"Gabriel!" I cried out as I walked through the tall trees. My gaze wandered in all direction to look for my brother as I took hurried steps. A sense of déjà vu washed over me taking me back to the last time I was here and in the same predicament. Only this time I was more angry than concerned for my brother.
The sound of birds reverberated through the woods above me. Sun had started to set and I was getting cold. A part of me wished that Noah and the boys would show up again with Gabriel, even though chances of that happening were very slim. So I just shouted my brother's name and moved in no particular direction.
Minutes later I was about to give up and call Mom when I found Gabriel's gray woolen beanie lying on the ground. I picked it up and marched ahead, hoping that this was the end of my search. I wanted to go home.
"Gabriel!" I strode forward, yelling his name.
I felt bumping into something, like a gelatinous wall that slowed my pace for a second, even though there was nothing but air. I didn't give much thought to it and continued looking for my brother. But as I kept going I realized my surrounding had changed drastically.
Trees had gotten taller and broader, and they were no longer just plain green. They were covered in flowers of different colors, many shades of purple, yellow, blue and pink. The bushes around me were larger. The ground was too uneven and I saw small hills in the distance.
I had been to the woods many times but I never ventured this far. I wasn't even aware of it. It was beautiful. Maybe that was why Gabriel insisted on coming here. He had seen this sight. Still, as breathtaking as this part of forest was, it was also eerie. The change from plain woods to this colorful land was too sudden.
As I moved forward, the forest got thicker and denser and I even had to evade some branches hitting me. The chirps of birds changed too, they got louder and... sweeter. I saw a bird on a tree branch. It looked like a sparrow but little bigger and with long pointy beak. When it flapped its wing I almost took a step back, stunned at how huge they were for its size. I was no bird-watcher, but I had never seen this species before.
My eyes now started taking in more details, seeing weird insects, large blooming flowers, or a posse of fireflies that had started coming out as the evening light faded. It felt like exploring a wonderland.
I stopped when I came across a waterfall. It wasn't huge but the pressure of falling water sprinkled droplets around the area, bringing down the temperature further. Alarms blared inside my head looking at it.
There was no waterfall in Easthallow. I'm not in Easthallow.
Before I could comprehend where was I or what was happening, I saw a familiar four feet figure not far away. Gabriel. Someone else was with him too. I couldn't make out how they looked aside from their tall, lanky shadow.
"Gabriel!" I stomped toward him and he turned to look at me. I saw his eyes widen. Yeah, you better be scared brat!
The person who was with him vanished. I stopped and blinked my eyes. They. Vanished. Just like that. What the-?
"Giselle, h-how did you get here?" Gabriel asked me, snapping me out of shock. He was now standing in front of me.
"Who was with you?" When Gabriel didn't answer I glared at him. "Who was that? And what the hell are you doing here?! You ran out of school!"
He still didn't say anything and just looked down.
"Either you answer to me or Mom. The choice is yours."
His brown eyes once again widened. "Don't tell Mom... Please." He gave me his best puppy eyes, but I was too angry for them to work.
"What is this place and who you were with just now?" I hissed.
"Gorrie says that this forest is just outside the Arendell city."
I looked at him confused. "There's no city named Arendell around here."
"There is. Gorrie promised to take me on a tour."
"Is Gorrie the person you were just talking to?"
He nodded and my brows scrunched.
"Can Gorrie just disappear in thin air?"
Gabriel's eyes glinted. "He can do lots of cool stuff. Like making apples fly, changing flowers' color, talking to birds..."
I shook my head and let out a sigh. This was some dream. Colorful trees, strange birds, large flowers, waterfall, and a magical disappearing man. It had to be a dream.
"Giselle," Gabriel said quietly, abruptly stopping his ramble.
"What?" I snapped.
"There's something behind you." He gulped staring behind me. "And it looks angry."
I turned around and saw a wild boar - or what seemed like a boar, except it was huge like a horse and had white fur. Its tusks were long as those of African elephants. It was glaring at us and huffing. I was no wildlife specialist but my human instincts knew when the animal was going to attack.
Dream or not, I had to get out of here.
When that boar - or whatever it was - took a step forward and hunched itself, I knew what was coming.
"Run!" I yelled at Gabriel. He wasted no time and took off.
