Records of the Forest (Completed)

Haider and Jack

"So," Rowan breathed. "Ian wasn't killed after all. He left on his own."

"Rowan..." Anne whispered. "We just solved a mystery that's been plaguing the town for nearly half a century. And you haven't even finished lunch yet."

Rowan put her sandwich down on a plastic bag, carefully putting the final reel in the pouch and zipping the whole thing up. They had moved to the treehouse about an hour ago, with Anne's mom making them grilled cheese sandwiches. Rowan appreciated the gesture. "So, what's the plan now? Do we go to our parents? The police? The press?"

"No way!" Anne said in disbelief. "At least, not yet. You said it yourself, something's watching us now. There was to be something in these recordings we can use against it."

"Makes sense." She leaned back on the musty treetrunk. The two girls contented themselves with finishing their lunches. It was only after that Rowan finally asked the question both of them had been thinking of. "Do you think he... he could, ya know, still be out here?"

Anne, slowly, shook her head no. "Ian?...If he was we would have heard something by now. He's long gone. Probably starved or got eaten or something."

"What happy thoughts," Rowan retorted. "But I guess you're right. I just can't shake the feeling that Ian's disappearance has something to do with what's going on with us. I can just feel the connection." She sighed, bundling up her trash into a ball and shoving it into her hoodie pocket, but not before taking out the leftover crust. "For the crows," she explained at Anne's bizarre look.

"Why do you even feed them?"

"The crows? I don't really know why. It just sounded sad the first time I saw it." Rowan placed the crust on the remnants of the windowsill. And if on cue, the crow arrived, cawed once, and happily ate the bread. She smiled happily at it. "But I guess," she snapped herself out. "We should probably figure out who left the recordings in my room to begin with." Both girls sat in silence, thinking.

"Well, that one is easy enough," said an unfamiliar voice.

Both girls sqeaked in surprise. Turning to face the door, they were greeted by a small boy. Too small for the voice they just heard. And his face was to stiff and smooth. Like a doll's.

"Wait," Rowan breathed. "Are you-?"

"Raymee," he interrupted. "Yes, I am Jack." He moved up to them, and Rowan finally grasped how small he was. Both of them were sitting yet he was barely as tall as they were. He moved with an windlike sway. But the thing that caught Rowan's attention was that while his face was a doll, albeit cracked, the rest of his body -the parts not covered with clothing- seemed to be made out of a twist of branches and plants. "I do apologize for the deception." he said with an urgency in his tone. "But I had to be careful. Certainty was required in this instance. By now you must understand why."

"Yes," Anne confirmed boldly.

"With what happened to Ian..." Rowan sighed softly.

"But we mustn't linger here-" Jack paused, glaring at the crow in the window. It stared back then, crowing sadly, and flew away toward the town square. "Last night drained him, to be sure, but not for long. He has grown strong."

"Who?" Both girls asked.

"The Shadow's most powerful agent to ever exist in our world. The Dieserair."

"Is that the thing that attacked us last night?" Anne asked excitedly.

"Yes, um, no," Jack corrected himself. "I apologize, it's hard for me to word these things. The creatures that came to you last night, that hurt you, were him. But they were not him, per say. They were copies of his own will projected through the surrounding foliage."