love was cryptozoology.

Together with famous scientists, zoologists, and marine biologists, we’re looking for new species and studying others of whom, we knew very little. I spent my late 20’s traveling around the globe. My colleagues and I found new insects, birds, reptiles, but none would fall into the strange or imaginary. In the scientific community, I made myself a name. I might find anything except Bigfoot, people liked to say. I enjoyed my little popularity.

I chose to work somewhere more conventional after those exciting years. As it was fun to create footprints around the world, I was sick of never being in one place over a couple of weeks. I would also like to spend more time to try to find these storied creatures than work on someone else's expedition.

I ended up teaching in the department of biology in a major state university in Northern part of Mindanao in the Philippines. I also started a club in cryptozoology that attracted a large number of students. I would take students to the alleged unearthly places, hot spots of unknown animals, and the likes with permission from the university. We always have a documentary of our trip; a blurred video and a grainy picture. It was enjoyable for the students and me. We never had any definitive information, but it helped them to think outside the box about what our world really is. My curiosity in it was a deep passion for trying to find the elusive that I want to witness.

Like I said before, my first love is cryptozoology until one foundation day of the University. I met Nap there. She was this beautiful brown haired woman about my age, who taught creative writing in the English department. I knew that I instantly fell for her. I'm not now the scrawny nerd from high school anymore. I was fit, effective in my profession, and not too bad looking (I told myself that, at least).I used a corny pickup to show myself. We've smiled, spoke the whole party and exchanged number, and the rest is history.

We moved in together a few months after we began dating. We had many shared interests, but there were also many differences. She preferred to stay in, and I enjoyed the outside. She was more reserved and I was the extrovert. But we both liked a good book and wine. She’s also a writer who particularly likes to write about simulated creatures, which is why we clicked.

“Nap,” I said closing and setting aside her newest book as I lounged out on the sofa in our living room one night. “Did I already told you that you are an excellent writer?”

She was in our room folding the ‘fresh from the laundry’ clothes. “You already did. But I won’t mind if you tell me again,” she playfully responded.

“I’m wondering, where did you get your inspirations for these stories?”

She came towards me. I corrected my sitting and she sophistically took a seat to me. “I got them from my grandmother’s story.”

“Tell me more, please,” I said with agog evident on my face.

“With my cousins,” she began with a look of commemoration on her face, “Each summer, we would visit my grandmother in the Visayas. She was living in a Remote Village neighborhood. Many people haven't been there. It was a lovely town shaded by the dense canopies of the tree. Between the town and the nearest mountain, there was a large forest. Perhaps it was about a few hundred acres. Glassy lake, filled with fish and that emptied into a small river can be found at the base of the mountain. All children in the town would play in the wood, the river and the lake, yet past sunset was strictly forbidden. The town’s people, including my grandma, have strictly implemented this.”

“Continue,” I encouraged her with a smile.

“So my grandmother told me about the forest fairies and how they liked to trick people. They'd take me away forever if I disobeyed my elders. Such tales have always been disturbing to me. My parents didn't like that, but they agree that I should be inside before dark. The stories didn't get me too much worry, until one of the young boys I was playing with got missing in the woods. One night after a fight with his father, he ran away into the forest. They never found him, and the people of the town did not bother to look for him until after sunrise. I can't just believe that people would not go in the forest looking for the boy until it was sunrise, except that they all really believed in the fairies. My books contain fairies that are scary but are much better than those in the tales of my grandma. They never took people away.”

She raised her one eyebrow and asked, “It is your kind of thing, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked at her, frowning.

“You know… The unexplained creatures of the dark.” She looked at me with a smart-ass grin.

“Well, I heard and read about fairy folklore, but many cryptozoologists don't spend a long time on it. I never heard of a city that is fearful of fairies, particularly from an account on the first hand. Anything like that should be investigated.”

A vexatious grin stretching from ear to ear plastered on Nap’s face.” Very Good! My parents would like to meet you and I'd like you to meet them. When I was young, my grandmother died and my parents inherited the house. And a couple of years ago they retired. This summer, you can come with me and solve the fairy problem of the town.” She stood over me and gave me the puppy eyes to agree.

