Unless pills grew in the woods, this was by far the most idiotic thing he has done in his life.

The clouds overhead had completely consumed the sun, morphing the forest into a nightmare. Clay would have believed it to be midnight had he not been constantly checking his phone. All he saw were trees. The giants wrapped around each other and tried to grab onto him with their branches.

"Come on, Clay why are you doing this to yourself," he had hoped that talking would make the atmosphere seem less sinister "there is nothing here. You're wasting your time."

Then again, why did he bring himself here? Why did he repeatedly call his brother's phone on the way? H should have gone home straight from school.

The boy had hoped everything remained in that dream, but you couldn't have experienced one as vivid as that one and turn away. There was no evidence to say something happened, neither did he have the proof to say Jacob was safe at work.

Clay tried to call Jacob one more time. Overlooking the three missed calls from Grace, he placed the phone to my ear once it rang.

Ring, ring, ring.

A sudden rustle from the bushes behind caused him to clutch the phone tightly and increase his speed. Flashes from the arrow incident came back into memory, causing dryness in his throat.

There's nothing there.

Unfortunately, the rustling continued, getting louder and louder. It seemed to follow him, jumping from one bush to the other, up into the trees and back down. They came gently at first, like someone shifted slightly within the leaves. They soon became more aggressive, shaking the branches to the point where leaves would fall to the ground. The darkness made it so that he couldn't make out much, only black shapes. For all he knew, another archer waited to shoot him like in the dream. The feeling of not knowing your surroundings was enough to leave anyone pale. His legs took much faster, longer strides.

"Nothingisthere, nothingisthere," he chanted, sprinting deeper into the shadows.

Flashing back, to see if anyone trailed behind, the mud seemed to get runny, entering his shoes with every splash. Darts shot out of the bushes at top speeds aimed at his head. There seemed to be hundreds all heading for him. He was going to die for sure!!

He shut his eyes mentally preparing the upcoming pain but instead came the flapping of wings. Twenty, if not thirty birds that managed to fly right above him. They blended into the dim forest perfectly with their black feathers. In the fray, his leg lost its footing, slipping in the mud and propelling him to the floor.

The ground was anything but inviting, gagging when some mud found its way into his mouth. Everything here left him terrified. Why did he do this to himself?? It's like running through a haunted house. Yet, the birds flew away, and he suspected that the shadows were staring at him. Not like the students did at school. This was something that wanted to see his head cut clean off his body.

From his placement on the ground, he could make out a stump a few meters down. To the right of that one was another, and behind that. There was a clearing just beyond where Clay was, a familiar clearing. It was not the same place he passed through in his dream, which meant he was lost even before the birds attacked, but there it was.

In this scenario, finding the place you were looking for did not bring any joy. He had never been here before, so how could he have dreamed about this? The forest was a mystery spanning an enormous amount of land with trees that have been here longer than anyone in town. What unlucky circumstance would have him stumble upon this exact clearing? He had hoped he would just wander around and realise this place didn't exist or walk enough that Jacob would call. Now he was here. Great.

Spending a little more time passing every stump there was a forced doubt. He had to doubt this entire thing and write it off as a dream. What other reason was there? Even though every bone in his body knew that was no dream. Even though his brain knew his brother was lying somewhere badly hurt, he would not accept it. There was a reason the boy didn't call the police. They would waste their time. There was nothing here.

It was that or the thought of those horrible things happening to his brother. The thought of him being unnatural.

Never the less, all that doubt eradicated when he couldn't think of an excuse for the shadowy figure lying against a stump. He dashed before anything could process. The thing that hit first was the smell. A stench like that of a slaughterhouse. There was blood everywhere, pooling under his body and staining every inch of his clothes. They treated his brother like meat.

That wasn't Jonah. Black veins travelled from his infected shoulder up to his neck and under his bloody bloodshot eyes. It looked like there were roots crawling underneath his skin. On the body shredded remnants of his clothes, the arrow was still sticking out from where there were stab wounds and tiny bite marks trailed his torso. Most likely rats that found Jonah before he did. Clay kept jumping from one detail to another, trying hard to not take in the entire thing.

"J-J-Jonah," he carefully took a step forward.

"W-w-wake up," Standing right above his brother, there was nothing he couldn't miss. Even lying there motionless Jonah looked exhausted "Please wake up and t-tell me I'm dreaming."

"I have to be dreaming. This isn't real. IT CAN'T BE REAL!! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!" He dropped to his knees grabbing old of the other boy's collar, hanging on for dear life.

"PLEASE WAKE UP!!!" Clay wailed forcibly shaking his body hoping it might wake him up. It had to wake him up. He wasn't going home without his brother.

