Crow Forest

Chapter Thirty Four

Robyn collapsed into a cushioned armchair. He felt exhausted. If that were possible, that was. Unfortunately, he couldn't feel his body or much of anything. He breathed a heavy sigh and couldn't help but rethink through the day. He'd collected so many things from all over the world, from stiff sides to secret lakes unknown to man.

He'd fought demons over wildflowers and had solved riddles to underground temples. It had been an eventful day but one well worth spending. He glanced over at the door and wondered whether or not he should go check up on Parker. He hadn't seen her since he had returned, and he was sure she'd try to spend as much time awake as possible as teenagers.

Perhaps she was fast asleep? Robyn managed to pull himself up and drag himself to the hallway. At least if she were asleep, he'd feel secure knowing where she was. Robyn began to creep down the hallway. As he did, his eyes fixated on the strange paintings on the wall. He had never really questioned the paintings. They had come with the strange house. They always seemed to shift and change depending on their surroundings. Right now, the paintings portray ghastly images of death and fear.

"Well, that's not concerning", Robyn muttered to himself. He continued down the dim corridor. He watched as Parker's lounge room door came into view. He'd check to ensure she was alright and then leave. Robyn quietly pushed the door open. He poked his head around the corner to glance in. His heart almost stopped as he saw the empty couch. He quickly entered the room, checking everywhere for the young girl.

"Parker?" He said out loud, half expecting some response. The only sound was silence. He began to panic as he raced out of the room in search of Parker. He ran into his surgery and threw open doors scurrying around like a maniac. He dived into the library and yelled out her name in hopes that she was reading quietly somewhere, but nothing was said back.

She wasn't in the swimming pool, and she wasn't in the kitchen. Robyn collapsed to the floor, worried about where she had gone. He pulled himself together and remembered there was one last place he needed to check that Parker knew about. He dashed to the backyard, it was unlikely, but he held out hope she'd fallen asleep outside or something. He was perturbed about her.

Robyn stepped out into the garden; he looked around, but again no sign of Parker. He breathed a sigh. Perhaps she was still inside the building? Robyn was about to walk back inside when a blood-curdling scream rang out from the forest, breaking the silence. Robyn raced over to the wall waving his hand as he went. The wall crumbled away, and Robyn sprang out into the forest. The garden wall sealed itself behind him.

Robyn darted through the trees. He sped down the hills covered in leaves and climbed over tree roots as fast as possible. He then came to a clearing where he stopped. Parker was being held in Tom's arms, a knife pressing into her throat. There was a massive gaping wound in her leg that was bleeding uncontrollably. "Ah, that got my Roby boo's attention", Tom winked.

Parker desperately tried to wiggle out of Tom's grip, but he pressed the knife a little bit more on her throat, making Parker wince in fear. Beads of sweat lined her forehead, and her eyes locked onto Robyn. Her eyes desperately pleaded for Robyn to help her. He gave her a quick nod to acknowledge her presence and plea for help.

"Let her go", Robyn ordered, raising his hand. "Wait! did you braid her hair?" Robyn hesitated, lowering his hand down slightly in shock. "Yes, I did. Isn't she adorable with these braids?" Tom chuckled, showing Parker's new hairstyle off.

"Let her go!" Robyn repeated his demand after grasping the situation once again. "I don't think so, boo. You'll have to take her from me," Tom giggled. "R-Robyn", Parker breathed. "I'd be quiet if I were you. I don't want to waste your last few breaths," Tom purred into her ear. The knife began to dig into her neck. A dribble of blood started to roll down from where the blade had pierced her skin.

Parker winced in fear and looked over in Robyn's direction in desperation. She hoped that he wasn't angry at her. "Let. Her. Go," Robyn ordered one more time. His voice was low and angry. "Come and get her", Tom laughed. Robyn then threw a bright blue spell straight through Parker pushing Tom backwards.

