My New Roommate is a Mop | Forest of 5 Paths Short Story Contest Winner

The Witch’s Son

By Linyang Zhang 

"Did they throw your lunch away again?"

     Cameron shook his head. "At this point, I don't even make lunch anymore. It's a waste of time and food."

      Dallas gave him a rather sad smile, and passed him half a sandwich. "Here. You can have mine."

"You don't have to give me your lunch, you know."

"What if I want to?" Dallas bit into his half and said nothing more.

     Naturally, this was all Cameron's fault again. Back in middle school he had been a notorious bully, and when he came to high school, his reputation outran him. He supposed this was all just desserts for his previous wrongs, but life still sucked. Dallas was the only one who didn’t know about his past, and even after he found out, he was still nice to him.

    If it hadn’t been for Cameron’s rotten past, then Dallas wouldn’t need to split his lunch with him every day.

     Seeing the look on Cameron’s face, Dallas said, “Hey, don’t worry about it. My mom makes me extra anyways.”

     Cameron was touched. He had been surprised at Dallas’s kindness; he wasn’t used to having friends or anything of the sort. He knew that he shouldn’t drive away or abuse this rare show of goodwill, but he wasn’t sure how to proceed. He knew, from personal experience, that bullies tended to pick on those who were friends with the bullied as well, but if the kids at school were giving Dallas a hard time, Dallas didn’t show it.

Though, Cameron had never seen Dallas spend time with other students…

     Dallas was the kind of person to strike you as a good kid. He was a bit taller than average and well-built, his dark hair a reasonable length, and while his features weren’t anything special he certainly wasn’t bad looking, with a longer face, high cheekbones and healthy eyebrows, dressed quite properly in collared shirts and long pants. And while he greeted people with a friendly smile or wave, it was hard to tell whether or not that friendliness extended to his eyes. They were brown, and very sharp, but unreadable. At least, that was what Cameron thought.

     The bell rang, and Dallas sighed and stood, stretching. “Shame,” he said. “It’s such a nice day today, don’t you think?”

     Cameron looked. From where they were sitting at a picnic table hidden in the shade behind the school, he could see the forest in the distance below the hill where the school was located, the trees waving ever so slightly. The sky was blue and there was a fresh spring wind, whipping the flags that hung outside. He could vaguely hear students laughing and talking as they made their way to class, but at the same time, the day seemed so silent, only the breeze in his ears.

“I’ll see you later.” Dallas gave him a wave, and headed inside.

     As Cameron picked up his things, he noticed a book lying on the grass beneath the table. He had seen Dallas read it on occasion, an older book for younger kids but still with literary merit, and on the inside was written in pencil, Dallas C. He’d have to give it back to him later,  but since he didn’t share any afternoon classes with him, and tomorrow was the weekend, Cameron wasn’t sure how he was going to return it to him. 

     Dallas…he lived in the forest, didn’t he? Perhaps he could venture there after school, and see if he find his house. The forest was quite a ways outside of town, and Cameron didn’t know anyone else who lived there, but he wanted to mend his ways and do him a favor, so Cameron put the book inside his bag and decided to go. After all, even if he didn’t find the house, he could give it to him on Monday. But he figured that Dallas would probably want it sooner than later, the worn bookmark inside an indication that Dallas was still reading it. After all, Dallas had done so much for him, the least he could do was to return his book.

      After school Cameron darted off by himself, ignoring a couple of crumpled  papers hitting him in the back of the head. If he dallied any longer he was afraid that the other students would take his books and throw them in the pond. He couldn’t let them do that to Dallas’s book.

     He decided to head straight for the forest; he didn’t want to be out after sundown. Cameron set out along the unpaved path away from town, towards the forest, feeling a sense of relief being away from school. 

      He knew that there was an unsaid consensus by the town to avoid the forest. He remembered that back in middle school he and his gang used to drag their victims to the edge of the forest and make them go inside to retrieve some belongs they had taken and thrown inside. And they used to laugh at the edge, not daring to enter themselves. There had been a silly rumor around town that a witch lived inside the forest. And while the boys had thought that it was silly, there was still a small part of them that believed it.

