Chapter 3: A New Friend

“How’d that happen?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know. Hurry, before she finds us.” Jason started running, dragging Aaron right behind him. 

The forest wasn’t as hard to get through this time around. A small path, big enough for two people was laid out before them. Jason wondered whether the path had always been there or if the trees themselves were leading them somewhere. No matter how fast he and Aaron ran they could not catch up to see if the trees were actually moving. Jason also wondered whether or not they were being deceived and being lead back to the Witch’s cottage.  He didn’t voice his concerns to Aaron, and so they ran anyway.

After thirty minutes of nonstop running, Aaron, exhausted, said, “We have to stop.”

“Okay.” Jason was not aware of how hungry or thirsty he was; he had been so worried about his brother that he wasn’t thinking about anything else. This left him feeling strange as they slowed to walk, because it had been a long time since Jason had spared much thought for his little brother.

The forest was thinner than when they had first entered. There was even a small area off the path comfortable enough for Jason and Aaron to rest.  A small gathering of white flowers grew along the floor of the forest and even in the vines that wound their way up some of the trees.

“It’s really pretty.” Aaron said, as he lay down, propped up against one of the trees.

“I know, beautiful. Just a couple of minutes, okay. I have a feeling that we can’t stay here long.” Jason still didn’t trust the forest, especially after the Witch had called them her trees.  And yet, he was feeling sleepy; his eyelids growing heavier and heavier as he lay down next to his brother.

“Are you going to stay awake?”  Aaron yawned.

Jason yawned. “Yes, Aaron. I’m going to stay awake.” Just stay awake until Aaron falls asleep, he thought.

“Thank you, Jason.” Aaron looked at his brother through heavy eyes.

“For what?”

“For rescuing me.” Aaron yawned again.

“What else was I supposed to do?”

“Forget about me.” 

“Just go to sleep Aaron.” Jason yawned, again. He felt exhausted, his muscles weak. Strange considering he didn’t feel as exhausted when they first entered the clearing. Regardless, coherent thought was beyond Jason’s capabilities at that moment; his mind was just too tired to think of anything beyond its own exhaustion.

Aaron closed his eyes, but not before doing the strangest thing, at least according to Jason. He moved closer to Jason and rested his head against his older brother’s shoulder. Jason was surprised but didn’t say anything, he only lifted his arm and placed it around Aaron’s tiny body. 

“Those flowers smell really good, don’t they?” Aaron asked half awake, half asleep.

“Yes they do, Aaron.”  Jason couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, but he did stay awake long enough to feel the rhythmic breathing of his brother before he started to drift himself. As he did, something sparked in Jason’s mind, an idea, something important, but before anything materialized in his head he followed his brother into sleep.

* * *

Am I running? I thought I was sleeping. Then this must be a dream. Jason didn’t feel like he was running but he saw the path that he and Aaron were following passing quickly beneath him. Where’s Aaron? He tried to look around but found that he was unable to. Jason felt as if something very important should be around the next bend, but instead he found trees, so he kept running. A hill rose up before him, and Jason found himself moving upwards. Up, up he went, fast at first but the hill kept getting steeper and the ground turned from soft green moss to hard, grey rock. Jason, then, was not flying through the forest anymore. Instead, he was climbing a tall mountain, very aware of the pain in his body. What is happening? When did I get hurt? His breathing was heavy, rapid. Jason looked away from the rock wall in front of him and grew dizzy. He was more than five hundred feet above ground. From that distance he could see a forest sprawled out across the land, stretching to the horizon and stopping in a sharp line not too far from the base of the mountain. Past that line, however, nothing green could be seen, nothing lived. The landscape was grey with only a few black specks Jason thought had to dead trees. Was that forest below the same one he and Aaron had been running through? Somehow Jason knew it was the same one. He saw a large clearing in the middle of the forest; only it was very small from his high perch, with a tiny brown dot directly in the center. The Witches cottage, he said to himself. Beyond the edge of the forest was a strange looking castle that he could not fully make out; light danced around the castles edges preventing him from see it clearly. Where is that? Someone was speaking to him. Jason looked up above him and saw a figure just a few feet ahead, a boy about his age. The boy motioned for Jason to hurry. There wasn’t much time left.  Time for what? Jason didn’t have time to ask the boy anything. Lightning cut through the darkness above, followed by a sharp clap of thunder. Jason flung himself against the mountain as a sudden gust of wind tried to pull him off. The boy above him waved his hand again and Jason reached for the next foothold. A large black crow fell from the sky onto his face and started piercing his skin with its beak.  In a panic, Jason swatted at the creature, losing his grip.  He fell.

