INTO THE WOODS

Xavier woke up with an unbearable pain in his lungs. He stood up from the bed, still clutching his stomach and unable to get his balance, he stumbled to the floor. He felt something cold touch his skin and he turned alarmed to see what it was.

“Aria!” he shouted. He knelt down beside her body and felt her pulse. Nothing. Her eyes were open and staring into space and her body was cold. Her red hair had a shade of brown and her lips were turning black already. He took one last look at the lifeless body of Ariana, the witch girl he had met just a day ago that sacrificed her life to save him before he walked out of the room. Her voice was still ringing in his ears.

“…take the road west, your place is in the woods…there you will fulfil your destiny…”

Unlike other days when he was usually clueless, Xavier knew what he had to do. He had to take the road west. He had to fulfil his destiny. He knew that something or someone was waiting for him there. He walked upstairs to Aria’s room and knocked the door. He would have barged in knowing she was already lifeless on the floor but he had stayed in their house for just a day and he couldn’t be certain that she had no sisters. Xavier didn’t fancy the idea of walking into a room filled with girls on their underwear.

After waiting for almost a minute without getting a reply, he walked in. Her room was like a typical girl’s room. Nothing out of the ordinary. Pictures of Korean pop stars lined the pink walls and more pictures of more korean pop stars were scattered all over her unmade bed. He walked to her closet and opened the door.

“Sorry I’m stealing your clothes,” he frowned. “Not like you can hear me or you still have use for them. But it’s right I apologize beforehand. I promise your death won’t be in vain. So please no haunting me or entering into my dreams. I hate that shit. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” the voice floated above him.

“Come on!” Xavier frowned. “Seriously?”

“Take the road west,” the voice said again. “You would find yourself amongst them. You would fulfil your destiny.”

“Among who?” Xavier asked looking up but he didn’t get a reply. The room was silent again.

He shrugged and began to pack some of her T-shirts that he felt would be big enough for him. When he had packed enough, he opened another section of her drawer and took two of her trousers and one sneakers.

“This should do,” Xavier muttered to himself and made his way out of the room. He walked towards the kitchen and opened the door. Packs of cereals, fruits and snacks lay bare on the kitchen table and Xavier packed as many as he could and stuffed them in the backpack he had found in Aria’s room. He took a bottle of water and turned to leave the kitchen, satisfied with the supply he had. He didn’t know how far it was west but he had to get moving. It was about 6 a.m. and the road would be empty.

He turned one last time and stared at the house he had lived in for just two days.

“I’ll be back Aria,” he said with tears in his eyes.

He turned and started towards the main road. Few people stared at him as he walked and he tried his best to avoid eye contact with them.

“The weird guy again,” he heard someone whisper. “What is he wearing this time?”

He turned to the direction of the voice and saw that some kids were pointing at him. He felt something rise in his chest and he had the urge to attack them and tear them to pieces. He knew that his werewolf instincts were beginning to set in and so he walked faster, to avoiding causing a bloody scene on an early morning in Manhattan.

“Yeah run away weirdo!” he heard one of them shout. Xavier didn’t turn back. He walked as fast as he could until they were out of sight.

 It was already almost noon when Xavier sighted the tree. Something about it appealed to him and he knew he had to be there. He left the main road and cornered into a bush path, heading straight up for the tree. His nose began to pick up a familiar scent…the scent of rotten flesh and he walked faster. The scent was steadily getting stronger. Xavier got to the tree and the scent was everywhere. Not just on the tree, the scent was on every plant in the woods. He walked deeper into the woods, following the scent of the flesh till he got to a cave.

“Anyone here?” he asked. His voice echoed through the cave and came back to him. He shrugged and prepared to walk in when he heard a cry.

It was a female’s voice. A familiar voice.

“Aria?” Xavier screamed. He ran towards the direction of the voice as fast as he could and he fell down more than once on the way. In less than a minute, he was there. His new clothes were already stained with mud and Aria was nowhere to be found. Instead, he found a girl about seventeen tied and gagged on the muddy ground and surrounded by four wild looking boys. They turned to face him.

“What are you doing here?” the tallest of them asked. Xavier turned to assess him. He was very tall, fair and handsome. His hair was long like a woman’s and it fell across his shoulders, covering his left eye. His face was dead and expressionless and Xavier stared at him. He was definitely of Korean descent.

“I said what are you doing here?” the boy asked again, his voice as calm as the brook some meters away from them. His dark eyes didn’t move from Xavier an inch. He stared at Xavier as he repeated the question a third time.

“What are you doing here?”

“Jimin,” the voice said in Xavier’s head again.

“Aria is that you?” Xavier asked, looking around. “Aria are you here? Aria?” The boy turned to the remaining three. “Watch the girl, make sure she doesn’t escape. We have to deliver her to Jaime alive. I’ll take care of the rogue psycho wolf.”

He turned to Xavier and cracked his fingers.

