Your grandfather manages to walk quite a ways ahead of you, surprisingly fast for someone with such old bones. By the time you manage to spot him, you notice he’s already made his way halfway up the hill leading to the end of residential sector. It’s a long trek up there and there is no good reason for him to be as fast as he is. Just another day in the life. Good thing you have long legs to keep up with him.

 

At this time of night there’s usually an eerie silence that covers the area. You can’t hear the echoes of trains running along their tracks that usually clue you into any signs of life. The only thing to break the stillness of the night is the steady stream of icy rain that has begun to fall. It doesn’t seem to hinder your grandfather much, however. By the time you manage to catch up with him, it’s apparent where you’re headed. The stepped path leading up into the forest along the edges of town looks slick and, if he’s as determined as he looks to enter then you really had best go along. With the freezing rain they would be slick with ice; a perfect recipe for broken bones which were well past the age of healing. 

[b]“Now don’t try to stop me, boy. I don’t have time nor the money to be getting a new ID or to cancel my credit cards,”[/b] he says, grumbling as he moves up the staircase and into the forest which you recall, is rumored to be haunted due to the large number of people who tend to use it as a place to commit suicide. This doesn’t seem to put your grandfather off one bit. However, it is… concerning that he decided to visit a place like this, though, especially without telling you about it.  There were some people who were afraid to talk about this forest, believing that they would be cursed if they gossiped about it. 

Ever persistent, he opens the umbrella he had grabbed from the door, determined to walk into the darkness with or without you. 

With no streetlights, it’s hard to see much of anything until your eyes adjust. Before you can really make out much of anything, even if you wanted to, there are spots in your vision. For just a moment it looks as there’s a pulsing glow right beside your grandfather’s heart. It disappears right as soon as you notice it, and long before he does. Over the hill of vinelike tendrils you can see the same blue speck appear and fade, just once. Cracking sounds echo through the woods, likely the sound of an animal meandering on through. It continues however, a distant snap ringing from far away.