Chapter 26 - Nightmarish Woods

Fallon isn't going to give up here.

He glares and glares at his captor, not letting him have the satisfaction of seeing his frightened expression even though that is all he secretly is at that moment. This isn't the first time he's been in this kind of situation. However, no one had really gotten this close to their goal before – no one had ever so much as touched a strand of hair on him.

That is why Fallon is betting that the assailant this time is out of the ordinary – an elite, perhaps.

'Considering that he hasn't killed me yet, there must still be something he wants to do aside from seizing me. Maybe he's planning to hand me over to his boss or ask my family for some huge ransom. Either way, at least, I've been kept alive. There's still a chance to escape,' he thought as he continued to struggle to break free from his kidnapper's grip.

His efforts had been all for naught in the end, though. 

Eventually, he was brought inside what he was sure was a car that had been pulled over beside the road just outside of the gate. It's pitch dark in the back seat, but it's spacious enough for him to roll around. Yet, right when he thought that the place would be convenient for his escape, he was suddenly restrained.

His mouth had been covered with duct tape while his wrists had been tied together with a rope. 

"Now, wait there for a little bit longer, okay? If you don't want to get hurt, you ought to obey everything I say," the man warned, giving him a taunting look before slamming the car door shut and heading for the driver's seat.   

Fallon tries to stay calm, hoping that help will finally arrive. 

He then saw his captor come to a sudden still right before he opened the door to the front seat. Something has caught his attention. He failed to make out what it was, but when he saw the man turn around and walk away, he realized that it was coming from across the street. Then, he heard something slamming from behind the vehicle.

'Huh? What was that?'

Fallon never got to learn the answer to that.

---

A road. A forest. A cottage.

It was an hour-long ride. As the night got deeper, the car drove further. It went past block after block and street after street – mile after mile. That's until all there was to find was a road in the middle of the woods.

By then, Fallon lost all hope.

"You awake, kid? Get up. We're leaving," were the first words he heard after a long moment of silence.

Dread filled the pit of his stomach, then. His fears resurged in full blow. But all he could do at that point was follow. So, he stepped out of the car and let himself get dragged away again.

He pales as soon as he sees where he is being taken to – a forest. It took several minutes of treading the rocky pathway before a wooden cottage appeared in sight. There, he was met with what he thought was a calm before the storm. 

The place looks relatively empty and tidy. Other than the walls, the floorboards, and the glass window at the side, nothing else is there. It's just one small, four-cornered room. 

"Stay here. Don't do anything funny. I'll come back," his kidnapper ordered before walking back outside and leaving him behind – not without locking the door first. 

Fallon would have been more relieved if he was no longer restrained. 

His arms are still bound together, though his mouth is no longer duct-taped. He went on to search around for something sharp to cut the rope off. But because there is really nothing to find there, he ends up considering one risky move – that is, breaking the window and using the glass shards to do the trick.

'If I do that, I'll make a noise. Unless that creep is somewhere far from the cottage, it will probably be alright. But if that's not the case, I'll get in trouble for sure,' he thought as he approached the window and stared at it in contemplation.         

Then, all of the sudden, Fallon heard a knock coming from outside the window.

He froze, taken aback. While he knows that looking out there is what he should do, he remembers that he is locked up in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, which he has just realized is a common setting for horror-thriller movies. Not to mention, the surrounding is really, really dark – another horror-thriller element he should be wary of. It's like all there's left now is some suspenseful background music before a jump scare comes in. 

But Fallon won't have any of that.

'Oh, come on, I've been chased around by a creep all night. What's the worst that could happen…?' he told himself, trying to keep his cool until he heard another knock.

'Okay, that's it, you… you forest monster or something. I'm not in the mood to play right now-"     

Out of nowhere, the forest monster appeared –

Taking the appearance of a certain cousin of his.

He lets out a girlish screech when Lady suddenly shows up. His eyes blew wide open while his feet staggered back for a few steps. Then, for the next seconds to come, Fallon can only stand there in shell-shocked silence.

"Hi, hi! You okay?!" she mouthed from behind the window, waving and beaming at him like it was completely normal in this situation.

"The heck are you doing?!" he shouted, entirely forgetting that he should not be making any noise.

"Saving your ass. Isn't that obvious?"

"Who's with you?!"

"Oh, about that, ummm… Let's talk later. For now, we've got to get you out of there while that man's still not around. Can you open the window?"

"No. There's a padlock."

"Thought so. I need to do this after all."

"Huh? Do what?"

Fallon makes his way back to the window to take a look at what Lady has with her.

That's when he saw her bending down and lifting a rock – one that's a lot bigger than her fist. His eye twitches. He doesn't need to ask to know where this is going.

"You might catch that man's attention, you know," Fallon deadpanned with a skeptic look.

"That's why we have to do it fast! Once I break this thing, jump out!" Lady instructed.

"Hey, it's not as easy as it sounds. Let's think this through. I might get hurt from all the-"

"Move back!"

And she threw the rock.

He felt like having a meltdown when he heard the glass shatter into broken pieces. Though he did consider this idea at first, he now thinks that it's a bad one. Very bad. It ended up making a louder sound than he would have wanted it to – and, to his annoyance, she didn't seem like she cared at all.

"Okay! Well done, me! Now, get out!" she beamed with her chest puffed out and her hands on her hips, looking quite proud of herself. 

"Why, thanks. You really didn't have to," he muttered flatly, unamused.

"Oh, are you tied up? Come here. I'll get rid of that."

Lady reached out and grabbed his shoulders to turn him around. She then stilled when she saw bruises. Her gaze darkened at the sight. Fallon stayed put all the while, giving her time to untie the rope around his wrists.   

Once it came off, he immediately spun back around and put his foot on top of the windowsill. She backed away to give him space to jump onto. But then, right before he could do just that, he heard the door getting unlocked in a haste.

"Shit! He's here!" Lady cursed out loud, and if it wasn't for what's happening, Fallon would have been caught off guard. 

He got out of the cottage at the same time his captor got in.

Confounded, he let out a gasp. He then hissed underneath his breath once he fully took in the emptiness of the room. With furrowed brows, he rushed to the broken window and took a look outside – only to find a little girl with a pile of rocks in her hand. 

"How dare you hurt a poor child, you bastard?! Take this!" Lady exclaimed in anger as she began to throw rocks at him in an inexhaustible momentum that was not at all expected from a kid her age. 

"Moron! We should be going already!" Fallon snapped, grabbing a hold on her wrist and dragging her out of there as soon as he saw their assailant stumble backward and fall on the floor. 

"Can't you see I'm avenging your ungrateful butt?!"

"Save your revenge for later! We're not in the clear yet!"

"But I've still got more rocks with me-"

"Put 'em down! Fleeing is our top priority!"

"They'll be useful as weapons, though-"

"And they're making it hard for you to run faster, don't they?!"

"Well… okay. You don't have to get mad. Geez."   

With that, Lady let go of her collection of rocks and allowed Fallon to lead her away.