It was in the afternoon of the next wednesday that I first got an opportunity to explore the forest with Erina, we met by the music room building. It had been a rainy day so I’d put on my toughest set of boots. I’d told Erina in advance that I’d left the tablet back in the apartment in case I accidentally drop it in the mud or in the puddle. I reverted back to my old whiteboard and a marker.

“How’s it going Sylvie?”

Good, Ready to explore?

“Yup, wonder what we’ll find. Maybe something dangerous”

Spoooooky

The forest was fairly small, consisting of only a couple of acres of land, it didn’t take long to reach a fence which bordered the land from an active looking railway line. We walked along the edge of the forest together, avoiding the upgrown roots of trees. An old diesel locomotive shunts past at 40mph, hauling a lot of new looking cars. It frightens a flock of blackbirds into the sky, becoming a swarming black mass of feathers. Erina takes one look at the train and sighs.

“We’re not gonna find anything close to the rails, not with behemoths like that rolling past” I nod in agreement. We turn and venture deeper into the treeline, unsure of what we’d find. If anything at all. It was when we entered a small clearing that Erina perks up a bit. “I smell the faint traces of smoke” she was right too, I can just about pick up the scent of a recent fire. She dashes forwards in big bounds. “This way!”

I follow as fast as my green legs would allow, eventually reaching her crouched over a pile of ash that definitely was a fire, theres a small basket nearby and a log that looked to be a decent seat.

“You’re not supposed to be allowed to live on campus outside of the dormitory”

Theres no sleeping bag or anything though.

“Any obvious tent peg holes?”

Can’t find any

“Right. I’ll go fetch someone, you stay here” she spreads her wings and takes off in the direction of the campus and leaves me sitting on the log by myself. I was alright with it though, I hadn’t had much of a chance to be outdoors for a long time and I did miss it.

A bird lands in the clearing and begins to waddle about, I watch it carefully as it stumbles towards me, clearly unafraid of the zombie sitting nearby. This is one brave bird it seems, it drops something from its beak near the remains of the fire and hops away. I move and look at what it dropped out of curiosity and it turns out to be a bit of rolled up paper. Out of sheer curiosity I walked over and picked up the paper, its a receipt for some food with a scribble on it.

Leave Me Alone Please

I’m a little spooked by this, but I’m not giving up. This bird seems more intelligent than the average bird, maybe it can carry some magical message back or something. Seems like a long shot but why not. I stuff the paper in my pocket and grab my whiteboard:

Leo, if its you. I want to help you.

I place the whiteboard against the log, leaning upwards. And I retreat away into the forest for a few minutes, leaving the bird to do whatever it wants to do. Whether its intelligent or not. When I returned the whiteboard had been knocked over and the bird nowhere to be seen. I pick it up and check it for anything back, I didn’t expect anything and didn’t get anything, so I wiped it clean. I sat back down on the log and waited for Erina to return.

Ten minutes later she arrived, the campus security guard in tow. I quickly scribbled a note and showed it to them.

No-one's been here since.
Haven’t found anything else.

This was sort of a lie, but I wasn’t gonna tell them about the bird or the note. The security guard lightly kicks the ashes.

“Thanks for telling me about this girls, I’ll double up on checking this area” I shook my head quickly.

I don’t think you’ll need to
Somehow.
Theres no fresh tracks
Nor can I smell anything recent either

I lied about that too, I couldn’t really tell anything like that apart. But he didn’t know that.

“You sure lass? I know theres security risks to you especially, the emails said so” I shoot Erina a glance, hoping she’ll back me up. She gives me a hard look but speaks up.

“I trust her senses, just keep an eye on stuff okay? Thanks for helping us!” He shrugs and nods, heading back towards campus.

“Why’d you say that?” I pull out the note and show it to her. “This?”

A bird dropped it

“A bird...dropped it?” I nod furiously.

It struck me as intelligent…
Somehow.