Like this, our summer plans were drawn up, and in early March, with Nap and a bag filled with my recording equipment, we booked a plane ride from Cagayan to Siquijor located in Central Visayas. Once there, we hired a rental car and drove into the forest mountains, which felt like hours. We left the winding road for an even hazardous two-lane mountain road. After 15 minutes, we reached at what looked like a ghost town. Several small businesses were shut down and looked like an unfinished hotel in the 1960s.

We pulled into the driveway of her parent a couple of minutes later. Her parent’s house was sitting in a few dozen houses on a short dead end road. The dark, majestic forest that she described to me lies behind her home. A majestic moon hidden by the cumulus cloud loomed in the distant background.

Her parents greeted us at the door with a smile. Nap kissed her mom and dad with excitement. I tried to cover my nerves and for the first time met my girlfriend's parents, shook their hands quickly and introduced myself as Francis, the man who was here to solve their fairy problem. Before saying through their teeth, they both smiled and paused, “Come now. The dinner is about ready.”

My awkward attempt to be funny seemed to be an outrage. Dinner went well and we spoke about our trip and what I've done at work. With our bellies full, Nap’s father invited me on to the rear porch for a beer.

"So you are a university professor of cryptozoology?” Nap’s father asked until he took a big swig of beer from his bottle.

"No, I'm teaching animal behavior and social interaction. I'd like to teach cryptozoology, but before I can, I need a written and approval of the curriculum." I sat in my porch chair and started enjoying my beer.

"I guess Nap told you a lot of insane fairy tales in our forests?" I took another sip from my bottle and looked at him and nodded a bit. "Everything’s real. Sounds dumb, but the whole thing is true. Those stories have been told by my wife, and I wouldn’t believe them if I had not seen a crazy thing or experienced that one night. Our neighbor's niece disappeared in that forest two summers ago.” He pointed at the wooden line right at the back of his yard and takes a second swig from his bottle.

“You want to see a magic trick?” He asked me excitedly.

"Um, sure," I said half waiting for him to take the coin out from behind my ear.

"Look at the back door. Today's sunrise is around 21:00. The lock will pop up around this time and it will swing open. No hands." He responds shaking his hands upward.

The courtyard of Nap’s parent was closed with one back door that leads directly into the forest. Some of the branches of the forest trees hang over the entrance. I didn't know how to take the statement from Nap’s dad. So I've been waiting. Behind the mountains, the sun slowly crept and the clock reached 21 pm.

As we sat silently in the back porch, I finished my beer. I was about to get up and let Nap’s father know it was the longer trick that I had ever been waiting for, the scraping sound caught my ear from the opposite side of the fence.

It started at the rear of the valley. It sounded like a child dragging a stick over his pickets while he was walking. Towards the gate the sound intensified. I concentrated on the gate and didn't pay attention to Nap and her mother, who had gone with us to the deck. The door latch went Ching and the gate slowly swayed as if softly pushed by an unseen force.

"No way," I murmured, as I started to walk away slowly from the deck to the back gate. I was pulled up on the deck by a powerful hand. I whipped my head around to see Nap’s father violently grab my wrist.

He said with a stern voice and look. "Don't go over there," he said.

Nap pulled me out of her dad. "Mom, dad… stop." She turned to me and said, "Tomorrow, I'm going to take you into the woods. It's all right. You are going to see.” She turned back into the house and graciously marched.

"All you want during the day, you can go into the forest, but once the sun sets you have to come back," Robert cut me off before I could go in. I stopped and looked at him. His face was genuinely anxious. Nap’s mother has the same look on her face.

I agreed and that, as Nap’s parents insist upon being away from the woods after darkness, I came inside feeling a little confused.

That evening Nap and I prepared for bed and she laid her head on my chest. I tried to work together if her family had really believed in "fairies" and if their facial concern was sincere earlier.

"Doesn’t your family really believe in the fairies?" I ask Nap.

She turned around and put up her head in front of me.” "It's humiliating, not because they really believe in this, but because they’re so strongly confident that the woods are a bad place. I would have run into the woods many times if I had been rebellious as a kid. When I was a child, they started to act as my grandmother. I don't know how the gate trick is done by my father, but it gets older. Two years ago he pulled it on me, saying it wasn't him.”

The more she spoke, the more annoyed Nap became. "Tomorrow, I will bring you to the woods. You’ll see. As a child, I used to play there. Nothing's wrong with it.

