The bell chimed as Liam strode into the dingy corner store, making a bee line for the deli section. The halogen lights flickered as he made his way down the aisle, illuminating the chipped tile he walked over. Well, looks like a soggy sandwich and some hard boiled eggs. Liam placed his selection on the counter for the cashier to scan. “Hey Harv.”

Harvey Lancaster owned this store for as long as he could remember. In the many years that he worked the front counter, he witnessed many things. Like, this poor kid. He’d always felt bad for him. He was a sweet boy, no older than twenty-two now, with a terrible mother and no father to speak of. He often came in the middle of the night to just sit at the tables by the window. Sometimes he would buy things, oftentimes he did not. Occasionally he would come in looking like he’d just left a fight. At least tonight he didn’t have any new cuts or bruises. Harvey looked down at the young man and asked, “Hey Liam, how’s the old lady doing?”

“My mom? She’s the same as always I guess. She was in a good mood today so I’m going to eat this and go take a walk. Maybe she’ll be asleep by the time I get home,” Liam replied as he tucked the eggs into his front pocket. “Thanks Harv.”  He grabbed his change before heading out the door, dumping his wrapper in the bin along the way. Munching on his new lackluster sandwich, Liam made his way back towards the woods. By the time I get there, hopefully he will be sleeping too, he thought, brushing the crumbs off the front of his hoodie. 

Nightfall was nearing as he reached the tree line. The air at the forest's edge was damp and chilled, the earthy smell permeating his senses. The beautiful flowing leaves he wondered through during the day, now looked foreboding. Man, I hope my phone is charged enough, he worried as he turned on his flashlight. Forty-eight percent. That should be plenty, right? A shiver ran down his spine with his first step into the forest. “Here we go Liam,” he encouraged himself. “You know these woods like the back of your hand. Nothing a little late night adventure could hurt. Not even a weird, unknown guy living in an underground tunnel you’ve never noticed before…With glowing red eyes… We are definitely not breaking and entering… Again… He has no door. How could it be breaking and entering if there’s no door?” 

The deeper he went into the forest, the darker it became. It was a lot more difficult to tell where he was going at night, even with the help of a light. I thought it was around here somewhere. I feel like I’m going in circles. Liam was about to turn around and try another area when he came into the familiar clearing once again. 

“Ah ha! I knew I was close!” He brushed past the long hanging branches towards the trunk of the tree once more. The blue light was now clearly visible from the outside. He knelt at the mouth of the opening, peering in to see any signs of his drawing pad. I don’t see it and I didn’t see it on the way out here either. It’s probably further down. Liam took a deep breath before jumping back down into the cavern. The blue light seemed more intense at night, but maybe that was just because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. As he retraced his steps, there was no sign of the drawing pad he was hoping to retrieve. Crouched at the end of the long hallway, Liam’s thoughts wandered to the room before him.

The blue green glow was emitting from many small dots on the ceiling. The longer he looked, the more they seemed to be moving. The room wasn’t much larger than his living room at home. There were shelves and shelves of many different kinds of plants. In the middle of the room there was a desk made of stone, covered in books, loose paper, and plants in little containers. The room was messy but not disorganized. Everything seemed to have its place, no matter how chaotic it seemed at first. 

“Looking for this?” came a deep voice from behind him. Liam yelped as he spun around to see that the man from earlier was standing above him. He fell back onto his hands, too startled to speak. After a moment he realized that “this” meant his drawing pad, held in the man's thin, pale hand. 

“Y-yes, I am. I-I didn’t mean to intrude before. There was this fox and it was hurt and I wanted to help it but it ran down here. T-Then when I ran away earlier it must have fallen. I really didn’t mean to bother you, I just really don’t want to lose that. It’s very important to me,” Liam rambled on, unable to look the man directly in the eyes. They were indeed red like he noticed before, but they didn’t seem to be glowing. Not right now at least. 

“Did you draw this?” the man asked, pointing to the drawing he had made earlier that day. 

“Yes, I did. I like to draw the plants that I find when I am exploring,” Liam replied quickly, afraid to anger the man.

“Where did you see this?” he questioned Liam.

“It was in the abandoned house on the far side of the woods. I had never seen it there before,” Liam replied, expecting the man to be more upset that he invaded his home than he was, which seemed to be not at all. 

“Will you take me to it?” the man inquired. 

“Y-yeah, I can do that.” Liam answered in a daze. How come this man isn’t upset that I’m just in his house. Why is his voice so relaxing? It’s so deep and velvety. He could probably tell me the worst news and I would be cool with it. Standing up, he brushed the dirt off his black pants. They were baggy at the top but got tighter the lower they hung. A black strap ran from the front pocket to the back. There used to be more but they had fallen off at some point or another during his adventures in the woods. The hems were starting to fray and one knee was showing a bit of skin, although it hadn’t fully torn yet. They really were his favorite pants. Not like he had many to choose from anyway, but he had to beg his mother to buy these for him. She didn’t see the need for so many extra bits but she eventually gave in. 

“After you,” The mysterious man said, gesturing towards the hole Liam arrived through not long ago. 

“Okay, follow me then.” Liam swallowed as he took one more look at the man before heading back into the forest. The moon was high in the sky and shone brightly on the ground around him. It was enough to see so he decided to forgo the phone light, wanting to save the battery anyway. 

Branches cracked under their feet as they made their way through the dense forest. It seemed like forever in the awkward silence. He had so many questions to ask but was too afraid to ask them, like what was his name, for starters. 

“Arthur,” the man said, ending the long silence. 

“Pardon me?” Liam replied, caught off guard by his deep voice again. 

“My name is Arthur, in case you were wondering,” Arthur said calmly.

“Oh, thank you. I was wondering… My name’s Liam.”

“I know.”