“Alice,” the voice echoed through the night.
I kept moving down the gravel road, my feet screaming at me in agony. I would definitely be suffering in ballet the next week. At least my feet were tough after all the practice I had in class, but that didn’t make the pain go away.
The gravel road was a dead end, I knew that before this zombie-like adventure. I used to sneak out into this forest when I was younger, against my parents’ wishes, just so I could get away from the world and dream. I used to think that if I ventured out here long enough, I would find fairies or a castle, or some fantastical creature that I could share an adventure with. But that never happened and I eventually stopped sneaking out here; for that reason and the fact that Mr. Petrovitsky found me one day and chewed me out for trespassing. He was a very small man but I swore he must have worked for the KGB before immigrating here twenty years ago. If he found me tonight, I had no idea what he would do. Probably shoot me, actually.
I stepped into the forest. It was exactly how I remembered it, other than being dark out. Luckily the moon was out, providing a soft glow, but that didn’t mean I could clearly see everything around me. I could make out trees and ferns, but that was about it. I just hoped that there were no wild predators out at this time of the night, as I had heard coyotes howling the other night. God I wished I could stop.
“Alice...”
Oh right, the voice is what brought me out here. I hoped I could figure out who was calling me. Yes, I figured it was the boy, but that didn’t mean I knew exactly who he was. And I wanted to know why he was able to control my body like this, leaving me in such a daze that I couldn’t make myself stop.
I went deeper and deeper into the forest, and I felt as if I wanted to cry. Where was the voice leading me? I just wanted to go home, was that too much to ask? No matter how hard I screamed in my mind, no matter how much thought I put into it, I couldn’t stop my body. All I could think was why me?
This had to be a dream, right? I mean, this didn’t happen to people, being taken over like this. I really just hoped that I eventually would wake up and find myself back in my bed, all of it being one big nightmare. But the pain I felt, everything here, it just felt so real. I doubted it was a dream, but at the same time, all this just couldn’t be real.
The forest was calm at this time of night. I didn’t see any animals and the slight breeze brought a rustle through the branches. The blueish light coming from the moon made it seem almost magical. If it weren’t so stressful not being able to control my body because of some voice, it would be quite serene.
Then I could see him, the small white-haired boy who had been following me around town. It had been him, I was right.
“It’s you,” I said. I blinked, I was finally able to control my body. I stopped walking towards him and looked down at my hands. Yes, I finally had control. “How did you do that? How did you make me come out here?”
“It was quite easy, Alice, as you have a very impressionable heart. All I had to do was call it and you came.” The boy stepped closer. He spoke like a gentleman, one way beyond his years. It was quite strange, actually, as I never knew a kid that would speak like that. His eyes met mine, grey as the moon was that night. I couldn’t look away. They were almost hypnotic.
“Why? Why me? I don’t understand,” I said.
“I can’t have you undoing what my master has been planning all this time. You must be disposed of.” He pulled out a gold revolver. I had never seen one like it before and if I weren’t on the wrong side of it, I would have been quite fascinated by it. On the side of it was a large clock, like an old pocket watch. “Goodbye Alice.”
My eyes widened and I tried to move my feet but I was rooted in place. I had no idea if it was because of the boy or if I was just frozen in shock. Why would such a small boy want to kill me? It made no sense, and who was this master of his? And what plan would I be undoing?
As he began to pull the trigger, tears formed in my eyes. Could this really be the end for me, when my life hadn’t even started? I never got to say goodbye to my friends; they would never know what happened to me. I would just be gone. And not even I would know the truth to why.
Just as I thought all hope was lost, a figure jumped out of the trees and on top of the boy. The boy tried to punch away whatever had attacked him, but it was no use. Whoever it was threw the gun away and stood up, his leg pinning the kid down. As he stood up, the moonlight lit up his face. It was Chase.
“Chase, what’s going on?” I exclaimed. I hurried to him, able to move once again. It was the worst feeling, not being able to move one’s own body.
Chase grabbed my wrist. “No time to explain, we gotta get out of here.”
He started running, dragging me behind him. I wanted to stop and ask
