Fiction|Thriller-Suspense

An Eye For An Eye

5 of 💯 STORY CHALLENGE

He wasn’t particularly fond of running at night, not after years of sibling-induced torture. Being the baby in the family may have its benefits with the parents, but older siblings tend to fine-tune their elements of surprise and torture.

His siblings, surely the spawn of Satan himself, were not the mediocre jumping out from behind the couch or spider drawn on toilet paper variety of scare techniques. He was taunted on a regular basis by them with Freddy or Scare mask on at three in the morning and blood-curdling screams mere inches from his face. Or the times he had outdoor chores and the demons had crafted their own ghillie suits to scare the wits out of him.

His siblings clearly had too much time on their hands and too few chores to finish.

Leaning down, Alejandro tightened the plump laces of his midnight black Brooks Ghost running shoes. Glancing at the skyline, he calculated a couple of hours of daylight remained before darkness would set in. Plenty of time for an hour run through the lush forest to clear his work-fogged mind.

The melodies of various finches, wrens, and other songbirds he failed to recognize soothed his soul. Beams of light danced through the leafy canopy while the shadows grew and frolicked on the forest floor.

Alejandro’s speed waned as the day’s stress dissipated on the path behind him. He breathed deeply as the heady scent of pine, decaying wood, and damp earth flooded his being to restore his soul. At this point, he reveled in the beauty of his surroundings. His eyes tracked the graceful flight of a Black Swallowtail Butterfly when he saw a small dog run through the trees.

“What the…” Were his eyes deceiving him? Was he dehydrated? Hallucinating?

After the briefest moment’s pause, Alejandro dashed after the hound. He’s never seen a dog without its owner in the forest. Was someone injured and waiting to be rescued? He caught a few more glimpses of the dog in his pursuit.

“Here boy! Aquí chico!” He tried to get the dog to slow down or come to him. In a matter of minutes, the dog was nowhere to be seen. Stopping on the dusty path, he purposefully slowed his labored breathing as he listed for barking or whining. The darkness was spreading like a plague and he had already gone deeper and spent more time in the forest than he intended.

What he heard was not a dog but a pleading cry that caused his heart to nearly beat out of his chest and sink into the pit of his stomach at the same time.

“Help! Let me out!” A child’s tearful voice cried into the ensuing darkness.

Frantically, Alejandro’s eyes darted about his surroundings for the source of the cry. And for help. He should have been jamming in his metallic grey Chevy Tahoe on his way home by now.

“Por favor, can someone help me?!” The dense trees absorbed his plea. He stared unblinking at the route he had taken to this point. If he backtracked right now, no one would know what happened.

He pivoted on the ball of his foot, jogged a few steps, and slumped in defeat. He would know. He would know he had been a coward in the darkness. He would know he abandoned the abandoned. He knew he would not be able to live with himself.

Alejandro breathed deeply in determination then chased after the mournful plea his soul couldn’t reject. Brick red dirt flung into the still air as the tread of his shoes dug deep with each powerful stride. Multiple times, he paused, held his breath, and strained to hear the whimpering child’s voice.

He swallowed hard to dislodge the lump in his throat as he stood motionless in the inconspicuous child’s location. His eyes strained against the trees as they continued to lose shape and definition in the late hour.

“Where are you?”

“Help me! Let me out!” The muffled voice reached in to tug at his heart.

His eyes scoured the rough trees, downed branches, and large rocks before resting on what appeared to be a manhole. A manhole in the forest? He had witnessed no signs of civilization, ever, on his runs throughout these woods.

“Hello? Can you hear me?” His eyes darted up and down the path, half expecting to find someone pointing and laughing that he was speaking to a manhole, yet not really. “Are you in there?”

“I can’t get out and I’m scared!” The small voice whimpered with the hope of being rescued.

Alejandro squat low and dug his fingers into the parched soil, particles wedging under his well-trimmed nails. Veins in his bronze neck, muscled arms and legs bulged and his face dripped with sweat. A roar exploded from his burning lungs as the metal prison gave way. He gulped deep amounts of air as a small, dirty hand emerged.

The hand was so small, his breath ceased for a moment. How could such a small child end up alone in the forest? Or trapped beneath a heavy manhole cover? Who could have performed such a wicked deed against a child? And why??

He grasped the small, extended hand and pulled the boy to safety — who barely appeared to be five years old. Alejandro’s eyes swept over the boy’s dark, disheveled hair, tear-stained cheeks, and tattered clothing in the soft glow of the setting sun.

Startled by the sound of rustling in the overgrowth behind him, Alejandro spun around. Before them stood a hunched lady with greying hair, a look of shock consumed her weathered features.

“What have you done?” Her eyes darted to the child and widened in horror before she fled.

Taken aback, Alejandro turned his gaze back to the boy, who was no longer the dusty child he rescued. By appearance, he was staring at himself, other than his eyes glinting red in the fading light. He stumbled backward in shock, unable to comprehend what had transpired in his very presence.

His mirror image firmly grasped Alejandro’s wrist. “Where do you think you’re going, Alejandro?” A sinister grin spread across the twin’s smooth features. “You aren’t going anywhere. Someone must be bound and it is not going to be me. An eye for an eye, a soul for a soul.”

Before he had a chance to process the meaning of those words, the twin whipped Alejandro towards the manhole. Gravity seemed to inhale every fiber of his being towards the hole the boy occupied, including the very breath he required to survive. Despite his strength, he was powerless to fight back.

Once in the hole, Alejandro frantically scraped and pounded at the dirt until he felt the cold, hard steel of the manhole cover. As his eyes adjusted to the pitch black of the earth, the manhole cover became semi-transparent — allowing him to see outside the confines of his prison.

He watched in dismay as the man looked at him through the cover, brushed off non-existent dirt, and smirked at Alejandro. ‘Thank you for releasing me and enjoy your new home, Chump. You can see out, but no one can see in.” With those words, he stretched and strode away in the soft moonlight, leaving Alejandro alone.

Alejandro screamed to be released and for someone to rescue him. His throat burned and his voice failed with hoarseness. Tears streamed down his cheeks at the thought of being trapped forever or someone in his place.

Sweet Chaos — Tickling your senses through fiction writing while shocking you with the outcome! Nothing is as it seems! Ready to read every addicting story leaving you on the edge of your seat? Joining through my link gives me a smidge extra at no cost to you, and a treat for my dog! Check out my publication — The Fictioneer’s Treasure Trove and possibly join the creative ranks!

Inspired by Zane Dickens’💯 Story Challenge and Jann Christoph von der Pütten’s “5 Writing Prompts: Abandoned in the Forest.”