I firmly held her to my side, gently kissed her. "Ok, we'll go to have an adventure tomorrow." I said before dozing off

After breakfast Nap took me into the forest the next morning. She showed me everything she had been able to remember from her childhood. She showed me her favorite trails, which had slightly become overgrown. She showed me her favorite river spot and her favorite lake shore. Here and there, the lakeshore was littered with dead fish but oddly no trace of rotting fish.

An old foundation to a building that never began was on the lakeshore. Nap said in the 60's it was intended to be a lodge for tourists but it was never done. The crumbling foundation was covered in moss, and looked more than anything else like a pathetic version of Stonehenge.

It was about noon and we decided to go back into the woods to have some lunch at the house of her father. As we walked hand in hand through the woods on trails I was surprised she was still able to navigate memories from her childhood. I noticed the mahogany were almost all brown or brownish green. Their trunks were rather large, even swollen, as if they were stuffed with something, and most of the underbrush was dead or seemed as if it were dying.

Nap reported that the summer and spring of the last few years had been little rain. I thought it was odd that the forest was going to dry out but the river and the lake didn't seem to be at low levels.

Robert brought the subject of cryptozoology and my interest, “Have a chat with John Salon. He is town detective, who lives down a few streets. He is also the last of a tribe who lived here once. He's kind of an amateur historian for the region and has lots of stories to share about the woodland fairies. I'll call him and tell him that you're coming over. "Robert gave me his address and that afternoon, at Nap’s encouragement, I went to his house as Nap and her mother planned to go shopping in the next town.

I knocked on John’s door. The lock unlatched and the door slowly opened revealing an older man.

“Are you John?” I stick out my hand for handshake.” I’m Francis Tan and..-“

“You want to know about the fairies at the woods?” He said cutting me off. “Robert already told me about you. Please come in. I have only few hours before I need to head to work to cover a night shift.”

I walked into his house. It was huge and packed with mounted animals, fish and a number of what seemed to be memorabilia from farther south. He led me to his living room, and guided me to sit down. His living room walled by filing cabinets and bookshelves on all sides. There was no TV, and the most surfaces were caked with a thick layer of dust.

"So what can I tell you," said John, slowly taking a seat in the chair opposite me.

"Well, whatever you know about the forest, or the supposed forest monsters," I started. "I'm researching unknown beings, mythological creatures, or whatever you want to name them, and I'm familiar with folklore fairies, but I've never seen a whole town that seemed to fear these monsters."

For a moment, John leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, as if to recall his thoughts.

"My tribe was the first to settle that area, or rather my ancestors. We were once, as the oral tradition goes, a large and proud tribe that had great numbers in Siquijor long before the Spanish came. A harsh winter run and war with other tribes cut down our numbers and our enemies drove us out of our original land. We wandered around until we found the place. Cold, hungry and desperate for shelter, we felt blessed to have found a place with good hunting, the mountains to shelter us, and a river and lake to provide fresh water for us.”

I looked eagerly at him, as he took a little break to remember his words. He sat up in his chair, and leaned forward.

"Some strange creatures that lived here prevented us from entering the forest. My people would call them Engkantos. They said that they were here before, guarding the forest. The chief seeing his people starving and having no place to live struck a deal with the creatures from the forest. We could hunt fish, stay here and they'd protect us as long as we agreed to give them one of our own once every moon cycle.”

"Wait," I cut. "So ...... just like a sacrifice?”

"Yes" continued John. "We'd send one person into the forest each full moon. The cries will fill the sky of the night. It was a terrible thing but the chief made the offer for us to live and we stuck to it. Many years passed, as we lost ourselves one after another. Our numbers would gradually decrease over time, but those who remained had hunting food and fresh water.”

John got up from his seat and walked up to his bookshelf, pulling out a leather bound book, the edges were yellowed from age.

"This book," he said, "Contains all the stories about Engkantos that have been passed down to my tribe from generation to generation. When I was young, I had started writing them down before they all died. I'm the last one and I thought somebody could record it so others could know what we've been experiencing.”

"When the Spanish came into our land, it all changed. It was one man at first. He was an explorer. We didn't consider him a threat so we let him pass. However, he did find gold in the water and he told other people. Eventually many others turned up in the river looking for gold. They brought crucifix, meats, beads, and weaponry and taught us religions. They were willing to trade for small pieces of land so that they could prospect in here. We consented. The prospectors supplied us with new stuff and we were exchanging small parcels of land for them. The Spanish people cut down trees to make the clearing that now sits out of town. They constructed houses. They fished and hunted. Each full moon, we no longer sent one of our own to the forest.”