And now he was here, by himself, of his own volition.

     At first, he didn’t think it was that bad. There was still a bit of afternoon sun penetrating the trees, and the leaves actually looked quite pretty. There was a winding dirt path through the forest, and Cameron decided that as long as he followed it, he would be fine. But the deeper in he went, the darker it became, and the more silent the air went. There was a certain stillness, and the occasional bird call made him uneasy. He wished that he had brought a light.

     No, this was where Dallas lived. He shouldn’t be scared. Dallas walked this route every day to school, and he was fine. What was there to fear? Besides, he had to remember why he had come here in the first place. As long as he kept his pace up, he would reach Dallas’s house in no time.

     Now that he thought about it, though, he didn’t know much else about Dallas. Yes, Dallas was a familiar face, but a private individual. In fact, Cameron wasn’t even sure if he remembered what his last name was.

     No matter. He could ask him next time. He could find out more about him later. After all, that was what friends did, right? Ask about each other and whatnot. If they were friends…

     To Cameron’s relief, he saw lamplight coming through the windows of a small cottage up ahead. He hadn’t seen any other houses around, so he decided to go up and knock. Even if it wasn’t Dallas’s place, he could still inquire where the next house was. So he went up and knocked.

     As he waited, he looked over the front of the house. It was very small, like something out of a fairy tale book, with flowers planted in window planters, and little white curtains covering the glass above. He could see Dallas living here. 

    The door was opened by an older woman, her face slightly lined and hair dark, tied in a braid.  She wore an apron over her clothes, and by the looks of it, had been making something. She did bear a resemblance to Dallas, so he asked, “Does Dallas live here?”

“What do you want with him?” the woman asked.

     “I’m his classmate at school. He forgot his book, so I thought I’d bring it back.” Cameron reached into his bag and pulled out the novel, handing it to the woman.

    “Well, if that isn’t nice of you.” The woman gave a thin smile, flipping through the pages, then looked back up at him. “I’ll tell Dallas that you brought it back. Though, you must have come a long way from town, right? Why don’t you stay for dinner? I’m sure you’re hungry.”

     Cameron was about to decline when his stomach growled, quite loudly. He had only eaten that half of a sandwich that Dallas had given him for lunch, and it was getting nearing dinner time. He wasn’t sure what time it would be by the time he returned to his own home, so he thanked her and went inside.

     "Dallas isn’t here right now,” the woman said, returning to the kitchen. “I’m his mother. He doesn’t talk much about school, so you coming here is a pleasant surprise. Please, make yourself comfortable.”

     As Cameron removed his shoes, he looked about, which seemed slightly larger than it had been on the outside, though perhaps that was with all the things within. The lamps covered the interior with a soft, golden light, elevating the cozy atmosphere. The furniture seemed to be all hand-carved, a dining table covered with cloth and flowers and four chairs surrounding it, a fireplace, a rocking chair… Cameron remembered his own home, rather empty and cold and covered with dust, and felt slightly sad, but he was glad that Dallas’s mother had invited him in.

     The woman set down a bowl of stew in front of him. “Here, eat up while it’s still hot. Tell me if it needs more seasoning.”

     Cameron took a bite of the stew, and warmth and flavor flooded through his mouth. He hadn’t had something homemade like this in a long time. Usually at home he ate packaged dinners that only needed to be heated up.

    “What’s your name?” Dallas’s mother washed her hands and returned to the dough she was kneading.

“Cameron.”

“Cameron? That’s a nice name. How do you know Dallas?”

     Oh… Cameron was too embarrassed to mention the bullying, so he said, “Dallas is in two of my classes, and he eats lunch with me.”

    “Well, that’s certainly nice of him.” She did not seem particularly affectionate, but said things as if they were scripted, and ought to be said in certain situations, and she was merely pulling them out of a book. “I sure hope he’s good in school.”

“He certainly is, ma’am.” Cameron yawned. “Where is Dallas, by the way?”

“He’s out running errands for me. He should be back soon. Are you feeling tired, Cameron?”

