Silence [Abandoned until further notice]

1

The murder of Mrs. Dove happened sometime in the middle of the night in the ancient forest not far off from the main road.

It rattled the entire neighborhood. This town, once a pillar of safety for many, started locking its doors. Closing its blinds. Quieting. Neighbors only left the house under necessary circumstances. Police were everywhere with their bright lights and yellow tape. Guns strapped to their hips. Waiting.

They say an animal attacked Mrs. Dove and she didn't die peacefully. They say she was torn apart. Blood everywhere. Truly gruesome scene.

But I don't buy the story the law told the public. Nothing happens in the town of Woldford in the middle of fucking nowhere. Where neighbors knew neighbors. Treated everyone like one, big, happy family.

The town is ancient itself however. If you stop and really take it in, you can almost feel it. You can feel the heaviness in the air and, if you really pay attention, the sinking feeling in your chest. It's like the heaviness has claws and is trying to rip the heart from your chest. It's trying to take a payment to a debt it needs to repay. It makes it hard to breath. To think about anything other then that heaviness. The sinking.

I can really feel it now standing outside the forest edge outside my house.

On this particular evening, with the sun slowly sinking from the sky, the forest gently swayed with the breeze touching my face. The leaves gently falling as autumn has finally arrived. The slight chill in the air didn't bother me as the tree branches groaned.

That heaviness....Something awful happened here. Nobody can tell me otherwise. There are no archives. No town records. Nobody knows when this town was founded, who founded it, nothing. The only evidence we have of this towns history is a very old painting that was found in the old estate on the outskirts of the town.

It was a family portrait with a loving husband, wife and a child who looked no more then ten. They looked regal. Powerful. Strong. The matching crowns only ever confirmed my suspicions on who they potentially were. How old this town actually is and the forest surrounding it.

I've only ever saw it once before the law locked it away for "safe keeping". Whatever the hell that meant. Why they would need to "safe keep" a fucking painting is beyond me. Apparently it was of interest to some powerful people according to Isaac.

The sudden silence was what shot me out of the thoughts of that painting. The breeze stoped. The leaves seemed to stop falling. No, they did stop falling. The air...

There was a shift in the air. The heaviness was suffocating now. It's hard to breath. I can feel the burning in my throat, in my lungs. God my lungs...

I rub at my throat as the tears start to form. The burning was becoming agonizing. I slowly get down on my knees, my free hand touching the soft, cold grass. I try breathing in through my nose but it burns. it burns it burns it burns....

i can feel the hot tears roll down my face as i start to panic. I gently rub my throat in an attempt to stop the burning. To ease the ache...

The ancient forest was watching.

I can feel it's eyes on me as i claw for breath on its edge. Assessing. Observing the panic in my eyes as the heaviness suffocates me. It's claws gripping my throat with a vengeance.

Something is wrong with this forest. Very very wrong.

And with that thought, I slowly crawl away from that ancient forest edge. Refusing to turn my back on it's observing gaze until my back connects with my back porch steps.

I sat in the grass, my back leaning against the steps, keeping an eye on the forest as the heaviness subsided.

That silence paused.

It observed every movement i made. Assessing...

The heaviness loosened on my throat and the cool air was easier to obtain. The burning in my lungs subsided with each gulp of air i managed to take.

My burning eyes did not once blink away from the edge. The sudden shift in the forest ripped any safety i felt a few minutes ago.

As the sun started to set, and the darkness of the night started to fall upon the sky, the forest drenched itself in shadow. Veiling what's inside from it's watchers view.

The silence subsided completely and i bolted into the house. Locking every door and every window. Shutting all my blinds.

Sleep was hard to find that night.