Return
Druwood is a quite town in Northern California and although nothing seams to ever happen in this town, it has it’s own stories too - one in particular.
The wind whispered in the woods of Druwood, rustling the dry leaves on the ground and flitting through the heavy white fog obscuring the view of what lays beyond creating a creepy scene at night.
There were centuries old tales around town, about predatory creatures roaming around in the fog. Creatures with pointy ears and transparent wings. Of course these creatures are now believed to be work of fictions told by mothers to scare their disobedient children, no one ever dare to go near the fog for fear of what lies within. At least not those who have the slightest common sense.
In the end, many believed there were some truth in any fork tail.
A few deaths have occurred in those woods in the past. Those who thought they could prove the town’s people superstition wrong went in and were found dead the next day - or a few days after.
The report have always been the same. It had been an animal attack of some sort - a bear the police would guess - but no one knew what kind of animal for sure. Over the years, people began to forget the tales yet fewer people went into the fog in the woods.
For this reason, no one knew what had transpired in the woods that night.
Everything was silent after midnight except for the sound of the wind and dry leaves on the ground.
The perfect silence in the woods was suddenly disrupted by an ear deafening roar. A flock of birds took off in fright and animals run and hid.
A man dressed in a black cloak leapt out of the fog, clutching a small bundle in a white blanket of what seams to be a baby.
“Give me that child!” a monstrous creature rumbled. Shadows writhed as it crashed through the fog, suddenly slamming onto an invisible barrier unable to get out.
Save at the other side, the man made a gesture with his hand. A small basket appeared at his feet where he carefully placed the baby. He took a silver chain from his pocket, clasped it around the baby’s neck and gently placed a note onto the blanket.
There was a snuffling and the man looked up. A small puppy’s head was sticking out from behind a tree. The pup approach the man slowly and cautiously, fur white as snow from a mountain top and eyes blue as sky.
The man took out a golden collar from the folds of his cloak and put it around the pup’s neck, tying the other end to the basket.
“Go. Make sure my son reaches safety” the man said, voice thick with several emotion. “Make sure he never returns”
As if it had understood the man’s words, the dog barked once and began running in the other direction, away from the fog, the basket trailing behind him. Their small figure went further and further away and once they were out of sight completely, the man turned back to the fog, to the creature inside it.
Jumping back into the fog, he grabbed the still-howling monster and with great strength, threw it deeper into the woods, away from the outside world.
Years Later
The airport was as busy as ever as planes landed and took off every now and then. The sound of rolling wheels and shoes on the concrete ground could be heard as people went about their business.
It was getting to the end of the year again, September to be exact and the wind was becoming cold again. This year, it was expected to snow steadily till December. Then again, the whether forecast could never be fully trusted here in California.
Yet another plane slowly came to a stop and those on it soon began to descend. Close by, a boy sat on a bench looking around. His leg were constantly moving and he drummed his finger against his lap.
In his simple clothing consisting of a blue t-shirt, jean and black boots, he looked very ordinary yet eye catching at the same time.
“What time is the plane supposed to land again?” He asked after a few minutes, his voice filled with slight irritation.
Next to him, a man in black suite stood. He briefly glances at the silver watch on his wrist before returning to his original position
“In a few minutes, sir” he responded in a monotone voice
The young boy groaned. He pushed his hand through the mess of brown strains sitting on his head. When he felt how scattered he had made his hair, he groaned again and proceed to smoother it. His thick hair looked bouncy and slick.
“He should have just taken the jet” He said in clear dissatisfaction “Making me wait here like this...”
However, the next moment, his cardboard colored eyes lit up like stars as another plane slowly descended. He recognized this one, it was the same one in the picture he had received on his phone a few hours ago.
The plane landed and a few minutes later, the door opened and to his delight, the one had had been waiting for stepped out of it.
Alex finally stepped out of the plane and the door slowly closed behind him. He looked around. The airport was as crowded as he remembered and the air wasn’t nearly as warm as it was in Paris.
He was about to take a step forward when a figure literally flew into him, familiar hands wrapped around his form as the only voice he could ever really tolerate drifted into his ears, laughing.
Alex rolled his eyes and began to peal the person off him
“Get off me, Lucian. God knows where your body have been” he said humorlessly
Lucian let go of him yet his smile never flattered a bit.
“Nice to see you too, Alex” he said, his eyes examining his face “You haven’t changed I see”
Alex raised an eyebrow. Of course he hadn’t. He still was completely the same although his hair, white as snow, had grown longer in the past few months. He had cut the front short so they fell on either sides of his face though and had trimmed the end too.
A small smile leaked onto his straight face and he place his hand on his friend’s head and ruffled it lightly
“Neither have you” he said grinning in satisfaction when Lucian complained about his action.
“Sir Argent” The bodyguard greeted from behind Daniel “Your bag”
“I told you to come alone if you must” Alex said taking off the black bag he had behind his back and tossed it at the guard
Lucian gave him an apologizing look
“Melissa insisted he came along”
“Of course she did” Alex said “Well, let’s go”
Lucian nodded, quickly linking his hand with Alex’s and they began followed the guard to the car.
Lucian bumped his shoulder lightly on the slightly taller boy’s arm and gave a light smile when Alex looked at him. He asked:
“So tell me, were there any hot girls?”
“I wouldn’t know since I wasn’t checking” Alex replied with his usual straight face and monotone voice.
“Really? You went to Paris for eight months and not one person caught your interest?”
“Would you be happy if I say someone did?”
For the rest of the drive home, Alex had to bear through his friend’s blabbering. He wasn’t complaining though. This is one voice he won’t get tired of hearing.
