stars (phan)

chapter 11

Dan woke with a start, his eyes shooting open into direct sunlight making the back of his eyeballs burn with a dull pain. He pushed himself up, eyes squinting and muscles throbbing making him wince even more.

His body made countless cracking noises from the dead leaves beneath him, the noise the only thing in his ears apart from the subtle ringing in his left ear that was driving to the brink of insanity. The trees bristling overhead as he brung his hand to his head, a deep groan of pain rumbling from his throat.

Every bone in his body seemed as though it was as fragile as glass and the back of his eyes hurt, his body felt numb but every movement felt like it was a massive task. His first thought was Phil.

Phil had suddenly collapsed right next to him and he remembers the fear that was clearly painted in his eyes and the breaths he choked out before he had seemed to disappear between his own fingers and dan fell backwards.

They were separated.

Hundreds of miles away.

The branches were bent and dead around Phil and the only leaves that remained were the perfectly green ones splattered on the floor. He stood up, body losing balance slightly and he tripped, hand reaching out to one of the dead trees.

His hand rippled with a searing pain that spread through his flesh and made his hand jerk and tremble. He screamed out, pulling his hand towards his chest and falling to his knees, tears spilling from his eyes.

His hand twitched, the pain seeping into his bones and through his veins until it stopped abruptly, a slight tingling sensation filling his arm.

He looked at his hand through blurry eyes, his veins seemed more blue, contrasting with the paler skin on the rest of his body, his hand was stripped of anything that protected his bones and it literally looked like skin and bones. He tried to move his fingers, they slowly bent, feeling numb and dead.

He looked at his other hand, it was covered in a think red liquid.

Blood.

The tree had a perfect stamp of blood in the shape of his hand and the liquid also pooled in a path to where he kneeled.

His heart rate quickened.

The trees were completely black, the kind of black that made you feel cold and dead inside, an intricate design was cut through every tree, rotting into the bark. The leaves around the trunks were black too but they slowly turned green further away.

A chill ran through Phil's spine and he looked at his hand again, a bitter taste forming in his mouth. He stood up again, knees shaking and he decided to get as far away from this place as possible and he trudged through the leaves, an uneasy feeling placed on his shoulders.

~

Dan's place was more vibrant and green, flowers dotting through the grass and the leaves fresh and green that clung onto the trees, a soft breeze brushing along the autumnal ones that scattered the forest floor.

It was all too perfect.

He had finally gotten up and was wondering aimlessly though the trees, every thought of Phil had escaped his mind and lips and he was now concentrating on his next actions.

"----------s top" a ghostly voice rang through the air, it was cold and whispery but the word was defined in Dan's ears. Every single hair raised at the back of his neck and chills raced through his bones.

"---you are unwanted. go go g o" he turned on his feet but the path was still behind him and the voice was still around him. Every second that past he had an uncomfortable feeling on his back as if billions of eyes were piecing through his skin.