     Cameron found that his eyes had grown extremely heavy, and he wanted to lie down and sleep. “Yeah, just rather drowsy…”

All had faded to a warm black.

     Cameron woke up to find himself bound and gagged in a dark and musty place, his knees jammed uncomfortably against his chest, and the knots in the ropes digging into his wrists. He felt dazed and lightheaded, and took a few minutes to come to his senses fully. Had Dallas’s mother drugged him or something? He couldn’t remember anything that had happened after he had eaten dinner…

     It appeared he was in a closet of some sort, what with the broom and mop and bucket as well as other miscellaneous things piled around. He could see a little light seeping in through the crack underneath the door. Maybe if he could wriggle free enough to kick it open…

     He tried to undo the ropes around his arms and legs, but he was bound too tightly and his body felt weak from whatever drug had been inside the food. So instead he worked to getting the gag off, which seemed slightly more manageable. He remembered all the times he had locked his victims in lockers and closets at school; was this how it felt to be on the receiving end?

     After rubbing his face against the side of the closet for a while, Cameron managed to get the gag off, and he sat back and took a deep breath. Should he call for help? No, they had gagged him for a reason, it wouldn’t do for him to call out and have them tie him up again.

     Had Dallas been implicit in this? No…Dallas wouldn’t do something like this, right? Maybe, maybe he had gone to the wrong house, and the lady within had decided to trick him…

     Cameron was about to test his luck at kicking the door when there came a rattling, and someone pulled open the door. It was Dallas, his face expressionless, seeming slightly weary. He reached for a broom next to Cameron, saying nothing.

“Dallas!” Cameron found his voice hoarse. “Dallas, what’s going on? Can you let me out?”

     Dallas merely stared at him, then sighed and shook his head. He shut the closet door and bolted it once more.

     So this was Dallas’s house after all… Cameron’s heart sunk. So was Dallas a part of this all along? Had he lured him here with his book? No, Dallas never expected him to return the book. What were they planning doing anyways? Cameron wished that Dallas had never opened the door, so that he could still believe that he was innocent. But now…

     What had he expected, trying to do something nice for once? Did he think that returning a classmate’s book was enough to repay for his previous sins? No, and now he was in a worse place than ever before. If only he had waited for Monday, then he wouldn’t be here right now. And why had he wanted to do something nice? Because Dallas was nice, and his mother was nice, and he had thought that he was being nice too. 

     But nothing good ever turned out for him, and Cameron knew that it was his own fault, for being a bully in his previous years. And he knew that karma was repaying him generously all throughout high school now, and probably would for the rest of his days. Which didn’t seem like many, given how he was tied up in a closet right now.

     Cameron wanted to cry. And he supposed that there wouldn’t be a better time than this. But no, he had to figure out how to get out of here. He certainly didn’t want to die a naive fool. Judging by the darkness outside of the windows he had seen earlier, it was probably night, perhaps late night. There definitely wasn’t anybody around the forest, especially at this hour, so he would have to rely on himself. After all, that was how he had always been, once he started high school, right? He didn’t need someone like Dallas to be kind to him. He could do it all himself.

     So Cameron began attempting to undo the ropes. He wasn’t sure how to untie the knots, especially like this, so he tried to search for something sharp in the dark to use, and found a nail or something in the wall that he could use. So he began rubbing his ropes up against it, in an effort to break them.

     It was not an easy task. More often than not he ended up scraping himself instead, and it was quite painful. And he couldn’t find quite a good angle to be able to saw the ropes efficiently, not with his legs tied and his feet cramped like this.

     After what seemed like fifteen minutes or half an hour or so the door rattled again, and Cameron stopped what he was doing, and Dallas opened the door once more, this time reaching for Cameron and hauling him out of the closet. Cameron’s body was so cramped and sore that he collapsed almost immediately to the floorboards, wincing.

“Dallas…what’s going on?”

     Dallas stared down at him, and put a finger to his lips. He seemed foreign, the look on his face unrecognizable. Dallas of the day was never like this, the Dallas at school was someone so far separated from this boy in front of him it was like they lived on two different planes of existence. And Cameron was scared, because he was alone, and he had no friends.

