Alexander shook his head, and decided not to say anything about it, not wanting to make his friend feel more embarrassed than he already was.
"Griswold… on the count of three, don't look back, and just run." Alexander said.
Griswold who was still wailing, immediately nodded. "Okay. Wait, no! I'm not leaving without you."
The sound of the rustling of leaves came even closer, and Alexander said. "One… two… thr…" he didn't even get to finish, as Griswold quickly let go of him, and ran through the path they had come from, surprising Alexander a bit.
As Alexander turned around, the creature behind the leaves, finally revealed itself. It was indeed a tiger!
The tiger just stood there, watching him as if calculating it's move, while Alexander slowly retreated in fear. When he was then at a safe distance from the tiger, he then quickly turned around and began to run.
Unfortunately for Alexander, it seemed the tiger had found him to be a worthy meal, as it began to chase after him.
Alexander didn't even pay attention to where he was going. All that was in his head was to run for his life. He ran in so many different directions, taking narrow paths, that he felt would slow down the tiger due to it's size.
After running for a while, Alexander could no longer hear the sound of the tiger's footsteps, so he tiredly hid behind a tree, trying to catch his breath. The tiger still didn't show up, so he thought he had outrun it.
But as he moved away from the tree, he saw the tiger looking at him just a few feet away from where he was standing. Shocked to his bones, Alexander couldn't bring himself to move a muscle, as the tiger slowly walked towards him.
Alexander looked up towards the sky, and he saw the the reason why he was in the forest in the first place—the kite. It seemed he had run towards the direction of where the kite was, as the kite could be vividly seen from where he was.
Determination then shone in Alexander's eyes as he slowly bent down to pick a rock from the ground. "I'm sorry. But… I really need that money." He spoke with a shaky voice. "So um… get out of my way."
The tiger had now gotten close to him and was now circling him like a cat would do to a rat before pouncing on it. After the tiger circled him once, it then began to leave as if it were no longer interested in him.
Alexander sighed in relief. "If I had known that would work, I would have done that sooner." He had said, but he later realized he had spoken too soon. The tiger later turned back around and ran towards him again, before it then leapt over him.
Before the tiger could touch him, Alexander already fell to the ground causing him to be trapped beneath the tiger, as it growled over his face. The tiger continued to growl, but all of a sudden, something glowed brightly, beside Alexander, and just like that, the tiger walked past him and disappeared into the forest.
Alexander was very surprised at the turn of events. He looked at the glowing material and then realized that it was the purple gemstone that he had seen on the ground, back at the castle.
Alexander smiled as he picked it up and put it back into his pocket, where he had put it before. "The saying that everything happens for a reason turns out to be true." He said, triumphantly.
….
Alexander continued on his journey, looking up at the sky from time to time to see if he was in the right track.
Soon, he saw a pathway that led out of the Black Forest and into a barren land, otherwise known as wastelands. The wide expanse of land were filled with brownish, straw-like vegetation.
The straw-like grasses were obstructing his view, but he could still see the kite and it looked very close now. He was suddenly filled with strength, as he swept the grasses with his hands and moved forward, and in no time, he was finally out of the wastelands.
There, just a few steps away from where he was, he saw a well constructed medieval-styled house which was surrounded with quartz stones that were placed side by side to form a circle round the house.
With a shocked expression on his face, he said out loud, "What's with this house? Why is it in a place like this?" He was weirded out by the quartz stones that were placed around the house, but the kite that he had come all the way for, was actually tied to a tree that was in the compound of the house so it made him feel conflicted.
"Um, excuse me! Is anyone here?" He yelled and clapped his hands, but he got no response.
After a bit of hesitation, he then said, "I-I'll be coming in then." As he said so, he then passed over the quartz stones and entered the compound of the house. Unknown to him, as he passed the quartz stones, it had glowed for a moment before it then went back to being dull.
Alexander looked around the compound of the house as he made his way to the tree that was at the backyard. Wanting to get out of the creepy house on time, he then quickly ran to the tree, and began to climb it.
He soon got to the top of the tree, and saw where the rope of the kite had been tied. He chuckled happily as he muttered to himself, "At last!"
He untied it, and was about to get down from the tree, when a stupid bird came from nowhere and startled him. He let go of the kite, and fell off the tree with a loud thud.
Alexander groaned as he held his back which felt like it had been broken. He looked up and saw the kite flying off, making him, a grown man, suddenly feel like crying.
"Why am I so unlucky?" He sobbed as he slowly stood on his feet, and as he turned around, he was suddenly hit on the head with a stick making him lose consciousness.
….
Alexander's eyes slowly fluttered open as he felt a sharp pain on his head. He tried to move, but then he realized he had been bound to a tree with a rope. He immediately began to panic and tried wiggling from the grasp of the rope.
"It wouldn't budge, I made sure to tie it really hard." He heard the voice of a lady, and then looked up in surprise.
Standing before him was a lady who was covering her face with a veil. "Who… who are you? What are you planning to do to me?" He asked.
"You are the one who snuck into my house. I should be the one asking what you are planning to do." She replied.
"It's all a misunderstanding. I don't mean any harm, I promise, so just please untie me, and I'll explain." He tried to reason with the veiled lady.
"How can I trust you?" The lady asked.
"Well I don't know how I'm going to get you to trust me since I'm tied up. So what are you going to do? Leave me here forever?"
The lady didn't respond, and just slowly removed the veil that was obstructing her face.
Alexander subconsciously let out a gasp, and without thinking, he said, "What is a beauty like you doing in the middle of the forest?"
The lady ignored his comment, and said, "You sure are impudent for someone who was caught breaking into someone else's home."
Alexander shook his head, and almost wanted to slap himself for the words that he had said earlier, but his hands were still tied, so…
"Did you just say home? This is your house? It looks like a place where a ghost would live." As he said the word ghost, he then remembered something Griswold had said.
"A rumor about a cursed ghost that appears in the forest. The ghost has a pretty face, but digs into you and rips your heart out."
His eyes widened in fear, as he continued to struggle. "Are… are you the ghost everyone has been talking about? What are you planning to do to me?"
The young lady shook her head, and said, "What are you.."
"Shut up! You foul creature!" Alexander yelled, cutting her off.
"What did you just call me?" She asked in shock.
"You think I don't know that you are trying to seduce me with that face of yours so you can rip my heart out? Begone you ghost!" He said, and then closed his eyes, "Heavens, please protect me from this evil spirit." He continued to pray, but he was soon silenced when a potato was forced into his mouth.
"You are too loud!" Said the young lady, as she stood face to face with him.
Alexander's eyes widened seeing that she was already so close. Is she really going to rip my heart out? He thought. But then, she began to turn his face left and right as if studying it, and she even checked behind his right ear.
"You look like a clumsy coward, so you don't look too dangerous." She said as she harshly patted his forehead.
"Fine, I'll let you go, but in exchange you must do something for me?"
"What's that?" Alexander said with the potato still in his mouth. His words were muffled, but still understandable.
"You have to feed me." She replied without any ounce of shame.