Monday, September 26th, 2016

Sometimes Sid wished he wasn't as curious as he was. It had led them to enter forbidden grounds, or more specifically, a forest that had been forbidden grounds because of all that had happened in history. And even once Sid and his friends had been confronted with their own stupidity, they went even further, and asked Cory for more information.

One could say it was better to know what they were dealing with. But Cory lacked crucial information since he had been locked away for two years, and further refused to elaborate on what had happened to him. They only knew why he had been in the forest all by himself as a fourteen-year-old, not what he experienced, or how he managed to get out while others hadn't.

All Cory had been able to tell, was that some ghost girl apparently marked them, to haunt them for the rest of their lives. When asked what it was exactly that she did, Cory had been hesitant to tell. But eventually he explained that she would enter their dreams and try to lure them into the woods through sleepwalking for 'a game of hide and seek'.

Sid had tried to laugh it off, telling Cory there wasn't any possibility to just sleepwalk into the forest. But according to Cory, there was. He just didn't want to explain what could make it possible without getting through or over the fence.

"Honey, why don't you go to bed? Your head must be sore still," his mother Olivia said with a small, sad smile decorating her face. She had been sending him sad looks ever since he woke up after getting out of the woods already and Sid wondered why. They were out, they were fine, and to their parents, that should be all there was to it. Punish and move on.

"It's actually fine," Sid muttered, skipping to the next channel in the hopes of finding something light to watch on TV. For some reason though, faith decided to rub things in his face and mainly show him thrillers or horrors, or documentaries about said topics. Eventually he settled on a TV show about cops chasing bad guys, which was right about enough thrill-seeking for him.

"Really?" his mom said, sitting down next to him. She lovingly caressed his face. "Well, you were never quite the complainer when it comes to injuries. Are you sure it's fine?"

"I'm sure, mom," Sid replied with a smile. "No headache, really. It wasn't as bad as it looked."

"Still, I think some rest will do you good. You look exhausted."

"I'm fine, mom," Sid whined, unwilling to go to bed. Cory's stories about the ghost girl were on his mind constantly, and he was afraid to go to bed, fall asleep, and have a nightmare about a ghost that would try to lure him back into the woods. No thank you.

"Okay, well, if you don't want to go to bed yet, can we talk about Saturday?"

"No."

"Your father and I would like to know what exactly happened. You three were... spooked."

Sid rolled his eyes at her choice of words and got up from his seat in annoyance. "On second thought, I am kinda tired and I have school tomorrow. Goodnight mom." He rather faced the possibility that he would get a nightmare, than having to tell his mother what happened. She would think he was crazy, and they would possibly be sent to a ward like Cory.

No, the deal he had with his friends was simple; tell nobody.

Which was why he reluctantly went up to his room, dressed up for bed, cursed himself for not making up some sort of story about tripping over the roots of a tree so that he could stay downstairs a little longer, and eventually got in bed. He was slightly trembling with nerves as he tried to find a comfortable way to lay down. His eyes felt heavy with sleep, which wasn't weird seeing the fact he hardly slept at all in the past two days. Drinking Red Bull to stay awake could only work for so long.

Cory's words kept tumbling around in his head. What was it that he said about falling asleep, and the girl stepping in? He couldn't really remember much more than the fact she would ask him to play hide and seek in the woods. And how she would eventually get angry whenever you turned down her invitation.

Which sounded scary enough as it was already, until Cory just had to add the little fact that she would make her presence noticeable during the day as well, if she didn't get what she wanted.

A creaking sound in the far corner of his room made Sid's heart skip a beat. He sat up, turned on his nightlight, and instantly became scared—he nearly shat himself—when it didn't turn on.

He couldn't see anything; not even the outlines of a person or something else. When he managed to find his phone, he discovered it was empty, and he knew he was about to meet this ghost that Cory spoke about.

"Leave me alone," Sid spoke, voice trembling. "I'm not playing hide and seek with you, so don't even start."

He heard something fall over on his desk, and only slightly, in the corner of his eyes, did he see some sort of figure. But it was only in the corner of his eye, and when he turned to look, it wasn't there.

Was she playing hide and seek already?

As if he was crazy enough to get out of bed to look for a ghost he didn't even want to find, let alone meet. He pulled the cover over his head, turned around and pressed his eyes shut, wanting to fall asleep so this would all be over soon. He only needed to make it to morning, right? Cory had done it for over 2 years, so he could do it for one night.

A few sounds coming from his window almost made him look, but he kept his curiosity at bay, stayed still, and wished for it to go away. Couldn't it go bother someone else instead?

Apparently, it couldn't, because the next thing he knew, he heard more noise coming from his window, and eventually a gust of wind blew away his cover, just in time for him to notice papers flying from his desk. And to notice that his window was still closed, and that fucking gust of wind was enough for him to jump up and out of his bed. It gave him bad memories from the forest, and he wanted to get away from it, now.

He rushed to the bathroom, in much need of some water—and light—to calm himself down. He couldn't alarm his parents. They wouldn't understand why he was as startled as he was.

He leaned on the sink, staring to the running water from the tap, taking in a few deep breaths. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real. It really—

Sid yelped loudly, jumping in his spot, as soon as he looked up at the mirror. There were bright red letters spelling the words 'Come find me?' on the mirror. He covered his mouth to stop himself from screaming, but his initial scare already alarmed his mother.

"Sid, honey, are you okay?"

He took in a few deep breaths, cleaned the mirror as quick as possible, and opened the door to face his mother.

"Actually, I'm having a lot of trouble sleeping," Sid admitted. "Do you still have those meds that help you sleep?"

"I do," she slowly nodded. "Why are you having trouble sleeping? Because of what happened in The Miller Woods? The things you don't want to talk about?"

"Mom, I'm exhausted, but I have weird dreams and I can't sleep. Can I please, please go to sleep?"

His mother took in a deep breath, but eventually nodded. "But we are going to talk about this, whether you like it or not." She headed into the bathroom, completely unaware of the fact a ghost just wrote words on the mirror in front of her. She grabbed a pack of pills, and pulled out a strip, giving Sid one pill, while putting the rest in her pocket.

"Just for tonight," she said, waving a finger. "If this continues, we'll seek help."

Sid nodded in agreement. He really didn't need 'help'. He needed that ghost to fuck off. But luckily, these meds would prevent him from having a dream, and the girl could simply go find herself in the fucking woods.

He went back up to the attic, crawled back in bed with more confidence—and a now working nightlight that he decided to keep on—and pulled the covers back up. With the bottle of water on his nightstand, he took the pill, and waited for the effects to settle in.

It was just about fifteen minutes before they would kick in. That was all the time he had to wait for a simple night full of dreamless sleep. Only fifteen minutes of ignoring the sounds he heard in his room, or to keep his eyes closed even when his nightlight flickered a few times before it shut off again.

Maybe when he ignored everything, it would go away.

But then he felt as if the world shifted, as if he was falling, and he kept falling without ever stopping, and then he woke up in bed, sitting upright in shock, and wonder. What time was it? How long did he sleep?

He only realized he probably only just fell asleep, and he wasn't awake at all, when a cheerful girly voice exclaimed; "Hello! Wanna play hide and seek?"

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