Into The Woods [boyxboy]

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen (Aidan's POV)

Pain.

I had never felt so much of it in my entire life. My stomach felt like it was being torn apart from the inside out and there was the burn of vomit lingering in my throat as well as the bitter metallic flavor of blood on my tongue.

It followed me even into my sleep.

Just when I thought the nightmares had stopped...

I was stumbling around in the woods, somewhere near the lake because I could smell the water and the willow tree that hung near the water's edge. The ground beneath my feet was soft, my toes squishing into the soil and grass. I was only wearing a loose gray t-shirt, just barely hiding my lower parts as I tried to figure out where I was going.

I was running from something, that much I knew.

I don't know why I was running, though. Whatever chasing me would get me. That thought was welded into my brain as I finally broke the edge of the woods to the lake, but I froze at the sight of a big black raven sitting on the boulders near the shore.

It was watching me intently, then shrieked.

"No! No!" It cried out, flapping its wings. I winced and started for it.

"Shut up! Shut up!" I snarled angrily, approaching the boulder. I expected the bird to fly away, but instead, it shrieked up at my face as it beat the cool air with its wings.

"No! No!"

"Stop! Shut up!" I barked, reaching out to grab it. I was so sick and tired of this thing following me through my sleep, through my reality. It was ruining everything and scaring the fucking hell out of me and that God awful shriek was driving me insane!

I caught the bird writhing in my hands, its black eyes darting around wildly as it kept screaming over and over again. I clenched my fingers around its silky feathered body, my teeth gritted.

"No! No! No!"

"Shut up!" I squeezed him, then gasped as he pecked my fingers, making me let go of him so he could fly into the air, only to land on one of the spindley willow branches. It called out again and I was about ready to head over to it when I heard a twig snap.

I froze.

They found me.

I still had no idea who had found me, though, I just knew they were bad. Evil.

The air felt cold and empty with the crackle of some ominous power that had the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I held my breath, whirling around to face the trees as the raven shot past me, screaming its chant before vanishing into the darkness of the sky above.

Clouds upon clouds rolled over each other, but there was enough light to shine through the trees, casting long, black shadows that looked like hands grabbing for me. I stiffened when I recognized the inky blackness of them.

They were Styx's Shadows.

I took a step back and stepped into the cold, frigid water. The shadows recoiled at the shoreline for a moment, whipping around on the ground before reaching forward steadily. I gasped and kept stepping back until the water was to my waist.

The shadows stopped at the water, making strange hissing noises before shuddering as the air felt thicker.

"Aidan..."

No.

That voice...

Impossible!

Goosebumps coursed across my skin as every muscle in my body snapped to tautness, my eyes burning into the dark woods. The shadows curled and hissed, danced and writhed on the ground, pulling back off the shoreline to nestle in the grass as a figure came out of the woods, a figure that held no shadow.