A Time for a Stroll.

A tinge of despair spreads through Neera's face, as the ever-tightening grip on her wrist begins to intensify. Her grandmother, seemingly lost her mind—confused, terrorized, anxious— can be seen in her grandmother's face.

"Calm down Grandma, Breath!" She said as she tries calm her grandmother down. After a few minutes, which for Neera, felt like an hour of struggle, her grandmother's eyes seemingly returned to a calm state.

"She's here tonight" She said as she stared at Neera Blankly.

*Snap*

Neera clapped her hands together, which was surprisingly effective. Her grandmother's face began to regain its bright color, her eyes were now dazzling, again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, go right ahead darling" she said as she slowly loosens her grip on Neera's wrist.

"It's fine, I'll just go ahead and sleep in my room" Neera said reluctantly, removing her jacket as she went upstairs.

She laid in bed, thinking about her grandmother's strange actions resurfacing yet again, and why she's acting stranger than usual. She sighed, unwillingly tucked herself to bed, and forced herself to sleep.

Neera had a strange night, the cold gust of wind can be heard through her windows, echoing through the streets of the town which lulled everyone awake enough to hear it. The wind feels like... Someone whistling loudly, or Howls riding upon the wind. Neera felt chills at the thought of it, maybe it's why her grandmother forbade her from going out?. The thought kept Neera thinking for long before she finally got the urge to sleep.

The gleam of the sun through her curtain woke Neera up, the cold morning was not overridden by the sunlight, as she found out that her window was not closed all the way through.

She closed her window and readied herself before going downstairs, she had a runny nose after such a cold night, which made the sight of a warm and tasty-looking beef stew more appealing to her eyes.

The table had a lot of assortments aside from the Beef stew. There's also a fruit pie, Juice, warm bread, and her grandmother's hot chocolate. Neera wolfed down the beef stew and bread served at her plate. After breakfast, her sudden urge to go outside emerged again, even after the strange occurrence last night. So she donned her jacket and went outside after she waved goodbye to her grandmother.

As she strolled, she saw her old bicycle in their small shed just beside their house, it seems that her grandmother took care of the only belonging she left behind when she left to study in the big city. A wave of nostalgia hit her, as she remembered riding around town with her childhood friend, Jade. Jade was a girl with eyes—green, and shining—like a Jade when exposed to sunlight. Her green eyes was accentuated by her blonde hair and tall stature, which made her tower over other kids when they were still at middle school.

Neera suddenly remembered that she and Jade made an agreement to meet when Neera returned to town. With the thought of her, Neera rode on her old bicycle and rode across the town.

As usual, a sharp gust of wind harrows her face as she rode down the streets of the town. Childrens playing catch, an old couple bathing in the sun from their porch, a few people jogging here and there, who Neera avoids swiftly, she stopped abruptly near the local graveyard where she saw a funeral being held. It was for a kid—who appears to be around in elementary or middle school—Posing with a big smile on his picture.

Neera was baffled—where is this child's coffin? Was there not a body?. Puzzled, Neera sped down through the block to Jade's house.

As she knocked on the front door, she heard a loud rustling inside the house before the door suddenly swung wide open. It was Jade, still as tall as ever, with tears forming beneath her deep - green eyes, she suddenly pounced at Neera without saying a single word, at a glance, it may seem like Jade was attacking Neera, but Jade's sobs says otherwise. "I thought i'll never see you again, it's been what, like a Decade?" says Jade as she try to wipe down the tears pouring down her eyes. "I'm sorry it wasn't sooner, missed you too, girl". Neera stood up with jade shortly after her sobs died down, "We have a lot of catching up to do!" Neera said as she punched at Jade's side playfully. "Ow, but yeah, we do have a lot of catching up to do, wanna ride again across town?" Asked Jade as she took out her own bicycle too.

The two rode across town, chattering about the things that happened on them as they rode across the places they used to visit back then. They visited the Cinema, Library, Various Comic book stores scattered around the town, and lastly, the local fastfood. "You know, I stopped visiting these places much after you left" Jade says as she sips her chocolate milkshake, "Why? For starters, you loved that milkshake didn't you? So why not?" Neera asked curiously. "It felt... Pointless, and knowing me, I'd probably shy away before being able to say anything to that fastfood area" says Jade with a slight chuckle, "Oh! I just remembered, what happened to our old treehouse?" Neera asked curiously, as she remembered the old tree house She and Jade found by accident one time when they were strolling through the forest. "Honestly? I don't know, I haven't checked those place in a long time, wanna go check it out?" Asked Jade as she hopped on her bike once again, "Sure! It'll be fun" as they sped through to the entrance of the forest.

They arrived at an old treehouse somewhat deep into the forest. The wind howls even more, like an entity calling to them. They climbed the wooden ladder, creaking with every step they take, and long before, they reached the top of the treehouse. The wooden planks were damp, probably due to the mist surrounding the forest, the place looks somewhat... Different than when they left it—"maybe someone used this as a shelter before?" Neera thought. Curious, they began exploring the tiny tree house, there were visible carvings on the wooden walls, almost seems like... a claw?

"AH!" Shouts Neera as realization sets in, "where did these claw marks came from?" She thought to herself as Jade looks at her, puzzled at her expressions. "You're scared at that? It's probably just someone trying to scare us, I mean, the rumors weren't true, hopefully" Jade said as her expressions shifts to a hint of fear, after seeing Neera's face. "What rumors?, there aren't any when I left this town, what's new?" Asked Neera curiously, as she traced the marks with her bare hands, she suddenly pulled her hand back, she got poked by a splinter. "There was a rumor here about a sighting of an unknown figure, said to be luring in people with a gentle whistle, some says that the figure was tall, with long–razor sharp claws dangling from its arms, They say she likes to play with her prey at night, but that's just baseless rumors to scare us kids out of the forest" Jade says as she gently put a band aid on Neera's fingertip.

The two came to a halt, they have yet to realize that it was bound to be sunset, soon. The two rummaged through their collections of comic books hidden under the cushions "Aw man, it's dripping wet, I told ya we should've brought these home with us" said Neera as she lay out the pages on the table, she caught a glimpse outside the house and realized that it was night time. "Already?" She sighed as she nudged at Jade. Neera looked out the window, enjoying the night breeze of the forest when suddenly, the wind... suddenly felt like whistling to her. It came closer, and closer, until it stopped suddenly. Neera heard a slight rustle beneath the Tree when something caught her eyes standing between the trees. It was a Figure, its face—emotionless, as if it's wearing a mask, blood was coming out of its eyes, like a tears made out of blood, unknown whether it's the creatures, or others. Its mouth suddenly twisted into a slight smile, as an angelic hum came out of it's mouth. The unknown stared at Neera blankly, while slowly backing into the forest, seemingly warning them.