The other man who had been silent till now chuckled merrily, although to Jacob it came as a sinister laugh. "What are you worried about? It's going to be fun!"
"Fun?!? Uncle Bob, have you misinterpreted jumping into the hell as fun?" cried out Jacob loud.
He couldn't believe all he got after coming here in his holidays was this! While all his friends went on a trip either to Bali or Hawaai, he was left here to catch the fishes. And if all of that wasn't enough, his father wanted to bring him to the cemetery now!
"What are you so afraid of? Have you forgotten the stories I used to tell you of this forest? I have spent my childhood here, I know the ways here better than anyone." His father proudly patted his chest and took a lighter out to burn the end of the log of wood wrapped in cloth.
Carrying torches in the forest would definitely provide them more light yet it won't be enough to keep the animals away from them.
As Jacob was left dumbfounded, his dad and uncle had already walked away leaving him behind. "Wait! Don't leave me alone!!" He hurriedly got down the boat and rushed to walk between his father and uncle, afraid that they might leave him behind.
Jacob being up on his guard, cranked his neck in all the angles every once in a while as a precaution of the probability of someone popping from anyside.
Walking through the sand towards the entry of the forest, they had walked quiet a distance when they crossed a huge rock of about ten feet in height.
The elder men were chatting among themselves as they walked past it without being terrified, but the case was entirely contrasting for Jacob.
Even the huge rocks seemed no less than someone glaring down at him!
With a sudden shiver that ran through his spine, Jacob brought his eyes down and hurried his steps to pass this rock as soon as he could. However, from his peripheral vision, he detected the sight of something which stopped him dead on his track.
After a silence of couple of seconds, he shrieked, "Ahhhh!!", and jumped on the back of his father. "Dad! Dadd!! There is a ghost there!"
Baldwin Fiszer, initially shocked, yelled and struggled to get hold of the arms of his son who had adhered himself on his back like a monkey. "You brat, get off me!" There might be a time when he was as less as 5kg but at this age, he was no less than 75kg!
"Someone is there! A ghost!" Jacob perpetually shook his head in distress and desperately clutched the neck of his father tightly, completely forgetting that was where the nerve of life laid. "Dad, we are going to die!"
Mr. Fiszer choked, "Y-you!" Bob Herring, apalled, watched the commotion going on in front before hurriedly stepping forward to help his friend. "Jacob, leave him! You'll kill him!"
"Why we came here?" Not being in the condition to fully understand anything, tears threatened to come out of the eyes of Jacob. "We were better in the other island only!"
He was too young to die!
He had accomplished none of his dreams. The sense of crisis further fell mercilessly on his shoulders as his thoughts subconsciously wandered to his crush, Lili. "I haven't even proposed my crush!"
Thud!
An intense pain in his butt brought Jacob out of the daze, he lifted his lashes to find a dark sky in his sight and eventually his father and uncle.
Baldwin roared in annoyance, "What's the case with you? Have you gone nuts?" A pinch of frustration was visible in his stature. He rotated his shoulders and massaged his red neck to lessen the pain caused by the strong hold.
Feeling the untamed gazes of both the men directed at him, Jacob pleadingly met their eyes. "D-dad-," hiccuped he as soon as he begun speaking.
"Will you even speak? What is this dad-dad? I know I am your father! You don't have to remind me the mistake of not using protection!" Fiszer was at the end of his wits and loudly interrupted. The day had been tiring today and all his son wanted to do at this time was throw a tantrum!
Jacob tried to force the words out of his quivering lips but it was of no use. The scary feeling, in fact, intensified and he crawled to hug the legs of his father. "Dad, let's just get back to boat, eh? It's too dangerous here."
Kick!
"Why are you doing this to me?" whined Jacob as he was pushed away.
"Watch your mouth kid! If you don't speak what is the matter, I'll leave you here!" The threat worked exactly as Baldwin wanted and Jacob went quiet. In the end, he simply pointed at the rock they just passed without sparing it a glance.
Mr. Fiszer harrumphed and proceeded to go towards the big rock.
It caused Jacob to shout in a voice dripped with fear, "Dad, what are you doing? Don't go there!" His eyes turned misty as he took in the back figure of his father that he might be seeing for one last time.
"Kids nowadays don't have any potential to face their fears. I am sure it must be a dead animal but you have to react as if it was some huma-"
A body laid lifelessly under the shadow of the huge rock.
"Oh god!"
The cry alarmed not only Bob but also certain other wild animals which wandered in the forest at night and evoked a response from them. "Baldwin? Are you alright?"