"So the sacrifices stopped because you got necessity from the settlers?" I asked. "What about the creatures that you deal with?”

"We lived alongside the Spanish in harmony," John began again. "There was rage among the Engkantos because we broke our deal. They'd watch us in the shadows, from the tree line. The extreme fury could be felt. One night, several prospectors who were fishing the lake in the forest came late. One of them was taken violently by the Engkantos upfront the others. Their screams had filled the air of the night. The survivors did flee and never came back. They left their possessions and even their money for they were so frightened. Those who had been past dark in the woods soon began to disappear. No trace was found.”

John sat down and breathed deeply. "As people began to flee the woods after dark, they tried to trick people into going into the woods. During the night they would imitate the sounds of kids or loved ones. Anyone who enters into the woods would be taken. They took our tribe's three mothers once because the creatures were crying out on the forest line like children. The women fled to save the "babies" only to be killed. They only took one person at a time but began to take more as revenge.”

"They can imitate voices?" I asked.

"Yeah" he began as he rubbed his head. "They can use anybody's voice or sound so you’d be lured into the woods.”

"Why do people still live here, then?" I asked. "If it is cursed, why not leaved?”

“My people agreed to keep this place guarded and keep people from going here. They made a deal and broke it. But, regardless of what they did or said, the word still made it out about the fishing and hunting or gold in the river. People would come and they would vanish. A party heard about fishing, and tried to build a lodge on the shore on the lake. All are gone. We were trying to warn them but they were calling us crazy. This town and forest has only recently gone unnoticed by the outside. In the last 10 years there have been only a few disappearances.”

"I saw the foundation." I sat up in the chair as I got drawn more and more into his stories.

John got up and walked to one of his filing cabinets. He pulled a black binder full of paperwork.

"Here," he said with a motion to take the binder.

"What is it?" I asked him as I take the big binder.

"I am in charge of all the missing people’s cases. They're all here.”

"That’s crazy," I said while opening the binder.

"Many people say I'm a useless detective. I know what happened to those people, but you can't put it on an official report and still keep your job. If you look at the reports, the pattern is the same for everyone. All of those people were last seen in the forest before darkness.”

I finished my conversation with John, as he was about to get ready for work. He had been operating from two towns on a missing person case. He let me borrow the case binder and the book about the stories of his family.

The next day after taking Nap over to the next town for breakfast, I went door to door asking people what they knew about the creatures. Many hesitated to speak with me until I explained who I was, what I believed, and that I intended to study what was happening. I had been warmly welcomed into their homes.

People in the town had a vast array of stories. Tales ranged from family members vanishing to hearing odd voices at night, to seeing groups of travelers vanish without trace. Many were older tales of loved ones wandering late into the forest and failing to make it out before sunset. It seemed that everybody believed in the creatures that inhabited the forest, but no one had ever seen one. An older gentleman reported that his sister had gone on an afternoon walk into the forest and never returned. He could hear her voice calling from the woods to him every night, but he doesn't dare to enter. Eventually the voice stopped.

I devoted the rest of the afternoon to taking notes on all the missing people’s cases. I just stopped kissing Nap farewell, as she and her mother left to get chico fruits in the forest. In an hour, or two, she had expected to be home. I was comfortable with her leaving as it would have been many hours before the sun had gone down.

Every case had the same set of circumstances. No clear explanation was given as to why the people were missing. News clippings placed the blame on people getting lost in the vast outback, or on the likelihood that these people could run into wild animals.

I closed the binder full of cases and sat back in my seat in the living room, exhausted after all my note taking. I took a deep breath and stood up to collect the binder and book that John had let me borrow.

I finished collecting my stuff and walked to John’s house to return his articles. He was sitting at his front porch when I arrived, still in his police uniform with a beer.

I handed the book and binder to him, and took a seat next to him.

“What do they look like?” I asked.

"Who?” John answered sitting up a little straight as if shocked by my question.

"Engkantos or the fairies or whatever you want to call them. So what do they look like? I don't have any descriptions in the text you gave me." I stood up and looked at John with a stern look.

