~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

Closing the locker, Alyse threw her bag over her shoulder. It was already November, time had flown my so fast, and winter was just around the corner.

Winters here were very cold, so the winds were already around, forcing everyone to wear jackets and sweaters. Not that she minded, it was a refreshing breeze.

"You ready to go?" She turned to see Mabel and Snow walking over. They had been planning to have a sleep over at her place.

She smiled. "Yep!"

The boys weren't allowed, mostly because Mabel would always talk about Leo, and nag Snow and Alyse about the others.

It didn't take long to reach the border between the city streets and the forest. They still had to follow Alyse, the way home was one difficult to memorize. Everywhere you looked was the same.

Along the way, Mabel was chatting up a storm as usual, talking about whatever was on her mind. "-and then they had to move her to another classroom!"

"I really wish I had English period with you, something always happens." Alyse replied.

"It's very weird, but it gives me a story to tell!" She laughed, then turned to Snow. "What about you, how did your day go?"

She tensed up a bit, she had been getting better at social interactions recently, especially since both Alyse and Mabel were social people, but she still got a little nervous.

"O-oh, well.. I had a quiz today.."

"What class?"

"Biology.."

"Dipper's in your Biology Class, right?"

Snowflake nodded, but soon regretted it as a smirk grew across her friend's face. "How are things between you guys anyways~?"

"W-we've become good friends.."

"Just friends~?"

"Of course, what else could we be..?"

Mabel teasingly poked her shoulder with a smirk. "Oh I dunno, maybe you could try to get your first boyfriend~!"

Show's cheeks grew pink, which was easily noticeable because of her very pale features. "W-What..?! No..!"

"Oh c'mon, I'm pretty sure he likes you! I know my brother, and it's easy for me to tell when he has a crush."

"I-I highly doubt it's me.."

"It's obviously you! I mean, not as obvious as the chemistry between Alyse and Varian but hey, still noticeable! Right, Alyse?!"

They both looked around, seeing that she was nowhere in sight. Snow immediately grew nervous, though Mabel was just confused. "Where'd she go?"

"A-Alyse..?!"

"Hey, we can't find your house on our own yet!! Without you, we're basically lost here!!"

Mabel crossed her arms, huffing in annoyance as she looked around, when a pink glow catches her eye. With a motion of her hand, she gestured for Snow to follow. "C'mon, this way!"

"But-!" She bit her lip as Mabel already ran towards the light, being forced to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She didn't mean to walk away from the group, but the urge of curiosity was too strong.

It was more of a feeling, something that dragged Alyse to walk in a different direction, as if she was being pulled over with a string.

Deep in the woods, she found a large dark oak tree. It wasn't something knew; as a child, she's always explore new places around the forest with her siblings, so she had found this tree dozens of times before.

That wasn't what surprised her.

From the bottom to the center, a layer of black muck covered the poor tree. It made her feel bad, a danger to nature.

A small grunt like sound caused her to turn to the side. The deer from that first day stood by some other trees, their eyes meeting hers. Alyse tilted her head in curiosity, and to her surprise, the deer did the same, causing her to giggle.

"Hello there..!"

The little deer walked over with caution until it stood in between her and the tree. They stared at her expectingly, to which Alyse stared back in question.

Wanting to be friendly, she reached for the little deer, who leaned their head down a bit, letting her pet their head.

She smiled, this was the cutest thing ever!

However, the moment of peace was forced to a stop when a cold chill coursed through her body. She shivered, pulling her hand away from the deer, when her eyes widened at a sight.

A gasp escaped her lips as her hand was covered in that same muck from the tree, slowly crawling up her arm as fear raised inside her. The deer let out a grunt of fear, running away until they were out of view.

It wasn't just her hand.

The entire forest was now covered in the muck; cold, dark, ... dead.

There was no green, no flowers, no animals, it was empty.

She felt empty.

Tightly gripping her wrist, her breathing slowly became more and more uneven. What was happening?!

"Alyse!!"

She turned to the mention of her name, seeing her friends running over in the normal green filled forest. "H-Huh..?!"

Alyse looked around, her eyes still wide from what she had seen. It was all normal again, her hand was normal, and the deer was nowhere in sight.

Mabel stood in front of her, catching her breath. "You can't just leave us in the middle of the woods like that!!"

"W-Wh- th-the forest, the d-deer, it was a-all-!" She mumbled under her breath, Snow and Mabel exchanging a glance.

Snowflake walked to stand beside Mabel. "Alyse, are you okay..?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost! Which is actually a possibility here."

Finally, Alyse looked up at them, trying to calm herself down as she forced on a smile. "Y-yeah, I- I just freaked myself out, I'm sorry for leaving you guys."

"It's fine, just don't do it again please."

"Heh, I promise."

"Good, because we have a sleepover to start!"

Once more, Alyse looked back at the now normal dark oak, the feeling of numbness in her hand returning for only a second.

What just happened..?

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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