7

Beware the woods

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There was a large dark forest, split by a winding road just wide enough for two cars to pass. The road itself was rather quiet throughout the year as only a small village lay at its end. The village entrance was marked by a small modern museum, remarkably younger compared to a crumbling wall that split the village from its surrounding forest. It was a wall that served no purpose anymore. Yet now, it seemed to form a barrier keeping a creeping storm out.

The sky held a red blanket snowstorm, a thick red mist that was trickling down as the forest rapidly became overwhelmed by it, so much so that even the vivid red colours of the autumn leaves had blended completely into its surroundings.

Only a single person had witnessed that somewhere inside this mist, a large blood-red shard like an autumn leaf had landed. Fallen on a cave at the end of a small mountain road. It was there, not far away from the museum, that a bright light suddenly erupted. But inside was something sinister, a beast with red shining eyes stared down the mountain path. And through the trees, this beast had found its prey.

Crawling forward, a clicking sound echoed from its throat and the darkness behind it responded. A colony of creatures climbed from the cave, each of which responded with a clicking, creaking, and growling noise. None of these sounds mirrored any language currently known. Yet it was clear that these creatures were communicating.

From the darkness pervaded with a red mist sounded the excitement of beasts who were about to start a feast.

Alduin who had long left the museum knew not of the eyes that stared back at him, only his instinct indicated his next step.

The town had erupted in utter chaos, it only took a minute for Alduin to hear people yelling at each other. Many had gathered in the streets, many were rapidly barricading their windows with whatever they could find. And within this chaos, Alduin saw a familiar figure.

“Head to the church!” Edward was yelling in front of him.

‘It seems that they have noticed his seriousness.’ Alduin frowned.

He noticed a different panic setting in as Edward showed a fervent attitude. Even Alduin had never seen him being that serious, so he could imagine the impact this would have on the townspeople as Edward was one of the more respected elders here.

“Gramps, we need to move. We can’t slack anymore!” Alduin yelled at him as he arrived at his position. Some people were already heading towards the church, but more had completely locked themselves in their homes.

“Alduin-” Edward seemed relieved but unsatisfied by the number of people actually heeding his advice. However it couldn’t be helped, any available news station echoed the same thing, find shelter and hide.

Edward, who turned around, as well as the people surrounding him suddenly stopped moving.

“It’s here,” Alduin said. Shivers made the tip of the spear in his hands shake.

They could no longer look into the distant sky. No longer did they see anything descend, now only darkness was creeping in. The light from the silhouettes of the cracking sky was the only thing visible through this haze.

The final vision of the wide sky was filled with a simultaneous escape of every bird that resided in the forest. Hundreds, no, thousands of birds that should be nesting flew up in a panic. The flapping of their wings, which disappeared in the last darkness of the night, marked the beginning of their changed fate.

Now only red mist surrounded the village. In this dome of reddish darkness, it had become eerily still. No breeze, no birds, only the footsteps of their fellow residents could be heard. The red filter and traces of small dust made the surroundings feel like a nightmare, even the few lampposts didn't relieve this sensation.

Some people held their hands out toward the descending dust. There was a difference between seeing something and holding it in your hands. Now, people finally realized their eyes weren’t showing an illusion.

“Listen now!” Edward could no longer waste time. “Lock yourself inside or head for the church!” He yelled with the loudest voice he could muster.

It was only when he took his next step forward and he started running again, that people understood the urgency that he spoke with. However this time, Edward no longer remained behind.

Alduin had also started running as his phone was already dialing someone.

‘Fuck, why doesn’t it work.’ The call connected but only static noise could be heard. Alduin could only have faith in his friends.

‘Leon lives close to the church, by now they should realize what’s happening,’ Alduin thought as he ran next to Edward. Even now, the old man was incredibly energetic.

The town was not that large, after a short run, he could already see his mother and father gathering in front of the church. Veleda, her parents, as well as Leon and the others were waiting there.

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“Alduin! Alduin! Why didn’t you follow us directly?!” His mother panicked as she was on the verge of crying, her face showed fear and uncertainty.

“Did you get a hold of Egan?” Alduin asked but already knew the answer by the look on her face.

“N-no, I- I didn’t,” Lydia stuttered as she was on the verge of breaking down.

“He’ll be fine, he’s smart. Smarter than us, he’ll know what to do,” Alduin spoke with strength as their eyes met. “Now we need to make sure we're safe so that we can see them in the future! So get inside the church mom.” A warm but strong voice almost instantly calmed his mother down. But judging by the chaos in front of the church, others seemed to be in a similar state of panic.

