Chapter 2

Ouch!

So much pain!

Am I dead?

Daniel cracked his eyes open slowly as he groaned, taking in his environment. He immediately began shivering in fear after remembering what had happened, his pupils dilating as he saw himself still lying in the woods. He could see the brown glowing eyes of the Lycanthrope glaring at him, its claws ready to bear down on him.

"Don't kill me!" he yelled in fear as he broke down in fear. "Don't kill me!"

"It's okay," a feminine voice said, warm arms wrapping around him. Slowly he recovered from his trauma and didn't see the Lycanthrope anymore. He then realized that he was no longer in Crimson Woods but was in his own room. He realized that he was shivering at a corner on his bed, his mother's arms wrapped around him in a comforting manner. There were two cops standing in front of them, both dressed in starchy grey uniform.

"It's alright, son," Mrs. Stark, his mother said as she stared into his eyes with her brown comforting eyes. At one glance you would notice the striking resemblance between Daniel and Mrs. Stark. Both of them had the same brown eyes which seemed comforting, brown curly hairs as brown as nutmeg and narrow lips.

Daniel who was very much frightened calmed down after realizing where he was and after hearing his mother's voice. But that didn't stop his heart from beating fast. He had been in the woods some moments ago, scratched by a Lycanthrope but now he was in his room on 17th Woodbury, the street his house was located at. How did he get to his room? How did he survive the creepy woods with demonic creatures roaming about?

Thinking about all these, Daniel couldn't help but feel very frightened as his eyes moved from Mrs. Stark to the two cops who were standing before them, his expression becoming dazed.

One of the cops who had a grey hair and grey eyes coughed as he said, "We happened to pass by and saw you lying unconscious in the woods. Luckily for you, we were chasing some criminals who had run into the Crimson Woods."

He paused and looked at his colleague who was bald and had an ugly face. He then moved his eyes to Daniel and asked, "Can you recount what happened?"

At this point Daniel shouted, "It was the bullies! They chased me into the woods! I saw them! I saw dead bodies and skeletons! The wolf creature, it bit me!"

"Lycanthrope?" the bald and ugly cop asked Daniel in a comforting manner. Daniel calmed down after hearing the question. He felt that the other party knew about the matter.

"Yes, it was a Lycanthrope!" Daniel shouted in fear. "It scratched my right chest and I fell unconscious! When I woke up I was beaten by those four bullies again!"

"You were scratched by a Lycanthrope and beaten by four bullies?" the grey haired cop asked, finding the whole story unbelievable. He even began feeling that the kid had become delusional from fear. When they had arrived at the scene, they saw a wolf hurriedly scamper from his side. Obviously he had seen a wolf and fainted. No one had ever scratched or beaten him.

"Yes," Daniel replied, his body still shivering. "I was scratched by a Lycanthrope in the right chest."

The bald and ugly cop calmly looked at his colleague before looking at Daniel. Then he said, "Show us the mark. There should be claw marks."

Daniel didn't argue as he pulled his shirt up, revealing the region around his right chest. He saw the eyes of Mrs. Stark and the cops narrow before they stared at him with concern. They've seen the claw marks, right? he was relieved that they knew the truth now.

"What's your name?" the grey haired cop asked calmly.

"Daniel," Daniel replied as he still held his shirt without looking down at his body.

"Daniel, there are no claw marks there," the grey haired cop continued. "And since there are no claw marks, there was no Lycanthrope, you get?"

No claw marks? Daniel was momentarily at loss. It was at that moment he realized that he felt no pain. How could he not feel any pain when he had passed out due to the extreme pain? He refused to believe his senses as he turned his head to stare at his right chest. His pupils shrank after seeing what he saw. There were no claw marks!

The bald and ugly cop said, "That was a delusion you got, Daniel. We were chasing after some criminals when we arrived at the spot near you. A wolf was by your side, almost eating you. When it saw us, it ran away. Obviously you had been scared by a wolf and the effects of gaslighting made you think you saw a Lycanthrope and it scratched you. The poor wolf didn't even harm you."

There was no Lycanthrope? It didn't scratch me? I was only affected by gaslighting? Daniel found the whole thing unbelievable. He even began doubting his sanity as he stared at the cops in fear.

"You've listened to so much rumours of supernatural creatures roaming about in Crimson Woods, haven't you?" the grey haired cop asked. "That made you form an overall image of a Lycanthrope, making you see the wolf as a Lycanthrope."

At this point Daniel calmed down as he muttered, "But it scratched me. It can't be a delusion, right?"

"It's a delusion," the bald and ugly cop replied. "And I advice you not to spread wild tales like this. The other cops won't hesitate to drop you at the asylum till you've recovered from your mental illness."

