Chapter 4 — the boy in the forest
946 Words
When Linda woke up the next morning, her head was heavy, like something from last night was still clinging to her thoughts.
Flashes came back slowly… the forest… the glowing eyes… Karl.
She sat up quickly, breathing hard.
“No… it was just a nightmare,” she whispered to herself.
But then another memory hit her.
No, it’s not a nightmare, Karl’s voice echoed in her mind.
Her body went cold.
She turned sharply as if someone was in the room.
“What the hell… how did you get in here?” she said, her voice shaking.
Karl stood near her window like he had always been there.
“You shouldn’t be in the forest,” he said calmly.
“Stay away from it. It’s dangerous.”
Before she could respond, he was gone.
Just like that.
Linda sat frozen on her bed.
Her heart wouldn’t slow down.
She kept seeing it — the mark on his neck, the way his eyes had glowed in the dark.
“That’s not normal,” she whispered. “That’s not human.”
At school, she tried to act normal, but her hands kept trembling.
“Linda?” Kiara’s voice cut through her thoughts.
“You look nervous. What’s wrong with you?”
“Leave me alone,” Linda snapped, trying to walk past her.
Kiara smirked. “Hold her.”
Before Linda could react, Lily and Stella grabbed her arms.
“Let go of me!” she struggled. “Kiara, what do you want from me?”
Kiara stepped closer, smiling coldly.
“I want you to kneel… and lick my feet.”
Linda stared at her like she was insane. “I’m not doing that.”
Kiara leaned in slightly. “Or you can kiss your scholarship goodbye.”
Before anything else could happen, a voice cut through the hallway.
“Let her go.”
Everyone turned.
Karl was standing there.
The entire hallway went silent.
Some students froze, others looked like they couldn’t believe he was real.
Even the teachers straightened immediately.
“Mr. Lancaster,” one of them said nervously, “he’s one of the school’s board members… and a major donor.”
Karl walked straight past everyone and pulled Linda up gently.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded slowly. “Yeah…”
Then Kiara stepped forward, her eyes full of disbelief.
“Karl… you’re here for me. We’re engaged.”
Karl didn’t even look at her properly.
“That arrangement means nothing.”
Her face twisted. “You can’t do this to me.”
“I just did,” he said flatly.
Then he turned back to Linda. “Come with me.”
And he walked out with her, leaving the entire hallway in shock.
Outside, Kiara’s voice broke into anger.
“That girl… I’ll make her regret ever existing.”
From that day, things only got worse.
Whispers spread through school about something dangerous near the forest.
A “creature.”
Something big. Not a dog… something else.
Susan noticed Linda changing.
She wasn’t the same anymore.
“Where were you?” Susan asked one afternoon. “I was worried.”
“I just went out,” Linda replied quickly.
“You can’t keep disappearing like that,” Susan said softly. “Something is going on with you.”
But Linda didn’t answer.
Because she didn’t even understand it herself.
Frank started watching her more closely.
Too closely.
One day, he followed her after school.
“Linda, wait,” he said.
She turned sharply. “Why are you following me?”
“I think you saw something in the forest,” he said quietly.
Her chest tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But the way he looked at her… like he already knew the truth… made her uncomfortable.
When he tried to grab her arm, she reacted instantly.
She kicked him hard and ran.
She didn’t stop until she reached the edge of the forest.
And that’s when she saw it.
Scratches on the trees.
Dark marks.
Something that looked like blood on the ground.
Her breathing became uneven.
“What is this place…?” she whispered.
Something was watching her.
Not chasing her.
Just following.
Guiding her.
And that scared her more than anything.
She ran home without looking back.
For three days, she didn’t leave her house.
Didn’t go to school.
Didn’t answer calls.
Until the third night.
She saw it again.
A shadow outside her window.
And glowing eyes.
Her breath caught.
“You…” she whispered.
She moved closer, but it vanished before she could see clearly.
The next day, she finally went back to school.
Susan rushed to her immediately.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” she said. “And stay away from that forest. It’s not safe.”
Linda nodded… but deep down, she knew she wouldn’t stop.
Because something about the forest was pulling her back.
Like it was calling her.
That night, she heard the sound again.
She went outside.
And in the darkness… she saw those glowing eyes disappear into the trees.
“I know you’re there!” she shouted. “Show yourself!”
But there was only silence.
The next morning, Frank warned her again.
“There’s something in that forest,” he said quietly. “Something not human.”
But when she tried to ask more, he walked away.
Leaving her with more questions than answers.
And as Linda stood alone that evening, staring toward the forest from her window, one thought kept repeating in her mind:
What am I really connected to… and why does it feel like it’s waiting for me?
- Writer
