The Boy of Black Hollow Woods
A rundown mansion sat in the Black Hollow Woods past crooked trees and a river covered in fog but no one went near it. The mansion had deteriorated to become a broken structure with its broken windows and damaged doors. The house stood in silence except for the voices circulating through the air though nobody inhabited it for many years.
Except for the boy.
His name was Silas.
Nobody knew the origin of his arrival. Folklore suggested he originated from the woods and grew up there as a child of mystic origins. People believed he belonged to spirits because those ghosts remained trapped inside that house for years.
One undeniable fact stood out that Silas occupied the haunted house and the haunted house took control of him.
1. The House That Breathed
Silas felt no fear for the house despite its windy sounds and nightly adjustments. Over the years he had personally known all the house steps and secret pathways.
The whispers were his lullabies. The flickering shadows his only friends.
During at night the house made loud sounds as it extended its aged frame. The building walls passed on concealed memories about past residents especially those who disappeared without trace.
When he entered a room it would show up without prior existence. He sensed someone step above him during many moments when he sat alone.
But Silas never ran.
He lived with this house through its care. A boy should not fear his own mother.
2. The Forest That Watched
The Black Hollow Woods differed from other forests.
The trees did not move in place and their limb structure appeared like immobilized fingers. The fog moved gently between the trees to reach Silas's feet during his walk through the tight forest paths.
When he walked through fog he would spot man-shaped figures that watched him from their dark voids.
Other times, he heard laughter. Faint. Distant. Not quite human.
The trees revealed hidden knowledge in the same way as the residence. The forest revealed its history by talking about people who lost their way and the beings from before when humans did not reach the land.
Silas listened.
And the forest listened back.
3. The Stranger at the Edge of the Woods
On a blood-red fall night Silas saw a new source of light.
A flickering light appeared far away in the darkness.
A complete outsider had ventured into Black Hollow Woods.
A man explored the mist-covered area but Silas kept silent observation from his tree position. The shadowy man emerged with a tall figure wearing a long coat while hiding his features underneath a flickering lantern.
People entered Black Hollow Woods only through force.
No one ever left, either.
He stopped his walk when he reached the feet. His eyes—dark and knowing—locked onto Silas.
In an uncertain tone the man told him his identity. He had an unsmooth voice because he conversed in wind throughout his existence.
Silas did not answer.
The man took a step closer. “Do you know who you are?”
Silas frowned. “I live here.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The lantern flickered. The man's shadow lengthened in a strange way as it reached out too far beyond his position near the leaves.
A faint pulse moved through the house making Silas aware he was being watched. The growing wind started sliding along tiny breaths tossed from many heads.
The stranger smiled.
He told Silas he did not belong at that location. “Not in this world.”
4. The Truth Beneath the Floorboards
On that particular evening Silas dreamt about the house prior to its decay.
A majestic building welcomed everyone with its fresh new walls and unknown residents inside.
People of a family group gathered around the spacious table. A man and a woman. A child. A boy.
The boy looked like him.
But he was not him.
Then the dream changed.
The house screamed.
A great fire. A night of terror. When the people left the residence their spirits lingered as silent echoes through its walls.
And the boy—lost.
The moment he awoke the tremble hit his hands so hard that he emitted an excited sound.
The house was silent.
But it was waiting.
5. The House Contains a Forbidden Entrance
Silas discovered the stranger standing beside the weathered well in the woodland areas as he arrived.
The man told him he understood his vision.
Silas didn’t speak.
The man indicated toward his house direction. “It’s not just haunted. It’s a prison.”
Silas clenched his fists. “It’s my home.”
The man shook his head. “No. It’s your grave.”
Strong gusts passed directly through the tree line.
Something in the background started moving as an old door unevenly opened itself.
The secret entrance displayed its first movement.
Its location stays covered under the stair steps.
An unseen power seemed to pull Silas toward the entrance.
Inside, there was only darkness.
And the whisper of his own name.
6. The Choice
Silas entered the place without seeing the stranger behind him.
The chilling cold air pushed against his body surfaces as he entered the place. Each painting showed faceless portraits with empty stare.
And at the end of the hall—
A mirror.
The damaged mirror shows its dark mirror surface under complete darkness.
Silas saw his reflection.
And beside it, the boy from his dream.
Mourning everyone observed the child who passed away during the blaze.
The boy who had become him.
Silas backed away while the mirror in front of him appeared to ripple like a pool of water.
He understood now.
He was not alive.
He never had been.
The house held him prisoner instead of allowing him to escape.
Time had come for him to make a selection.
Permanently join the house as its protector.
Only passing through the mirror will take him away from prison.
7. The House Remains
Outside, the stranger waited.
He saw the house shudder.
The windows cracked. The roof sagged. The whispers rose in a mournful wail.
And then—
Silence.
The passage under the staircase sealed itself as if the house took its final breath.
The house finished its existence by taking a final breath.
The house released a last sound that vanished with the wind.
Silas was gone.
The stranger exhaled as he moved his lamp position. He had witnessed these events take place many times.
Throughout his years he had seen this process take place many times.
Because the house remained.
The house would begin summoning another child after this.
