The Other Side Of The Mirror ✔

Part Two

The rising sun sent a hazy orange glow through the dying trees. The light reflected off the fallen leaves that covered the forest floor like a brown and orange carpet. The occasional cloud covered up the bright orb in the sky, sending the forest into semi-darkness. With the clouds gone the shadows stretched like monsters looming over their prey.

It was the light that woke Eli from his fitful sleep, the rays shining on half his face and in one eye. He groaned, trying to twist away from it, forgetting where he was. He flailed his arms about when he realised there was nothing under one of his legs, feeling for anything to grab a hold of so he didn't fall from the tree.

He braced a palm on the trunk, using it to push himself back into a sitting position on the branch of the tree. He was surprised he hadn't fallen from it in his sleep, it wasn't exactly wide enough to hold him. He groaned again as he looked around, both in pain and fear. He had been hoping it was all a dream and he would wake up back in his bed at home. That obviously wasn't the case.

He hadn't slept well, probably the worst he'd had in his life, and he was not one for exaggeration. Every time he closed his eyes he was haunted by images of the two men who attacked him, of them catching him. Images of him not escaping his room like he had, of being stabbed and cut and having limbs sliced off easily like a knife through butter. And always in the background was that face, his face, staring at him with that shark-like grin as he bled.

Eli shivered, cold despite the warm morning light, wrapping his arms around himself. He hissed as his injured hand brushed against the fabric of his jacket. He had completely forgotten about the deep cut. Looking at it, he couldn't tell if it was worse than it had been the night before. There was still a lot of blood and dirt on his hand, but when he gently brushed it away he could see the redness surrounding the wound.

Not knowing what that meant, but knowing that it couldn't be good, Eli climbed gently down from the tree, wary of his arm and opposite hand. He would have to find someone who could help him fix his hand and help him get home.

He trudged slowly through the woods, kicking up fallen leaves and sticks. While to most it might seem a little brighter and less dangerous, Eli was even more terrified than he had been the night before.

It was his first chance to actually see where he had ended up, and it wasn't pretty.

He had never seen a forest as dead as the one he was in now. Barely any of the trees held leaves, most being on the forest floor, crumpled and brown. His first instinct was to make the excuse that it was autumn wherever he was, but looking at the trees themselves told him otherwise. They looked like shrivelled husks, like they had been burned, but not the white-grey colour of burnt tree he was used to seeing. No, these were completely black, as if the life had been sucked out of them.

It made him uneasy, a heavy feeling sitting in his stomach that made him nauseous. The pitch black branches of the trees he passed reached out like skeletons begging for help. He shivered again, more from fear and uneasiness than the cold.

The thin skeleton-like trees certainly wouldn't provide sufficient cover if he were to run into the two men again. It was something he doubted, as it had been a few hours since he first climbed the semi-healthy tree to safety, but he couldn't be completely sure. They could have been wandering the woods all night in search of him. He could walk right into them any minute.

His dirtied grey sneakers caught on a root, making him stumble and nearly collide with a tree. His legs were weak, arms shaking, stomach rumbling and head pounding. He needed to find people, and quickly. Although looking at his whereabouts it didn't seem like that would happen any time soon. No one could live in a place as lifeless as these woods.