The Forest Spirit

Chapter One

A Childhood Trauma

“Are we on? Yeah? Ok”. Kailee shook her body out before starting.
“Hi everyone, my name is Kailee and this is my brother and cameraman for today, Louie”. Louie turned the camera to himself and waved excitedly before turning it back to Kailee. “For those who follow my blog you’ll be aware of my ex boyfriend Trevor, who mysteriously disappeared in these woods. After many messages from all of you I’ve come to realize these woods may not be just the simple bog they appear to be”.
Louie stuck a thumb up and put his phone down to end the recording. “Nicely done”.
Kailee shook her body out again. “I don’t know, it felt really forced, like I was reading off a script”.
Louie tilted his head at her and frowned. “You are reading off a script”.
She waved her hands in front of her to protest. “Oh no, I’m not saying it’s a bad script, I’m just saying the way I read it felt really robotic and rehearsed”. She took a drag from her e-pen. “I’ll just be happy when we start interviewing and take a walk around, I feel so much more comfortable when I can just make it up on the fly”.
Louie frowned at her again. “I thought you left that at home”. Pointing at the e-pen.
She looked down at the small glass pipe in her hand. “I was going to, I just…” She paused looking down and up at Louie. “No, you’re right, here take it. If I don’t have it, I can’t use it”. She held it out for him to take”.
He took it hesitantly but she didn’t fight as he slipped it into his back pocket. “After we get back you can have it, but you’ve got to quit, you know what the doctor said about your asthma, if you keep smo…”
Kailee interrupted him as she placed a hand over his mouth. “Yeah, yeah, I remember, I swear, when we get back, I’ll make a proper effort to quit. Promise”. She held her pinky out to him.
He paused for a moment then locked his pinky with hers. “Fine, but I’m telling mum if I see you with it again”.
She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. “tattle tale”.

They reached their first destination as the sun was rising, it was just on the outskirts of the town, the small house was weathered and beaten, the front garden a faded shade of yellow as the grass wilted, a broken pathway led to the rickety outer door, squeaking on its hinges in the wind.
“We are totally gonna die”. Louie said with barely a hint of sarcasm.
“What?” Kailee turned to him.
“This is literal murder slasher 1-0-1, creepy house, creepy town, creepy forest, I’m telling you now, if some dude wearing a mask and wielding a chainsaw runs out I’m gone”.
She put her hands on her hips and pouted. “And you’ll just leave me to the hands of a deranged cannibalistic psycho family?”
He stared at her unblinking for a few moments. “Yeah, damn straight”.
She rolled her eyes and continued up the broken path. “I’m telling mum you said that”. She called back.
His eyes widened as he chased her. “No, I was kidding… don’t tell mum”.
Kailee swung the outer door open and knocked loudly causing some of the crumbling paint to fall away. They both watched as it floated downwards.
“NOPE! I’m out”. He spun to turn back down the path as an older, strikingly beautiful woman answered the door, his eyes widening as she smiled brightly almost causing his jaw to drop.
“Hello, ah you must be Kailee and Louie”.
“Yes, this is my brother, can we come in?” Kailee asked politely.
“Of course, of course, I’ll make some tea”. The woman proceeded down the hallway, gesturing for them to follow. Louie shook his head in defiance until Kailee dragged him inside by his jacket.
The inside of the home was immaculate in comparison to the rotting exterior. Bright pastel colours lit up each room, two spacious armchairs sat either side of a large sofa. On the opposite a wall hung a huge flat screen TV.
“Holy shit!” Louie exclaimed as they entered the living room.
“Feel free to take a seat and make yourself at home”. The woman called through from the kitchen.
They both sat on the sofa, its soft cushions enveloping them.
“I take back what I said…I’m in”. He lent back and allowed the sofa to suck him in.
Kailee shook her head and laughed softly. “At least try to act professional”.
“Uh huh”. Was all he mustered as he closed his eyes, the cushions almost completely taking him.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I should have warned you that’s more like a bean bag then a seat”. The woman returned with 3 cups on a tray.
“Not…a…problem”. Louie exclaimed between deep relaxed breaths.
“Ignore him”. Kailee moved away, focusing her attention to the woman. “So, you said in the email that you had an experience when you were a child? Do you recall what age exactly?”
The woman laughed at Louie. “Yes, I was four years old at the time and was quite the little devil if you were to ask my parents”.
Kailee smiled and pulled a small laptop from her bag, Louie lurched forward from his comfort and placed his phone on the coffee table, setting it to record.
“Of course this was many years ago, over sixty in fact, so I may not remember everything you need to know but I’ll do my best to answer your questions”.
Kailee smiled and nodded. “Anything you can tell us would be great, thank you, I’ll hold questions until you’re done”.
The woman nodded and began her story.

