I psed into a deep depression once we stopped talking and thought that no one would e to save me from the world outside of the forest. I imagiwo options, rejoining the city where my life would go nowhere forever, or I could stay in the forest away from people, suffering from halluations forever. Sarah would probably join me, but she would get bored after a while and start to move away from certain things, and then she would leave all together. I would probably try to follow her and then be pushed away from the city because of my gaunt and vampiric appearance. Sarah would be protected from me, and I would never be seen again uhreat of death. This se pyed out in my head over and aiing as I walked with my brain unoccupied through the forest. I pulled myself only to be put right ba after I had a sihought to myself. I started to go a little mad as I regained self trol each time I pulled myself out of the thought like an unfortunate farmer would pull himself out of a vat of honey, only to be dragged ba again and again. I mao pull my head up, and I only saw the trunks closest to me and no more. I shouted because I was uo get myself out of the headspace, and I even started to see the people taking Sarah away from me at the opy. Sarah grabbed onto me and pulled me forwards, and I stumbled and nearly fell down. I looked at Sarah, but she was just carrying me along, and I did not know whether she wao talk or not. I decided to ce it, because I was so scared, more scared than I probably should have been.

  “Sarah? You’re being taken away from me.”

  I waited for those few half-seds for her to respond. In that time a thousaions crossed my mind, each giving way to more dangerous and horrible visions.

  “I will never leave your side or stop helping you. I think you know that deep down.”

  “I don’t know if I trust that, I don’t know if I believe it.”

  “When it keeps happening, you will believe it for this argument, and then when we have this argument again, you will believe it afterwards, and on and on.”

  “You know the things that happeo me and-”

  “And the things you did? Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave you. I don’t want to leave you on your own because I care about you and I don’t want to see you in danger.”

  “But-”

  “But nothing. Yes, to you it may seem like the things you did were unfivable, but I’ve seen worse and done worse. That is a fact.”

  “I…I don’t know how to respond to that.”

  “And you know why that is?”

  “Because I’m incapable of taking pliments.”

  “Exactly. I’m not going to leave you.”

  “Okay.”

  “You still don’t believe me.”

  “I have a hard time believing people.”

  “I uand. Look up at the trees, tell me what you see then.”

  “I see…ughing. People are ughing.”

  Sarah looked up at the trees for a moment and then looked back at me.

  “I see nothing but darkness and a few leaves here and there. You know what that means?”

  “That you’re not going to leave me.”

  “Exactly. Now, look at this.”

  Sarah had stopped in a clearing, and she held out the match she was carrying to show me a hole in the ground. It was marked by a stone square which was about six iall, and it was covered in moss and li, giving it an a and almost haunted quality. I walked up to it, and Sarah followed quickly behind, and I saw she was about to jump into the hole. I grabbed her before she could do it, and asked her for a match.

  “Why?”

  “Just trust me.”

  She handed me a match, and I struck it against the box, lighting it. Shadows darted past and away from the light, but I gave them no attention. I instead dropped the match down the hole, and Sarah and I both watched as it fell down…down…down… We saw it hit the bottom, and the light inpri the ground before beiinguished.

  “Wow.”

  “I will also never leave you. My reason being that.”

  I tossed a rock down the hole, and I heard it k against the walls until nding on the ground, and then it was quiet again. We were about to leave, when the rock that I had tossed came flying out of the hole and embedded itself in a nearby tree. I paused, and turo Sarah.

  “Fuck. Did you see that?”

  “Yes. I saw it.”

  “Light a matd throw it down there. Now.”

  Sarah did, ached as the match fell downwards, revealing thousands of spiders with knobbly arms and faces that looked much too human for anything I had known. I fell backwards, but Sarah was still standing there like a statue, waiting for the things that would really scare her. I got up and pointed down into the hole, and Sarah waved me away and told me to stand still and breathe. I did so as the spiders climbed over me and her, only terrifying me and causio cw at my arms to get them away. Naturally, I only scratched myself, and the spiders tio crawl all over Sarah and I. I looked down, and there, illuminated in the golden light of the match, was a man. He looked up at us, and I saw his eyes, glowing in the underlight that luminated in what used to be plete darkness. His figure was still shrouded in darkness, and he pointed up at us, apparently looking at someone else further down the cavern. I turo Sarah, and said shakily, “Should we go? We should ght?”

  Sarah was not stupid. She khe danger we were in, and she anig. So, she did the only thing that came to her brain at the time. She called down to the cave people.

  “Who are you?”

  They did not respond, and I tried to pull her away, and I saw the people looking up at us. There were three, and they seemed to be deliberating amongst themselves about what to do. Eventually, they appeared to e to a collective decision and walked away from the hole. I stared at Sarah, and I said with extreme urgency, “We o go. Now.” And now, Sarah agreed. We both started running through the forest at the maximum speed the light would alloe went, and Sarah kept pointing at other holes in the ground as ast them. I was beside myself with fear, and I thought the entire forest was going to explode beh our feet. I pulled myself away from Sarah, but I did not know where I was going without the light, and most of all where was safe to put your feet. I only solidified this in my head when I tripped on a piece of wire and fell onto some square of metal. I id there for a moment, and then it dropped, taking me down to where the cave people waited.