* * *

Jason jerked awake to see a set of pale blue eyes inches from his face.

“Ahhh!”   Jason screamed as he scrambled away, putting some distance between him and those blue eyes. The pitch his voice attained was one he thought he had left behind with puberty.

A fit of laughter broke out after the scream and Jason saw that it was coming from a boy about his age. But Jason didn’t linger on this fact because as his eyes adjusted he saw that this boy was hanging upside down from a tree. As the boy laughed harder, his legs loosened their grip on the tree limb. The boy fell to the ground, but this didn’t seem to concern him for he could hardly catch his breath.

“You should’ve seen your face!”  He continued laughing.  “It was priceless.”

Jason couldn’t help but stare. The boy rolled on the ground, clutching his stomach. It took a while, but eventually the boy’s laughter subsided to giggles and then, finally to silence.

He seemed disappointed that Jason hadn’t spoken yet, “I think the first question that you need to ask is, ‘Who are you?’ That seems the most important thing at the moment.”  The boy rolled onto his feet and squatted.

Jason looked around—Aaron was still sleeping—and said, “Who are you?”

“Name’s Eric,” said the boy. His hand shot out and hung in the air, waiting.

Jason, with a slow deliberate motion, held out his own hand and shook Eric’s.

“See, that’s better. Now we’re known to each other.” Eric’s eyes glanced down at Aaron then up again. Eric, smiling, waited.

Not sure what Eric was waiting for, Jason looked down at Aaron and said, “Uh… This is my brother… Aaron.”

“Hi, Aaron. Nice to meet you,” Eric said to Aaron’s unconscious body. 

Silence.

“Um… Well… It was nice to meet you, but I think we should be going.” Jason spoke each word slowly, not sure how Eric would react.

“That’s a great idea!” Eric said, standing.

Reluctant to turn his back on this strange boy, Jason squatted and gave his sleeping brother a gentle push. “Aaron, it’s time to get up.”

After a few more pushes, Aaron rolled over and half-opened his eyes. “Is it time for school already?”

Despite his desire to leave the strange boy behind, Jason smiled. He did wish he could tell his brother, “Yes,” that they were indeed at home and that Mom had breakfast waiting for them. He couldn’t however, and so said, “You’re not at home, Aaron. Remember?”

Aaron jerked, suddenly realizing where he was. “How long were we asleep?” Fear was creeping into his voice.

“It doesn’t matter. We’re okay.” He gave a quick glance towards Eric, which Aaron followed. Aaron held his breath.

Eric spoke up, robbing Jason of the chance to introduce them. “Hi! I’m Eric!” He said, his voice getting louder now that Aaron was awake.

“Hi, Eric. I’m Aaron.” Aaron’s response was not so enthusiastic.

“Awesome. Good. Now that we’re all awake. I think it’s time we leave this area.”

“Yeah.” Jason said. A yawn caught him by surprise.

“Right. We need to leave now.” The mirth disappeared from Eric’s voice. He started walking away. Aaron and Jason however stayed where they were, and after taking five steps, Eric turned around. “Come on,” he said, indicating they should follow him.

“Um, I don’t mean to seem rude, but why should we follow you?” Jason asked. Aaron, having not stood up, yawned.

“Because it’s not safe for you two here. You have to leave the forest.”

Annoyed at being told what to do, Jason said, “I know. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

“Do you know how? Which way to go?” Eric asked.

Jason looked around. The forest looked different. Although he couldn’t say for sure how he knew, Jason felt that the surrounding trees were not the same trees he saw before they fell asleep. He tried and tried, but there was no way of telling which way he and Aaron had come from. If they started walking, he could very well lead them back the Witch’s cottage, and that would be a grave mistake.

“Well?” Eric asked.

