„So, The Unknown is slowly dying?" Wirt asked, looking at the red-haired girl sitting next to him. He couldn't believe it. That was Beatrice! He didn't know what he had expected, but… certainly not this… They had settled down on a dead tree in the forest. The wind was shuffling through the brown leaves.

"Yep." She stated. "My mother said it was because of the beast… But no one in the Unknown seems to know the real reason." She sighted. "Or at least nobody wants to tell us. Quit starring!"

W irt turned red and muttered a quite sorry. He didn't want to stare but it was so… weird. He always thought of Beatrice as a bird, not as a person. Wirt had known that there was a girl beneath the appearance of a bird but… It seems that the realization of what that meant had just hit him.

"Where's Greg." She asked.

"Home, with our parents. He probably wants me to tell you 'Hi' from him. He really missed The Unknown. And you all." He added.

"One year can be a long time…" Beatrice sighted, shaking her head.

"One year?" Wirt asked, unsure. It hadn't been just one year… At least not for him, or everybody else he knew. Could it be that time moves differently between the two worlds? One year in the Unknown is four years in his… But he and Greg had spent days in the Unknown their first town around, which had turned out to be mere seconds in the lake (thankfully).

"-irt? Wirt!" Beatrice shouted as she received no answer from the boy. "Earth to Wirt! Hey!"

"S-sorry." He muttered apologetically "It's just… I haven't been here for four years…"

Beatrice shrugged it off. "Time is weird." She stated. "But you are an idiot for thinking too much about it."

"Yeah… Probably." Wirt smiled sheepishly. He watched Beatrice stand up and dust of her dress, looking at him questioning.

"So, do you want to come back with me or what?"

"Y-yes,." Wirt answered quickly, nodding his head.

"Then come. I want to be home before it gets dark and I know how slow you walk."

###

Erica sat in her mother's kitchen. The old woman was preparing tea for them both. Erica was more than just creeped out by the atmosphere that was filling the room. Her mother had put on a fake, far to a sweet smile.

"Erica, dear." Her mother started, and a shiver went down the younger woman's spine. This was so wrong. "Mind telling me what you were searching for."

Every instinct within Erica screamed 'run'. She took a deep breath… everything would turn out alright. She was doing this for her son. "Well… I…" What excuse should she use? Telling the truth was out of question… even if her mother had seen those eyes as well. "I just thought I saw a painting similar to yours. I wasn't sure if I was just mistaking or if you had sold yours, so I came back to check. Because… it would be very unlike you to sell one of your… beautiful paintings. If you would have sold one, Jonathan asked me to ask you to buy one from you for our living room."

Her mother had sat down at a chair while Erika was rambling and now raised an eyebrow. "And you think I believe you blatant lie?" She asked, voice still sweet like sugar. "You never liked my art and your husband never saw any of it. Where did you see it?"

"The painting?" Erica was feeling like a little child again, arguing with her mother, trying to avoid her questions. It reminded her of Wirt when he was embarrassed. Apparently, he had got it from her.

"The Beast." Her mother's cold eyes stared into hers.

"No." Erica's answer was barely a whisper. She wasn't even sure why she said no. Did she said it because she never saw The Beast or because she just hopes her mother would correct herself into something more… no, less like what Greg told her.

"No? Wirt and Greg?" Of course, her mother knew what has happened.

"Yes…" Erica stared at the table, not looking into her mothers' eyes. "What… what is the beast?" She started to doubt that The Unknown was a hallucination the second she saw those… eyes but now all hopes that it all was just imagination were shattered.

"They both have survived the Unknown. That is rare."

"What?"

"They told you about it, didn't they? But of course, you are a stubborn girl, not believing in stuff you don't see yourself. So, what did you see that makes you change your mind?"

Erica ignored her mothers' question. "Tell me about The Unknown." She looked up. The determination was written in her face.

Her mother merely looked amused. Her smile was one that she knew so well, one that she learned to hate so much during her own childhood. She half expected not to get an answer out of her, but the older woman opened her mouth. "You know how your father died, don't you?"

"You said it was an accident shortly after I was born." Erica was confused. What had that to do with anything? She never knew the man.

"He died later in the hospital while I survived, barely." Her voice sounded detached, no emotion audible. "Within The Unknown, he traded his life for mine."

###

Beatrice's family was nice. They were many and the house never seemed to quiet down, but… for Wirt, it was a welcomed change. It distracted him more than he could have wished for and he was thankful for that.

They allowed him to stay in the houses small guest room for as long as he wanted to and some of Beatrice's siblings had offered him to find a way to bring him home since the memory about how Wirt and Greg had returned the first time around was… foggy at best.

For a short while, Wirt forgot that he was trapped again. But now, that a blanket of darkness laid over the Unknown and silence filled the house, it hurt. He wished nothing more than to go back home. Wirt new he had a time limit… before he died. His real body had to be at the brink of death and he didn't know why.

That was a lie.

Of course, he knew why. He remembered his own eyes before… before he woke up in the Unknown. Yet, his brain refused to think about what that could imply. What that could mean… But deep-down Wirt knew. And it scared him.

Silently he stood up and opened the door. The floorboards creaked, and Wirt paused. No one woke up. Wirt swallowed and continued his way outside. He needed fresh air… He needed to clear his mind or else he would never be able to sleep.

Wirt stepped outside, the grass tingling his bare feet. The night was cold, but Wirt didn't feel it. He stepped closer to the forest like a moth drawn to light, unable to stop himself. Slowly he walked between the trees listening to the wind shuffling through the leaves. He didn't go that far from Beatrice's home, they would be worried if he wasn't back when the sun rises, but far enough to not use the house anymore.

Wirt sighted. What was wrong with him? Why did he feel such a strong pull towards the forest? Why did he need so long to answer the forests calls?

Metal hit skin and the boy was torn from his thoughts. There was the lantern of the beast again. Had he really walked that far? Without thinking Wirt lifted the dark metal up. It was dirty, dusty from lying on the forest ground for too long but it still looked like it had after Wirt blew it out four years ago. He looked it over and soon Wirt's eyes were pinned to the back wall of the lanterns chamber. Without thinking he tried to blow the dirt away to reveal what was caved into the dark metal.

Beatrice was woken up by a loud scream.

###

Jonathan had been kicked out from the hospital. Who even invented stupid things just like visiting hours? His wife still wasn't back, and Greg seemingly went back on his own if he could trust the small note the boy wrote.

Deep in thoughts, he started to walk back home. Nothing seemed to make sense…

"Jonathan." A car stopped next to the man and he smiled at his wife. "Where is Greg?" her voice was swelling with panic.

"He already went home," Jonathan assured her. "Found out anything?"

"Yes," Erica answered, impatiently tapping her finger against the steering wheel as she waited for her husband to enter the car. "We have a lot to talk about at home."

The rest of the very short car ride was silent. Jonathan was a bit nervous, whatever his wife found out, it wasn't good news. Only 2 minutes later they arrived at their house.

"Jonathan!" Erica's eyes were wide open and without waiting for more he sprinted out of the car.

"Greg?!" The door was left open, no Greg in sight. "Greg?" This wasn't supposed to happen… "Gregory?!" The boy was nowhere. Jonathan hoped so hard that Greg just would come out of hiding and hug him, but…

Seeing the state their house was in, this was very unlikely.

Sorry for the long wait.
I am trying to post a new chapter in something less than a month.
Thanks for the reviews, follows and favs.
You are all awesome.

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