Part 1: Denial - Episode 4

Elias’ chest felt tight, William was curled up on the ground, his tears shone in the light of the moon. Elias moved his hand slowly, placing it on William’s right shoulder. Without hesitation, William slapped Elias’ hand off his shoulder. Elias caught a glimpse of his eyes, pure fear was brimming on his face. Lloyd shook his head slightly, he folded his arms for a moment, he then crouched down in front of William. “William, I need you to listen to me,” Lloyd said sternly. William did not listen as he shook his head in his hands. “...Where’s Abel?” He choked, his voice broke off. Elias was confused, this was the first he’d heard of Abel. “William,” Elias repeated, slowly his voice grew louder.

It had been at least 2 minutes of Elias repeating William’s name, with various other phrases. Elias was tired of this, but he was still concerned. “William,” Elias spat, his voice was loud and William’s terrified mixture of shallow breaths and sobs stopped abruptly. “Listen to me, right now,” Elias continued, even louder now, “Get up, I’m here. You can get up, you need to be in bed, now,” He tugged slightly at William’s arm, which he admitted was not ideal in the situation. William muttered the name again, this time even quieter, “Abel,” Elias was confused even more by what William had said. “Abel?” Elias mimicked. “Is that a name? Who’s Abel-” Elias said, his voice was soft. Lloyd locked eyes with Elias as he spoke, “Don’t talk about that,” Lloyd’s eyes felt like they burned a hole through Elias head, he stared idly as Lloyd rose, groaning slightly and he got up. 

He slid a small, shining glass toward himself, filling it with water from what Elias could only assume was a filter in the dim light of the kitchen. Lloyd turned, kneeling, so he was at William’s level, gently placing the glass in front of him. Elias audibly sighed, “William,” he spoke softly, placing his hand next to William’s knee, but not on it. “You’ll be alright, come,” Elias shuffled slightly closer to William. “Lloyd, turn the light on, please.” 
Lloyd nodded, he stood, flicking a switch. The light flickered, it buzzed. The buzzing was intense. Seconds after Lloyd had withdrawn his hand from the vicinity of the light switch, William leapt up, slamming his clenched fist against the light switch. Consequently, the light flickered off. Both Lloyd and Elias flinched at William’s outburst as he backed himself up against the wall, covering his mouth with his hands. “..The buzzing,” William whispered.

“What about the-” Elias began, but Lloyd’s hand shot up to his shoulder, Elias stopped speaking. Lloyd stepped forward, pulling Elias away, out of earshot, muttering to Elias, “Be careful with what you say when he’s like this, Elias… He can be like this quite a lot, but he’s never been this.. Bad,” Lloyd eyes William from afar, “We need to get him to bed,” Lloyd turned, pacing to William, Elias followed close behind, the same corroding feeling pulsing through his stomach and chest.

Lloyd neared William, muttering softly. Elias admired Lloyd; he seemed the type of man to remain composed even in the most stressful of situations, even if Hope had mentioned otherwise at some point. Though in this forest, when it comes to life or death, even the most composed can completely lose it. Elias knew that.
“Collin was always a very calm boy, very polite, too. It’s a shame he was always so educationally challenged. Probably the reason he didn’t come back-” Elias vaguely remembered his father saying that, before being abruptly stopped by Maja, his mother. He shook his head slightly, Elias never had a very positive opinion on his father, he thought that to himself quietly as he approached the shimmering glass, untouched, on the cold tiles, resting it on the countertop. “William, we’re going to-” Lloyd grunted as William pushed him away by his shoulder, shrinking further into the cramped corner. William’s head rested against the cabinet, he clutched his upper body – directly where his wound was. Lloyd narrowed his eyes, persistent. “William, you’re completely delusional when you’re like this, okay? We’re doing this for your own good,” 
“–Lloyd, we’re going in circles at this point, I don’t think it’s gonna help,” Elias folded his arms, concerned. “Then what are we meant to do?” Lloyd put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, letting out a pensive sigh, “I’m not sure why William’s like this, of all days… I promise, it isn’t normal,”

“I’ll be honest,” Elias acknowledged in reply, “I haven’t seen anything like it, either. I’m sure it’s more common than we think, but still,” Elias trailed off, his tone at the end of his sentence sounded utterly defeated. Elias and Lloyd turned their attention to William as he slumped against the crisp wood of the kitchen cupboards, shrinking to a ball, yet again. “William?” Lloyd croaked, now becoming somewhat impatient. Elias stepped once in William’s direction, sinking to his level, “William,” Elias began, “I’ll be honest, I don’t know what’s up with you, but you need to be in bed,” He attempted to make eye contact with William, but to no avail. Elias exhaled, “We’re gonna lift you or something, you need to be in bed,” Elias pleaded, “We’re going in circles-”

“Stop talking to me like a child,” William’s voice muttered, his audible breathing slowly came to a halt as his regular, silent breathing pattern dominated his mind. Elias fidgeted slightly, his lips formed a tight line, he was unsure of what to say. His shoulders dropped as he closed his eyes, “We’re going in circles, William. Get up, or I’ll make you,” Elias spoke, his voice wavering in the last clause – he stood up, offering a hand to William, who reluctantly took it after a long moment.