"You can't fool me, Jonah, I'm smarter than that. You can't leave me here all alone. It's scary here. You can't let me walk home alone. I don't want to go home alone," he muttered when all the strength he had abandoned him. Just like Jonah was doing.

Clay's head met with the damp, blood-soaked shirt of his brother. Thoughts could no longer form in his head. He couldn't utter a single word. He couldn't breathe. All he did was sob in dead silence.

It took ten minutes for any feeling to return to his limbs and another fifteen for him to close Jonah's eyes.

They left him there to die. Whether it was from blood loss, the infection, or Jonah finally giving up. No, his brother wouldn't give up. He would fight to the end. He should have just called for help.

"You should have just called someone!" Words finally made their way back to him as he pounded at his brother's chest in frustration. "You were alone and scared! I should have been there with you!"

"Don't worry, I'll get help." Clay reached into his pocket but was shocked when there was nothing but air inside. Thinking back to the fall from earlier, there was no doubt the phone had fallen out. It seemed to be even darker now, and all the stumps looked the same. There was no way of telling which direction he fell. Besides, he was unsure whether he could walk being this disoriented.

Using Plan B, he held his breath, trying to search through the pockets on his brother. His murderer had taken his belongings. No problem, he would try to regain enough strength to get up and search for his phone.

His thoughts were met with the snapping of a twig. Playing it off as another animal, Clay tried his best to ignore until he heard another. Like the birds, it came from a slightly closer distance, sounding louder and clearer. It was a black forest, there were sure to be animals heavy enough to break a measly twig walking around. Probably a deer or something that didn't eat humans. If there were wolves or something here, there wouldn't be a body for him to find. He was safe.

SNAP! Yet another one that got closer to him. It was just a stick breaking in the forest. Nothing to worry about, he hoped.

Just then the words of the man came back in his head, "You're the wrong brother. Where's the other one?". They wanted HIM.

The intensity of the situation came weighing down on him. It felt like an ominous presence had grabbed hold of his neck. Something was watching, moving closer to the two without care that Clay can hear it. What can he do? Nothing. He can't even help his brother right now? He can't defend himself.

He had never felt this way before. It felt like the entire forest could hear his heart about to explode. It felt like there was a gold ball in his throat; it is too dry to swallow. Everything was spinning. He would die like his brother, wasn't he?

A fourth snap sent him sprinting in the opposite direction, swerving from left to right to avoid any arrows. The man was here to kill him, just like his brother. He needed to get home to call the police. They could help, right? He couldn't do anything by himself but get himself killed. This was the only option.

...

Presumably, he looked crazy to everyone he ran past. Getting out of the forest was all a blur to him, jumping over rocks and forcing every branch to get out of his way. He had no clue he could run so fast, opening the door and slamming it right behind him.

Safe.

That's what he was now.

Though a silence made its way around him. There was no one else here. Unlike yesterday, Jonah wasn't here inside. His brother was outside there. Dead. Cold. Alone. Dead. While he was too scared to look for his phone. How could he be such a coward.!

Rushing into the living room, the phone stood on the table near the television.

"Hello," finally a voice answered from the other end confused "Clay? Where are you?! I've been trying to reach you for the entire afternoon! You shouldn't have just run out after having a seizure, you could have hurt yourself!"

It was clear from her tone she had been worrying sick about the boy, but he couldn't see how worrying about his condition would help the situation. He tried his best to swallow the golf ball in his throat but was making no progress.

"Clay?" she questioned, "Are you still there? Hello?"

"Jonah's dead," his voice managed a pathetic whimper.

"What did you say? I can't hear you."

"ISAIDJONAHISDEAD!!" he blasted, refusing to say those words out loud again. His heartfelt like someone took a jackhammer to it, the silence mocking him.

"What do you mean Jonah's dead?"

"I h-had this dream or something t-that I w-w-was in h-his body and I watched him get killed," he tried to explain between sobs.

"Well, that's a dream Clay," she managed "Jonah isn't dead."

"I WENT TO THE FOREST AND SAW HIS BODY!! DON'T TELL ME, MY BROTHER, ISN'T DEAD." He was frantically walking around the couch in circles trying not to throw the phone. She didn't think he was dead. What did she know? She didn't see what he did.

"Clay you aren't making any sense, you need to calm down. Relax. Did you take your pills today?"

"You think I'm crazy to don't you?"

"You had a seizure! Something is wrong, and I am trying to help you. Do you want me to come ov-"

Before she could finish Clay had hung up and was already dialling a second number. The number he should have dialled.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

This chapter was extremely intense. I am at a lost for words.

Jonah is gone guys ;-; . Clay is all alone.

Remember to leave a vote and comment if you liked this chapter.

I'll see you all next week!! <3