     Dallas crouched and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, staring intently into his eyes. “Have you not heard of the rumor of the witch in the forest?”

     Cameron gave a nervous laugh. “I thought it was just made up? To keep kids from going into the woods?”

“You knew, but you came anyways.”

“Well, yeah, I wanted to return your book to you…”

“Book?” Dallas seemed taken aback, then his eyes softened. “Oh…that book.”

“I gave it to your mother earlier.”

“Her…” Dallas narrowed his eyes. “You know that you could’ve just waited till Monday to give me it, right?”

“Well, I thought…”

     “You thought that you’d come and do a favor for me, and maybe learn something more about me and where I live, right?” Dallas’s voice was full of scorn. “Yeah, they all think that. So. What have you learned?”

     Was he angry? Cameron felt a bead of sweat roll down his brow. “Well…you’ve got a real cozy house here, warm, and your mother seemed nice…”

“Her food was good, wasn’t it?” Dallas scoffed. “As if she’s actually my mother. No, she’s not. She found me as an infant on her doorstep. That’s all.”

“But - but you two look alike…”

     Dallas rolled his eyes. “Maybe we just gradually grew to look like each other. No, she modified her looks over time. And you, coming here under the impression that we’re family, of course you’d see the similarities. Who knows. Maybe I am her real son and she’s just lying to me. Can’t see why, but it wouldn’t be unlikely for her. Anyways. Enough about me. What else do you want to know?”

“What are you guys going to do?”

     “Me? Well, I’m not going to do anything, it’s all about what she wants to do, and I just help her. Simple as that. And who knows what she wants to do with you, put you in soup, sell you, wipe your memory and replace me…who knows. It’s all happened before.”

“All happened before…?”

     Footsteps sounded, and the woman entered the room. Dallas stood, still holding onto Cameron. He turned the same watchful, distrusting gaze upon her, and Cameron realized that it wasn’t him, but just being in this house set Dallas on edge like this. 

     The woman tilted her head, her long black braid sweeping over her shoulder. “This isn’t new to any of us except for maybe you, dear Cameron.”

“Don’t call me dear!”

     She gave a small laugh. “Oh, my, Dallas has spoke of you so often that I’ve thought of you as one of my own, isn’t that so, dear?” She pinched Dallas’s cheek, but he turned away, scowling. “Did you think that Dallas simply wanted to be your friend by being friendly? The lunches he brought you? I made them. You think that he would actually accidentally leave his book behind? We’ve done this many times, Cameron. It’s practically a routine. So don’t think that you can guilt Dallas into helping you out. He really doesn’t care, do you, dear?”

     Cameron looked at Dallas to see if it was true, but Dallas avoided his gaze. Well, it must have been. There was no reason why anyone would be friends with a bully. And that was okay. Cameron understood why. But it still hurt, the fact that Dallas had been pretending all along…

No, this was what he deserved, remember?

     “So what are you going to do with me now?” Cameron asked. “Hold me hostage? Demand a ransom? No one’s gonna miss me.”

     “Precisely.” The woman touched the end of her finger to his nose, her fingernail long and sharp, more prominent than before. “No one’s going to miss you at all, which makes this all the more easier. No, it’s not money I’m after, no, we’re after something more…” She glanced at Dallas. “Deeper, is it? We’re not materialistic.”

“Maybe you aren’t,” Dallas muttered.

     “Oh, dear. Are we feeling rebellious today?” The woman traced the edge of her nail on Dallas’s cheek, and he paled. “Let’s handle this first, and then we can deal with that. I’m going to go make preparations. Why don’t you keep an eye on your friend here?”

     After she left the room Dallas dropped Cameron and took several steps back, peering outside the window from beneath the curtains. He did not meet Cameron’s gaze, nor did he say anything. But Cameron noticed the sweat glistening on his brow.

“Look, man, can’t you at least loosen these ropes a bit? I promise I won’t run away.”

