The Forest of Eros

I heard birds chirping as I opened my eyes, wind gently blowing...A forest expanded out in front of me. I felt the softness of the moss beneath me. Where was I?

My memory flickered...l was on the rooftop and my lover, Thanatos, made me jump...

"You're awake?" said a burly man leaning against a tree trunk.

"Well that makes three of us" The man said, scratching his head, surveying our surroundings. "Hey Brian, he’s awake. Get your ass over here"

A slightly chubby man rushed over and lent a hand to help me up.

“I’m Brian. Nice to meet you. Our friend here is Ray. Don’t mind him, he means well.”

"Damn that woman. It's probably her fault I ended up here," Ray muttered, frustration clear in his voice.

"But it doesn't look too bad, Ray. I mean, this place seems safe, and we can gather all the resources we need," Brian said, offering a meek smile.

"So where the hell are we?" I muscled in.

"We are clueless as you are," Ray said curtly. "The last thing I remember is me driving off the edge of a cliff while that witch laughed her lungs out.

"Same story here" Brian chimed in. "I thought I had found a girlfriend, but she turned out to be the grim reaper."

I explained my situation to them, about how we jumped together after I found her up on the roof. I guess I wasn’t the only guy she was seeing. We took off deeper into the woods, looking for food and shelter.

Days passed, we found water but no food. There were no signs of civilization, but every now and then we’d find statues on small plinths eroded by time. They were all simply labelled “Eros”.

"I wish there was food," Ray said, his stomach rumbling, and Brian voiced the same sentiment. As we walked further, a variety of fruits and vegetables appeared, looking remarkably similar to the ones in our world.

"Whoever’s up there, thank you from the bottom of my heart" Brian remarked

“Ergh, vegetables. We're not rabbits. I hope we can find some meat," Ray grumbled as he attempted to munch on an apple-like fruit. It felt too good to be true, sure. But my hunger made me fly caution to the wind and join in the feast.

The nights were getting colder, I was wishing for a warm place to sleep, when suddenly a treehouse suddenly appeared, sturdy enough for three people. The other two didn’t even question it.

Despite the strangeness. I began to feel almost at home in the forest. felt a sense of companionship, something I had always craved but never experienced.

Lost in my thoughts, tiredness and sleeplessness clouded my thinking. In my dream, I saw Thanatos. She smiled at me. "I don't hate you for taking me away," she said, and I reached out my hand to her, but everything began to dissolve.

"Rise and shine now!" Ray shouted orders, followed by a chorus of sneezes. "Morning, how did you sleep?" Brian handed me some otherworldly fruit. "This is okay for breakfast?" He said coarsely, as if he’d caught a cold. It had rained heavily during the night.

A new day dawned, and with a sense of renewed purpose, we set out to explore the area further, in search of answers and a way back to the world we knew.

Amidst the tranquil stillness of the forest, a desperate cry for help pierced through the silence. "Help, help!" The voice was fraught with fear and urgency, echoing through the trees. Our curiosity and concern overrode the growing unease that had become our constant companion.

Following the cry, we found a man, struggling and ensnared by a thorny thicket.

Ray didn't hesitate. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there. Guys, help me with this."

The bespeckled man had a dour face. As we let him down he began praying, muttering to himself in some strange language. We later learned his name was Taylor.

Sensing that our new companion was soaked. Brian suggested, "I'll go gather some wood," but we lacked an axe. It was then that Ray reached into his back pocket, revealing a fixed-blade knife.

"I'll go help," I offered, determined not to solely rely on the others.

Brian began to cut into a tree, the knife penetrating effortlessly. "Oh, shit, did you see that?" He said, as the tree began to bleed a crimson liquid.

"I think we should stop," I urged.

Brian laughed "I didn't get any sleep yesterday. I must be hallucinating," he quipped, whistling funny tunes to lighten the mood. I wandered off.

Taylor, despite his unease, offered to help with dinner preparations. He meticulously washed each piece of food and recited a heartfelt blessing for each ingredient. Brian set to work, dicing the vegetables neatly, while Ray and I set up a fire and impaled the diced fare onto skewers.

As we shared a meal, huddled together with no bowls or cutlery to speak of, we began to open up about our pasts.

In my dream that night, a soft, gentle female voice whispered, "Please be kind... it hurts."

"Thanatos?" I inquired.

"I warned you," the voice responded before fading away, leaving me with an unsettling sense of foreboding.

I woke up to find Ray already preparing to set off. "I'm about to hunt some of those little critters we saw yesterday. Want to join in?" I gladly accepted, not wanting to spend another morning logging with Brian.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a nest. The critters had made their home atop a statue of Eros. Ray fashioned traps from wood and baited them with fruit. We patiently waited, watching from the undergrowth until several of the creatures sprung a trap.

Ray ran over and grabbed a critter, he pulled out his knife, decapitating it in one swift movement. As I watched, the critter's head, suspended in mid-air, turned and whispered to me, "I won't forgive you," bloody tears dripping down.

"Ray, RAY!" I cried out.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," Ray said, glancing at me. "You can turn around if you don't like the sight of blood...I gotta clean ‘em."

We returned to our base, and Tyler quietly took over the meat. He looked slightly nervous and forced a nod and smile while Ray regaled us with tales of his hunting experience.

"Has Brian come back?"

"No, not yet."

As Ray prepared the meat, Tyler quietly muttered, "Please forgive us," under his breath.

Dinnertime arrived, and I eagerly devoured as much meat as I could.

"Are you alright, Tyler?" I asked. He hadn't touched any of the meat, instead eating some raw fruits and vegetables. "I think we've taken too much from here," he said, turning to Ray "I'm saving mine for Brian, just in case he comes back hungry."

"Tonight, I'm on fire duty and I will be off to check where Brian is," Ray said. Grabbing his knife and heading off into the night. The table was left in silence, save for Tyler's prayers.

Morning... I reluctantly opened my eyes, a sense of unease engulfed me. It was eerily quiet, and Taylor was the only presence I could find.

“Brain? You back yet” I asked. No response.

"Ray?" I called out.. he was also missing.

My heart began to race, and a sense of dread settled in. I rushed outside, frantically searching the areas we’d been previously. Then, an unsettling idea crept into my mind: What if I followed the statues?

My heart dropped further as I ventured deeper into the woods. The statues no longer served as my guide. They were different here, depicting grizzly scenes, like one man stabbing another on an altar.

Fear began to consume me, and I sprinted back towards the camp. The statues kept appearing, Each worse than the last until I found my way back.

"Taylor, I'm back!" I cried out.

"No response. Inside the floor was lined with blood. Taylor stood waiting for me. holding Ray's knife.

My feet froze, and I stood in paralyzed silence.

"You saw it all, didn't you?" Taylor turned his attention to me. "I was just about to recruit you, but you've ruined it for yourself. Now you, too, shall become fuel for the great Eros."

He charged towards me, knife in hand, but he stopped abruptly, blood gushed from his mouth, and I saw tree branches impale him.

"Why? Have I failed you?" Taylor collapsed, the knife dropping from his hand as his body disintegrated.

Behind him stood a creature, clothed with a deer skull and tattered rags.

"You're quite the interesting one," it said with the same voice from my dreams. "I apologise for my apostle's rudeness. He is no longer needed. Out of all the spirits I summoned here, you alone are not driven by selfishness or foolishness. And I now require a new apostle."