Fluttering awake, his eyes stung with the smell of ash and fire. The stench burned his senses before his mind even caught up. He was lying across the ruined back seats, the once-soft rubber now charred and melted beneath him. Lapis tried to move—his arms tugged, but cold metal bit into his wrists. The handcuffs. Memory hit like a spark. The officer. The radio. The bangs. The car tearing apart. He rolled his shoulders, forcing his body upright using his core strength. His vision sharpened as the blur gave way to ruin, the cruiser was destroyed, blackened, still hissing from the heat. The forest surrounded it. Watching. The doors were jammed, but the gate between seats was shattered.

Lapis curled into himself, looping his arms under his legs until his cuffed hands were in front. The movement burned his shoulders, but freedom, even partial, steadied his mind. “The keys,” he muttered. “I need to find that officer.” He climbed through the broken gate, every movement deliberate. The metal groaned, and then, gravity took him. He hit the ground hard, knees scraping against the dirt. His flashlight jabbed into his ribs through his pocket.

For a long moment, he just lay there, forehead pressed to the grass, breath shaking. Then instinct took over. "This will not break me." He forced his body upright. His legs trembled like hollow sticks, tingling as blood fought its way back. He spotted a streetlamp in the distance. The only light on this road. “How long was I out?” he whispered. “What happened while I was gone?" He walked toward the glow, the jingle of metal around his wrists was a cruel reminder. Beneath the lamp, his recorder waited, untouched. He froze. The forest was silent. No wind. No crickets. No night sounds at all.

He swallowed his fear and stepped forward, picking it up. The cuffs clinked again. He turned both ways. The road... His road home was gone. Just darkness and trees on both sides. He was inside of the weird forest now. Whispers fluttered at the edge of hearing. His ears twitched, catching voices that weren’t there. Lapis crouched, reaching for the recorder, before leaving it along the cracked pavement. Pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on. It worked. The beam carved through the dark.

A stone glinted by the treeline. He immediately ran for it, grabbed it, and hurried back under the light. Turning the flashlight off, he sat, gripping the rock with both cuffed hands. Deep breath. Focus. Smash the chain. He struck it once. Twice. Over and over. Each metallic clang rang through the emptiness. The sound became his heartbeat, keeping him grounded. Until he heard the tree's rustled.

He froze, breath held. The forest wasn’t supposed to move. No wind. No life. And yet, leaves shivered. He lifted the flashlight, trembling. The beam swept low across the trunks. Nothing. Lapis realized his mistake. He heard the leaves shaking. He pointed the flashlight upwards. A sharp crack. Something massive had struck a tree and vanished before he could focus on it. Stumbling backwards he saw a dark mass moving through the darkness above him at quick speeds. He instinctively points the flashlight over the direction it went.

Another thud echoed from deeper within. Gone again. His ears rang. His breath came too loud, too ragged. He snatched his flashlight and recorder, chain clinking like windchimes. He found the road that was in the opposite direction that mass went to, clicking his flashlight on again. Then he ran. Down the road, heart pounding, light slicing through a forest that didn’t want to be seen.

~

Sorry this passage was a little short- My eyes have been burning all night and I knew if I didnt write this tongiht, I may not have written it tmr xdxd
Enjoy!
This is the good part of the story~ I dont think this story will need warnings before reading- if so, I will write them, but I think these are available for everyone! So far :3