Once There Were Four Boys

Once There Were Four Boys

Four boys woke up in an unknown forest! They had no idea how they got there or where they were. The sun was starting to go down so night was nearly upon them. Something was creeping about in the trees. They listened but couldn’t determine exactly where it was coming from or what it was. It sounded like someone dragging a leg whilst walking and kicking up the leaves on the forest floor. It definitely didn't feel like something good and wasn’t there to say “hello” and be nice. All but one of them wanted to try to find out what or who it was.

The air was cold, and seemed to be getting colder. It was summertime so why was it so cold? This was just another anomaly to figure out. Boys were beginning to freak out as evident on their faces. One of the boys had to quickly urinate and ran to the nearest tree otherwise he probably would have wet himself. The others asked him what he was doing. He explained. They laughed nervously.

After the boy had relieved himself, they all got together in a huddle to try and decide their best course of action. One of them just wanted to get out, two of them wanted to try and find out what this was all about. The other couldn’t decide. In the end after much discussion, they decided to get a closer look but stick together. The sun was just about set and the moon was halfway risen. Luckily, on this night it was nearly a full moon and no clouds. Although being the middle of summer, it really did feel like winter. Something was definitely not quite right with this place; and how did they got there.

They crawled along the floor of the forest as they thought it necessary and that it would hide them form whatever was out there (teenage logic) it was so freaky. The clothes they were wearing were not the best for this kind of activity. All were wearing boxer shorts and thin T-shirts. One of the boys who had never camped a day in his life, he was really struggling. He was beginning to panic as he kept imagining something was crawling up his shorts and under his shirt. It was quite possible that that was happening to him. One of the others hung back a little to try to comfort him and be next to him just in case he really freaked out. This was the same boy who couldn’t make up his mind what he wanted to do. It probably should have been a sign for the rest to be aware and stay alert to his behavior and then help as best as they could.

As they were crawling along, they could still hear the noise. It was still the same and still slow moving but now they could hear a humming noise.

#2

Before the boys woke up in the forest, they had all been together in the same house. It was summer holidays, the parents of one of the boys allowed them all to stay over for a couple of nights. I'm sure a nightmare for the boy's parents and relief for the others. As teenagers do, they decided to experiment by smoking some weed and cigarettes as well as drinking alcohol. None of them had ever done it before so it was a first for all. They were all 14 turning 15. They didn’t consume a lot but enough to be happy.

Where they were sleeping was away from the main part of the house. This allowed them a bit of free rein to do what they liked, sort of.

Being a night of firsts, they also wanted to experiment with magic/spells or maybe just two of them who managed to persuade the others it was a good idea. One of them had an aunt who had an old book of magic. Let's just say he borrowed it for the night. They were looking through it and checking out some of the spells, a lot of them were too difficult to read or activate as they required some really gross ingredients like the liver of a pig, eye of a cat etc, etc. They then came across a spell that was supposed to be able to transport you from one place to another (Teleportation). They all looked at each other and unanimously laughed, fell backwards, and continued laughing. Their consumption of the naughty stuff helped in the frivolity and joyousness of the moment.

After about 10 minutes of laughing and wrestling and a couple of trips to the toilet (too much laughing), they sat back down in a circle on the floor with the book placed in the middle of the circle still open to the spell that supposedly can transport you to another place.

One of the guy’s suggested zapping into the bedroom of a girl that he fancied. They all laughed and made some rude jokes. The boy that fancied her got offended because they were all lusting over his girl, so he changed his mind and told everyone else to shut up, that was greeted with a round of booing and throwing of items at the boy.

Once the mucking around had finished, they decided (after much discussion and arguing), to read the spell allowed together so they would all end up in the same place. If it actually worked. They also had to join hands. (comfortable for some not for others, "teenage angst"). It was in the instructions to do that if you’re in a group setting.

#3

The spell was only one page, short compared to some of the others which were pages long. , and the writing was big. No ingredients were needed just concentration and chanting. They all focused their minds on the backyard as their destination. The boy whose house they were residing in at the time was okay but with a touch of trepidation.

They didn’t want to think of somewhere too far away. Not yet anyway. Mainly because they didn’t know how to get back and if it actually worked. All of them secretly had their doubts but didn't tell each other.

