The World Beyond The Fog Pt. 01

Somewhere in the USA, in an unnamed state, 18-year-old Johnny Riddle makes his way deep into the forest, in which, according to his classmates, strange things happen, in addition, people often disappear there. He wants to find out how it really is, for the most part, he wants to show his superstitious friends that these are all empty stories. He doesn't yet know what kind of story he'll get himself into.

Johnny was quite confident in himself, and not timid, and he also did not believe in the supernatural. Having packed the things he might need and a video camera, he set off on a journey. At first the forest turned out to be quite boring. Even having gone quite deep into the thicket, it was impossible to say that at least someone other than squirrels or mice lived here. However, at some point things began to take on an unexpected shade. For example, the sun was no longer visible. It was already hidden by the crowns of trees, but now its rays did not break through at all. And this is not surprising, because the entire sky was covered with gray clouds. Johnny did not immediately notice this, although when a rather damp wind blew, he realized it was going to rain. For this occasion, he had an umbrella with him. However, he never needed it.

Johnny understood he wouldn't find anything mystical. But he wanted to find at least something that could be filmed and then somehow connected with the rumors he had heard.

Having made his way through the next thickets of wild bushes, Johnny suddenly discovered his further path was shrouded in fog, which was gradually enveloping the trees around. As soon as the guy managed to turn around, he saw this fog had completely hidden the path he was walking. Nothing was visible around at a distance of more than 10 steps. Johnny was surprised by this, but he was not confused, and even continued to walk forward. He followed the compass to the east, practically without deviating from this direction, so getting back even through the fog did not seem to be a problem. The problem was the sources of sounds that the guy began to hear here and there.

At first, there was a rustle of leaves and a slight crunch of branches, which hinted at small forest inhabitants. But later the sounds seemed to become closer and more frequent. Only there Johnny decides to turn back, but it turns out it's too late. Having hastily begun to walk to the west, three low silhouettes emerge among the fog, which themselves begin to move towards the guy. At a distance of 8 steps it already becomes clear that these are wolves. Which are already starting to growl. A roar can also be heard both to the right and to the left of him. Realizing he is almost surrounded by hungry predators, Johnny begins to run away in the only unblocked direction - to the east.

The chase begins. Johnny understands he won't be able to run like this for long, so he desperately looks for any tree that will be possible to quickly climb. But on his way he came across only slender maples and pine trees without low-growing branches. The wolves began to overtake the guy, he could almost hear the fastest ones trying to grab his legs as they ran. Johnny throws off his backpack. This turns out to be a good decision, as he feels noticeably better, and the wolves are also briefly distracted to sniff the thing their prey dropped. Johnny sees a small ravine ahead and jumps into it, hoping that the wolves distracted by the backpack will completely lose him, at least for a while. The ravine turned out to be quite long, the guy is trying to sneak further along it without creating unnecessary noise. Having reached its end, he climbs out into a clearing, next to which a small forest stream flows. In addition, the fog began to dissipate, and just as abruptly as it had appeared. For a moment, the impression was created it was just some kind of clouding of consciousness, like Johnny had simply imagined everything that had happened. But the barking of wolves, which began to approach again, made it clear this was all a harsh reality. The guy rushed forward, hoping to hide somewhere else. Having jumped over the stream, he notices the forest has changed a lot. It seems like there are still the same trees and bushes, but everything is somehow dull, as if lifeless.

And now the wolves begin to overtake the guy again. He was already desperate to escape, as he was very tired. Breaking through another bush, he trips over a tree root protruding from the ground and falls. Before he hits the ground, he manages to make out the figure of a person in black clothes, squatting. Johnny falls on his stomach right in front of the stranger, and feels there is clearly something underneath him. It turned out these were some kind of mushrooms that he accidentally crushed on the ground covered with wet leaves. Raising his head, he tries to see who he fell in front of.

It turned out to be a young girl dressed in a black raincoat. Judging by the basket, she was collecting mushrooms, which Johnny did not deliberately crush with his body. The guy wanted to say something, but the girl beat him to it. "What," she said in a cold voice, after which she shouted, "what the fuck?!" At that moment, Johnny noticed her face. It was pale and had a gloomy expression. Above him, unkempt, jet-black hair hung slightly. Large dark eyes looked as if through the guy, which made him feel at least uncomfortable. This is to say the least. From this angry look, he completely forgot that, in fact, the wolves were chasing him. And they haven't gone away.

