Prologue - First Touch

Wayde suddenly woke up. His head was hurting. His back felt stiff. His right leg was burning.

When he opened his eyes, bright sun rays made him squint as he looked around. Deep green leaves were waving in the wind above him. Was he... still in the forest?

Not being able to remember, he slowly sat up and looked around. The trees around him looked familiar - yes, he would often play in this area. That said, the last thing he can remember is playing with his friends in this very forest. They were going on some kind of treasure hunt adventure, which was of course mostly happening in their ten year old brains. Wayde clearly remembers that his friends wanted to play specifically in this area of the forest because there were a lot of mysteries surrounding it. His parents even told him not to go past the yellow police tape, which was tied across hundreds of trees and made the kids even more curious. Of course, since their parents told them not to, they wouldn't just simply ignore the warnings - they didn't want to get into any trouble after all. So all they did was walk next to the yellow tape, tracking it down to see where it would lead.

But what happened after that? Wayde just couldn't remember. Even worse, his clothes were a mess. They were torn apart, dirty and had a lot of holes. He shuddered at the thought of how his mom will react. He was sitting on a patch of dead leaves and branches, which must be the reason for the pain in his back.

Hesitantly, he stood up and inspected his surroundings, trying to figure out which way leads back to his village. Luckily, Wayde was somewhat of an expert when it came to these woods, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue for him. That said, his friends weren't as good with directions as he was, so he wondered if they already went home by themselves. Would they really leave him asleep on the forest grounds? It was weird, especially since his own sister was also with them. Being two years younger than Wayde, she was quite dependent and usually wouldn't leave his side when they went playing in the forest.

"Faye? Pete? Aysha?" Wayde yelled into the seemingly endless forest. His voice was croaky and he had to retry a few times until his voice came out properly. But still, no reply. These idiots really left him by himself, huh? He can't tell that to mom though, or else she wouldn't allow him to play with them ever again.

Steadily, he started to walk. It took him some time to figure out the exact way back, but once he did, he happily strolled his way through the wilderness. Being all alone in these woods kind of made him excited. It felt like he was a lone adventurer on his way to explore yet untouched lands and discover beautiful landscapes. Of course, that didn't really happen, as after a few minutes of walking, he stood on the hill with a view on the village below. His stomach growled and he wanted to get home as fast as possible to eat the warm and delicious food of his mom, already forgetting about the catastrophic state of his clothes. He steadily made his way down the hill, running through the green field, which was filled with blooming and colorful flowers. Once arrived at the bottom, he ran through the streets. There were only a few people out, but all of them looked at Wayde with concerned looks. Weird, they should be accustomed to this sight by now. Wayde would often return to the village with dirty clothes, especially after playing in the forest. His mom would scold him every time, and yet she was too gentle and forgave him every time as well. Wayde hoped it would be the same today, though this time seems to be special. It was a first for Wayde to fall asleep in the forest. But as his friends and him have started playing in the morning and it's early afternoon right now, Wayde concluded that he hadn't spent much time asleep.

Finally, after running through the streets for a while, Wayde turned around a corner towards his house. To his surpirise, his mother was standing outside, next to an apparent police officer. Wayde got kind of excited - the officer had a cool, blue uniform and multiple tools attached to his belt. Wayde wondered if he could also join the police force once he's older.

As he ran closer, screams hit his ears. His mom was screaming at the officer, who was desperately trying to calm her down.

Wayde, while still excited, was feeling slightly scared now. He had never seen his mother so angry and loud. For a second, he almost considered not approaching them, but due to his loud footsteps and his fast pace, his mom had already noticed him. Her facial expression changed multiple times in what felt just like a second to Wayde. Shock, confusion, anger but especially relief were all present. Tears were welling up in her dark eyes as she ran towards her son, before getting down on her knees to embrace him in a deep hug. Wayde was confused, what was this all about?

"Where have you been? Your father and I were so worried! Are you all right?" she yelled, burying her face into Wayde's small shoulder.

"I'm... all right. I just fell asleep in the woods..." Wayde admitted, somewhat startled by the strange behavior of his mother. She would usually never react like this, was she that worried? Did she maybe even call the police because of this? Why?

His mother slowly put her hands on his shoulder, pulling herself away as she looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"Asleep...? For almost a week!? Where are the others!? Where is your sister!? We tried to search for you, but they wouldn't allow us to enter deeper into the forest!" his mom was now screaming at him, the tears streaming down her cheeks. In the background, Wayde could see his father coming out of the house, staring at the situation in disbelief.

Wait... a week? What? Was he not away for just a few hours. And the others didn't return yet?