“Jimin,” the voice said again in his head. “His name is Jimin.”

“Who the fuck is Jimin?” Xavier cried, using his hands to block his ears as the voice shouted on “His name is Jimin. Jimin. His name is Jimin. Jimin. His name is Jimin.”

The tall boy walked closer to him and eyed him. “How do you know my name is Jimin?” he asked staring him down. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m Xavier,” Xavier said. “And sorry for intruding. I heard a voice. It told me to come here, but apparently, this is the wrong place so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be leaving now.”

Xavier turned to leave and as expected, he felt a cold hand grab his shoulder.

“You are going nowhere Xavier,” Jimin said. “Not until I know who you really are.”

“I’m Xavier,” Xavier repeated. “Xavier Damon. Please let me go. I need to find the road west.”

“Xavier Damon?” Jimin frowned. “Like D – A – M – O – N ?” he spelled it out.

“Got a problem with my name?” Xavier asked.

“I don’t have time for games, young wolf,” Jimin frowned. “You are not a Damon. Now if you don’t tell me who you are, you would be following me to see Jaime and trust me, he’ll hate you more than I do. Even if he spares your sorry ass, you’d be as good as dead scrubbing the floors of his palace all the days of your life.”

Xavier’s ears perked up immediately he heard the word “Alpha” and he knew immediately that they were werewolves just like himself.

“Please,” he knelt down. “Help me. I’m a werewolf like you. Please help me find the road west.”

“Of course I know you’re a werewolf,” Jimin grunted. “You smell like a month old cheeseburger and I picked your scent from over a mile. And yes, this is the west. That was the old name though. We used that hundreds of years ago when Dan was our king but he’s long gone. It’s now called Jaime’s Wood.”

Xavier’s ears perked up once again at the name of his father, Dan but he kept quiet. He had read too many books about slaves that killed the sons of kings to become kings and he didn’t fancy it happening to him in real life.

“So you would help me,” he said still kneeling. “Thank you sir, thank you very much.”

Jimin stared at the weird werewolf clinging to his sneakers and he wriggled his feet away from Xavier’s  grip. “Its white as you can see,” he said frowning. “It doesn’t get dirty even when I’m on patrol so back off.”

Xavier left his shoes immediately. “Thank you sir!”

“What is wrong with you Xavier Damon,” the voice said again. “You are his king! He should kneel before you! Stand up now! I command you!”

“Uhmm..no,” Xavier frowned. “I’ll rather not.”

Jimin stared at him. “Huh?”

“Not you,” Xavier replied smiling curtly. “Its this stupid voice in my head. Back off, Aria. I’ll tell you when I need your help.”

“I am not Aria you fool!” the voice cried. “And you do not command me.”

“Leave me alone!” Xavier cried shutting his eyes tight and covering his ears with his hands.

“I don’t think so,” Jimin shook his head. “I think you’ve outdone yourself already.” He turned to the three boys that were standing beside the girl. “Hans! Come over here. Let’s bind the rogue wolf and take him to our Alpha!”

“You shall not bind me!” the voice screamed in Xavier’s head and Xavier wondered if they were hearing him.

“Please,” Xavier muttered. “Aria, Calisté, whoever you are. Please I need this. I need to see the Alpha. Don’t spoil this for me.”

“You are the Alpha!” the voice roared in his ears.

“Nooooo!” Xavier cried shaking his head violently to block out the voice.

“Yes,” Jimin sighed. “Hans, get the ropes!”

“You shall not bind me!” the voice screamed again.

Xavier felt the world begin to spin beneath his feet as a wave of strength swept through him. He cried out in a loud voice and he blacked out immediately.

He woke up on the mud. His shirt was torn in pieces and stained with black blood. His backpack was open and all the food he had packed lay scattered across the floor. He scrambled up to pack the food and put them back in their place and then he saw the bodies. The dead bodies of four boys lay on the mud perfectly arranged beside him according to their heights. He jumped up in shock and one of them coughed and stirred.

“Jimin,” Xavier gasped. “Oh my God who did this to you?” He turned to see if it was the girl but he saw that she was still bound on the floor. Jimin looked up at Xavier weakly. His jet black hair was stained with blood in different spots. Xavier rushed to the ground in a bid to get him cleaned up and just then, he felt something take over him.

“Jimin!” he roared with fire in his eyes.

Jimin stared up at him weakly. “My king,” he said in a voice a little above a whisper. “Spare my life. I didn’t know it was you.”

“You are loyal!” Xavier roared. “You would the boy till he becomes strong enough. Is that clear?”

“Yes my king,” Jimin said.

“I chose peace but they chose war,” he roared. “Calisté’s forces rise in the east. Ghost is in control of the two ends of the earth, the North and the South. We have only the west. You would stand by him until it is time.”

“I would my king,” Jimin replied.

“Good!” Xavier’s eyes lit up immediately. “But first, we have some acting to do.”