A loud grunt resounded from behind us before the heavy thumps chased after us as we ran. They were rapidly closing in on us. Adrenaline surged inside my veins and I moved my legs faster. When Gabriel couldn't keep up with me I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder. I had no idea where that strength came from. Probably from the will to live.
"Giselle, it's close," Gab cried from my shoulder. He didn't have to say, I could hear the pounding of its hooves getting louder.
Once again the beast grunted and my heart shook. We were going to die.
I just want to go home. Please, please, take us home.
"Giselle!" Gabriel cried and his arms tightened around my neck. I could smell the stench from that wild thing's mouth.
We were dead.
I bumped against air and fell forward. My hand instinctively came to shield Gabriel's head before falling face first. I laid on the ground, panting and sweating, waiting for that boar to rip us apart. My heart drummed in my chest and my grip tightened around my brother, pulling him closer to my chest. I waited...and waited.
"Giselle, it's gone," Gab whispered in my ear. I looked behind and found no wild beast. Where did it go?
Slowly, I got off Gabriel and looked around warily, expecting that animal to jump on us from anywhere. But nothing came. "Do animals there disappear too?" I asked, still breathless.
"No. We're back at the woods."
The sun had set so it took me a moment to realize that our surrounding had gotten familiar, 'normal'. There were no flowery trees or birds with huge wings. Just plain familiar woods.
We were back at Easthallow.
Now the question was where the hell were we at before?
*******
Throughout the walk out of the woods I stayed cautious, fearing that we would walk into that strange place again. But fortunately that didn't happen. I held Gab's hand tightly as we rode the bus back home. I needed his touch to ground me. I was also afraid of losing him. Maybe I was in shock.
Halfway through the ride I finally opened my mouth to ask questions but my brother shushed me saying it shouldn't be discussed in public. I was not in a mood to argue.
"Where's your school bag?" I asked instead when I noticed he didn't have his bag with him. If he left it at that place, I wasn't going to retrieve it for him. Neither was he.
"I left it at school," he said.
I nodded, relieved. "I found your hat in the woods but I think I dropped it while..."
"It's okay."
We didn't say anything after that. Gabriel's school bag or his hat were least of my concerns right now. My mind was back at that eerie forest and our encounter with the ginormous boar which almost ate us.
"Tell me everything. Now," I ordered Gabriel once we stepped inside home. We sat on the couch in our living room. Now that adrenaline and shock had worn off, my whole body was aching, especially the arm with which I carried Gab. I might've pulled a muscle.
He pouted. "Gorrie told me to not tell anyone about him or that place." This boy!
I glared at him. "Gab, I'm very close to losing my mind. Speak!"
My stern tone was enough for him to start talking.
Apparently, he had came across that place last month when I took him to the woods. He met this Gorrie after his second trip and now they were 'best friends'. Gorrie showed him magic tricks and they played together.
"You were never out of my sight for more than few minutes. How come you can spend enough time there to play with that guy?" I questioned. His story didn't fit logically. Then again logic was out of the window the moment I stepped on that land.
"Gorrie says he can change time." I gave him an incredulous look. He sighed. "It can be minutes in this world, but there he can turn them into hours."
My temples throbbed, warning me of incoming headache. "What do you mean by this world? Was that Andel-"
"Arendell," he corrected me.
"Whatever. Was that part of some other world?"
"Yes. It's the ream of magic," he announced proudly as though it was his land.
"Realm of magic," I pronounced correctly and my brother nodded. I groaned and laid my head on headrest, the headache assaulting me with full force. Can this nightmare be over already?
"Giselle I'll take you there again. You can also meet Gorrie. I promise there are no wild animals when I'm with him. He's-"
"We're not going there ever," I shut Gabriel, massaging my temples.
"But-"
"You're not going there again. And that's the end of it." I sneaked a glance at him and he looked close to crying. My heart clenched seeing his broken face. He had attached himself to that world and Gorrie, and it wasn't safe. That place wasn't safe.
Before Gabriel could protest further our mom walked in through the front door.
Later at dinner table as we ate ordered food, I debated whether to tell her about this 'Realm of Magic'. I decided against it. It sounded cynical to my ears, the person who had actually seen it, much less to my mother, who was still berating me for drinking last night and not preparing dinner. She'd call me crazy.
Besides neither Gabriel nor I were ever going back there again.
*******
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