Forest

Violet Hathaway

Hathaway Residence

hours before

Today is Annabel's birthday, my 2 year old little sister. She looks a lot like me, everyone says so. Annabel is white, with black hair and blue eyes. She's like I was when she was little, except for her eye color, mine are black. My name is Violet and I am the eldest of the twins. My identical twin is named Sarah, but she's been living in another city since Mom found out she was pregnant with Anna.

I think Sarah just wanted to have her own life, so when she was sixteen, Dad allowed her to live with Grandma on the farm.

Fortunately, today she is here. Let's celebrate our sister's birthday as a family.

I help Sarah move the party decorations out into the backyard. Several pink and white balloons are hanging in an arch. Behind the arch is a pink panel with some of your favorite cartoon characters. Colored lights adorn the backyard, which is filled with light wood tables and chairs. In the center of each table is a vase of white roses, Anna's favorite.

The whole family is in a festive mood, happy for Annabel's big birthday. She is an adorable child and easily befriends everyone who meets her. Your school friends are also coming to the party. Dad hired a magician to entertain the kids and rented a bouncy castle. It will be a memorable day.

"Violet!", Sarah yells, catching my attention. Her face has an amused expression. "Think fast!"

With bad reflexes, I can't catch the ball and it flies over the fence, heading towards the trees that begin the forest.

"Fine.", my voice comes out irritated. "You know my reflexes suck. Now we lost a ball!"

Sarah's purple hair blows in the wind, and her blue eyes stare at me, not hiding her boredom. Her sarcastic expression soon turns to dread, and I watch the color drain from her face.

"That was the ball Grandpa gave Annabel.", Her voice is nervous, despite her efforts to hide it. "Violet, if you lose the last gift he gave Anna alive, Mom will kill us!"

I know she's right. I can't let my parents know I've lost Anna's ball, especially since it's her favorite toy.

I put on my coat, it's very cold, and I feel safer with it on.

With the help of a chair, I climb over the fence and land in the tall grass. I look around and a shiver runs through my body, as if there is bad energy in the place.

"Violet?", Sarah speaks with a strange voice. "Are you well?"

"It would have been better if you hadn't made me come here."

"Take that ball and come back at once!", his voice turns arrogant again. "You're already pissing me off!"

When I go to respond to your affront, I have my attention stolen by a tree. The tree was littered with marks, but the ones that gave me the creeps were the most recent ones. They were thick, like scratches. I run my hand over them and see that each mark is thicker than my fingers. Not even a hunting knife could make such a mark with such precision. My vision focuses on the other trees and I see that there are more of the same marks on them, but this time thicker, bigger and at a lower height.

Something red was between the marks of a tree, I run my finger and see that it is fresh. Was it blood? I widen my eyes when I smell it and see that I'm right.

A shiver invades my body and he goes into a state of alert. A strange sensation of being watched makes me look towards a tree. I shiver when I see, for a brief moment, a man jumping between the trees.

"Violet?"

I come back to reality at the sound of Sarah's voice. I wipe my hand on my pants and look around for the blessed ball. Okay, this must just be another one of my hallucinations. My medications are probably no longer working.

My gaze roams the length of the forest, I feel breathless when I see a red-haired young man running injured. He seems to be faking something. His feet barely touch the ground and his body is riddled with cuts that ooze blood. I see a tall man wearing a hood slowly approaching the fugitive, and in a few seconds, this vision turns to mist.

My heart races. Damn, what was that? I always had these visions, but usually my meds kicked in and prevented me from seeing these things. Even with my meds, I still sometimes have these visions. I don't like to talk about it with my parents as I know it's out of my control. They are not as vivid and not as frequent.

But now? Now they are becoming more and more frequent and realistic. I can feel people's emotions in these visions, smell the smells, hear their voices and even see the weather change. It's like watching a movie, I see the place differently, in a time that I can't decipher. It's like you can see the past and future of a place. I know this is just an excuse for these visions due to my psychiatric disorders, a way to feel normal in this world of drugs and therapies.

"I didn't.", I say in a shaky voice. "I think it must have fallen among the trees."

I'm not going into that forest, not after seeing these marks and seeing this macabre sight. These marks make me almost believe in the legends that surround this forest, as if the popular beliefs were true. And that vision only makes me more certain that I must never set foot in that place.

"Go get it!", Sarah shouts irritated. "If the mother finds out that you lost, she will kill us!"

I walk towards the forest and startle when the birds start to fly. The sound of animals is relaxing, the birdsong, the sound of the wind, the fresh air.

I walk for a few minutes until I hear footsteps. I stop walking instantly. Was it Sarah coming to see why I was late?

I look towards the sound and see that there is no one there. I roll my eyes, it's probably some prank by my twin sister.

"Very funny, you can stop now!", I said irritated.

I see a figure move quickly through the trees, a movement impossible to be reproduced by any living creature. The forest is silent and I feel like I'm being watched. I look up and see no one in the trees. I jump in fright when I feel a hand on my neck, I look around and I don't see anyone. I put on my hood and start running, I hear the footsteps following me quickly. I look through the trees and watch the figure getting closer.

I trip over my own feet, rolling down the ravine. I hit my head on a rock and feel my vision blur.

Dizzy, I get up with difficulty. I clean my body, removing the sand and dry leaves.

I look at the ravine and wonder how I'm going to get out of this forest.

My only alternative is to keep walking. I know Sarah won't come looking for me, and even if she does, she won't imagine I'm here.

The feeling of being watched gets worse the farther I get from the house. It's like every step I take into the depths of the forest puts me in the territory of whatever is following me.

A footprint in the mud scares me. It looks like a dog footprint, only much bigger. I compare it with the size of my foot and I'm startled to see that it's much bigger.

I take a picture and put my phone in my pocket. I hear the sound of a growl very close by. I look in the direction of the sound and see a huge brown wolf a few feet away. Its size is frightening, as if it were bigger than me, something totally illogical. I've never seen an animal that size.

The wolf glares at something behind me, baring its teeth like it's about to attack. I look in the direction he is looking and I see the figure in the middle of the trees. It seems that whatever this is, it's something wolves don't like. My heart races as I remember the vision. That figure could be the man in the hood.

“Stop fooling around, Violet. This is just a view due to the wrong dosage of your medication. There is no such thing as a hooded man!” I say to myself, but it doesn't seem to work, because I see, a few meters away, an extremely tall person wearing a black cape that covers his entire body.

"Violet!", I hear Sarah's voice, seeming to be very close. "Where are you?"

When I look in the direction of the wolf, he is no longer there. I see that figure walk slowly into the forest and, in the blink of an eye, disappear.

Heavens, I must be crazy.