Jumping out from behind the bushes, the animals surrounded Johnny and the stranger to the right and left. The guy saw how they were ready to pounce, but suddenly notices that their grin and growl almost disappear. Moreover, they even began to back away, looking straight at the girl, who looked at them all with an indifferent look.

"Ha? What happened?" Johnny heard somewhere behind the girl in black. Another girl with blond hair, dressed in a blue coat, came out from behind a large oak tree. She held a smartphone in one hand and took off her headphones with the other, probably walking to her friend.

"Yes, some animals ruined the harvest," said the girl in black, again looking at Johnny contemptuously. "Hi boys! And one girl!" With this phrase, the girl with blond hair attracted the attention of the wolves. Then something happened that left Johnny in shock.

The blonde's face began to change quickly. The eyes turned yellow, the face itself stretched out slightly, the lips pulled back and huge and sharp teeth became visible. The girl leaned slightly towards the group of wolves to her left and barked sharply. After which she barked just as sharply at the wolves on the right. All the wolves whined, lowered their heads, and then quickly disappeared into the forest. Need to say this barking was so loud that it even hit Johnny's ears. Although the black hair girl didn't even raise an eyebrow.

After the wolves disappeared, the blonde's face returned to normal and she notices Johnny. Her carefree face quickly became surprised and concerned. She comes closer and squats down next to her friend.

"Wow" - the blonde examines the stunned stranger lying in the leaf - "Wendy, who is this?"

"Human."

"Human, here?!" The blonde asks worriedly. It is clear she is trying to say something else, but is lost in thoughts. She looks between her friend Wendy and Johnny. After which she clenches her hand into a fist, which instantly increases a little in size and grows fur, and with a quick blow knocks out the guy. Before losing consciousness, he only managed to hear Wendy's voice, "You fool, why are you..."

Johnny comes to his senses in some room. His head still hurts a little, he tries to look around. He was lying on the floor, on a soft carpet, and the room resembled the bedroom of a country cottage, only very old. However, there was still some comfort felt.

"He's woken up." heard Johnny to his right. There he saw a large single bed with pink sheets, on which lay the blonde who had knocked him out. The guy's tossing and turning tore her away from her smartphone.

"I see." said Wendy, who paused from reading her book. She was sitting in a chair facing the carpet on which Johnny was lying.

The blonde jumped up to inspect the guy. "Hey, are you okay?"

Wendy interrupted her, "Of course he's fine, I already told you."

"Sorry that I turned you off then, I was just nervous! I've never seen ordinary people! Um, hi, I'm Emma and this is Wendy, she's my roommate!" Emma was clearly on edge, speaking to Johnny as if she was alarmed by his condition.

Johnny, having difficulty digesting what is happening, tries to somehow restore his reality. "Where I am?"

"Oh, sorry, I can't tell you, you know, people aren't supposed to know about this place," Emma says quickly before Wendy interrupts her again.

"Damn it, Emma, stop pestering him already. He saw your wolf face, he probably suffered psychological trauma." Wendy is still cold, only slight irritation is felt in her voice.

"Ah... I, I didn't see anything. That is, I myself don't know what I saw, or rather I didn't see..." - Johnny is trying to gradually get to his feet, at the same time crawling away from Emma hanging over him - "I just... walked in the forest and got lost! That's all! It happens sometimes, right?"

Standing only on his knees for now, Johnny manages to look around the room, or rather, the side that was behind his head when he was lying. It was something similar to a surgical table with a bunch of different jars and jugs, flasks with different liquids, and there was even a whole cauldron near Wendy's chair. And right next to Wendy's workplace there was a completely civilized office desk with books and a gaming computer. Distracted by the interior, Johnny fell silent again, and Wendy, rolling her eyes at his reaction, took the floor.

"If only it was that simple. We can't let you go now because you know too much. Now, if we left you there, you would wake up and think it was a stupid dream--"

"What do you mean "woke up"?! Then those wolves would definitely have devoured him there!" Emma objected.

