The Watchers in the Woods

It's cold in the forest and so, so dark...especially this time of year with the hardened ground covered in snow...at least there isn't much of the white stuff on the forest floor, though Jack would be glad to have some for his aching muscles. Instead, though, his long fingers trawl across crumbly dirt, rubbing occasionally over soft moss... It would be nice if there was moss under his cheek as well, but that's crusty soil pressing painfully into his skin. How did he come to be lying on the floor of the forest anyway?

Like a flickering movie in his mind's eye, the events begin to play: he told the captain and detectives what happened on the road with Maelle, then he was arrested for all the Ripper murders (outrageous!), and that's when the beatings started. The captain got in a lick or two, which was surprising, but most came from some nasty guards... Pity that Willowmoor should have a police force with folks like that on it.

That wasn't all, though... He remembers being chained up and led into the back of the wagon with a coat that was far too thin and ragged for fall weather in the north; it's the coat he's still wearing now as he lies exhausted and bruised in the dirt. They placed him in the wagon to take him with them because he was meant to show them where Maelle's remains were, and so he did...

Maelle.

Jack fumes to remember her. All those months she stalked him in Mapleton that the so-called "authorities" could only chuckle over! No one believes a man when he's on the receiving end of an abusive woman...why should that change in the apocalypse, apparently?

No, that's not the way to think, he reminds himself. After all, it's not like he told the captain the situation when he joined Willowmoor's caravan, loathed as he was to see her joining, too... He didn't say anything to anyone because he put the cart before the horse and assumed they wouldn't believe him anyway. Was it his fault she fell in the woods that day after attacking him while he was taking a piss? Of course not! And if he'd acted like an innocent man back then, telling the captain the whole embarrassing story, maybe he wouldn't be in this predicament...

His trip down memory lane stops there as he hears the clear sound of footsteps shuffling nearby. While he'd been prepared to lie down and die moments before, now fear of death grips him as he considers the captain and guards have caught up to him. Of course, Captain Adam didn't say anything about giving chase when he told Jack to run away until his legs gave out, but he was also supposed to bring Jack back to Willowmoor to have a proper trial and look how that turned out; instead he turned him loose in the woods.

What about Lady Keilah?

What about her? He scolds his inner voice. She wanted him to stand trial, and the best she could do was convince her lover not to shoot Jack point blank between the eyes. She had no more power over him in that moment than Jack's pleas or even the sage words of the Great Genji...

A twig snaps. There is definitely someone sharing this part of the forest with Jack. Drawing the last of his strength, he pushes against the ground to force himself into a sitting position, the world around him spinning precariously as he opens his eyes. He registers movement, but when he fixes his gaze, there's no one around him. He swallows, his nerves mounting as he looks around. "Hello? Is someone there?"

There's no response, but he's certain they are just out of sight, hiding in the shadows of the trees. His voice is thin because he's so weak, but he tries again. "I mean you no harm. Perhaps you can help me to get out of this forest?"

The figure moves slowly to slip out from between two trees, though they stay carefully in the shadows. All Jack can surmise is that it's a person, likely male. He feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he considers the tall shadow a few feet away from him. "Will you help me out of the forest?" He asks, equal parts amazed and anxious.

The figure makes no sound, but it makes a motion with a hand that's covered in foliage, and then it disappears into the shadow again. Jack scrambles to his feet, stumbling forward after the figure since he thought the hand motion was a gesturing one. He keeps straining his eyes to catch a good glimpse of the man he's following, but the stranger knows this forest well and is dressed like a tree, so it's lucky enough that Jack doesn't lose him entirely. Instead, he huffs and puffs as he makes his way, occasionally slumping against tree trunks or getting smacked in the face with thin branches.

When he steps suddenly out of the shelter of the forest to see a wide sky and rising sun, Jack can't help letting out a gasp. He turns swiftly around to look for the figure, but there is no sign of it. As he stands and stares at the trees, shivering slightly in the late autumn breeze, he suddenly happens upon another memory. It was when he still served as Willowmoor's doctor. He saw numerous patients multiple times, but none came back for return trips like the little kids. One of them once sat for an examination and talked at length about the Watchers in the Woods: strange human-like creatures that live in the forest outside Willowmoor and simply watch the villagers. At the time, Jack had laughed it off with the boy's mother, the two of them opining about the strange stories of kids. Now, of course, he's not so sure.

Nevertheless, it's time to put Willowmoor and its forest dwellers behind him, and so Jack does, deliberately turning his back on the now-creepy woods. Before he walks away, though, he calls a timid thanks over his shoulder. After all, whatever the intentions of the Watchers in the Woods, they saved his life today, so they can't be all bad.