     Dallas flicked the curtains back in place and turned. “Why? Why did you come? Why did you insist on returning that stupid book? Why couldn’t you have just. Respected my privacy, and waited till Monday, eh?” He stormed over, grabbed Cameron and started to undo the knots.

     Cameron had never heard Dallas raise his voice before, and it scared him somewhat, but at least he was loosening his bonds.

“Well, I just thought it’d be a nice thing to do, y’know? Since you’re always nice to me…”

     "Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that I might be up to something else? Don’t you know that no one in the school is nice to you? Shouldn’t you have been, at the very least, suspicious of me and my motivations? You never even questioned why!”

     “Well, maybe I just wanted to believe that someone could be good to me for once, okay? Genuinely good, with no strings attached! For once in my life!” And Cameron found himself tearing up, but he didn’t have the hands to wipe his eyes.

     “Yeah, well, maybe I’ve always wanted to be genuinely good to someone for once, yeah? Have you ever thought about that?” Dallas spluttered, then took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I’m saying. Forget it.”

     Cameron, finding his bonds allowing for a lot more liberal movement now, took the opportunity to stretch his cramped joints and rub his sore muscles. Dallas was upset, and he didn’t want him to be upset, even if they were never true friends, even if Dallas had been pretending all along. So he changed the subject.

“What’s going to happen now?”

     “We’re going to pack up, and we’re going to move to the next town. And we’re going to…dispose of you, on the way.” Dallas bit his lip.

     Cameron decided to ignore the latter comment for the time being. “That…must be a hassle. Moving from place to place. Especially with all this furniture.”

     Dallas shrugged. “Usually we stay a lot longer, to build trust. But this time, since we just started high school, it was easier, because no one would question where we came from… And she’s a witch, don’t you remember? Moving all this is no trouble for her.”

     “What are you telling our guest now, Dallas dear?” The woman came back, and ruffled Dallas’s hair. “Let me guess. It’s been so long, and you’re so tired and fed up that you just don’t care anymore, and you think that you can tell our new friend anything, isn’t that so?”

     And she struck him across the face. Cameron’s breath caught in his throat. Dallas didn’t react, but hung his head limply to the side, as if he was used to this sort of thing. Blood began seeping down from where her nails had scratched him. And Cameron’s own wounds started throbbing, on his ribs, his arms, his legs…

     “Don’t make me replace you.” She turned and began heading towards the other room. “Gather your things, and take Cameron with you. Don’t dally too long; I want to be on the road before sunrise.”

“You won’t.” Dallas’s voice was soft, barely audible.

“Sorry?” Her braid swung around.

     “You won’t replace me.” Dallas rubbed his cheek, and glared at her. “You love me too much to replace me.”

     She gave a scornful laugh. “Well, who knows about that… Hurry up, dear. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”

     Dallas looked close to tears. He picked up his satchel that he usually brought to school and began rummaging through a wardrobe, taking out various things like books and feathers and whatnot and stuffing them inside the leather pouch.

     “Does she hit you often?” Cameron asked, his ropes practically hanging off of him for show at this point.

Dallas shook his head. “No. She doesn’t. Not at all.”

“That day you came in with the bruises…”

“That was from doing things. It was brutal day, trust me.”

“How can I trust you again?” Cameron gave a small laugh, and felt himself choke up again, his vision blurring, so he looked away. “After all this…how can I?”

     “You never should have in the first place.” Dallas bent down and began shoving clothes into his bag from underneath a bed. “That was your first mistake: there is no such thing as a free lunch.”

“But maybe I…wanted to believe…that there was such thing.”

     “Then you’re a fool.” In one fell swoop, Dallas knocked a kerosene lamp off a stand and it hit the ground, shattering, the kerosene inside spilling over the floor, the flame igniting the edge of the pool. “You’re all fools, all of you. I wish that I could have found someone perceptive, so that I might actually be caught, but…” He stared at the flames, not seeming to care about the kerosene around his shoes. “But maybe I chose fools, because it was easier to become friends.”

     Cameron choked on the smoke, and began edging away from the heat. “Are you crazy? What if the forest catches on fire?”

