Death Demon Forest

I never knew how it would happen. I never knew it was there. I wish I never had left. I should have listened, but I didn't and paid the ultimate price. My life.

It all started with the road trip. I never wanted to go, but like always Mick talked me in to it. 'Come on' he said, practically jumping up and down with excitement.
'Come on, it will be you, me, and Shiro."
'What? You're taking Shiro too?'
'Yer, well, I can't leave him behind.'
'I still think it would be better if we left him behind' I said. You see, Shiro is a beautiful white dog we found on the street two years ago. He was only a stray pup, but me and Mick took him home.

We argued for about half an hour.
'He'll love it, and he would be sad if we left him behind.'
'But he's a dog! It's not good for him to be in a car all day.'
'It'll be fine, he'll love to go. Come on, please.'
'Fine, he can come if I can't find someone to watch him.'

All of a sudden, Mick started to smile. 'OK' he said suspiciously. Something was up. He never agreed without a fight. Normally he would say something like ' Come on, that's not fair, I know you'll find a way', but he didn't. But before we left, Mick put a different collar on Shiro, it was blood red with cross bones on it.

I tried everywhere and everyone, but for some reason Shiro was acting really badly, jumping up on people, barking non stop, biting on furniture. In the end I gave up. I went back to Mick's place with my head low. I couldn't believe how Shiro acted that day. We leave tomorrow and Shiro is going to have to come with us.

As I walked in the door, Shiro walked over to Mick. "Good boy, Shiro' Mick praised as he took off Shiro's collar. 'What do you mean, good! He's been acting weird all day' I said, knowing Mick had something to do with it.
'I just put his bad mood collar on, that's all' he said happily.
'I knew you had planned something'. I can believe he did that. Mick trained Shiro to act badly when he had the collar on. So he put the collar on Shiro knowing no one would take care of a disobedient dog.

'Where are we going on this trip, anyway?' I asked.
'We're taking the back roads to Lake Time'.
'OK' I said as I walked outside.
'See ya tomorrow' I said as I walked away home.

The next day we set off. Mick shoved his bag in the car. It was very light. "What do you have in here anyway" I said, poking into his bag.
'Not much, just some clothes' he said as he walked to the car door.
'Do you have food for Shiro?' I knew he would forgot.
'Umm, no. I was going to pick some up".
"Sure you were' I said while rolling my eyes. 'Don't bother, I got a bag full of stuff for Shiro, I knew you would forget".

Two hours into the trip, I realized something. I didn't bring a map. I turned to Mick. He has no sense of direction without one. I turned to Shiro. He was asleep. At least we have Shiro, I would go crazy if I got lost with only Mick. Mick turned to me. 'What's wrong?' he asked very calmly.
'Umm, well, you see, I forgot to bring a map'.
"No sweat, I got one last night' he said with a smile.
'Well that's good' I said after a deep breath. But for Mick to buy a map is something new. "Can I check out the map?' I said curiously.
"Sure" he passed me the map.

On the front it said 'Haunted road to Time Lake'. This has to be a joke. It just has to be.  'Where did you get this?' I said in a shocked state.
'That crazy old map maker down the street' he said with a big grin.
'I can't believe you, you moron!" I said angrily.
'Calm down' he said, still smiling. 'Oh, by the way, you see on the map where it says 'Don't stop here' with the crossbones?'
'Yeah' I said, knowing where this is going.
'We're spending the night there'.
'But we don't even have a tent' I said, trying to get out of it.
'Oh, we may not have a tent, but there's a shop on the way there that sells them real cheap'.
'Well that's good' I say disappointedly. I already know what he's going to do. He's going to scare me to death.

When we finally got down to the tent shop, Shiro jumped out of the car and started running around. He was happy to be out of the car. He didn't know where he was so stayed close to me and Mick. "This might take a while' Mick yelled out. Feed Shiro, would you. He looks hungry'.
'OK' I yelled back. After Shiro scoffed down a bowl of food and water, he barked twice to say 'thank you' and went and sat in the shadow of the car for shade.

I walked up to the shop to see if Mick was done. Before I got inside, an old man stopped me from entering.' Umm, may I pass? I said nervously as I looked at the old man. He has scars all over his arms and a scar that looks like a bite mark on his neck.
" Are you going to Shioni forest?' he asked in a serious tone. His voice scared me so I answered quickly, 'Yes sir, I am, me and my friend Mick".
"I wouldn't go there if I were you' the old man said while holding his neck, as if he wanted to forget the pain of his scar. 'I warn you, if you go into Shioni forest, you won't come back alive'.
'What do you mean, 'won't come back alive'?' I ask.
'You see these scars boy? They cover my arms and neck. I never want this to happen again to any one. The forest beast is blood thirsty and will hunt you down if you go.'
I stood there in shock.
'But, but… you're still alive. How do I know that those scars are from that thing you call the forest beast?!'
"I was lucky, boy, and do you know why this forest is called 'Shioni'?'
'No, why?' I said, wanting to know.
'It means 'Death Demon' so another name for this forest is death demon forest'.

I started to back away. This man was crazy. But was it all true? And what was this demon? As I backed away, Mick came through the door. 'I got us a great deal' Mick said with a big grin on his face. 'Well, don't just stand there, help me out here'. I went over to grab one of the bags. Then I realized to old man was gone.

'Hey, Mick' I said after putting the last of the camping stuff in the car.  'Did you see where the old man went?'
'What old man?' he looks at me weird. I told him the whole story about what the man said and in the end he just laughed. 'Maybe you're seeing ghosts' he laughed again.

We finally got down to Shioni Forest. It was almost dark so we put up the tent as fast as we could. By the time we were done it was night and I got a fire going. After we ate, Mick tried to scare me as much as he could. He had something planned for later and I knew it. Before he had a chance, I told him it was time for us go to sleep.

About two hour later I was woken up by a weird sound from outside the tent. "who's there?' I shouted. trying to hide my fear. There was no response at all. All of a sudden, Mick jumps into the tent. 'ROAR"
"You scared the life out of me. You moron'
"I got ya didn't I?
After throwing his pillow at him I told him 'Go to sleep you bonehead, and don't do that again'.

I couldn't sleep after that but Mick was sleeping like a baby. I looked around and Shiro was gone. "Mick" I whispered, 'Where's Shiro?'
"What do you mean 'where is he'? He's in here somewhere'.
'No he's not. Come on, let's find him before he goes too far'.

We looked around for a while but we couldn't find him. Then I saw something move in the bushes. 'Over there, I saw something move. It might be him'. I ran over and saw Shiro's body on the ground, his beautiful white fur stained with his own blood.
Mick saw Shiro and ran over. "Come on Shiro, are you OK?'
I heard rustling sounds from all around me. 'Mick, lets go. Leave Shiro'.
"What are you talking about, we can't' Mick said angrily.
"Mick, listen. Whatever  killed Shiro is still around, and if we're not careful we're next'.

I started hearing voices in my head. "As you step away your future draws to a close. You will only feel pain and your future will grow dark. All that awaits you is death…'.
"Run Away Mick, I yelled, ' It's after me'.

All of a sudden a big black wolf jumps out of the bushes. It goes right for my neck. In seconds I am pinned down . I hear Mick running away. I feel my blood on my skin and so much pain I can't move. I'm at death's door and being pulled in slowly. All I see is the eyes of the beast that killed me, and they were a beautiful golden colour. The last thing I feel is the fangs of the beast retract as I die.

This is the price I  pay for not listening to that warning.  My life is now gone, and I must wander this forest for eternity.