The red sky spoke to everyone’s inner demon, it felt as if death had surrounded their home. A feeling nobody in the civilized age could even begin to fathom. A primordial instinct awoke as any semblance of security and trust in their nation had vanished, only the direct threat to their safety pushed everyone forward.

“ENTER! NOW!” Alduin had become annoyed, his grave voice berated those lingering outside as he came closer to the entrance.

Edward looked at him with shock. However, once again with a signal, everyone looked back. If the flight of the birds was the signal of danger then this was the bone-chilling signal of death.

From the entrance of the village, a clicking, croaking, and growling sound echoed throughout the silent forest. Like a flock of locusts, their sound carried through the almost empty street. Something was coming, and it was coming for them.

This time, however, nobody had stopped to look. Everybody, from child to adult, every single person out in the streets ran as if their life depended on it. Some fell, but the church was not far.

The massive stone structure with a wooden gate stood in the middle of the town square. From each side of the town, people had arrived and were entering. But even at first glance, the amount was terrifyingly little.

‘Maybe not even one-tenth.’ Alduin had counted around two hundred people. ‘Most young people have arrived.’

The church fulfilled its role. This phenomenon pushed something in most people. A sense of the Apocalypse where the church seemed like a safe haven.

“This won’t work, we need to enter in an orderly manner.” Edward touched Alduin’s shoulder and continued, “Veleda, Dahlia, everyone follow me.” The crowd only got larger but the entrance was already crowded.

“Go ahead, I’ll help from this side,” Alduin said. Alduin’s mother wanted to refuse, she seemed quite shocked by Alduin’s behavior.

“I’ll stay with him. We won’t stay out too long,” Leon spoke up.

“Follow quickly,” Lucas, Alduin’s father, could only give a nod of trust. Lydia's current condition didn’t allow him to leave her alone, but even Lucas felt as if his son had become a stranger. The quiet child he knew seemed to have vanished in the face of danger.

“I’m right behind,” Alduin didn’t care too much and pushed them forward. It didn't take long before the crowd began entering the church in an orderly manner now that people started guiding them.

“It's good that you came, did the rest enter inside? What about your family?” Alduin asked.

“I’m glad that you’ve arrived, they didn’t want to leave our home until I shouted at them. I knew you would come.” Leon couldn’t help but hope it was nothing. “I saw Frieda and the others enter before we even arrived so they’re inside as well.”

“Good.” Alduin touched Leon’s shoulder and pushed something in his hands. It was something he carried here from the museum, a round object as well as something long tied with a cloth.

“A- Are you crazy? Where did you get that? Don’t tell me?” Leon was shocked. What appeared before him was a metallic replica sword based on the middle ages. The shine and polish showed how well it was maintained, even the edge of the sword had to be held with the cloth covering its sharpness.

Alduin stood at the back of the line. A shield passed over to Leon as well while he held the second one in front of him as well. He laughed mockingly at himself as he answered, “Hopefully I really am just crazy.”

Alduin looked back, by now the last people arrived in a hurry. However the tension kept rising, the sound they had heard told them something was coming. As he looked at the entrance he saw Edward giving orderly instructions due to the sudden influx of people. Even so, with 300 people inside, the church still had capacity.

Before he knew it, almost nobody remained outside. Leon, Alduin, and Edward. As well as two older men, one was Alphons, a lumberjack and the other was his son, Theo.

Alphons was around the same age as Edward so they were quite a lot older than them. But what stood out was something else, they had both brought a rifle with them. Much like Edward, they hunted in the mountains for wildlife control and food. As two seniors, they knew each other quite well, but from the grave looks on their faces, even they seemed rather apprehensive.

“The woods are changing” Alduin heard Alphons talking towards Edward. They also lived across the river.

“Gramps” Alduin approached with a spear in his hand.

Edward looked over holding the rifle. “Alduin, it’s time to go inside.” Edward said, “Keep that close to you, and stay near the entrance.”

He looked at the spear with a sigh, he knew what Alduin had rushed to get. Looking at Leon, Edward spoke with a sigh, “And you, try not to scare anyone with that."

“Yes, I will!” Leon immediately replied.

Edward and Alphons, who had almost closed the massive wooden doors, suddenly stopped to look at what was going on. The voices of all the people fell silent, from the crying children to the murmuring elderly. Everybody stared in shock in the distance.

A large commotion erupted. The clicking sound that had disappeared now sounded out in full. But now a gruesome collection of hyena-like laughter could be heard as well.

Suddenly screams rang out from the houses in town, louder than those a human should be capable of making.

Inside the church, the drop of a needle could be heard. But the final door was kept open halfway. This was only to satiate a morbid curiosity, a human curiosity that didn’t seem to grasp what was going on.

How could it? One scream changed everything. One sound turned everything into chaos. And this sound marked the beginning of a new era.