4 Creekhill Wood's Fence

I try to keep up with what was happening, but it was all too fast. The trees seem to be moving as well, running away from what they could've if they had legs. I watch them near but vanish as soon as I passed them. Aiden still clenches onto my hand, but I only begin to realize that when I feel his pulse quickens. His face is pale and marked with fearlessness, but underneath, I could tell he was afraid like me.

Aiden pulls my arm and, we take a devastating turn into a forest full of trees that crown over us like dark clouds hanging on a rainy night. I onlook a sign embedded to the ground: Creekhill Woods. My eyes quickly flash towards Aiden's face. Creekhill Woods? We can't be here--

"Can you fit?" Aiden was already staring at me. We had stopped right in front of the woods, where there was a large fence barbed with wire with dead leaves here and there. "Huh? Fit where?" I look over at the barrier, obliged by what was on the other side. Aiden, obviously angered by my confusion, points down eagerly towards what looked like a small gap in the wall. "There. Can you fit? You probably can. How's your leg?" I stay still awhile. We can't go beyond there. We'll never make it out alive!

My eyes fix themselves onto the fence once more, and then I seize Aiden's arm.

"Why are we going in there? Many people have gone in there and never make it out alive!" Aiden looked at me, this time sneering. He thought this was funny? "Little brother, are you scared?!" He began to tease me. "No! I'm not afraid, I'm..." I look at him. His scar was crooked and whitened. It was fading somehow, but I wasn't ready to drop the topic. "I'm not afraid," I repeat and begin to climb into the opening of the barbed wire. "Aren't you coming?"

Aiden held back. I could see that there was something he wasn't telling me, something he didn't want me to know. But there was no time to ask. We were only a few paces ahead of them, not knowing who them was either. "I can't." He shuffles his feet along with the snow. "You're coming." My fingers begin to melt through the wire's inning and clench hard. "You have to! I'm not dying alone." I give a brief smile, but it only alters when I hear the people.

"Their coming! Aiden, answer me! Why aren't you speaking?!" I try to understand the concept, but everything is just motionless. Aiden finally looks up at me. I could see that from his eyes that he didn't want to do this either. "Mark, you have to run as far as you can. I know that your leg might not agree, but you must go on." He sighs. "W-what about you?" I tried to reach for his hand, but the barb scrapped my skin off.

He pulled the mask he wore from before when he helped me off the ledge and began to bury his face into it. Then, he pulled a bow from his pack and a set of arrows that were hanging on his shoulder. "Where are you going?" I could feel the anger in my heart thumping. Knowing I was standing on the other side of the fence alone made me feel weak to turn around and start running. I couldn't do this without Aiden. We had just reunited, and now all these people were trying to break us apart again.

"Aiden," I say calmly. My hand finally reaches his, but my arm was already bleeding at that point. "You have to understand--" "No, Mark, you must understand! Are you out of your mind or something? These people-- they're after you!" Aiden is silent once more, then pushes my arm to the side. "Don't do that. Save your strength. Trust me. You won't have enough, later.

I still can't believe anything that was going on. Who were these people, and why were they after me? "I have to go." "But where?" I was too confused to understand Aiden now. He was all over the place. No part of him could make sense now. There was just too much to ask but no time left to ask it. I pull my arm back into the barb and let the remains of my arm sizzle as the cold wind seamed through it.

Aiden didn't hold back much longer. He gave me a slight smile of encouragement, but after that, he was gone, vanished in thin air. I was left alone at that point, collecting my thoughts. I stood there silent, listening to the ratling air for a few seconds, disobeying my brother's words of survival. I couldn't help but wait, knowing he'd probably never return.

That's when Aiden did come back, but this time, as a captive. Two men held him by the arms, and one held onto his pack and shuffling his hand in and out, clearly looting him. They were walking up to the fence, where I was. My whole body froze completely, watching them. They shoved Aiden onto the hard ice and then began to pick him back up by the collar of his jacket. Once they did so, the guy holding Aiden's pack pulled out a long piece of rope. "This might come of hand." The other two began to snicker. "Tie em' up," Said the taller one. He pushed Aiden into a tree and held him in place.

"You'll never get away with this!" Aiden's face was red with anger. The men looked up at Aiden and then began to chuckle. "Oh, but look at us! Getting away with it right now."

I wanted to punch those men so hard that I'd knock their teeth right out. My brother was getting tied to a tree, and I was just standing there, watching him get robbed. Maybe I should run, but I didn't want to lose Aiden again. After so many years, I've finally reunited with him, and to lose him would be treachery beginning all over.

"All done." The guy with Aiden's pack began to rummage through the bag once again, and that's when I saw it. There it was. That very same symbol that I saw on the bridge. I squeeze my eyes incredulously and noticed there was a sword cutting through a bold white S on the black robe. All the other men wore the same cloak with the same symbol printed on the back.

