Darkly Wood

by Power, Max

  The questions that became the stuff of Cranby gossip and family shame, were the questions speculated upon in national newspapers, on street corners and in school playgrounds, at least until the story became cold. Only then did the questions stop. Only then did people move on. That is of course, with the exception of her family for whom answers never came. It never stopped for them.

  The most important question certainly, was why? Why did a girl so young, with so much to live for, commit such a horrid deed? What could have driven her to contemplate suicide? In the wake of her death, there was much hurt for the family as false assumptions and accusations were quietly made, by the type of people who make such assertions. Many believed it was something inherently wrong within the family and the quiet, finger pointing, curtain twitching innuendo, quickly became too much for her family to bear.

  The no smoke without fire theory was frequently applied, as people sought to assign blame to the most obvious culprits in their eyes, the family. For their part, they never recovered and Elaine’s mother died, many say of a broken heart just eighteen months later. Her death was sudden and unexpected for a woman so young. It rekindled much of the gossip and with Edward away in college, Rebecca, his remaining sibling, couldn’t bear the pain. She departed town to live with her aunt, leaving a desolate Eddie alone to remember his lost daughter. He resides there today, a quiet and tragic man. He still keeps himself to himself, even more so, and he never smiles.

  But what did happen to cause Elaine to kill herself? Only one person truly knew. Elaine. She took off that day, just like any other day on her usual walk up towards Darkly Wood and as she departed, there was nothing to separate that day from any other. No one actually saw her leave the house but that wasn’t unusual. She didn’t say goodbye rather she just shouted, ‘I’m going out’ as she closed the front door behind her. Again there was nothing out of the ordinary about that, although her mother remembered her last words clearly. She remembered hearing them, she remembered not bothering to acknowledge them and she remembered not seeing her one more time before she died.

  By the time Elaine arrived at the edge of the Wood, the sun was shining and she had solved a problem that had been bothering her about one of her short stories. She had resolved to make one particular character the villain of her latest piece, only to discover that she had grown to really rather like him. Sometimes it happened that way. It meant that she had to reconsider the plot and in particular the ending. Such were her usual daily ponderings. But on the day in question something else happened.

  Elaine happened to glance into the Wood and there, standing just a few yards in and away from the glare of the sun, was a handsome fair haired young boy. It stopped her in her tracks. She stood perfectly still, enthralled by the boy’s beauty and he in return, stared back. Neither one moved for quite some time. Eventually, the boy did move, always keeping in the shade of the Wood and then, he stopped just inside the tree line.

  He looked just like the boy she had been imagining for her story. It was uncanny. He gestured to her by raising his right arm and dragging his finger through the air, as if to say, come closer. Elaine was completely drawn to the boy and stepped out of the sun towards the lad. She stopped right in front of him and studied his face. It was as though she had drawn him in her imagination. He was exactly like she had imagined and he filled her head completely. The boy placed his hands behind his back and leaned forward, as if to whisper to her and his lips moved but no sound came out.

  Elaine craned her neck but she couldn’t hear anything. Then quietly at first, she heard a different voice inside her own head. It was a strange voice and it was telling her the same story that she had just been thinking of. The voice got louder and louder, faster and faster. She looked at the boy, but he just stood there expressionless with his hands behind his back. The voice became agitated and louder still. It was an angry voice that started to shout her tale, sometimes stopping and repeating whole sentences over and over again.

  The voice in her head was relating her story, but he had got it wrong. It was twisted somehow and dark and frightening. The goodness in her main character had gone. The voice was twisting her words and thoughts. It was horrible, the things it said. The awful vile words that she would never use were screeching around inside her head and always getting louder and angrier and faster. They wouldn’t stop.

  Elaine clamped her hands over her ears to drown out the sound. It was hurting her more and more, but she couldn’t block it out and it just got worse and worse. She wanted to run, to scream, to hide, but she couldn’t move. Elaine felt rooted to the spot. She looked back at the boy and something strange happened. He released his hands from behind his back and held them out to her. Lying neatly across his forearms when she looked down was a thick length of rope. It was tied with a large knot to create a noose at the end

  Elaine looked at the boy and his eyes seemed to dance. They were urging her to take the rope.

  “Take the rope!”

  She let go of her ears and without knowing why, she took hold of the end of the thick rope. The boy let her have it and his face broke out into a beautiful smile. In that instant, just for the barest of moments, the voices eased just a tad and Elaine knew what she must do. She returned his smile, took the rope and followed him as he walked a few more yards into Darkly Wood.

  No one ever saw Elaine again until they cut her down from the tree. No one ever understood what had happened to drive her to such an horrific end. It was a terrible tragedy that kept on spreading as it later affected the rest of her family, each being visited with their own demons as a result.

  Speculation is one thing, but it is such a selfish, pernicious, nasty thing. Gossip and rumour knew nothing of the truth. But then again, when does it ever. People wondered about the rope and where she got from it. They wondered how she managed to tie the rope to the tree and form the hang-man’s knot so perfectly. Some wondered, though they had no right or reason, if there hadn’t been something deeply wrong in that house. They wondered and speculated, gossiped and rumoured, guessed and quite literally in some cases, simply made up their own version of the truth. But no one knew exactly what happened. No one that is, except for Elaine and the young boy who brought her the rope. He knew why she had killed herself. Oh yes, Woody knew exactly why.