"It's a full moon tonight. In the last ten years just a few people were lost in the woods. They are mad. You can sense them in the current. I will be retiring in two years. I have spent my life trying to find those people that were missing. During day I’m in the forest. They are difficult to see. They are very slender and tall. You can see their outline amongst the trees if you look hard. It's very hard to figure out but hundreds of them are there. They're not going to move until dark but you can look among the tree line and see them standing still, even now.”

John pointed from to the woods that were across the road. I looked hard but in the fading light, I could see nothing but trees. I thanked him for his time and resources, and made my way back to the fading light of Nap’s parents ' house. The sun had set, and a cool breeze swept across the road and into the woods as if the forest itself were breathing in. I walked down the broken sidewalk looking into the dark trees to see if I could get a glimpse of what John had described. The moon was full and bright. With a slightly bluish hue, it seemed almost like day out. There was no echo. No crickets. No animals scratching. The night air was packed with just the wind and my footsteps.

"FRANCIS!!!!!"A scream of blood-curdling echoed just inside the line of the trees.

That voice. I knew that voice. It was from Nap. The hair on my neck was standing up straight. My heart started pounding with a violent fervor. Nap and her mother hadn't come back when I left. What if she did not make it from the woods? What if they hurt her? What if they had taken her?

"FRANCIS!!!!"The scream echoed again. This time it sounded as though she was in anguished agony.

I was twenty yards deep in the woods before realizing what I was doing. My eyes agitatedly scanned everywhere. "NAP!" I screamed. Only dead silence. The moon was so vivid that from the light shining through the tree branches I could make out almost everything. "NAP!”

I was breathing through my mouth. My breaths matched my heart's tempestuous pace. I stood in silence. I looked closely at the thick canopies before me. My vision spotted movement. I'm not alone. There was movement but I could not see exactly what it was. It didn't make any noise whatsoever and it seemed opaque, almost invisible. As if opaque forms melded into reality from nowhere.

They were the height of man. The skin was pale. Their legs, arms, and body structure were thin. Their skin looked dry and it was ridging like worms. A head was in the shape of large white sideways cones with no features but a small black hole in the forehead.

My muscles tensed as pure terror flows through me. I couldn't move. I was awestruck and was filled with terror. There were dozens of those things before me. They all looked the same appallingly. I wanted to run but I couldn't. One slowly moved toward me. It stopped 20 ft away from me. It was dead quiet. My heart shook so hard that I could hear it.

The hole at the front of his head was growing bigger as if something were pushing out of it. Like the peeling of a sausage casing this thing's skin pulled back and the head of a young woman seems to be out of the black.

My jaws dropped. I felt my heart was beating in my ears. Her hair looked black and greasy. Her eyes were ovals black. Her skin blenched. She stares at me. It felt like an eternity as I looked upon at this monstrosity. She opened her mouth.

"Francis," she spoke. I recognized that voice. It was Nap’s. Confusion took over. The woman head on this creature bent sideways in a horrible way while staring at me with a blank expression.

"Francis... Francis... Francis..." Nap’s voice echoed more frequently and more intensely. Then from her mouth burst an ear shattering maniacal laugh. My face was strewn with tears as my lips began to shake. It stopped. The woman's face split from jaw to forehead in half spreading from side to side as if it had been cut by, exposing a mass of razor-sharp teeth and flailing tentacles like tongues.

The creature shrieked. It was so high pitched and growling that it shook the forest and buzzed my ears. I fell on my back and for the first time since I saw the entity, I could now move. I amokly shuffled my legs backwards to propel me away from the entity. The creature fell to all fours, and then charged me as inhumanly as possible. I realized that there was no way I could get up and out run it in time. It was about to consume me. I put my hand up to cover my lip.

"No!" I cried as I looked away. Nothing. I didn’t feel any pain. There was no creature landed upon me.

"FRANCIS... MOM... DAD... NOOOO!!!!" It sounded like a scream from Nap, but this time it sounded like it came from her home's direction. I got up straight away trying to understand what was going on. The creatures had gone but something moved violently away from me in the underbrush, tearing up ground and shaking branches as it went.

"Ana, NO! “Another voice resounded. It was owned by Robert. I was still confused and afraid but I wasn't going to stay any longer in this woods. I raced to Nap’s parents’ house as fast as my legs could manage.

Robert restrained Ana who was sobbing in the backyards, "Let me go... Let me go..."

"She's already gone. They might also take you,' replied Robert, hugging his wife with all his might.

“What happened?” I commanded.

