Records of the Forest (Completed)

Exam

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"Something's happened. I don't know what but... But I have a bad feeling about it. I haven't seen anything queer in over a week. I've checked out the gate in the backyard. It's closed, and has been. And for some reason I can't bring myself to just climb over the stone wall. It just feels wrong... No Shifters, no Carrot Brigade, no Jack. Not even at night. The only person remotely connected to this whole thing that I have seen is Haider. And he's been cagey. More than usual."

Ian adjusted the recorder onto his back. He had fashioned a sort of backpack to hold it so he could move freely. "So, I'm currently outside, at night, waiting to follow him. I really hope something happens soon, my feet are killing me. Haider, he's been pacing outside his store for about an hour now. Looks like he's waiting for someone. Or something."

Ian waited for several minutes, uncomfortably squatting and shifting from foot to foot. "Finally!" he whispered excitedly, standing. "Someone's coming! It looks like... Jack. Wonder what he's doing? I'm gonna circle around and get back closer."

Ian moved closer, hiding behind a dumpster. There, he could just barely make out what Haider and Jack were saying.

"Raymee, Haider," Jack said darkly.

"Raymee, Jack," Haider sighed back. "This is dangerous, Jack. We shouldn't be meeting like this. What if Ian were to see us?"

"I know the risks, Haider. But this is an issue we cannot avoid. The shadows are closing in and we still have no key-holder."

Haider scoffed quietly, crossing his arms and shifting from heel to toe. "I know it's quite the problem we've made for ourselves-"

"We?" Jack interrupted harshly. "No, Haider, this is your problem. You're the one who created this whole situation!"

"Ian's a good kid. Just... just give him another chance."

"I saw it in him, Haider. The darkness. The longing for revenge. He won't be able to resist what the shadows have to offer him. You said yourself he seemed eager to go with them in Alderwilt that night."

"He didn't know that's what was happening!" Haider began to pace and groaned into his hands. "Ugh..."

"I know you care for the boy," Jack moved up closer to Haider. "But he's not the one. He cannot have the Crow's Key. There will be another one, Haider, one who can see us and who is ready. It might take years, decades if we are lucky. And because of you, all we can do is hope the Shadows don't use their vessel until then."

"I believe they already have," Haider murmured. "They're the one who started all this for him."

"The boy trusts you. You must be the one to tell him you've made a mistake. He'll understand that he was just not meant for the role."

Ian stood up silently, face hooded over. And through the pounding of rage in his ears, he just barely heard Haider say, "I don't think he'll see it that way. I really, truly don't Jack."

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"Haider's been trying to talk to me, but I'm not going to listen... not after Friday night. It's been four days since. And nothing has happened. No Shifters, no Emerald Ash, no Jack. I even found that chipmunk Sanyotti from a while back ago, I think. It refused to talk to me so who even knows!"

Ian slammed his fist on the treehouse's wooden rail. "I feel like I've failed some exam I didn't even know I was taking. What do they expect me to do?! I've seen things, heard things, that I can't forget. How do they expect he to keep on living like this, ignored, hated?! I.. I need someone to listen to me. Not Haider, not dad."

He straightened up, a dark resolve in his voice. "I'll show this to everyone. They'll have to listen. They'll have to believe me."

"I'll never be invisible again."

And as he moved away the sounds of hundreds of wings, hundreds of chiming voices, seemed to follow him.

Waiting.

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