1 WANDER

"Whatever you do, don't wander into the dark woods."

I was never good at listening to elders. Time and time again my father Thomas Judd, the prized war hero of the North kingdom would go on his hour long sermons about magical creatures and how humans should always stay away from the dark woods.

But the rarest and most beautiful flowers were only found in the dark woods according to the ancient books. Working as an apprentice in the library, much of my knowledge came from all sorts of books. It was Valentine's Day, and I decided to go look for some flowers suitable to press and write about in my scrapbook.

"Valerie, my hardworking apprentice. Go on, now. It's closing time. I know you'd stay here forever if you could."

Mrs. Wells, or Marsha, was my mentor. Round face and rotund body, owl gold glasses and little pink lips. She was the matronly mother I never had. Mrs. Wells patted my back, as she brushed by to turn off the main lights.

"Yes, Mrs. Wells. I'm just getting some more information on the last known location of yellow lady slippers."

Mrs. Wells tapped her foot against the library carpet, turning to peer at me under her glasses as if searching for a culprit.

"You aren't going on one of your wild hunts in the woods are you? Child, it's near night-time!"

"Oh, I'm just studying more for the upcoming exam. There's never too little to learn!" I smiled, aiming my sweet tone at Mrs. Wells.

My words seemed to slightly placate her, so she grabbed her bag and she motioned for me to follow. Turning the key in the lock, she slipped the key into her bag. We went our separate ways, bidding each other farewell. She turned towards the fountain of Irisdell, inspired by the first mayor of Locketon. I tarried the opposite way towards the woods and my home. My home was closest to the apothecary, not yet at the woods area, but close enough.

The town of Locketon was a magical place to me, even if my father forbade any sort of mention of magic and myth. Maybe it was because I grew up here, but never got bored of the same places. There was always something new to explore, someone moving into town, some wonderful event happening. Even the golden street lamps added to the spellbinding autumn atmosphere, along with the hazy orange leaves rolling about on the roads.

My father would be waiting for me at home, most likely working on his weapon welding. Since the peace treaty and his return from war, he spent most days and nights in our workshop, cutting, melting, furnishing, making swords and axes. He enjoyed the hard work with his hands, and wasn't used to a slow lifestyle which was what I knew.

But today instead of going straight home, I meandered down the path towards the woods. Running my fingers through the tall grass, my smile widened. I was indeed going to go on a wild hunt, contrary to what I told Mrs. Wells. I wanted to find chocolate cosmos flowers, it matched the theme of the day after all. They were a rare type of flower smelling like chocolate. I also wanted to make a bouquet for my father.

He didn't want to find someone else after what happened with my mother. He thought he was too old, too trauma-ridden to be loved in that way. I did not agree with him, but it was ultimately up to my father of course, I was his only child but that didn't mean I could interfere with everything in his life. And the same went for me.

I didn't want my father to be watching over me like a hawk, but he was overprotective. I always had an alibi in case my father checked. My best friend Freya lived at the edge of town, and she knew what to say if my father tried to contact her, and anyways he was always in his own world until I called him for supper.

The woods looked inviting that night, with colors blooming in leaves and plants on the forest floor. I walked past some brambles and bushes, my basket loosely gripped in a hand. The moon hung low, and it was large in sight.

I brushed a hand through my frizzy brown hair, tying it back so the strands wouldn't fly into my eyes. Prepared to go on this long walk, I made sure my shoelaces were tight too. If I needed to make it back in time for supper, I would have to walk quickly into the dark woods.

The first part was quite easy, I knew the area well and a dirt path cleared the way for me. I had a small oil lamp so I wasn't completely blind. The path went on for twenty minutes, and being quite nimble and accustomed to the woods, I did not trip or get lost. But soon, the path winded down until there was no more visible path.

I was officially in the dark woods. People like us weren't supposed to venture far into the dark woods, because that was close to where our enemies resided, the magical creatures claimed their turf in the dark woods. Our town connected through to where the vampires lived through the woods. I promised myself I would only go for about five more minutes into the walk, find my chocolate flowers and leave.

What met me next was unprecedented and unexpected.

The soles of my feet crunched against a leaf loudly, causing a scuttling sound around me. Shivering, I looked around.

"Is anyone there?" I asked.

There was no response.

"Hello?"

I looked down to remove the leaf sticking to my shoes.

And then I saw the scarlet blood trailing from the light green leaves on the ground. My eyes followed the trail of blood.

Dropping the leaf as well as my oil lamp, I cried out.

There was a person lying across the forest floor, unmoving.