"Oh my God, Francis," said Robert in horror, turning to me. "Nap swore that she heard you scream in the woods, and ran after you. We tried to get her to stop."

In the distance, a cry of Nap’s agony rang out. My fear and the rush of adrenaline transformed into rage. They took my wife. Those hideous things took the woman I loved. I went to the garage without thought, and scooped up the gas can that Robert filled up earlier in the day. I searched the garage frenzied, and found a torch of propane on the shelf. I quickly made my way through their backyard to the tree line.

"Robert, hold this," I ordered while shoving the lighter propane into his arms.

I started to pour the gas on the trees carelessly, and the brush along the forest line.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

I looked at him dead in the eye and coldly stated, “Give me the torch. I'm taking the woods from them, if they want to take her.”

He gave the torch that I just forced him to hold reluctantly.

The woods were dry. The wind blew in through the forest. I opened the valve for propane, lit a torch and threw it into the brush. There was a towering hell ahead of me in seconds. Robert and Ana were stunned by what I had just done. The fire burned fast and moved faster. Soon the whole town stood on the road, watching the forest they knew about consumed by blaze. With rage in my eyes, I stood still between them.

Suddenly, horror and pain filled the air with inhuman shrieks. They were like a knife cutting other people's ears. The people of the town tightly held their ears to block the screams. Most ran home in terror or grabbed each other for protection.

The shouts resonated tumultuous as the fire burned until suddenly the shouts ceased and only the blaze could be heard.

The fire department was called by someone who warned the forest guards. They couldn't do anything. The fire spread so quickly that the whole forest was burnt to the ground before a plan was drawn up. I admitted that I was the one starting the fire and was arrested by the police that night.

With little or no human contact, I was in prison for three days. The police were going through the office in an uncomfortable way as though they had more work than they could handle. They ignored and only fed me and checking on me before night.

John was there to welcome me when I woke up in my jail cell on the third morning.

I said groggily, "Good morning."

He opened the cell. “You’re free to go, Francis.” He nods at me to follow him. “Come with me." I got up and did as he requested. "They found Nap."

"Is she all right? Is she hurt?" I asked delighted.

“She had some burns, cuts, bruises, suffered from some inhalation of smoke, and she seems to be in shock but is alive.”

“Thank God!” I shouted.

The car ride to the hospital was an hour or so. During our way over, John explained that I was now the least of the problems the town had to deal with. None of the town's houses got damaged. The wind blew the fire the opposite way. Search and rescue teams searched the forest at night and found Nap on the lake shore early in the morning. She was naked and shocked but alive.

The biggest problem the town had to tackle was the hundreds of skeletons discovered in the forest. They weren't scattered around like the victims of a forest fire. The burnt-out trunks of the narra trees contained dozens of skeletons, as if stuffed into the trees. John showed me a picture he'd taken at one of the scenes on his phone. The picture showed a tree trunk that looked bloated and had been burned out. Inside the bark you could clearly see a human skeleton contorted with the tree growing around it in horrible fashion. What appeared like wooden bark threads fused into the skeleton, as if they formed together. Some of the skeletons were identified as missing people in the woods in the 1900’s. Others had been estimated to be centuries old.

At the hospital, John dropped me off and I made my way to Nap’s room. Here were her parents. She was swollen and wounded but lying in her bed looking ahead, agape mouth, not blinking at all. She turned towards me slowly as I came in, not blinking. When our eyes met she started sobbing. I rushed to her, and warmly embraced her.

"They've took me," she said with heavy sobbing. "They ripped my clothes and tried to put me in there."

"Where?" I asked fighting off my own tears as I kept holding her closely.

"In the forest... In the trees," she said sobbing. "They feed the forest with us. The forest was dying and it starved to death.”

No other word was spoken. I just hugged her close, until she stopped sobbing.

With the forest gone, a development company bought all the land and turned it into homes. To my knowledge, no one has since disappeared. There are some rumors that the place is haunted and that odd voices and cries can still be heard at night.

The night of the fire, my camera was recording. I looked at the video once before deleting it. My voice can be heard in frightened tone calling Nap’s name. One can see Nap running into the woods calling for me. As she disappears beyond what the camera can see, there is a voice that giggles like a little child and then, in a raspy high voice, states, "We take." The brush all around is shifting quickly towards where Nap was last seen until her cries can be heard.

#@queenlupitajones #short story

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