Phoenixian Tales

There You Are, Laurel

A Halloween Story
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October 30th, 2016. A warm autumn day, with the sun shining through the gold and crimson leaves that were still hanging on the trees, as if they had caught fire. A cool breeze rushed past Phoenix, Sarah, Alex, and Arian, as they walked together to the edge of the forest.

Phoenix and Alex were taking part in a small Halloween Challenge, that some of the older teens in the town had set up. It was rumored among the people in their small seaside town of Turquoise Valley, New Jersey, that a strange monster lurked in the forest nearby, coming out once every year, during Halloween season, to prey on its favorite food: children who happened to get lost in the forest. The kids in the town spent much of their time outdoors, roaming the streets, and playing on the beach. But the days before Halloween, there was no one outside. 7 years before, a small 5-year-old girl had wandered into the forest, chasing a squirrel. She was never seen again. Her father had gone looking for her, and also disappeared. But a week later, he came back with a scratched-up face and haggard clothing, purple bruises all over his body. He claimed a shadow monster had eaten his daughter, and that he had barely escaped. After that, few ever went back in during Halloween season. Until now.

Alex was quite a daredevil; so she obviously wanted in. She thought that the Ghost story was just that: a story, and it was all a hoax. Phoenix was curious, and decided to go with her, to see if there was anything actually wrong with the forest. Their task was to enter the stretch of forest, and exit through the other side the following day, unharmed.

"Ready to get eaten by a scary monster?" Alex asked teasingly as they prepared to enter the forest. She is always so lighthearted, thought Phoenix. I don't think she realizes that somebody actually died here.

"You bet!" he replied back jokingly.

Alex gave him a friendly punch in the arm, and the siren went off, and they ran into the forest. Suddenly, Phoenix saw a shimmering red membrane of air covering the forest, but he and Alex ran straight through it. They continued running for a few more minutes, and then Alex stopped. "I think we are far enough now," and she released her wings.

Or at least, tried to. Her Dust Wings, made of a magical dust, which usually shone brilliantly across her back, now gave only a faint glimmer, before disappearing entirely. Phoenix's Feathered Wings were material, but were paralyzed, and refused to unfurl themselves. Then Phoenix remembered the membrane. "I saw a Red Membrane. Our powers won't work here, and neither do our wings," he sighed. "I think we should stick together."

Suddenly Alex grew rigid. Her usual calm, knowing grey eyes shifted to red, and then yellow. "No!" she screamed, and she took off toward the entrance of the forest. Phoenix had heard of this before. The other teenage daredevils who had gone into the forest years earlier had come out, screaming about their friends' eyes turning yellow. Phoenix remained calm, however, and continued into the forest.

About an hour later, according to Phoenix's watch, after he had set up camp and had went looking for some berries for food, he saw something peculiar. A shadow, out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face it, and it whispered, "Laurel...", in a creepy echoing voice "Laurel..." "Laurel...". Then he saw a glint of metal coming out of its hand, and he ran back to his camp. He found it desolate, the fire now dead, and the tent he had set up blown down.

He found his orb still glowing a cool iridescent hue underneath the pitch-black coals. He had used it to start the fire because somehow, some of its magic still worked. Normally, it could change into the Phoenixian Scepter, a powerful magical item that was Phoenix's signature weapon in the Magical and Haunted Environments. But now, it was trapped in its dormant state, as a tiny glowing ball. The Light Elf King told him it would ward off evil creatures when held up toward them, when he had gone to the land of Mainja less than a year before. Now, he felt, he would need it.

Several hours into the night, Phoenix awoke to the same haunting cry. "Laurel..." "Laurel..." "Laurel..." And something clicked in his mind. A brief vision, or memory, from a time long ago. He saw his brother looking for him, in a game of hide-n-seek. A little girl, probably a year younger than himself, was crouched down next to him. Laurel.

Then he was back, and the shadow was almost upon him. He quickly held up the orb, closed his eyes, and shouted, "Down, demon!" He heard a piercing shriek, and nimble footsteps running away. When he opened his eyes, the creature was gone. But then he heard something. Something that was not normal for the banishing of Shadows.

Phoenix heard sobbing, coming from far away. He remembered of how the Soul Eaters kept the souls of their captured trapped within them. He guessed the sobs were from the little girl 7 years ago, and he realized, that the shadow which had been stalking him, was a Soul Eater. He grew frantic, but then remembered that the best way to calm a soul and hide it from the Soul Eaters, was deep sleep. And so he slept.

The next morning he arose, and quickly set off through the forest. When he had traveled so far as to see the light of the plains beyond the forest, the place where he was supposed to go, he heard nimble footsteps, just like the last night, but this time, approaching him. He quickly crouched behind a tree, and watched. But there was no Soul Eater. It was a girl.

A girl, about his age, dressed in rags and foliage, was the shadow he had seen. She was the one chanting "Laurel" over and over. She was the one who had sobbed.

He rose slowly, but stepped on a twig. The girl looked straight him, with piercing ice-green eyes that would feel freezing anywhere else, but somehow, felt warm, and comforting. This girl, I know her, remembered Phoenix. Then, everything clicked in his mind. This girl, was Laurel, a childhood friend. She was the girl who had disappeared into the forest long ago. She had survived.

"Laurel!" he cried. She was shocked at first, but then she looked into his eyes, and he could tell that she remembered too. A smile broke out across her face.

"Phoenix!"

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Later, as they were walking through the forest, toward the exit facing the plains, a strange thought occurred to Phoenix. "Hey, Laurel? Why were you chanting your name over and over again in the middle of the night?"

"What do you mean? I never did that," replied Laurel, obviously perplexed.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you weren't the one repeating 'Laurel...' over and over last night? And holding a blade in the hand?" Phoenix asked. Suddenly, he realized that something was terribly wrong. A shadow was cast over them, and a creepy, almost whispering voice appeared behind them.

"Laurel..."

"Laurel..."

"Laurel..."

"There you are!"