The light from the full moon shone down on Druwood illuminating the streets of the town.
A huge building stood majestically at the end of the street, at the edge of the woods. In both looks and size, it easily put all the other buildings in the town to shame.
Making little to no noise, a sleek black sports car slowly drove towards the gate and stopped in front of it. The driver stepped out and walked to the gate holding a gate pass the size of an ID card.
The card was scanned and the gate slowly opened automatically. The man returned to the car and drove into the compound.
Alex stepped out of the car when it came to a stop and took in his surrounding. The mansion hasn’t changed since he left. The fancy water fountain was still running, the flowers were still beautiful and the ground was still spotless. The mansion was three story high painted white and black.
Lucian soon joined him and together they went in.
The house was quite. Alex knew his mom wasn’t home. She had a busy job as a nurse and today she was on the morning shift. It won’t be until night before she returned home.
After sending the guard off, Alex opened the white door to his room and entered.
The room was still as he left it. To the left was the reading area with a desk against the wall with a small library of books on it. There was a book shelf by the left and trash bin to the right.
Close to that was the king size white bed with silver-gray pillows and buffet. There was a wooden box as long as the bed at the foot of the bed. Opposite the bed was the TV.
The sitting area was at the right side of the room, on a slight raised platform. Three couches and a love seat was arranged around a round coffee table. This setting was close to the balcony door. There was also the door leading to the walk-in closet.
Lucian immediately walked to the bed and planted himself face down on it. He sighed contentedly and rolled on it
“Ah, I’ve missed this bed”
Alex dropped the bag next on the wooden box
“Like you don’t sneak in here every other night while I was gone” he said with a raised eyebrow
Lucian gasped dramatically and turned so he lean on his elbow
“Of course I don’t” he said and sat up “I’d never invade your privacy like that”
Alex only hummed in reply and walked to the dressing table next to the bed. He looked in the mirror and carefully took off his contacts. Blinking, he looked in the mirror again and instead of the bright blue color the world knew, a set of mismatched eyes were looking back at him.
Alex eyes was one of his unusual features. His right eyes was a burning red like flames and the left a cold dead silver. They were so unnatural they scared people and he had hid to his them since he was a child. Lucian was one of the only people who didn’t freak when he saw them for the first time.
“You know, you haven’t told me how your trip want yet” Lucian’s voice rang out in the room, careful and calculated.
Alex spared him a glance as he continued to take off his jewelry
“Uneventful. A few meetings and outings” he replied
Lucian looked at him with an incredulous look on his face
“So no parties?”
Alex shrugged off his jacket
“Like I said, uneventful”
“But...”
“Lucian”
Lucian sighed and got up
“Are you hungry? I can go warm up the food”
Alex nodded at him and when the boy finally left, he sat down on the bed and proceed to to take off his boots.
Alex walked to the sitting area and entered the walk-in closet. He changed into a comfortable pair of trousers and shirt before he upbraided his hair. The white strains of hair poured down below his knee.
After changing, Alex returned to the room and took out a package from his bag before leaving the room. Down the flight of stairs to the first floor, Alex walked through the living room to the dinning room where Lucian was placing a plate of spaghetti on the table
“That looks good” he said eyeing the food. He had been away for eight months and damn if he didn’t miss his mom’s cooking.
“Anything Melissa makes looks and taste good” Lucian said his usual goofy grin back in place. He looked at the package Alex was holding “What’s that?”
“For you” Alex replied and gave him the box before sitting down. “Figured I’d buy something to keep you busy else you won’t let me rest”
Lucian gave him a mocking laugh and sat down, taking apart the wrapping on the box. In seconds he had the box opened and he gasped at the comic books inside
“You actually got them” he said and flipped open the first page “And they’re even autographed!”
“Mmm” Alex hummed “Stressful. That guy made me have dinner with him thrice before he sighed them. He was constantly trying to get touchy with me”
Alex was about to tell Lucian never to ask him to get anyone’s autograph again but seeing the happy grin on his friend’s face, he decided not to.
“Thank you”
Yep, worth it.
The rest of the day was spent comfortably in Alex’s room as Lucian recounted the event that had occurred when Alex was away. It evening when the front door opened and they went downstairs again.
“Alex” A woman with wavy black hair and blue eyes called smiling brightly. She was dressed in a smart white nurse uniform.
“Mother” Alex said walking down the stairs. He soon got pulled into a hug. A smile formed on his face as he relaxed into the familiar warmth of his mother’s embrace.
“Did you grow taller? I could have sworn I didn’t have to stand on my toe to hug you a few months ago” Melissa said with a smile as let him go
“I’ve missed you too” Alex said as his mother examine him “Uncle Thomas said to say hi for him”
“Of course he did” Melissa said then frowned “They weren’t too hard on you right?”
Alex shock his head and glance at Lucian who stood by the said
“No, they weren’t” he replied
Melissa followed his eyes and a startled look crossed her face when she saw Lucian
“Lucian, you’re here” she said
“Yep” Lucian said “I figured I’d stay till you returned”
“You’re not staying the night?” Alex asked
“No. I promised dad I’ll be home for dinner and you know how he gets when I don’t keep my promises” Lucian replied “See you tomorrow”
Alex nodded and with that, Lucian walked out of the door. Once the door was shut, Melissa walked into the living room
“Tell me everything. Those old men didn’t stress you too much did they?” Melissa asked “I swear to go if father though he could repeat last year and get away with it again, I’m going to rip his hair out of his head!”
Alex chuckled and pulled his overly protective mother into another hug. For the second time in more than half a year, his straight face showed warm emotions and his heart felt alive.
“I’m fine mother. I’m fine” he said meaning each word.