"And so our compassionate werewolf decided to drag you here so that you could see more when you woke up, then threw a tantrum and was discovered. And she would definitely be thrown out of the academy."

Johnny's eyes widened. "W-werewolf?!"

Emma just waved it off. "Hey, he won't see anything, he won't leave this room!"

Johnny tensed after these words. "What will you do to me?"

Emma, realizing what she said, tries to explain herself. "Oh, no, I meant so that no one will see you. People aren't allowed to be here, so you'll just sit here for now. Well, until Wendy makes the potion."

"What potion?!"

"Calm down, oblivion potion, it will erase your memories up to a certain point. You won't remember anything you saw after you got behind the magical barrier," Wendy explained.

"Oh, don't bother yourself. I swear I won't tell anyone! I give you my word!" Johnny is clearly not eager to try any potions from, probably, also not quite a human.

"I'm afraid we can't take your word for it. We never know who you will bring with you when you return. And you will return. Human curiosity is stronger than common sense." It is clear that Wendy herself is not enthusiastic about the idea of the potion, but she wants to trust Johnny even less.

"Unfortunately, this potion will not be easy to prepare. I will need ingredients that are expensive and rare for these places. And also time for the main serum to infuse. This is several weeks, at least."

"Weeks?!" What will I do all this time?! Somebody will definitely start looking for me."

Wendy is still skeptical.

"So, do they even know where you went? How will they find you? Even a large group of people will not be able to get through the fog so easily. Of course, sometimes a few unique people sneak in, oblivious to the dire omens, and manage to get through the barrier, but they usually end up with the wolves for lunch. Well, or someone bigger. You're lucky that today is not May 30th. You could have been killed by some drunken Emma's classmate."

Emma can't stand it here. "Wendy, stop escalating already! Sorry again, um... What's your name?"

"I... Johnny."

"It's nice to meet you! Don't worry, you'll live here just for a while, then we'll erase your memories of this place, take you out of the forest and you'll return to your human life!"

Johnny didn't know what to think in this situation. On the one hand, he was worried about the prospect of spending a long time in a place where people like him shouldn't be. In addition, the realization came that he really had not warned anyone about his little journey, not even imagining that he could get into serious trouble. On the other hand, he felt a little calmer, because it didn't seem like these two persons wished him harm, at least not now.

"Let's say I agreed, but where will I sleep? And what should I eat?"

Wendy grinned dismissively. "You will sleep on this rug. You won't be hungry either. Just don't be picky."

"We just don't have a guest bed, so we'll have to make do with that. But it's better than on the floor, right?" Emma tries to cheer up Johnny, which even earns him some sympathy.

Emma was actually quite attractive. She had blond curly hair, blue eyes and an expressive face. She was just Johnny's type. Although he wasn't very good at finding a common language with girls, due to his eccentric hobbies. Even this plan to go alone into a forest with a bad reputation just to refute that reputation was a fool's errand. But Johnny is just a fan of such adventures, and he isn't lacking in enthusiasm for this.

"But if someone comes in, then you go to the closet," Wendy pointed to a large iron closet next to her bed, "and don't make a sound if you don't want to be skinned."

"Stop scaring him, he still needs to live here!" Even if it's temporary." - Emma walked up to Johnny to once again examine his head, after which she turned his face to hers - "But seriously, if you hear heavy shuffling steps at the front door, immediately hide. Because if the Madame commandant finds out about you, you will become a scarecrow." The guy was amazed; it turned out that she smelled nice.

"If the commandant catches us, you will both become scarecrows. I won't take the rap with you again." Wendy commented, simultaneously starting to search for the necessary ingredients to prepare the future potion.

"She's just joking, everything will be fine." - Emma sat back on the bed and, throwing off her sneakers, opened her smartphone - "By the way, why did you go into the forest?"

Johnny was still trying to accept the new reality, but the behavior of the girls helped him a lot. Although it was clear that some kind of devilry was going on here, their seemingly casual attitude towards this gave Johnny the impression that this was not for real. Although he still decided to be careful. "I... was just walking."