  CHAPTER TWENTY NINE - REUNITED

  For what seemed an age, Daisy simply stood there. She daren’t move. Woody looked just like he had when she had first seen him. He was a slight young boy with a handsome face, a shock of hair that gave him an impish look and he even carried a slight smile on his lips. Woody didn’t move though and apart from the barest of smiles that was suggested by his odd lips, he made no other expression or gesture. They were standing very close to each other.

  Eventually, when Daisy had got over the initial shock of his arrival, she was able to engage her brain again. Very slowly so as not to startle or alarm Woody, she stepped back a pace to get a better view at him. Daisy examined him, up and down, from head to toe and back. He looked like a poor street urchin, shoeless in tattered clothes, dirty face and hands. Woody looked quite harmless. But Daisy May knew better than to believe that. She had already seen what lay beneath that outer layer and it frightened her more than anything had ever done before.

  A familiar voice called her name through the air again and it surprised Daisy. It took her focus away from the potential threat that Woody posed. She looked around to try and discover if she could see where it came from. Woody heard it too and the smile disappeared from his face. It broke the trance and Daisy took another step back, away from Woody. She looked at him again and noticed the smile had slid from his lips. They looked cruel without that faint upward curl.

  “Who are you?”

  Daisy saw no reason not to risk the question. After all, how could things get any worse? Her question brought a reaction, though not an answer from Woody. He cocked his head as if he was listening carefully to her voice, trying to hear something clearer. She repeated her
question.

  “Who are you?”

  She tried once more, although this time with a little more confidence in her voice, and she stood as tall as she could.

  “Whooo are you?” was the strange echoed response from Woody.

  His voice was cracked and high-pitched and soft, like a child’s voice. There was a strange affectation in his voice, whereby he tended to drag out his words. Somewhere in the mix there was a lispy hissing sound. He seemed to be mimicking her. He cocked his head.

  “What do you want with me?” Daisy asked the boy, afraid but determined to bring her situation to a resolution. Again he copied her.

  “What doooo you want with meeeeeh?”

  But this time he chuckled a little at the end of the question, as though he found the sound of the words amusing.

  All the time he studied Daisy and began to develop a slight smile again as he spoke. The non-responsive repetition of her words irritated Daisy and she moved from her spot, slowly circling Woody studying both him and her surroundings. Daisy was not stupid. She knew that this boy, this creature, this thing, was dangerous and she wanted to make sure that she had an escape route for when he turned nasty. She felt he surely would, so as she circled him, more like predator than prey, Daisy also looked left and right for a way out. But the Wood once again seemed to have closed around them forming a large impenetrable circle of trees.

  As she moved, Woody moved also, but he stayed on the spot, seemingly amused by her actions, not in any way threatened or worried that she might escape. The clearing was broad, definitely the most open space Daisy had seen in Darkly Wood, but it was completely closed off. Once again the way in or out of the clearing, simply seemed to merge into the background and Daisy was trapped. When she had walked around Woody in a complete circle she stopped. He didn’t say a word. All he did was watch her. Despite his previous incarnations, this Woody appeared to be benign. Daisy turned her back on him, a conscious decision as if to prove she was not frightened and walked slowly towards the centre of the clearing. It was a terrifying gamble, but Daisy took the risk.

  Beneath her feet was a layer of damp leaves and underneath that, the ground felt soft. When she reached the middle of the clearing, Daisy spun around sharply to face Woody. But her jaw dropped when she realised he had vanished. She turned quickly to look behind her and nearly screamed when she discovered that Woody was not two feet away, leaning towards her as if sniffing her scent. Somehow he had crept up behind her. It seemed impossible, but much about Darkly Wood seemed impossible.

  “What the..” she exclaimed in fright, barely containing her impulse to scream and Woody in reply, repeated her words just like before, this time his voice a little stronger.

  “What the…”

  It was irritating but Daisy began to pick up on what he was doing.

  “Woody” She said simply and as expected he responded with the same word.

  “Woooodeee”

  His pronunciation was a little odd and quite childish.

  “Abadaba dabadaba bibbidy bobbed boo.”

  She tried, mocking him intentionally and he cocked his head curiously to the side as though confused. He didn’t repeat the words. She tried again.

  “Abadaba dabadaba bibbidy bobbed boo.”

  She enjoyed trying to make a fool out of him. It gave Daisy the tiniest sense of power.

  Woody stared at her and then stepped back a couple of paces. He looked up and in the process, revealed his neck. It was grotesque. He had the face of a boy, but his neck was crumpled and withered like an old man’s neck. He scanned the branches above his head and waved in their general direction with his hand.

  “Treeees!” he hissed and the sound of the word quite startled Daisy May.

  “Trees” she found herself responding quite unexpectedly, verifying that he had got the word right.