     Dallas grabbed Cameron’s shoulder, ripping the rest of his ropes off and tossing them in the flaming pile. “Then let it burn. Come on, let’s go.” And he dragged Cameron out with him into the night.

     The air was cold and fresh and disturbed by the fire, and somewhere near Cameron could hear an owl hooting. There was a wooden cart, drawn by a pair of ghastly creatures, red-eyed horses of black spectral smoke, and the woman held the reigns. Dallas vaulted into the back, pulling Cameron up with him, and they started off. Cameron shivered, and he half-wished that this was all a dream, but he knew it couldn’t be, because the air was too real, too biting.

     As they sat there, being jostled, Cameron wanted to ask just how they were going to dispose of him, just out of curiosity, but Dallas looked close to tears, so he held back. He couldn’t tell if they were going deeper into the forest or out of it; perhaps both, by some way that he hadn’t known before. And as strange as it was to say, it was only fitting that him, being a bully, had led to his being here now.

     And hadn’t Dallas once asked him why he had bullied people? Or was that only a conversation that had taken place in his mind, something that he wished could have happened? Because he thought that Dallas was someone he could open up to, he could confide him…

     And imagination or not, Dallas had said that he understood, and that he knew the feeling, and that he could be a shoulder to cry on. 

     “Dallas seems more upset than usual,” the woman said, her voice soft and lilting. “He must have taken quite a liking to you.” 

     Dallas buried his face in his knees, clutching a book between his hands, the very one that Cameron had brought to his house. And after a while, as the dark started to fade, and the light stream through the thinning branches of the trees, he violently shoved the book into Cameron’s chest, and Cameron took it, not knowing what else to do, and flipped it open to one of the folded pages.

     In it in pencil was written: We’re going to be out of the forest soon. Just as we do so, that’s the moment when I want you to jump. That’s when you can get away. I want you to get off and run, as fast as you can, towards civilization or not, I don’t care. But get away from us. Don’t worry, I’ll take the fall.

     Cameron stared up at him, eyes wide. The edge of the forest, they were nearing it now… No. He couldn’t let Dallas suffer any longer, he couldn’t just leave him here…

     As the light began to hit the spectral horses, Dallas raised his head and grabbed Cameron, trying to push him off the edge of the cart. “I told you to jump, you idiot! What are you doing?”

“I’m not leaving - ”

     “Who cares about me? Get out of here!” And it must have been something else in Dallas’s blood, for he shoved him out, and Cameron was not able to take Dallas with him, even though they had been sitting close together. Cameron hit the ground, hard and rolled, feeling the hard grass and dirt scrape him, his knees and elbows aching from the force of the impact. But adrenaline was shooting through his veins, Dallas’s last scream still resounding through his ears, so he forced himself to his feet and began sprinting as fast he could down the hill, in the opposite direction of the cart, veering off into the wild forest and grasslands.

     And when his lungs burned like they were about to implode, and his muscles ached like never before, his shoe caught on a branch and he tripped, hitting the ground hard, the book flying out of his hands into the grass. And a soft wind turned the pages until it died, and as Cameron tried to stop his hot tears rolling down his stinging face, he noticed the words written on the open page, in the same light pencil and handwriting as before.

     One day, I’ll come and find you, so please return this book to me then, it is very dear to me. Please, do not look for me. I will come to you. I promise.

God, the sunrise was beautiful.

Congratulations Linyang!

I love the dark mysterious tone throughout this story. It made the story extremely immersive and memorable.

I also love how you gave both Cameron and Dallas internal battles. Paired with the outer battle going on around them, it made the entire story very exciting, intense, and heart-wrenching.

With short stories with prompts like this one, it can be difficult to give the story a complete ending within the word limit. However, you did a great job at giving this story a satisfying ending. It was an open ending to be sure, but it still wrapped up the main conflict and the story's main arc, which made the story feel whole.

Thank you so much for submitting this story, Linyang! As I write this, it's been a little while since I read it, however, it still sticks with me clearly and I'm sure it will continue to. It was an amazing experience reading it, and definitely deserves the name as winner!

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