Emma took her eyes off her smartphone for a couple of seconds and raised her eyebrows to look at Johnny. "Just walking? Alone, in a dark forest? Lost a bet, or what?"

In fact, he was even a little ashamed to reveal his real motive - a simple desire to make sure that there was no mysticism in the forest. Although, given the circumstances, this motive did not seem so childish. But Johnny liked Emma's guess and decided to take it as the main version.

"Hmm... You are quick-witted. Yes, we had to go into the forest, take a couple of photos, and come back. It's advisable not to shit your pants in the process."

Wendy suddenly coughed softly a couple of times. And Emma again immersed herself in her smartphone.

"Is that so? Understood."

Johnny noticed that somehow she suddenly lost interest. But this caused an awkward silence. Well, it was awkward for the Johnny, but the girls didn't seem to care that someone else had appeared in their lives for a long time. Or they just pretended they didn't care. Wendy rummaged through different boxes, either with some specific dishes, or with some tools, or sorted through the fruits of unknown plants. Emma just sat there texting.

But then Johnny reminded himself where he was and who he was with. It would be naive to expect understandable human behavior from non-humans.

"Are you... A real werewolf?"

"Have you only met fake ones before?" It sounded like an ordinary mockery, but it didn't come out of Emma's mouth as evil. Although it was enough to confuse Johnny.

"I... I didn't think they existed at all. Except in horror movies."

"If you close your eyes and then open them again, what if she disappears?" It feels like Wendy is taking advantage of every opportunity to show off her sarcasm.

"What movies?" Emma asked, without looking up from her texting.

"Eh, it doesn't matter."

"Oh, this is a movie where creatures like you hunt a group of idiots for 2 hours instead of dealing with them in 5 minutes." While Wendy was saying this, Emma was enthusiastically typing and listening.

"What did you say, Wendy?"

"Though it would really take Emma a lot longer." Emma didn't even notice the teasing.

"Wait, if she's a werewolf, then so are you?"

"No. I'm just a person with a psi-active nervous system and open channels for generating organic energy with points of manipulation of physical embodiments." - After waiting a long pause, she realizes that Johnny did not understand anything, and adds with a sigh - "Or just a witch."

"Witch?! And can you do magic?!"

"Can, can." Wendy answered already a little annoyed.

It all sounded impressive, but it still felt awkward. As if these so familiar words and concepts from works of fiction in this place did not mean quite what Johnny might have expected. But he remembered how Emma had only partially transformed then, although this could be due to the fact that she did not do it at night.

"How... Emma, right?" - the guy turned to Wendy, not noticing that the blonde was listening again - "How could she transform during the day? And don't werewolves need the Moon for this?"

"Oh, that's a myth! The transformation doesn't require any conditions. Although it's true I feel a little more comfortable at night."

"Myth? What do you mean?"

"Oooh, well, you asked. If I'm not mistaken, this comes from the Middle Ages, when werewolves lived quite closely with humans. Many of our folks then, instead of hunting in the forests, stole livestock from humans at night, which was much easier. So the rumor began that werewolves operate only under the Moon."

"What is the role of the Moon here?"

"Well, because under the moonlight people could see that their sheep or cows were being carried away not by some bandits, but by large two-legged wolves. Although it seems to me those werewolves, like humans, were simply not very smart in those days."

"And like today." Wendy added.

"Don't mind her, Wendy likes to grumble, but overall she's nice."

"Interesting, I didn't expect to hear a historical fact about werewolves." Emma was even a little touched by how easy it was to surprise a human. But then she received a message that made her jump out of bed.

"Uuuh, Wendy, you remember about the elective??" The blonde sounded clearly worried. Johnny didn't understand what she was talking about.

"Yes, it will be at 5 pm."

"Were we going to write the report an hour before the start?"

There was a pause in the room.

"Fuck!" - Wendy said, rolling her head a little in frustration. "Okay, now let's quickly throw it on!"

The girls ran to the desk, where they took out some papers, and began to write something.

"Wendy, will we make it in time?!"

"We would have made it if I hadn't forgotten because of this idiot. And now we'll have carpal tunnel syndrome." - Wendy looked at what Emma was writing - "So, put the date before yesterday so they don't think that we are doing everything on the last day."