Sanders Sides Whumptober

Run Rabit, Run Rabit, Run Run Run...

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.