Chapter Five: The Boy in the Wood
948 Words
The police arrived before second period ended.
Uniforms in the hallway.
Low voices.
Teachers whispering behind closed doors.
No one was allowed to leave campus.
Lena sat frozen in her seat while two officers stepped into her classroom.
Her stomach dropped instantly.
This is about them.
They called names one by one.
When they called hers, her fingers went numb.
She followed them into the counselor’s office.
The questions were simple.
“Did you interact with Maya, Kelsey, or Bri yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“How would you describe that interaction?”
“They teased me.”
“Did anyone else approach you?”
Her throat tightened.
Yes.
No.
Maybe.
“There was a… guy,” she said slowly. “Outside the building. I thought I saw someone.”
“Did you recognize him?”
She hesitated.
“I’m not sure,” she said honestly.
Because that was the truth.
She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
The officers exchanged a look.
“Thank you,” one of them said gently. “You can return to class.”
That was it.
No accusations.
No suspicion.
But her pulse didn’t settle.
Because animal attack.
That word wouldn’t leave her mind.
After school, instead of going home, she walked.
Not toward town.
Toward the forest.
She told herself she just needed proof.
Proof that it had all been stress.
Proof that there was nothing waiting for her in the trees.
The snow had thinned since Christmas Eve.
Branches were exposed now.
Bare.
Silent.
She stepped between the trees carefully.
“Hello?” she called softly.
Nothing answered.
No silver eyes.
No tall stranger.
Just wind brushing through branches.
Her heart slowly began to steady.
See? she told herself. There’s nothing here.
You imagined everything.
She walked deeper.
And deeper.
Too focused on proving herself right to notice the path disappearing behind her.
By the time she turned around—
The forest looked unfamiliar.
Her stomach dropped.
Which way had she come from?
Every direction looked the same.
Trees.
Snow.
Shadows stretching longer as the sun dipped lower.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay, don’t panic.”
She picked a direction.
Walked.
Nothing changed.
The light dimmed faster than she expected.
The forest grew colder.
Quieter.
And that silence felt heavy.
She tried her phone.
No signal.
Of course.
Her breathing became uneven.
This is how horror movies start.
She almost laughed.
Almost.
After nearly an hour of wandering, exhaustion sank into her bones.
Her legs ached.
Her thoughts felt fuzzy.
The sky had shifted from gray to deep blue.
Night was coming.
She found a large tree and slid down against it, hugging her knees to her chest.
Just rest.
Just for a minute.
You’ll think clearer after.
Her eyelids felt heavier than they should have.
That was strange.
She wasn’t that tired.
The air around her felt… warmer.
Protected.
Safe.
Her breathing slowed.
The forest, which had felt suffocating moments ago, now felt distant.
Muted.
Like something stood between her and it.
The last thing she remembered was thinking:
This doesn’t feel dangerous.
And then—
Darkness.
She woke up to sunlight.
Soft.
Familiar.
Her bedroom ceiling stared back at her.
She blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Her body jolted upright.
She was in her bed.
Under her blanket.
Still wearing her jacket.
Her boots were gone.
Her bag sat neatly beside her desk.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
No.
No no no.
She had been in the forest.
She remembered the tree.
The cold.
The fading light.
She scrambled out of bed and checked the clock.
Morning.
How?
Her door creaked open.
“Finally awake,” her mom said cheerfully from the hallway. “You must’ve been exhausted.”
Lena stared at her.
“…How did I get home?”
Her mom looked confused.
“You don’t remember?”
Her pulse spiked.
“Remember what?”
“That nice boy from your class brought you home last night,” her mom said warmly. “You fell asleep in his car, poor thing. He carried you to the door.”
The room tilted slightly.
“A boy?” Lena whispered.
“Yes! Very polite. Very gentle. Oh, and handsome,” her mom added with a small smile. “Tall, dark hair. Beautiful eyes. Very respectful.”
Lena’s blood ran cold.
“He said you got turned around walking and he found you near the road.”
Near the road.
Not lost deep in the forest.
Not under a tree at dusk.
Near the road.
Her throat felt dry.
“Did he say his name?” Lena asked carefully.
Her mom smiled.
“Yes. Kael.”
The name landed like a stone in her chest.
“He was very concerned about you,” her mom continued. “Kept asking if you’d been sleeping well. Such a sweet boy.”
Sweet.
Concerned.
Gentle.
Lena’s hands trembled slightly at her sides.
Because she didn’t remember any car.
She didn’t remember any road.
She remembered falling asleep in the woods.
And now she was home.
In her bed.
Alive.
Her wrist tingled faintly.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
She swallowed hard.
If he was real—
Then the wolf was real.
And if the wolf was real—
Then the girls hadn’t died by accident.
Her chest tightened.
But beneath the fear—
There was something else.
A terrifying realization.
She hadn’t felt afraid falling asleep in the forest.
She had felt… safe.
And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Now the story has shifted again.
She knows:
He’s real.
He found her.
He brought her home.
He has access to her life.
Her mother trusts him.
The paranoia just became personal.
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