I have no mental illness, Daniel said within him as he stared at Mrs. Stark. He hoped that his mother would believe him but at that moment she said to the cops, "I promise you, Daniel will recover from his delusions. He's always been this way since he was a kid. Once he had sworn to see a vampire in the closet."

"..."

Daniel's expression froze. Mum doesn't even believe me and she's using old incidents to prove that I'm delusional. Why won't you all believe me?

The cops fell silent for some moments as they stared at Daniel with concern. The grey haired cop then said, "If this continues, don't hesitate to send him for medical treatment."

"I won't forget," Mrs. Stark said. "Thank you for saving my son. I don't know what would have happened to him if you didn't arrive on time."

The cops smiled warmly as they said, "It's our duty."

They then announced that they had to go. Mrs. Stark was very polite and offered to escort them outside the house to their car. Only Daniel was left alone in the room.

Was it all a dream? Daniel thought as he wore a blank expression. Was it all a delusion that never existed? There was no Lycanthrope—no bullies? Then how did I get into the woods if there was no one? Maybe after they chased me into the woods, they left me for dead and didn't proceed to harm me. The corresponding feelings I had and things I saw were just a work of my delusion. But then it felt so real...so real.

"This couldn't have been a dream," Daniel said as he couldn't believe everything that transpired at the woods was something he imagined out of the blues. But then he wasn't even feeling any pain to show that he experienced the pains at the woods. If only he could feel pain, he would be very sure that it wasn't a delusion. But no, he didn't even feel any pain much more to have any claw marks on his right chest. It was like a lie which his mind had fabricated for him to believe.

Creak!

At that time the door opened gently, Mrs. Stark walking into the room. Daniel was jolted out of his thoughts as he stared at his mother.

"Son, what made you run into the woods?" Mrs. Stark had a sorrowful expression. "Don't you know it's very dangerous out there? There are wild animals roaming in the woods!"

Mum, actually it should be supernatural creatures, Daniel wanted to say but he didn't say it. It was only his thought. If he said that it would end up proving that he had serious mental issues. Why didn't anyone believe him when he narrated his encounter at Crimson Woods? The rumours wouldn't be entirely untrue, would they?

"Those bullies chased me into there," Daniel explained helplessly. "They chased me into the woods."

Mrs. Stark fell silent for some moments as she sized up Daniel. She pondered on all what the cops had told her and began considering if she should actually send Daniel to the hospital for medical checkup. The cops had confirmed from the bullies that they never chased him into the woods! After school let out for the day, Daniel had been so afraid that he had immediately bolted into the woods!

Taking a deep breathe, Mrs. Stark said, "There were no bullies. They didn't agree to chasing you. The cops firmly believe you're deluded and need mental checkup."

"No mum, I'm fine," Daniel smiled, pretending to recover from his trauma. "I'm actually very fine. Maybe you're right. It's just my scared little mind."

In actuality he didn't want his mum to think that he had mental issues. The asylum was the last place a teenager wanted to be after the juvenile hall. So he decided to pretend to agree to what they had said even when he knew deep down that something was not right. Something was not actually right.

"Seeing that you're now fine, I'm relieved," Mrs. Stark said. "I don't know how I would have survived if anything bad had happened to you in that dangerous woods."

Daniel could feel the pain in Mrs. Stark's words. He could feel the pain stemming from the love she had for him. A mother's love was truly genuine and pure without any blemish. His mum truly loved him and didn't want any harm to come to him.

"I'm now fine, mum," Daniel faked a smile. "I'm now fine."

"Your encounter was just a delusion," Mrs. Stark said. "Don't think too much about it."

Daniel nodded tersely, "I won't."

"Good night, son," Mrs. Stark said as she stood up to leave the room, shutting the door gently behind her.

Good night? Daniel was puzzled. That means I was unconscious at the woods for hours! I actually remained unconscious from afternoon till the evening! Who protected me during that period? Why didn't the wild animals eat me then?

Having all these thoughts in mind, Daniel didn't know what to believe any more. Part of him believed what the cops had said while the other part believed the encounter which he had had at the woods—it was so real. The more he believed what his mind told him, the more he felt he was actually deluded. There was no pain or claw marks to prove that what he passed through was true. In the end he had no choice but to believe that he had been actually deluded.

He lay back in bed with a puzzled expression as he closed his eyes. But Walter, he was there. The bullies, they were all there.

He took a deep breathe and sighed, "I'm actually overthinking things. It was all a delusion."

He removed his shirt, dropping it by his side as he stared down at his right chest. No claw marks. That proved that his encounter had been a delusion—something his mind had brought up to save a scared kid.

Seconds ticked by, minutes ran by and he fell into a deep sleep, forgetting his thoughts. At that moment deep bloody marks appeared on his right chest. The marks seemed to be caused by a scratch from the claw of an animal.
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So here we see the protagonist being conflicted. Was it a dream or not?

Chapter end