Parker dropped to the ground as Tom stepped back in shock, looking at a new burn mark on his chest. "HA" Tom hissed. Parker quickly scrambled to Robyn's side, grabbing hold of his clothing. "Parker, where's the cane?" Robyn inquired quickly, glancing down. "Tom has it" Parker responded quickly. "Then let's get it back" Robyn growled as flames sprung into his hand. "Uh oh," Tom breathed as he darted out of the flame's way.

Tom laughed as he watched Robyn try to hit him once again. "Oh, you can do better than that Roby Boo" Tom giggled as he jumped up into the trees. He swung on the branches in laughter.

"Go on, just try and destroy me. I bet you can't," Tom taunted. Robyn's fists clenched tightly, and a thousand colours sprung from his palms, chasing Tom high into the trees. Tom laughed at the fighting, almost like he saw it as a game.

Robyn then threw a bright white light that obliterated half of a tree. Tom and Parker were stunned by the light stopping dead in their tracks. This allowed Robyn to throw what looked like a fishing line around Tom. "Oooh, spicy" Tom giggled as he slipped out of the binds like a snake and swung away in the tree. "Is that all you got, darling?" Tom cooed, gazing down.

Tom dived down to the ground, and as he stood up, holding a dark red light sprung into his hands, his face twisted into the most evil of grins Parker had ever seen. She felt a horrible chill run down her spine and coward down on the ground. "Okay... my turn" Tom giggled, charging at the two with laughter. Robyn summoned two green balls of light onto his palms, ready to fight Tom if he had to.

Tom was ready to hit the two with his attack both Robyn and Tom launched at each other. Tom froze in midair as an annoying tune started to play. Robyn and Parker also froze at the sound. Tom fell to the ground, got up and grabbed his phone from his pocket.

"Ugh, Unknown phone caller. It's probably a scam call too. Can we hold this for a minute" Tom grumbled as he flipped open the phone. "Hello! Tom speaking" He grinned, batting his eyelids. "LE GASP! DEATH! Is that you? old buddy, old pal!" Tom beamed.

"Ah! A new number. Makes sense why I didn't recognise it," Tom giggled. "OH WOW!?! A PARTY?! That sounds like fun! Oh, wait, but it's date night with Roby Boo," Tom sighed. "Oh really? Alright, I'll let him know" Tom nodded as he looked at Robyn and held the phone away from himself.

"Roby Boo! Death said hi!" Tom hummed as he put the phone back next to his ear. "Wait, the King of the demons is going to be there? SHUT UP! Of course, I'll go! See you there, Bae!" Tom cooed. Tom then hung up his phone. "I guess we'll have to continue this later" Tom hummed as he swung into the trees. Robyn threw a beam of light, but Tom was too nimble. Tom was too quick. He then jumped onto a tree branch and gave a small wave. "See you later, my love" He giggled as he blew a kiss towards Robyn before jumping into a portal.

Robyn lowered his hands, and the magic faded away. Parker took a few steps back. She feared how Robyn would act now that Tom and the cane were gone. She turned around and crashed into Robyn, now standing before her. "What the?" Parker exclaimed as she looked back to the spot he had been standing in a second ago. Robyn's arms were crossed, and he was looking down at her. "What were you thinking? You shouldn't leave the premises without some protection. You could have been killed," Robyn barked. "But he said that he knew some stuff about Sophie" Parker stammered in defence.

"Big deal! You can't ever trust a demon! They are evil, unpredictable and worst of all. They lie," Robyn scoffed. "I didn't think of that, alright?" Parker yelled back. "What on Earth do you think a demon is, Parker? A mythical creature that makes your dreams come true. What do you not get about evil?" Robyn bellowed.

Parker looked away for a few moments. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. Was she supposed to apologise and admit she was in the wrong? "Let's go" Robyn finally sighed as he turned away and led Parker through the dark trees. She followed silently and crossed her arms. Maybe it was stupid to follow Tom...

Not a word was exchanged between the two, and Parker couldn't help but wonder what Robyn was thinking. Was he perhaps infuriated at the moment? Or had he just decided to forget what happened and pretend everything was okay? She hoped he wouldn't bring it up again.