Prompt: A little out of the ordinary; "this wasn't supposed to happen," adverse effects, unconventional restraints.
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If you'd asked Roman how he'd imagined spending his evening, he would have told you cuddled up in a big fluffy blanket on his couch, sipping tea and watching a musical on TV.
Never in his wildest dreams, would he have imagined himself here in his current predicament. No, instead he found himself trapped in a cold, dark room, hands and feet bound, and fearing for his life.
How did he end up here, you may be asking? Well, it all started that morning...
Roman knew the forest was off limits. Everyone knew the forest was off limits, it was posted everywhere; 'No trespassing,' 'Beware the fae,' 'Stay out!' Everyone knew the lore, the myths, the horror stories. People went in and never came out. Or if they did, they were never quite right in the head.
But.. He couldn't help wondering what it looked like from inside the canopy of trees. Was it alive? Did the trees move in an endless maze to trap you? Did the moss and mushrooms glow? What if the animals could talk! Wouldn't that be something?
He was most curious about the creatures who inhabited it. Surely they went all bad? Some of them had to be friendly. Right? He thought about it a lot, imagining all the possibilities.
It was that very curiosity that led him to be at the forest edge that morning. When the dew still clung to grass blades, and an early morning fog settled over his shoulders like a blanket. It made the forest look eerie. The trees loomed over him, shrouding him in their shadows.
Ominously beckoning him in. It must have been his imagination, but he swore he could have seen purple slitted eyes peeking out at him from within the dark. He swallowed nervously, glancing behind him at the soft grassy hill that hid their little town from view. The rising sun framed it in a pinkish glow, soft, welcoming, as if tempting him not to go.
He took stock of his situation. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to disappear. But no one would notice if he did. He had a boring life, with a boring job, and no friends or family to say goodbye to. The forest offered him an adventurer. It was unknown, it was promising. Perhaps no one returned, because they simply didn't want to.
He held onto that thought as he stepped inside the threshold of trees. He'd been expecting something dramatic. Maybe the trees would slam together to block his path, maybe the thorns would grow and tangle together, cutting off his exit. Maybe creatures would jump out at him and carry him off to their lairs.
Instead, it was just regular old trees and grass. A few scraggly bushes and wilting wild flowers. The more he walked, the more disappointed he became. His legs began to tire, and the silence rubbed his nerves the wrong way. That was the only thing properly wrong with this place.
It was dead quiet. No animals, no creatures, no bugs, wind, babbling creaks. Just silence. The only sound came from his own feet on the forest floor, and even that was muffled. He couldn't even see the sun when he looked up, the fog was too dense to let much light in. Maybe that's why people went mad, they couldn't handle the silence. It made your skin prickle, your hairs stand on end, nervous glances around to make sure you were truly alone.
The silence was not friendly to those with an active imagination. Convincing himself things were there, when they weren't. He was certain he kept seeing eyes, but when he looked closer there was never anything there. Finally he decided it was time to go back, he couldn't take it any longer.
But as he turned around, certain on the path he needed to take back, he found himself face to face with glowing purple eyes. Startled, he shrieked in shock and fell back.. and then down. And down. And down some more. This must be a nightmare, there wasn't a hole there a minute ago! He couldn't possibly be falling still.
Just as he was about to try and wake himself up, he hit the ground. Except.. the ground was bouncy. And.. sticky? Confused, Roman tried to sit up, only to find he couldn't. He was stuck. The ground wasn't just sticky. It encompassed his whole body, constricting his movements. It was too dark to see where he was, what he was trapped in.
He was terrified. That was what led to his current position, struggling had simply encased his arms and legs in more of the sticky stuff, and that damned silence wasn't doing anything to help his nerves. His heavy breathing echoed uncomfortably in the space.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to make a new friend, maybe pick some magical flowers, or find a secret town that he'd finally feel happy in. He wasn't supposed to be trapped in some weird sticky net, terrified for his life. That was when he heard it.
A strange, scraping noise. It cut through the haze of annoyance in his mind, dousing him in cold fear. After being in silence for so long, now he knew. He wasn't alone. He struggled harder, trying to get free of his sticky prison.
A distinctly amused hiss had him freezing up once more. "Well now, what do I have here... a little human wandered into my web, hm? What are you doing so far from home, little one? Haven't you heard the stories and warnings about this place?"