She sighs and sits on the log beside me, watching the guard push his way back through the bushes. “Well, can’t be the weirdest thing ever. We exist after all” she puts a hand on my shoulder and rubs it. Another train rushes past in the near distance, parping its horn with a ‘Mua-marp’ noise, scattering more birds. Then calm returns to the forest once again.

Can’t sit here forever. Lets go.

“I probably could, but you’re right. The trains would probably get annoying after a while” She stands and gives me her outstretched palm and helps me up. “Back to campus!”

***

When we emerged back out from the forest it was clear that the sun was on its way out, so we said our goodbyes and I made my way back to my room. The Discus in the fish tank were all out in force as it was nearing their feeding time, I had learned that it was Nurse Jousset who took care of them. I make a mental note that if I ever need help with Colin she might be able to help.

I called for the lift and the doors opened, there was a poster hung up on the inside of the lift advertising some kind of autumn festival. I had forgotten that this college liked holding events like that, there would even be an outside barbeque, which struck my particular interest.

I grunted, making a mental note to attend that if I remember. I only make noises when no-ones about, it gives me hope that I can speak one day again. I exit the lift’s cramped compartment and shuffle down to my room, my first port of call being to feed Colin. He was hiding in his little house so I drop half a cucumber into his enclosure. Whilst I watch him slowly arose from his hut I hear a tapping at the balcony window. It sounds like a fingernail rather than the normal rasping of someone’s knuckles.

I had left the blinds closed this morning so I didn’t know what was behind it. I reach for the controls and wind back the shutters to find no-one there. I slide the pane open and look around. No-ones there. I grunt again, annoyed that someone is playing a joke on me. Then I noticed the note tucked into the gap between the panes. I slide it out and check again for anyone about. It reads:

Thanks Sylvie. I owe you one.
Meet me after class in the same clearing.
I’m sorry.

So it was Leo that has something to do with the bird, maybe a trained creature or something? I couldn’t help but wonder what Leo is hiding so badly. I was excited and scared at the same time, I decided to send Erina a shot of the note. I make sure the blinds and the pane was all back to being closed before doing so though. I send the image and collapse into my bed, grasping for the TV remote with my hand blindly.

Homework can wait.

***

It was time.

Erina and I walked down from my English class, Leo had stayed behind to talk to Mr. Healey. I let him be for the moment. Once out of earshot from them she popped the question.

“So what do you think the deal is?”

“Its Leo, definitely Leo. He has something to do with that bird, some kind of magical power. One of us”

“Are you sure? He looks...like a regular human to me”

“Don’t you remember? Cloaking powers and stuff still exist!”

“Touché” she says, looking rather sheepish, we descend the steps down and out of the building, hanging a right and heading towards the old music block and the forest. I tuck my tablet into my bag whilst we walk through the forest, not wanting to trip and break it. We soon reach the same clearing as before and I sit in the same place as before.

“I’m going to hide myself up there, if anything happens, make a noise and I’ll leap to your rescue” She gestures up to a tree above me. I nod and she takes off up the tree, scaling the lumpy bark with ease. After a while I can’t see her anymore. I take out my tablet and study some notes from class while I was waiting. It wasn’t long before something else entered the clearing, it wasn’t human…

***

8 Years Ago

“Don’t worry dear, I’ll be back in no time at all my sweet, just off on one last job” Cadence smiled at her dad as he patted her on the head and made his way out the front door. Little did she know that this would be the last time she saw him. It was only when the news popped up an hour later when news broke of the attack on the governmental building where he worked.

“A disgruntled ex-employee is currently on a-” a boom echoes on the microphone of the reporter “-a rampage at the government offices. We’ve seen him in the windows letting flows of lava loose from his body, several people are trapped above and people on the same level are feared dead” She looked at her mum sitting on the sofa, who was crying.

“Thats! Thats his floor!” tears stream down her face like the world’s most silent depressing waterfall, Cadence didn’t know how to react. When she was ten, like a lot of ten year olds, she didn’t know how to react. How can a ten year old child fully understand the gravitas of what was going on. It was only when the police turned up to the door, cap in hand, when she broke down. Her daddy was long gone...