Ivan wiped a hand on his jeans, ignoring the blood that had now become dry on his pale skin. He turned his head to the ill-lit forest beside him, shielding his face from the uncomfortable intensity of the fire in front of him. He was standing too close. He stepped back from the flames and welcomed the cool night air blowing on his face as he took off his dark green shirt, ripping it in half before throwing it into the fire pit. The embers on the shirt spread before engulfing the shirt, joining his blood-soaked jeans and shoes in a small pile of ash.

  He kneeled and opened the black bag resting at his feet, pulling out a neatly folded pair of jeans and an old T-shirt. He quickly slipped on the clothes, stood up, and raised an arm over the fire.

  He could feel a cool buzzing sensation spreading within him, an unwelcome sensation that was pulling him into an unnatural calm. It started from his chest, then slowly climbed to the very tip of his finger like an ignited firework. The urge to let the buzz out was overwhelmingly strong. He could use magic to take the fire out. He probably should. But he couldn’t, not after today.

  He held his arm over the fire for a brief second longer and then, deciding against it, dropped his hand back to his side. He kicked some soil from around the fire onto the flame, watching as another secret was erased. He glanced around him once again, his surroundings illuminated by the pink sky. This was a nightmare, and he didn't know what to do about it.

  He stared down at his bloody hands, the guilt within him dragging him deeper into his thoughts. He hadn’t meant to do it. It had been an accident. But would anyone understand? Nobody could ever know about what he had done.

  He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He didn’t have time to think about this. He needed to wipe the blood off, and the sky was growing darker. Ivan walked between the trees, listening for the sound of a river he knew had to exist. He could feel the shift as he left his pack lands and walked into the neutral territory, like a part of him was being left outside of his body.

  When he finally reached the river, he knelt down and scrubbed the blood off until his hand ached and the pale skin had turned pink, like scrubbing the blood hard enough would wash away the dread and guilt metastasising inside of him. He glanced at his finally clean hands and splashed some of the river’s water on his face, running a hand through his light blond hair. He stood up, shutting his eyes and inhaling deeply. His eyes opened, glanced back to the flowing water, and then began walking back through the forest.

  Suddenly, Ivan felt a crunch under his foot. He took a step back and glanced at the ground. What looked like a tiny blue paper crane was lying nestled between the orange leaves, now wet and distorted. He glanced up in confusion. Then he noticed another blue figure on the ground, further than the one in front of him. He glanced back down at the crushed paper crane in front of him, then slowly walked up to the one further in front. This time, a neatly folded blue crane was peering up at him.

  He picked the small object up and brought it up to his face, examining it closely. That’s when something in the distance caught his eye. He glanced away from the crane and squinted into the darkness, noticing that there were hundreds more small blue objects forming a messy trail that disappeared through a row of trees. What the actual hell?

  Ivan dropped the crane in his hand and shrugged off the backpack on his shoulder, hanging it on a nearby tree. He would come back for it later.

  He followed the trail slowly, walking beside the cranes and glancing down at them occasionally, until he found himself in a large clearing in the middle of the forest.

  “You made it.”

  Ivan jumped. A chill ran through his veins, beginning from his chest and spreading throughout the rest of his body. He felt his stomach plummet to the floor, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the voice held a sense of familiarity that he couldn’t quite recognise. He slowly turned towards the source, his stomach sinking further with each step.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He let out a breath when his eyes finally met the one person he had hoped he wouldn't see. Not now.

  Leo Reyes was staring up at him, eyes glittering in childlike amusement.

  “Leo.”

  Leo was sitting on a large grey stone. One of his legs was draped lazily over the stone, while the other was bent with one hand slung over his bent knee. His other hand was fiddling with a small blue paper crane. The ground around him was littered with hundreds of even more matching blue paper cranes, surrounding him like a tiny ocean.

  “I didn’t take you for the late-night stroll type.” Leo commented, glancing down at Ivan’s feet for a few seconds, then looking back up at him in confusion. “Barefoot, no less.”

  Ivan peered down at his bare feet and shrugged. Shit, he had definitely forgotten about that. He turned back up to Leo with a look of mild indifference. “I didn’t take you for the stalker type either, and oh—would you look at that?” Ivan shrugged. "Guess we’re both full of surprises.”

  Leo crossed his arms over his chest. “I'm not a stalker.”

  Ivan surveyed the blue mess and gestured to the floor surrounding them. “So this is what normal people do then?”

  Leo shrugged, a laid-back smile plastered on his lips. “You have to admit,” he pushed a few of the cranes with the corner of his shoe, “this was pretty fucking creative.”

  Ivan pursed his lips. He could feel the tension from earlier slowly leaving his shoulders, as the events of earlier were pushed to the very back of his mind. At least this was the kind of weird he had grown accustomed to after 17 years.

  Ivan shrugged again. “I don’t know, it feels pretty uninspiring to me.”

  Ivan almost smirked when he saw the dejected look that swept over the other boy's face at his words.

  Leo frowned at him. “Uninspiring? Fuck you, I don’t see you dedicating hours of your life to make one thousand paper cranes.” He gestured frantically to the cranes once again.

  “Yeah, because I’m not an idiot,” Ivan answered matter-of-factly. “The most impressive thing about this is how ridiculous it is—I mean, come on.”

  “This wasn't ridiculous. It only took me two weeks.”

  Ivan glanced at him in feigned confusion. “Congratulations…..?”

  Leo rolled his eyes, and the scowl on his face was replaced by a smirk. He grabbed another blue paper crane and twirled it between his fingers, eyes still strained on Ivan. “You know, I didn't think you’d follow the trail.” He glanced at the spot beside him and gently placed the paper crane on the rock. “I figured you’d know it was me and ignore it.”

  Ivan scoffed and stared into Leo’s dark eyes. “I’m supposed to know you—what—have a newfound interest in origami?”

  “Funny.” Leo smiled at him, then pushed off from the rock, standing in front of Ivan.

  He was far away enough that Ivan couldn’t really make out any details in his features but still close enough that he could smell Leo’s cologne. Ivan wondered if Leo could smell the slight trace of smoke still lingering in his hair.

  Ivan narrowed his eyes at the other boy. “What the hell are you even doing here? This is my pack. If someone finds you—”

  Leo groaned. “Would you just relax? They won’t.”

  “And you know how?” Ivan questioned. “Because you know everything?”

  “Easy.” Leo looked up as if in thought and tapped a hand on his chin before smirking. “Magic.”

  Ivan felt his body tense. He could feel his heart drumming faster against his chest. He swallowed. He needed to calm down, or Leo would notice. Leo didn’t know. There was no way that he could know. He was just making a joke. This was normal.

  “Kidding.” Leo reached down and grabbed one of the cranes from his pocket, a red one this time, and held it out to Ivan. “I'm sure you would’ve been smart enough to come up with a good enough excuse.”

  Ivan snatched the crane from his hand and placed it into his pocket. “And of course I know everything.” Leo stepped around Ivan and waved a hand lazily in the air before making his way towards the thick forest, in the direction of his own pack.

  Ivan clenched his teeth and watched Leo’s figure retreat into the distance, the crunch of his footsteps carried away by the blowing wind. He fiddled with the red crane in his pocket, crushing it between a tight fist, its edges crumbling in his grip

  “Not everything.” He muttered under his breath.