บท 6: 6. Shade

Together, Linda, Lukas and Steve walk towards the outskirts of the forest. All three in wildly varying moods. The child gazes at the ground with a focused expression, as if in a bubble of his own, nothing could seemingly penetrate his concentration. The woman could be seen wildly flailing her arms around, enraged with Steve, who is scratching his head, looking rather put off by the situation.

"Look, Linda, Lukas is fast, even if something goes wrong, he's not going to be the one to suffer" Unnoticed by the adults, the child clenches his fist at the heartless statement. His eyes seem to shadow over even further as he vividly remembers doing exactly that. The man continues, unheeding or unsympathetic, no one would be able to tell.

"I've seen similar cases to Lukas happen" The woman goes to open her mouth but is cut off before she's able to get a word in. "Thing is, if we leave him to stew on this all on his own, he's going to grow to fear the forest." Steve looks thoughtful for a moment, before continuing. "Maybe not just the forest, this could really screw with his mind. It is absolutely best for him to confront whatever caused this trauma as soon as possible." He stops walking as they reach the tree line, turning to look Linda in the eye. She averts her eyes, but keep mumbling

"But he's just a child..." The man gives her a look of sympathy and sighs while scratching his head.

"It is because he is a child that we have to do this. It is tough love, Linda" he says, while looking grimly at the boy. The boy looks back up at him, he clenches his teeth as their eyes lock in a stalemate.

"I am not a child! I am a man!" He shouts loudly. Breaking the ice which has settled over the trio. Even Linda couldn't help but give the comment a small smile. Steve laughs out loud and rubs Lukas head. "Sure, you are, kiddo" The child crosses his arms across his chest and puffs out some air. But for some reason, he doesn't remove the hand.

Raised voices can be heard some distance away as the village processes the news. And what news it is. Inside a small house with a chimney there is a loud bang as a hand hits the table. A burly man stands up, his bushy beard seemingly vibrating in anger.

"What!?" The man shouts at a woman with red hair, crossed arms and lazy gaze.

"Rick is dead" She repeats, in a flat voice. The nostrils of the man flares in anger and he barely holds himself back from hitting the woman.

"You better not be shitting me, Grace. I do not care if you are a woman, I will kill you with my own two hands if you are" He states gravely. The woman raises an eyebrow at the man and considers taunting him but resists in consideration of the circumstances. She uncrosses her arms and gives the man a look of sympathy.

"Am sorry, Harold" The man pauses, looks at her in shock and deflates.

"Since even you are being a softhearted fool, it must be true, huh?" He states sadly, falling back into his chair. The woman takes two steps forward, as if uncomfortable with the action, and puts a hand on his shoulder. They stay like that for a moment before the man speaks up once again. His eyes hidden from view, but you could hear wet droplets hitting the table. "Who... Who did this? Rick is not stupid enough to get himself killed like a loon" His voice rumbles as he speaks, increasingly louder with each syllable. The woman tightly grabs his shoulder, causing wet, blue eyes to meet red, ruby ones. Her voice is strained as the words force themselves out.

"Not who, Harold, what" she tells him. Taking her hand off his shoulder and throwing it onto the table. "We're going to kill it" she states as she walks towards the door. Leaving her hand on the handle, she questions him with her back turned.

"Are you coming, or are you just going to sit there and mope?" Creaking could be heard as the burly man stands up, bringing a smirk to the woman's face.

"You know damn well am coming" A light sound occurs as the knife embeds itself into the doorframe, drawing her eyes to it.

"And am bringing my own knives"