They all began chanting the spell 3 times as directed. After they had finished, they had to take 3 deep breaths and close their eyes whilst still holding each other’s hands to finish the spell.

After everything was complete, they sat there waiting for something to happen, nothing did. They then realised they were still holding each other’s hands and quickly let go. They sat for a while waiting and hoping, but nothing happened.

Since nothing was happening, they decide to give it up and put it away. It’s probably not a good idea anyway and probably lucky that nothing did happen; also not a great idea to muck around with magic and the unknown especially with absolutely no idea how it all works. That’s what one of them said. Mind you this was after they had done everything. Better late then never another replied.

After having another toke of the green stuff and another drink they watched a movie which happened to be Friday the 13th the original. Every one of them said that it wouldn’t scare them, so they made a dare to watch it and if one got scared, he had to run outside naked around the garden area and run back in.

They shook hands hesitantly because every one of them knew it would scare the be-Jesus out of them plus none fancied running around naked, but no one wanted to show weakness and back out. “One in all in” was there moto.

They made themselves another drink and opened the popcorn they had made earlier. All of them had grabbed a cushion or a pillow so they could use it to hide their reactions.

All were totally engrossed in the movie but kept an eye on one another to spot anyone who might be showing signs of being scared.

As the movie went on the tension grew. All the boys were sitting there hugging their pillows/cushions as a comforter and staring at the screen, which was 80 inches, waiting and anticipating. Then all of a sudden something happens that was not expected. They all put their comforters to their faces and nearly jumped 10 feet in the air at the same time. The popcorn went flying everywhere including in some of their beds, luckily, they had finished their drinks, so no drinks were spilled. The scene in the room was very comical; seeing all those bodies flying backwards with their faces covered and feet in the air and managed to still hold onto their comforters. All of them had let out a scream or a screech whilst flying backwards.

After what seemed like an age but in reality, it was only about a minute or two, they all sat up trying to pretend nothing happened looking at each other and about to point the figure in blame. One points to the other blaming him and frightening the rest. Another blames someone else, so on and so forth. This went on for about 5 mins or so until one of them started to laugh. The rest stopped and looked at him, there was a pause, then they all burst out in hysterical laughter. Laughing and rolling around the floor pushing each other slapping each other.

When things calmed down, WHO actually lost the bet? They look at each other, not one of them wants to go running around naked outside especially in the pitch black. One speaks up and says that everyone should do it because if they are all being honest everyone got scared. Timidly, one by one they all agreed.

They decided to make it a race and to start outside the door (which leads from the bedroom into the garden). They start in their boxers only, T-shirts off and in a straight line, then when someone said go (which had been delegated) they’d drop their boxers and run round the garden back to the door grab their boxers put them on and the first to do that would be the winner. This was to be done with only the moonlight guiding them.

Once they were standing outside in their boxers everyone was raring to go although it was more like they just wanted it over and done with.

The race started; for someone looking from the side it would be so comical seeing each them running with both hands covering their “how do you does” and seeing the difficulty in balancing whilst running.

They laughed all the way which could have woken up the boy’s parents and that would have been hard to explain.

Anyway, it went off without a hitch with one winner. They also managed to hide their "how do you does" from each other. His prize was that the other three be his slaves for the next day. They were not impressed, but all was done and decided fairly. They had a great laugh and will again tomorrow. So, they thought.

#4

It was close to one o’clock in the morning. After washing their feet, they decide to call it a night and try and get some sleep. After all they had lots planned for the next day. One of the things being a trip to the adventure theme park, the boys loved it. It wasn’t too far away. A quick bus ride or short drive from mum.

After falling asleep the next thing was waking up in the dark forest, hearing some creepy noises and dressed only in their night clothes.

How?

#5

They eventually figured out that it must have been the spell that they cast at home that brought them there. But how and why did they end up in this God forsaken place. Everyone said that the place they thought about was the back garden for the spell. If that was the case, then why are they in this frightening place? The more mature one of them said that they didn’t really know what would happen and if it really would work. Also, he thought out loud, why didn’t it work at the time of casting.