Roman whimpered quietly, he didn't think he'd ever been this scared in his whole life. The way the other moved, a sort of scuttle it sounded like, the use of the word 'web' paired with the sticky material coating and clinging to his skin, and hissing... he must be in a spider's web.
Normally, Roman wasn't too scared of the creepy arachnids. But this.. thing, must have been huge! It sounded bigger than a horse, definitely bigger than a man. "I- I was just-" His mind scrambled for an excuse that would maybe convince the creature to let him go.
"I was just looking for something?" He tried tentatively. The creature chuckled darkly. "I bet you were. Didn't your mummy ever tell you that curiosity killed the fleshling?"
Roman's face paled, he could practically feel the others sharp grin in the dark. "Tell me human, do you know what I am?" The creature brushed against Roman's leg and he nearly passed out then and there, those glowing eyes now revealed to him again. "A spider?" He whispered, closing his eyes and bracing himself for sharp pincers to bite him.
"Bingo." The creature's breath fanned over his face, way too fucking close for comfort. Against his better judgment, he opened his eyes, being met with the unnatural purple of the others right in front of him. He couldn't help but be entranced by their dark beauty. They swirled with danger, promises of pain and death.
"I'll ask again, if you knew of the danger, why come here? Your loved ones will surely mourn your loss." The creature's tone was complex, it was curious but sarcastic, almost condescending. Roman bit his lip. No point in lying if he was going to die anyways.
"I have no one to mourn me."
"Then what, you came here hoping to be killed?"
"No, but it wouldn't matter if I was."
"You say you have no one to mourn your death, but why did you come then, if not to be killed?" The creature was growing annoyed with the word play.
"I was lonely. I have no one in my life to love or mourn. I did not want to die, but it wouldn't matter if I did. So I came here, hoping to find something more than what my life was."
His answer was met with silence, those glowing eyes came back into his field of vision but this time there was something else there. Among the warnings of danger, was understanding. He was certain of it. "Aren't you lonely too? In this dark room, and the too silent forest?" He cautiously asked.
"This is my home, I know nothing else, so I cannot miss having more." His answer was vague, and Roman frowned a little. "But you can mourn a life you never got to live."
"I grow weary of your word games." The man snapped. "Unfortunately, I am not hungry now. So I think I'll release you and save you to hunt down later.. I'm feeling rather generous, perhaps I'll even give you a day's head start."
He was.. being let go? It was almost like the other was giving him a free pass, a one time offer. Go and don't look back, or you'll be met with death. Roman said nothing, he'd take that chance.
He felt rough hands grab hold of him, pulling him out of the sticky binds. He held still, not wanting to try the others' patience. He was jolted a little, being held against what he assumed to be the man's chest, as they moved upwards.
After several tense moments of silence he began to be able to see the opening in the ground, it was a sort of unspoken warning that kept him from looking curiously at the man holding him.
He was tossed up onto the ground out of the dark hole. "Run, little one. And know that I'm not far behind." The creature hissed, disappearing back into the dark.
So Roman ran, he ran right back the way he came and didn't stop once to investigate the things he saw. He made it out of the treeline just as the sun was beginning to set. Good.. he had a feeling he didn't want to be there past dark.
Roman made his way back to his small home, looking around at the space that felt so lonely, and decided to make a change. He sat down at his kitchen table and dialed a number he hadn't used in a long time.
"Yello, Remus' bar and mortuary, you kill em we grill em, what's pulling on your tities today?" Roman couldn't help but laugh at the weird way his brother answered the phone. "Hey Re. It's been awhile.."
.
.
.
Roman glanced around one last time. His brother's car was just over the hill, packed with all his things and ready to go. He'd already sold the house and cleaned it out. His new life was just minutes away.. but there was someone he needed to thank first.
He clutched the basket tighter in his hands, stepping into the tree line. He walked a short way, aware of the eyes watching him. He set the basket down on a tree stump, and placed a little card on top. He stood, brushing himself off. "I'm leaving now, I just wanted to thank you. I've.. I've reached out to someone who used to mean a lot to me. I doubt I'll be coming back." He knew the other was listening.
"I hope you find someone to make you less lonely too.." He looked up, glancing over to where he knew the man was hiding, catching a glimpse of purple. "Goodbye.." He turned and left, and the other didn't follow.