  Woody looked at her again and smiled. His face looked different. He was still the boy, but underneath, just barely below the surface, there was a tension in his appearance. There was a dark cloud in him, threatening to burst. He raised his arms at the elbows and held them out before him, hands facing palms down. Woody looked like he was about to play the piano. Then he wiggled all of his filthy long fingers in Daisy’s direction clearly referring to her.

  “Girrrrrrrrl!” he gurgled, again taking Daisy May by surprise, but the next words he spoke shocked her even more.

  “Daiseee Mayeeee!” and he absolutely chortled, clearly delighted with himself.

  Daisy May was completely taken by surprise. The boy or thing, whatever it was, could not only speak, but it knew her name.

  “Yes,” she replied, “I’m Daisy May,” then slyly, “who are you?” and she pointed at Woody, wiggling her fingers cheekily just as he had in her direction moments earlier.

  Woody stopped smiling and cocked his head in a curious manner again. He seemed to be thinking. He rubbed the flat palm of his hand vigorously against the tip of his nose then placed it over his mouth, all the time never once taking his eyes from Daisy May. He rubbed his chin.

  But then something startled Woody and he whipped his head to his left, then to his right. He had heard something and his odd appearance became darker still. A large thick vein began to protrude across the centre of his forehead and down along his temple and his skin paled. Woody looked angry and the anger made him ugly from the inside out. Daisy couldn’t hear whatever it was that caught his attention, but she spun around, looking where he looked, searching the tree line to see what it could be that had distracted him. She couldn’t see anything. Woody was clearly anxious and adopted a slightly crouched stance, as though getting ready for something. Then she heard it. It was a voice calling her name.

  She had heard her name being called so many times in this forest, sometimes shouted, sometimes just a whisper on the breeze, but most of the time Daisy couldn’t quite recognise the voice. This voice she knew.

  “Daisy May!” it called and there was no mistaking it now as the owner clearly drew nearer.

  “Benjamin?” Daisy called back, barely believing it could be him.

  “Benjamin, I’m here!” she called loudly and Woody hissed at the sound of his name.

  The sound made her turn in the direction of Woody. He looked horrible. Once again he seemed to be changing before her very eyes. His back arched and bent slightly and his hair seemed thinner. It was as though a transformation of sorts was taking place right in front of her, yet she couldn’t see it happening exactly. Each change was tiny and subtle. His eyes were slightly wider, he stooped his bent back just a little bit more, his fingernails edged out a fraction longer, his hair thinned almost imperceptibly and beneath his darkening lips, his teeth became sharper. Daisy felt that if she turned away for ten seconds and looked back again, she would see a different Woody, she was sure of that. But it felt as though she was imagining the changes when she looked directly at him. He was like a shape shifting cloud, transforming before her very eyes. He backed away across the clearing as Benjamin’s voice got closer.

  “Daisy May!” Benjamin called again and it sounded like he was almost on top of them now.

  She turned to the sound of his voice and as if by magic, Benjamin emerged from the tree line almost straight in front of her. It looked like an impenetrable patch of trees, but clearly in the shadows of the brush, there was a way through. Her relief was indescribable. She ran straight to him, perhaps faster than she had ever run before and he opened his arms to receive her.

  Daisy May grabbed him and he wrapped her up with his long safe arms, holding her tight, rocking her as she buried her face in his shoulder. She burst out crying without any sense of control the minute he held her. The relief was huge and then she looked up at her Benjamin. He was smiling down at her and the sky above, hidden from them by the curving trees overhead seemed to lighten. For just a moment he looked so much better. Benjamin held her tight still and she could feel his strength. Gone was his weak, sickly appearance and in its place, she was being held by th
e strong handsome boy that she had begun her journey with.

  Benjamin put Daisy down and let her go for a moment. He raised his hands up to cup her face. Then quite unexpectedly, he kissed her on the lips. It was the softest and lightest of touches. A gentle kiss with just enough pressure to be felt and Daisy basked in the delight of her first kiss. It was everything she had imagined and more. The world stopped and she closed her eyes, only opening them when he slowly pulled away. Then she opened her eyes and the world began again as Daisy remembered where they were and more importantly, she remembered Woody.

  She looked up at Benjamin who was staring back at her with his gentle eyes. He looked away over her shoulder and she knew that he was looking at Woody. Daisy looked over her shoulder too, the terrible reality of the real world stamping back in all over her special moment and she could see he was still there.

  Woody was all the way across at the far side of the clearing and he was now completely transformed into the vile black hearted creature that had attacked them in the night. It sent a shiver down her spine. The creature was crouched as though ready to pounce, to spring forward and attack. Benjamin pulled Daisy May to the side and then stepped forward to stand slightly in front of her. In that moment he had at last become her protector, her hero.

  Woody hissed and snarled and slashed at the air with one of his long horrible pointy nailed hands. He was wild and angry. Benjamin’s arrival had completely thrown the creature. It was as though Woody was afraid of him. But Daisy knew that he wasn’t afraid. Benjamin knew it too. He wasn’t afraid, but there was something wrong, that was clear. Benjamin stood to his full height, legs slightly apart, ready to meet the beast when it attacked.