Suddenly, Wayde felt sick like never before. He didn't understand what was going on. There was no way he was gone for a whole week. He can't remember anything. Why? What is this? What the hell was happening?

"I... I don't know. I don't remember. I just woke up, I swear!" Wayde was now yelling back. Even though he didn't understand the situation, the pain and worry in his mother's face and voice somehow conveyed everything he needed to know.

Seeing his reaction, his mother grabbed his hands, holding them tightly, trying to reassure him. Her skin felt so warm on his, and there was a strange sensation, similar to when a body part would fall asleep. It felt like a thousand tiny ants crawled from his hand to his mother's.

"I see... it's fine, don't worry! I'm sure they'll turn up! Let's go inside to talk, the police officer would also like to ask you some questions, okay? Everything will be fine..." His mother tried her best to play strong, holding back her tears for the sake of someone else. She stood back up on her feet - before immediately falling back down on her knees. She looked at Wayde, her expression suddenly changing once again. This time, it was something Wayde couldn't quite describe. If he had to pick a word to explain the look on her face - the emotion in her eyes - it would be "empty". Before anyone could react, she fell sideways to the ground, her limb body hitting the concrete head first. Only her right hand was still in the air, held up by Wayde, who had not dared to let go yet.

"Mom...? What's-"

"Honey!" his father yelled, finally breaking his silence as he rushed to help, kneeling down before his wife's body.

"Dad, what's happening?"

But his father did not respond. He was busy trying to roll the body on the side, getting it into a stable position.

"Call the ambulance!" he screamed at the police officer, who panickingly pulled out his smartphone. Wayde's father put his ears near the body's chest, while tightly grabbing the wrist. Wayde watched as he then swiftly rolls the body on the back, before starting to pump it's chest with his hands, sometimes moving in to blow air through it's mouth.

Meanwhile, Wayde had let go of her hand. He was just standing there, not able to process what was happening. This was too much. He was too scared.

"Dad... she will be fine, right?" Wayde asked, his voice trembling as he tried to get hold of his dear father's hand. He needed someone to hold him. He didn't want to feel alone.

And yet there it was again. This tingling sensation on his skin. He didn't feel it for too long though, as his father yanked his hand away, trying to focus on whatever he was doing to the body. Wayde started to cry. His tears blurred the world around him, and for a moment he started to regret everything. Why did he always make his mother worry? He should've just listened to her.

But again, these thoughts did not last for too long either, as he was cruelly pulled back into reality when his father fell down to the ground. The same expression could be seen. Dark, empty eyes. No life. No emotion. The police officer was yelling. Wayde couldn't tell if it was into his phone or to him. His eyes were fixated on the two bodies beneath him. He towered over them. He looked at his hand. The tingling feeling was gone the moment he let go of what was once his mother and his father. The police officer grabbed the hand. More yelling.

"It will be fine", "The ambulance is coming", "Don't worry". Meaningless words were thrown around for a few endless moments, before the man let go of Wayde's tingling hand. His body laid on the ground. His face was nothing but an expressionless mask.

A nightmare. Yes, it was all nothing but a nightmare. Soon Wayde would wake up, he was sure of it. He just had to find the end of this dream. So he ran. He ran through the village.

But there was no end to be seen.

He ran up the hill.

But there was no end to be seen.

He ran into the forest.

But there was no end to be seen.

He was screaming, he thinks. He wasn't sure, it was all just a blur. He tripped over what must've been a root, falling face first to the cold, soft, grass covered ground. It hurt. It hurt so much, it was impossible to explain. Slowly, Wayde pushed himself onto his knees. Where his arms and face had landed, the green grass was gone, replaced by brown, lifeless straws that barely resembled what they used to be. Looking forward, Wayde noticed a beautiful flower right in front of him. It had a deep, purple color to it - Wayde had often spotted these in this area. Carefully, he leaned forward, mindfully grabbing it by it's root, before pulling on it. By the time that Wayde had plucked it, it had already withered away. His touch had drained the once colorful flower of it's life, leaving behind only death and rot. The tingling only stopped once the flower was completely dried up, flaking as the wind blew it away.

Trembling, he managed to get back on his feet, and continued to walk. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he couldn't spend a single moment longer here. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. How would he survive?

His head was a chaos of unanswered questions. His emotions were in a turmoil that seemed like it would never end. His parents were dead. There's a good chance that the same was true for his friends and sister. His touch brings death upon everything that lives. So, why was he still walking? There was only one reason.

How? How could this be possible? What happened during that week? Why can't he remember? What kind of curse has befallen him? Can he cure himself? Whose fault is all this?

He promised himself. He won't stop walking. Not until every last of these questions had been answered.