As William stood, he swayed, his knees shook and Elias gently guided him back to bed.

~~~~

By now, the time was about four o’clock, the night had been wasted running in loops, William felt a tinge of guilt, but in the long shot, he’d never be able to remember much about those breakdowns. He sat in bed, his shirt, bloodsoaked and torn, strewn over his armchair. He clenched clumps of his blanket, his bandages felt slightly damp, it was advised he kept movement to a minimum. William could hear Elias and Lloyd conversing in the kitchen, the sound was distant and dull, only a few words per sentence could be made out. 

“That was honestly the worst breakdown he’s had since,” Lloyd paused, the two fell into an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, “...He misses Abel, and I understand that, I miss that boy too,” Lloyd continued, softer this time. By now, Elias had figured out it was not wise to ask, however curious he was to gain intel about who Abel was. The two fell into another silence, broken by Lloyd again, “I’ll make you breakfast, and William too,” Elias nodded in thanks, turning on his heel to walk to his bunk.

William was in bed, his eyes closed while he sat up, but the piercing hazel colour shot through the dull atmosphere as Elias entered the room. He’d noticed the cabin never seemed to be truly dark, there always seemed to be a lamp somewhere, or small, only a centimetre wide at most, orbs of warm light. Elias had reached to touch them before, yet they always felt like they weren’t there – they felt like nothingness. Elias had only lived in Lloyd’s cabin for about two days, yet unlike other places, even his own house, the cabin already felt like home, it was comforting.

“William,” Elias turned to William, who groaned in response, “What… was last night about?” Elias queried, quite careless with his words. To Elias’ surprise, William gave an answer: “I had a dream,” He began, “They’re rarely that vivid. It was accurate,” William paused, “It was very accurate to the events of that night.”

By now, Elias was tired of the mysterious and ominous attitude people lived with around here, a straight answer seemed impossible to get. Elias’ thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Lloyd calling out to him. As Elias entered the kitchen, Lloyd shoved two plates full of various foods to him. Elias took both, even if he wasn’t hungry. He gently placed a plate of food by William, on the nightstand, to which William scoffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s half four in the morning,” Elias waved a hand in his direction as he spoke, “Eat, I don’t care, William,” he chuckled lightly, which was met with a deep silence, for William did not laugh back. Slowly, Elias’ small smile seemed to drop, that feeling came to his stomach once again. He’d felt this before; the feeling of so many things going south, but not having a way to control it. Elias shook his head, his muscles were tense. 

As Elias entered the kitchen, his attention was brought to Lloyd inspecting the kitchen knife Elias had brought – Elias hadn’t even realised it was gone.

“This knife is terrible,” Lloyd murmured to Elias. Lloyd turned around, “Elias,” he said loudly, “Why did you come to these woods?” Slightly taken aback by the question, Elias thought for a moment, “For my cousin,” he said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. Lloyd nodded, “This knife will not do,” he muttered, “You will need a stronger one. Wait here for a moment,” Lloyd announced. He walked, taking a left, to what Elias could only assume was Lloyd’s bedroom.

After 5 minutes or so, Lloyd came out. The knife he held was twenty, maybe twenty-five centimetres long. “I have no idea how William survives with his dagger, the blade is miniscule,” Lloyd breathed as he handed Elias the knife, as he continued, “This forest is very dangerous, you know that–” Lloyd said as pointed at Elias, “–So I’m going to teach you some shit.”
Elias nodded as he inspected the weapon, “Thy Bad Habits,” Lloyd voiced, which seemed to pique Elias’ best interest, as he looked up from the knife, “We don’t know much about it, but you’ll know when it’s close. You’ve heard it,” Lloyd lowered his voice, “That buzzing.”
“Why does it… buzz?” Elias queried, to which Lloyd closed his eyes, “We don’t know. We don’t know what to do with it, nor do we know how to fend it off. All we know is that it buzzes, honestly,” Lloyd folded his arms. “Another thing,” Lloyd let out a sharp exhale, “You have to do stuff here–” Lloyd straightened his back as he spoke “–to live here, I mean. This isn’t free, and nor is this dagger,” a small smile came across Lloyd’s face, “The power goes out a lot; the magic interferes with the generator. When that happens, go kick it, whatever. That’s your rent, you might also need to fetch stuff from Hope for me,” Elias nodded. “Speaking of,” Lloyd began again, he wasn’t much of a speaker, but when he did, he let out everything he’d been waiting to say for the past day, “I need you to go get more flour from Hope, go when William’s better. He might show you the ropes,” Lloyd turned to the cabinet, “Dunno, honestly.”