“Isabelle? Isabelle? Where are ya girl?” A small heavyset man hollered across the lush green forest.
He was met with complete silence, the only sounds coming from the trees and plants rustling in the wind.
Isabelle giggled to herself as she hid inside the hollow of a large tree stump and looked down at her doll. “You were right Stephanie, he’ll never find us in here”.
“I told you”. A crackled voice replied. “Just wait here, then when were alone I’ll show you where the unicorn is. She doesn’t like to be seen by adults”.
“ISABELLE?” The man cried out again, more worried than before.
She giggled again and huddled further into the stump, completely hiding herself from view.
The man continued to call her name as his voice slowly began to fade away. Once it was barely a whisper Stephanie’s crackled voice returned.
“Okay, it should be safe now, head towards the oak in front of you”.
Isabelle nodded as she pulled herself out of the hollow and skipped towards the large tree.
“Now towards those rocks”. Stephanie continued.
Isabelle followed each instruction until she noticed the lush green grass was slowly wilting all around her, the tree’s bark looked dry and rotting, each branch bare and split, the ground a mush like swamp.
“I don’t like it here Stephanie, I wanna go back”. She turned to head back to the living forest but Stephanie broke the silence once again. “I thought you wanted to see the Unicorn? I told her you were coming to see her; she gets really lonely being out here on her own”.
Isabelle turned her head to the large stone she’d been directed to.
“I do, but it’s scary out here”. She whimpered.
“This is just a cover to keep the adults away”. Stephanie replied. “Once she knows you’re here you’ll see the most beautiful sights you’ve ever experienced. Don’t you want that?”
Isabelle looked into the dank creeping woods then back to the lush green forest where her father waited.
“I promise it’ll be worth it”. Stephanie’s voice echoed from beneath her.
“Ok”. Isabelle replied weakly, turning back to the dying forest and continuing to follow the directions fed to her.
She passed fallen trees and carefully stepped over the remnants of the rotting forest floor until she came upon a large stone cavern, its entry covered in thick moss, spread slightly into a small opening, just the size a small person could fit through.
“In there?” Isabelle whispered, clutching Stephanie close to her.
“Yes, she’s waiting for you, she has a beautiful spread set out just for your arrival. She can’t wait to meet you at last, she’s been alone for so long”.
A shiver ran up Isabelle’s spine as Stephanie shook in her tiny hands.
“Can’t she come outside? I don’t want to go in there, I wanna go back”.
“No!” Stephanie replied, her voice deeper followed by a short pause before returning to its sweet softness. “She has to stay in her own world otherwise she’ll die, you know how spacemen have to wear those big suits? It’s like that, but they don’t make space suits for unicorns”.
Isabelle giggled at the thought of a unicorn in a spacesuit. “That would be silly, her horn would pop it”.
“That’s right, that’s why you have to visit her in her world”. Stephanie added.
Isabelle paused again, taking a few tiny footsteps towards the cave. “It looks really dark”.
The entrance to the cave suddenly illuminated with a vibrant pink glow. Her eyes widened with glee as the pink light changed to red, then blue, green, yellow…
“Is that better?” Stephanie asked.
“Did you do that?” Isabelle lifted her doll to look at her.
“Not me, she must have heard you were afraid of the dark so she opened up the portal to her world for you to see inside”.
Isabelle took another few hesitant steps forward, she was barely a foot away from the entrance.
“Mmmm, smell that?”
Isabelle sniffed the air as a cloud of smoke blew from the entrance.
“Cotton candy”. Isabelle beamed with excitement. Carnival music began playing from within. “Does she have a circus?”
Stephanie didn’t answer. She lifted the doll up to her face and shook her gently. “Stephanie?”.
“Isabelle? Is that you?” A high-pitched voice similar to Stephanie’s called from within. “Come join us, we’re about to ride over the rainbow bridge”.
She slipped her fingers between the hanging moss and pulled it aside, the strobing lights blinded her as she looked within. She held Stephanie up to shield her eyes as a rough voice growled from beside her.
“Gotcha!” A bag was thrown over her head followed by a thick rope around her neck, she kicked and flailed as her body was lifted into the air, the pressure on her neck preventing her from screaming as it tightened as fast as she struggled. A sickening laugh filled her ears from the rough voice from before.
“Hi Isabelle”. He growled before changing his voice to a more familiar one. “It’s me, Stephanie”.
Her kicks were as useless as her attempts to remove the rope, she felt herself drifting into unconsciousness as her attacker continued laughing, changing his voice to Stephanie’s, then the unicorn, then another childish girl she didn’t recognize.
Just before she lost consciousness his grip loosened just enough for her to gasp a desperate breath.
“Who the hell are you?” He growled.
Isabelle dropped to the ground, her body failed to support her weight as she collapsed gasping for breath.
“Well, I’ll just have to ta…” His words were cut off followed by a guttural scream of pain, whimpering, then sudden silence. Isabelle couldn’t move, her limbs felt heavy as a gentle caress touched her back removing the rope from her neck. With the pressure gone she attempted to pull the bag away but was too weak to lift herself.
“Allow me”. A soothing voice helped her sit up, a rough hand supported her back as the bag was lifted, she blinked as the darkness was barely illuminated from the small gap in the entrance, her savior’s beauty made her think of an angel.
“You’re okay now, you must leave, go back to your father, tell him what happened and I’ll take care of the rest”.
The angel helped her steadily to her feet and gestured to the exit. Isabelle nodded and slowly moved towards the exit, not taking her eyes from the angel half illuminated in the darkness. As she backed through the entry the moss separated, allowing more light into the small cave, the angel’s entire form came into the light, causing Isabelle to gasp and stumble out of the entryway before running as fast as she could back the way she’d come screaming for her father.