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Why did it wait till they were all asleep? Someone said that maybe the spell picked the place that you dreamt about rather than what you imagined whilst awake. Maybe they missed an instruction in the spell book. More agreeing and nodding of heads. The only thing was that no one could remember what they dreamt if they dreamt at all. Maybe the alcohol and marijuana didn’t help things, maybe it actually hampered the flow, hence the reason it didn’t work right away.

All these thoughts were running through their teenage minds. It didn’t help much because they still had no idea where they were or if they were in a real place. Maybe they were dreaming? Although, all of them dreaming the same thing at the same time was pretty unlikely. One of them punched the other and he felt it. He wanted to test if it was a dream or not. That sort of proved to them that it wasn’t, its actually real.

All of them began to regret the whole thing about the spell book and the casting of the spell. “Stupid, stupid, stupid idiots” they all said.

“Okay then, the leader (who emerged) what do we do now? How do we find our way back and how do we deal with the current situation with this thing? Do we run or try and find out what it is that’s making the noise?

Two of them said run and the other one wanted to find out. The leader made the choice in the end and suggested they run in the other direction as there’s no point in trying to confront whatever it is because they had nothing to defend themselves if needed and no idea what they have to deal with. Also they were not the toughest guys in the school more of your nerdy type. They all agreed running was the best idea.

They got up and started to move in the opposite direction of the noise. The noise of the dragging leaves and the loud humming was definitely a lot closer than it had been.

Its pitch black with only the moonlight to guide them so running would be tricky but walking at a fast pace was probably a safer option. They grabbed each other hands and walked in a straight line to make sure they all stayed together. The nervous one was shaking like a leaf but the boy who had his hand managed to comfort him with kind words of encouragement. They place him in between 2 of them to make him feel more secure.

The night was getting cooler. Their thin clothing was helping a little but having no shoes to keep the feet warm didn’t help at all. They tried to stick as close together as they could, but the so-called tracks were getting narrower. They will soon have to walk single file.

It came sooner than expected as the bush and trees just seemed to thicken up either side of them. It was getting darker; the moonlight was being blocked out. They stopped and rearranged themselves in single file with the nervous one still in between two people. They kept their hands on each other’s shoulders and walked along in a marching formation, in step. Being in step helps you to not trip over the guy in front. This went on for about 10 minutes before they stopped.

#6

The reason they stopped was because they could all hear some rustling again, it seemed louder and more of it. No humming just the rustling and dragging sound. Everyone was starting to panic. They’re stuck here in a dense dark forest with no idea of where or what’s actually happening to them, how they got there and how the hell do they get home. Strange noises all around them now. Their freezing and their feet are bleeding. It is getting even colder.

The leader urges them to keep moving. He believes that if they keep on the move, they’ll be safe. The rest are losing hope. The nervous one has tears rolling down his face and is shaking worse than ever. The leader thinks if they don’t start moving, the nervous one will probably have a panic attack, they definitely don’t need that. The others were starting to sob, then the leader. After a group hug and lots of tears (scared and nervous) they gather enough courage to keep going.

As they move off slowly at first, the tears fade. The nervous one still shaking away but able to keep up. They decided to start jogging to try and make a distance between them and the noises. Still hanging onto each other’s shoulders, they jogged along the track (if you could call it that). They were able to keep it up for 10 minutes, then slowed to a walk. They dropped their arms by their sides to rest them as it was tiresome having them up at that height all the time. Everyone looks around to make sure all is okay. They then continue to walk. Suddenly out of the blue the noise starts. Rustling, dragging and now the humming was back. They can’t see anything or who or what is making the sounds it’s all around. The air is colder, everyone is shivering, the air has a weird bad feeling an feels like there's something about to happen.

One of them shouts out “What the fuck do you want, just tell us?”

The noises stop. There is complete silence. Then “We want You.” Came the reply.

“What the fuck” they all said in unison and the nervous one just repeated the F bomb over and over and started turning in circles on the spot mumbling to himself. He was lost and had no idea pretty much like the rest of them.

Panic has well and truly set in. One of them shouted “All we want to do is go home, we haven’t done anything to you”. Tears flowing down his face.