Frustrated, Jason said, “I don’t know which way to go, but how can we trust you? We just met you.”

“Good question. And here’s my answer. First, you’ve been sleeping for a few hours, and had I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it then. Second, you’re both standing in a bed of Sleeping Lilies, and in just a few minutes you’ll be asleep again. Third, you’re just going to have to trust me.”

Jason and Aaron yawned. “Okay, lead the way.”

Just then, the air behind them split open, tree trucks cracked in half and fell, and a swirling black vortex appeared out of nowhere. Jason heard a sucking sound; the air around them had shifted; it was being sucked into the vortex, faster and faster it pulled the air in until they all had to brace themselves against the buffeting wind.

Two black vines emerged from the center of the vortex, slithering along the ground. They were searching for something. They were heading for Aaron.

Terrified, Jason turned and reached for Aaron, but Eric was faster. In the time it had taken the vortex to appear and Jason to turn—which was barely any time at all—Eric had already grabbed Aaron’s arm with one hand. His other hand raised up, palm out towards Jason. A wall of air slammed into Jason’s chest and stomach, sending him flying into the air away from the black vines. He landed on the ground ten feet away, hard, forcing the air out of his lungs.

Aaron screamed.

“No!” Jason ran back through the forest, his lungs burning, his stomach and chest aching, and still he ran.

He arrived back at the clearing to see Eric holding on to Aaron’s arms, his face straining with the effort. The black vines had wrapped around Aaron’s ankles and were trying to pull him into the black vortex. Eric was desperately trying to hold on, but it would not be long before his strength would fail. Aaron was screaming. “Don’t let her take me! Please, Jason help!”

Fighting against the wind, Jason tried to push his way through the blistering winds. But he was too late.

Eric lost his battle and Aaron slipped from his fingers.

“No!” Aaron screamed as he was drug through the forest floor, fingers clawing troughs through the dark earth, pulling up Sleeping Lilies.

Jason dove for Aaron’s outstretched arms, but something grabbed at his ankles and pulled him away from his brother. Anger and frustration flashed through his mind. However, anger and frustration all but vanished from him as he watched, helpless, his brother pulled into the black vortex. The second Aaron had been pulled into the Witch’s vortex, it vanished, the wind stopped blowing, and the forest fell silent.

For a few stunned moments, Jason just lay there on the forest floor, hoping it was all some sort of horrible nightmare, hoping that he would wake up from everything. Slowly he stood up, looked up to the sky and let out a scream fueled by frustration.

Eric stood too, a look of uncertainty on his face. “Jason?”

Jason didn’t answer. Instead, he started walking. And since he didn’t have any idea where to go, the direction he headed in was where the vortex had appeared and vanished.

“Where are you going?”

“To find my brother.” Jason said without turning around.

“Okay, but do you know where you’re going?”

“No. But I’ll manage.”

“You’re going to need help.”

Jason stopped and turned, the anger burning his face. “Was it you that grabbed me?”

Eric looked to the ground and in a quiet voice said, “Yes. I did but you…”

Jason didn’t wait for Eric to finish. “It’s because of you Aaron is in the hands of that… Witch!”

“I know, but you really have to listen to me. I had to make a choice.”

“What kind of choice did you have to make?!” Jason yelled.

“It was going to take either Aaron or both of you, and it would have been disastrous if she had taken both of you.”

Jason’s anger subsided a bit, “What do you mean?”

Eric stared into Jason’s eyes for a long time, searching for something. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what?”

“I don’t think I’m the person to tell you. But, if you let me, I can take you to the person who can.”

Jason didn’t say anything, but he didn’t move either.

“I’m really sorry about your brother, Jason. I did everything I could. It just wasn’t enough.”

At the sight of this once too happy boy, Jason’s anger washed away. He did see Eric straining to hold onto Aaron, and if it hadn’t been for him, Jason would also be in the hands of the Witch, and who knew if he could manage another escape. Being free, Jason could get help in freeing Aaron. “Who is this guy you want to take me to?”

Eric’s eyes brightened immediately. “She’s no guy. I’m taking you to Abigail’s house.”

The hairs on the back of Jason’s neck stood up, and a warm feeling filled his heart. Who was this Abigail? And why did that name sound familiar?