“The woman you referred to as an angel, who was she?” Kailee enquired, slowly tapping at her keyboard, her eyes locked on Isabelle.
Isabelle laughed. “She’s the protector of the forest of course, the reason you’re here, a spirit created from its beauty, cursed by mankind’s selfishness”.
Kailee stopped typing as she focused on her words.
“So, what happened to the guy who assaulted you? What did the woman do to him that made you run?” Louie inquired, now leaning forward, fixated on the story.
Kailee’s eyes widened as she turned and punched him in the arm followed by a scowl.
“Ow, what the hell?” He cried rubbing his arm.
“Ignore him, he doesn’t understand empathy”. Kailee apologized, turning her attention back to Isabelle.
Isabelle laughed softly again. “It’s fine, I think you both misunderstood the reason for my fear”.
Kailee and Louie’s attention refocused.
“The reason I was so shocked wasn’t because I saw my attacker, I never saw him at all, I was told later his body was never found but from identification and forensics found within the cave they went to his home and found…” She paused trying to think of the right words. “Pictures…and videos…other children that…”
Kailee put her hand up to stop her. “You don’t need to explain any further”.
Isabelle nodded her thanks. “The reason for my fear was actually the angel that saved me. She was beautiful… I remember her clearly in my mind, but… as the light illuminated her completely, I realized only half of her held beauty, the other half was like a hollow husk, her body and features were rotted and flaking. It was as if half of her had been burnt. To the very core of her being”.
Both Kailee and Louie stared at her speechless.
“I understand, as my father and the police said, I was only a child and it was probably my imagination after the trauma of the event but I know what I saw. As I got older and I learnt more of the world it became obvious to me, the beauty of the forest paired with the rotting core at its center. The angel that saved me that day was no angel, she was the protector of the forest and her soul was entwined with the land itself”.
Louie remained silent while Kailee rapidly noted everything Isabelle said.
“I don’t expect you to believe me, I just wished to share my experience with you. My fate was changed that day and without her sacrifice I and many others would still be suffering. She protected me even though our kind continuously destroy a part of her every day. I owe her my life, and since then I’ve done everything I can to protect that forest. Hopefully she’ll accept me when I’m gone and I can continue to aid her, maybe I can even return to the beauty I once had”.
Her gaze glanced over to old pictures of herself, her free-spirited happiness and model like figure as she danced and posed with the backdrop of the forest in every frame.
They remained in silence for a long time as Kailee and Louie left her to her thoughts.
“Thank you very much for your time, you’ve been an incredible help”. Kailee stood to leave.
Isabelle turned back to her and smiled brightly again, getting to her feet, standing a foot taller than either of them.
“You’re welcome, should you need anything else from me please don’t hesitate to call again”.
Kailee and Louie departed, waving their goodbyes while Isabelle returned to looking at the old frames of herself, each containing a precious memory that would have never existed if not for her savior.

“Well, that was a surprisingly good start, who’s next?” Louie was skipping through the recording ensuring it was all captured.
“Draggydroo is all I know, he didn’t give his real name so don’t hold out much hope on this one”.
Louie laughed. “Probably some horny dude that saw a girl’s name pop up on the board and did some quick research to try and impress you”.
Kailee laughed. “Well, if it is I’ll run this time and you can tackle him to the ground, hell, we could drag him out to the forest and add to the shocking stories ourselves. Brother and sister find body in the woods when filming a documentary about the mysterious forest”. She winked as she got in the car beside him.
Louie started the car and began driving to their next destination. “You know sometimes I can’t tell if you’re serious or joking”.
Kailee shrugged, pulled out her laptop and began reviewing her work.