Noises are now closer and louder. The leader told everyone to run and keep hold of each other. They started to run and run but found it difficult to hold on. Some tripped over banged their legs the nervous one ran without looking back. The rest still behind. At least that’s what they thought.

They shouted to the nervous one to wait up. When they caught up to him and checked to make sure everyone was present, someone was missing. They waited to see if he was just slow and still catching up. The Leader, the nervous one and the boy whose house they were staying in were all there, but the other has disappeared. No one heard anything, no screams no struggle. They were too scared to shout out in case it gave away their position. The nervous one started his word repetition again this time repeating “no” and again walking around in circles on the spot this time slapping his forehead. All of them are crying their eyes out. The Fear has really got a hold of them. Their just standing there looking at each other still panicking, realising that they are probably not going to make it home and that one of them has gone probably forever.

The boy whose house they visited, just suddenly stopped, and stared into the distance. As he was doing that, he lost control of his bodily functions and just went where he stood making a mess of his legs and boxers. He stood staring seemingly oblivious as to what was happening. The others noticed and shook him. They shouted at him, but he just didn’t budge. It was like he was in a trance or even dead. He was stiff as a board. They tried bending his arms, they couldn’t. The leader slapped him in the face, no reaction. He then checked his pulse but couldn’t find one. Both of them believed that he really was dead. They couldn’t understand though. How could he be dead and still be standing. As much as they cared they couldn’t stay any longer for fear of something happening to them. They laid him on the ground and covered him with some bushes and branches. Once done they ran off.

#7

They just kept running and running with tears flowing down there faces. Thoughts of not seeing those they cared for ever again really cut through their hearts but something inside kept them going. On and on until they couldn’t go anymore.

Both of them stopped and just fell to the ground. They were exhausted. They just lay on the ground breathing heavily and looking up into the darkness, not able to speak as yet as they had no breath. Both of them are not sportsmen but they were able to take themselves beyond their limits.

After lying there for 10 minutes the leader spoke. He said to the other boy that he was proud of him making it this far and was also amazed at himself for getting to where they are. Both just lay on the ground. Nothing looked different all was the same. It was like they hadn't gone anywhere.

They turned, looked and embraced each other in a warm tender and comforting hug. They didn’t care about teenage angst anymore. This was their place now and for a short period they felt calmer and relaxed. They really didn’t want to let go of each other it just felt so comforting. Tears flowed.

After a while they sat up. As they did so they hear this almighty scream and shout. Up they scrambled and ran. The nervous one leading and the leader behind him. The boy in front just kept going without looking back. The leader boy followed. The screaming got louder. The nervous one just kept running grabbing his ears and not looking back. The Leader followed doing the same thing. Then he didn’t.

The nervous boy kept running. He then couldn’t hear the noise anymore and was too exhausted to keep going. He stopped and waited for the leader to join him. As the silence seemed to close in, he couldn’t hear or feel his heart beating. He waited and waited but knew the leader boy had been taken. With that reality sinking in he just fell to the ground and cried out “Why”

That was the last thing that the nervous boy said and did.

#8

The next morning the mother of the boy whose house they were staying in went in to check on them. There was no one there. She thought initially that they had left early, and that they didn’t want to wake anyone up to say goodbye, but a closer inspection of the room she saw all their gear still there. Backpacks, shoes, clothes, wallets etc. The spell book wasn’t.

She panicked then calmed herself, got her husband to check the room as well. He came to the same conclusion. She then rang the police who at first wanted to wait but she argued that everything was still in the room, how could they go anywhere?

After 2 hours the police turned up. A thorough check was carried out in the room and also the surrounding garden. The Inspector declared that further investigation was necessary. He arranged a missing boy alert for all four. Forensics were brought in and a lot of items were taken away.

They also decided to check the surrounding parks and houses to see if they may find the boys sleeping it off as they found the alcohol, pot and cigarettes. No such luck. The search was then widened with many people becoming involved including volunteers from their school many of them with tears in their eyes.

After 2 months the investigation was lessoned but not closed. Then after another period it was reduced to a couple of officers only.

2 years had passed and nothing. The mothers never gave up.

Once There Were Four Boys, Jamie (Leader), Sammy (His house), Georgie (Nervous boy) and Ossie (Other boy). They were never seen again.

THE END