Through the Trees [DEMO]

3 - Who Are You, Really?

He eyes then slowly travelled to a nearby tree. This tree wasn't particularly different from the other trees surrounding him, aside from it being slightly thicker. Either that or Jeff was so tired he was starting to hallucinate.

And suddenly, the killer had an idea.

Jeff made his way over to the tree, stopping once he was within touching distance. He looked up at it, eyeing its branches. It wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but it was an idea that could work and Jeff was willing to take that over nothing.

After analyzing the tree's branches and deeming them "safe enough," Jeff grabbed onto one of them and began ascending the tree, hoping to get high enough off of the ground so that the cops couldn't see him. It was a very tall tree and it was in the middle of Spring, so there were plenty of leaves covering its branches, which meant it'd be better for hiding inside of.

One Jeff decided he was high enough, he readjusted himself so that he was now balanced on one of the sturdier branches, sitting semi-comfortably as he observed the ground below. There were enough leaves to conceal the killer, but not too many to make the ground completely invisible. He wasn't sure if the cops would be able to see him from up here, but he highly doubted they would.

As he was looking around, his gaze turned to something shining on the ground by the base of the tree's trunk. As he looked closer, Jeff realized that to his dismay, it was his knife. He'd dropped it as he was climbing.

"Aw shit!" Jeff muttered as he eyed the blade. How could he have been so careless?! Now the cops would know for sure that he was still in here!

Jeff was about to contemplate what to do when he heard twigs snapping below. The sound of multiple footsteps soon closed in and he pressed himself up against the tree, hoping that no one would look up and see him up there.

Jeff silently cursed to himself. Way to go, you fucking idiot. Now you're going to get caught for sure!

"Hey, wait, is there someone there?"

Jeff froze. He was afraid to move, afraid to look down and see one of them looking up the tree. No one is here, no one is here, no one is here, no one is here.

"Hey, kid, hang on for a second!"

Kid? Jeff thought. He glanced down and saw that the knife was still on the ground, seemingly unnoticed. The officers were now focusing their attention on something else entirely. He looked around, trying to find a way to see what they were looking at when all of a sudden, he saw him.

He was too far away to really make out the details, but there was a boy there. He had blonde hair and was wearing some kind of green nightgown, like something from Peter Pan. He couldn't really see anything else particularly striking, but he was able to listen in on part of their conversation.

"...My mom's a makeup artist and this is just a costume. I decided to go out for a walk, my house isn't far." A younger voice said, presumably answering a question. A familiar younger voice, Jeff realized.

Wait... motherfucker, is that the-?! He stared at the boy, trying to get a glimpse of his face. His back was turned to Jeff, so he couldn't really see much of anything.

"Oh, alright, well, have you seen anyone else in these woods?" A woman's voice asked. "Maybe they were tall, had black hair, pale skin, maybe some scars on their face?"

That's him, isn't it? Jeff thought. That's the kid I tried to stab earlier!

Ohhhh shit, he's gonna rat me out, isn't he? Why the hell wouldn't he, ya tried to stab the kid, for fuck's sake! This is it. I'm gonna go back to jail. I'm fucked. I'm sooooo fucked.