"Sirens," I mumble to myself. Surprised, I covered my mouth with both hands. I feel a tingly sensation as the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand. Sirens? Wha-- How? I didn't know how to react. How did I know?

"Hey! You won't find him! Where are you going?!" Aiden's face was pale now, as his eyes met mine. Some sort of understanding passes through, but I still couldn't make out what he wanted to say with just the movement of his eyes.

"Looks like the goody-two-shoes couldn't do one task right. So why did you betray the Sirens?" He pulled out his hand and reached for his watch. After a few minutes of silence, the guy turned around, facing the fence. His eyes were a cool gray, and his slick black hair took much of grease. He looked directly at me, apprehending my thoughts.

"We all are well aware of your actions, Aiden. You were supposed to lure a young boy, but I guess that was just too hard for you, wasn't it? You befriended him during your task. Completely unacceptable." The other men began to back away as if startled by the elder's voice.

I had no idea what he was saying. Lure a young boy? Befriend him? Were they talking about me? I was still staring into the man's face, completely dazed by his appearance. He looked somewhat older now, which startled me a bit. Something was growing onto the side of his face. A scar? His eyes began to narrow and, when he blinked, one of his pupils had distorted into a burning red. I jumped, but he stood still like this was a reaction he always got. He blinked once again and, the blazing color in his eye vanished--just like that.

"Well?" He turned around and, the other men looked down towards the ground. "Does a little acting hurt?" Aiden looked at the man, his sore eyes now fully aware. "You weren't acting, fool! Why does the Dark Lord make me deal with such phony children? You daze off entirely during the Dark Lord's conference, and now you are mocking us with this thing you believe to be acting?" I could only see the back of the guy but, I notice a red scar on his neck. It was probably fresh because there was still blood gushing down from the sides.

"You-- you can't do this!" Aiden looked at the man, angered, but then, with surprise, he began laughing violently. "This, old man, is what I call acting!"

"Sir, we shall blast him into a million pieces with your command."

"No, no." He relaxed a bit, but there was still anger stirring in his voice. "I'll handle this one." He took his time while saying it, but still. I didn't like the revenue he was putting out while he did. The cloak that had once covered his entire body was now on the ground. He stared at the fence behind him, looking at me. "Come, boy. Say goodbye to your brother while he lives." He looked at me, lethally. "No, Mark, don't listen to a word he says! I'll be alright, but you must run!" Aiden gave me an assuring look, but it just wasn't enough. I still thought about the time he had saved me like it was nothing, but this was something. It was my brother who needed me. I was supposed to be able to trust, but when he trusted me, why couldn't I?

Aiden glanced at me one last time. "Don't listen to him. He's approaching your thoughts. You must run! Go, Mark!" Aiden's words couldn't shake me. I was now looking at a pale figure with very long antlers the size of young trees. He was wearing silk that wrapped around his body, leaving space for not to mention the lion tail that rose from behind. It honestly looked cool, but when his eyes looked into mine, I knew I was lost in them. There was that red glimmer again, like a burning fire glistening and growing. The silk had covered his arms completely, but his hands were still visible, and I wish they weren't. There were long claws like sharp needles that could've been acrylic nails if they weren't that long. They looked like tiny swords that I could've sworn were fake until he came up to the fence and sliced a few of the barbed wire.

"Come, boy. Choose the winning side. Don't be misguided, son, and join us!" He laughed a wicked laugh. Aiden wasn't paying attention. He was too busy trying to wiggle his way out of the ropes while the other two men kept their gaze lowered. "Come, boy." He sliced another patch of wire, making a hole big enough for his face alone to fit within. "N-no! What are you doing! Stop that!" I backed a bit. There was nowhere else to go. Well, there was, but I didn't feel like leaving just yet.

"If you want me, you can have me! Just let Aiden go!" I looked directly into the man's eyes. They were now blazing with a purple so dark I felt dizzy. "Yes. Look at me." He grabbed my face in his clawed fingers, and I began to realize his arms were longer than they seemed. "Don't you want peace? A family?" He clenched my chin so hard that blood began to drip down the sides of my face.

"Mark, run! You have to listen! He's a--"

"Lydnef!" He growled, and one of the men rushed towards him. His other hand began to reach for me, but this time I dodge it.

I knew better than to ask questions. I grabbed his arm and pushed it back through the fence.

"Boy, you should know. Choosing sides is an only-chance. You choose to be with a tied-up boy who calls you a brother, but is he?"

I ignored him and rushed to a tree, where I was sure Tarterarius wouldn't reach me. I was wrong. His antlers reached through the gap and pulled my arm like a vine. I slumped over on the snow as my body dragged along.