Loss is a feeling many experience, the cold, empty feeling while you extend your hand towards something no longer there….

William's breath felt short - a low buzzing, one of the many pusling relentlessly through the woods, came from outside the cabin; deeper into the wilderness.

William sat back in the creaking chair. The cabin was warm, but felt somewhat lonely. With just him and Lloyd it didn’t have the same feeling as a few months ago.
“William,” Lloyd called, an acute tone of annoyance was audible in his voice, “Do me a favour and kick the hunk of metal outside,” In turn, William groaned, “The generator? Alright,” he responded, in an exasperated voice, taking a box cutter on the table next to him. It was all they had.

William’s shirt tightly hugged his figure. He reached for the door after taking a few steps, the brass door knob was freezing, it hadn’t been used in at least 2 days. He twisted the doorknob and shouldered open the door.

“I’m leaving, Lloyd,” William announced, twisting the door knob and gently shutting the thick, wooden door behind him.
      The forest was dark and unfriendly. It was extremely dangerous to wander alone, due to the density of it. One couldn’t look more than 50 metres in front of them if it was dark enough. A light whistle ran through the evergreen while the wind gently shook the branches of the trees. A purple-like tint was present when it was this late. William breathed in, adding one more whistle to the plethora of others making their ways through the Whistling Woods. 

William kept his piercing, hazel eyes down, the wind ruffled his black, wavy hair. As a child, William has yearned for long hair, yet his father had always denied the request. William supposed that simply stuck with him until adulthood, as his hair was still as short as his teenage self, even his childhood self.
William followed the sizeable, yellow cord connected to the cabin. Going to the generator wasn't a lengthy walk, but it was dangerous.

The forest thickened as William grew nearer to the generator. William looked up, recognising he was close, by the rocks and pebbles in chaotic disarray at his feet. In the distance, about 30 or 40 metres from him was the bulky silhouette of the large, metal generator.

William’s heart dropped as he heard a low buzzing sound, followed by shuffling. If the shuffling wasn’t there, William would have assumed the buzz was from the generator.

But the generator was off.

William’s eyes widened, he felt his breath start to quiver. He hastened his step, careful to limit the amount of sound his footsteps emitted. By now, William had his hands on the generator, they were trembling. Ahead of him, a large, cat-like figure, akin to the size of a Bengal tiger stood. The thing was a thing that should not inhabit the mortal world, its edges were sharp, almost geometric. Its face normally had a single eye, the pupil a harsh black, but instead its face had a mouth, the teeth stained with a scarlet red. William studied the creature carefully, his breath hushed. 

The creature stumbled haphazardly, almost as if it was blind. William realised, without its eye, it cannot see. He raised his weapon, and launched towards the creature, slashing at it with his blade, but only leaving tiny scrapes near its tail. At the sharp sting of pain, the creature spun around, facing William, still slightly turned away from him. 

The creature’s claw was long and pointed, caked in mud as it swung in William’s direction. William was knocked back against a tree, sharp spines of the bark poking at his arms. A dull ache came from William’s abdomen, followed by dizziness. The creature, unsure of where he was, prowled the area, the buzzing was louder now.

William was out of breath, he slid down the tree, slumping against it while sitting on the ground. He brought himself to look up, as he glanced around himself, a movement caught his eye. His neck was painful, he restrained a groan as he turned it, his jaw was clenched.

Before him was a person, his age, possibly. They beckoned for him to come, fear in their eyes. The boy crawled slightly closer, looking at the creature periodically to ensure it hadn’t noticed them, but the creature was closer. The surface of its skin didn’t appear to have any shadows, it did not look natural in the dark environment.

It neared, the creature’s claws dug into the soft ground. The boy was visibly panicked, as he turned, gathering rocks in his hands. He stood up, circling around the tree, his hair, bleached blond and dry, shone in the small bursts of silvery moonlight that could make their way through the bulky canopy. 

The boy lifted the first rock high, pegging it as far, and as hard as he possibly could into a nearby clearing. Then the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth. With each rock the creature flinched. After what William supposed was the seventh rock, the creature took off in the direction of the sound the rocks made, its legs moved in a blur, the creature was evidently unaffected by the minor injuries William caused.

William diverted his gaze to the boy who was crouched, hastily making his way to William.

“We don't have long,” the boy spat, “get up. can you walk?” he queried, to which William nodded, letting the boy loop his arms around William, helping him up.

The journey was a mere five minutes to the generator, but with William’s added limp, the journey was at least 15 minutes. William groaned, he applied pressure to the wound on his stomach, his dark purple shirt was soaked. The other boy, William recalled his name to be Elias. He was significantly shorter than William, at least, in his eyes. In reality the height difference was no more than 10 centimetres.

Elias and William could now see the cabin.

“That’s your cabin?” Elias spoke softly, gesturing at Lloyd’s cabin. By now, Williams' dizziness was prominent, and his eyelids were heavy. “Come on,” Elias whispered, pulling William along slightly faster.

William reached out to the same brass door knob, weakly pushing open the door. Hearing the door open, Lloyd made his way to the room with the beds and front door, mumbling. “Hey, it's still not working…” Lloyd trailed off as he stared at Elias and William. “Who are you? What’s happened to William?” He stepped closer to the pair, visibly worried. “Was it Bad Habits?” Lloyd pointed to the bottom bunk bed, “Put him there, we need to make sure he's okay."

Lloyd slowly inched William’s shirt up, revealing the wound. It spanned across most of his chest, but was shallow. “Stay here with him,” Lloyd said. He sounded tired. As Lloyd returned with a first-aid kit, William turned to look at Elias, who looked back at him. “You’re hurt, Will, stay still,” Elias spoke as William attempted to move. “Don’t call me that,” William spat, who was met with a shush from Lloyd.

The bandages were wrapped around William’s body, a light red already bleeding through. Elias was speaking to Lloyd, “Alright, stay on that top bunk, do what you want, but you’re going to need to go back out there tomorrow,” Lloyd nodded his head at the door. “Why?”
“If you follow the trail directly outside the cabin, it’ll take you to another while a little away. That’s where Hope lives, and she gets stuff we need from the city. Stuff we can’t get here.”

         "How?" Elias queried.

         "I think she gets someone on the outside. I don't know how she does it, she just does." 

         "Do you guys live here?" Elias pondered. Lloyd sighed.

         "Yeah, for one reason or another."