1 The man in the woods

My heart was pounding in my chest and my lungs were screaming for air as I forced my legs to carry me further away from the village.

I could barely feel my feet from the cold and the pain in my legs didn't seem to bother me anymore, although I knew that if I stopped for even just a moment, I would be unable to continue.

My thoughts were churning in my head and I tried to suppress the tears that threatened to form in the corners of my eyes as I heard the shouts in the distance grow more desperate.

I was far ahead at this point, but still, I could not allow myself to rest before I reached the outskirts of the woods that surrounded our remote village.

This place was everything I had ever known or at least it was all I could remember.

I was brought here with my younger sister, at the age of ten, when my parents passed away from unknown causes.

A foster family took us in and treated us as their own and we never really questioned our strict, secluded upbringing.

Only as I reached my early teen years did I begin to ask questions - some of which were never answered.

As I grew older I began having seizures, which led me to live the life of an outcast, as barely anyone dared to come near me. People would talk and the stories would spread like wildfire.

Some even tried to blame accidents such as a fire in the workhouse, on my 'powers' as if I was some sort of witch.

Only my sister Ara never seemed the least bit bothered by the changes I had gone through, or at least she had never expressed it.

As I was running, I kept thinking about Ara and how I felt like I was betraying her by leaving, despite knowing that she would be safe with the only people she ever knew as her family.

I made a promise in my mind that I would one day return for her and bring her with me away from that place, never to return. At this time, however, I had to keep my goal in sight and mind.

I blocked out the sounds in the distance and forced myself to keep running for just a bit longer.

I collapsed just as I made it into the woods, knowing that if they believed the rumors to be true, they would not dare to even approach this place.

I had spent the past few months intensively searching for hints and clues about what they called the beast in the woods.

I had failed to keep my mouth shut and was now suffering the consequences, as I had been forced to leave earlier than planned.

I was unaware of the history behind the rumors as no records had been available and had now possibly brought myself in danger, but part of me did not care.

I had to know the truth, even though it meant I could never go back.

I was lying face down in a pile of leaves, hidden behind trees and bushes just near the edge of the woods.

My body refused to move as if something had pinned me to the ground.

As time passed, the sounds grew more distant and I suddenly felt sick and dizzy.

How long had I been running?

How long had it been since I had eaten?

My head grew heavy as exhaustion caught up with me, so I closed my eyes and gave in to the darkness, knowing that I had no energy left to keep my guard up at this point.

The vision came to me as a nightmare.

In the beginning, their voices were all a fuzz.

As My vision became clearer, I could hear small fragments of their conversation.

''It's not safe! We must...''

Someone else interrupted to my great annoyance and it only added to my confusion.

''Something must be done, now!''

What wasn't safe?

What were they going to do?

''Let's hope she does not bring him here...''

Him??

The last words I managed to make out sent my thoughts into a spiral and my head started spinning again.

My desperate attempt to stay focused on their voices ended abruptly.

I woke up on the ground with dirt on my face and leaves in my hair.

''What is to do with a gift like this when you can't even get the end of it..''

I muttered to myself as I slowly stood up.

My whole body was shaking, a clear indication of how hard I had pushed myself as I ran.

I was never the big runner in the first place, although I would never admit it if anyone asked.

Dark had descended and by now the only light to guide me was the full moon above.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes at the irony of the situation as I looked around in an attempt to get a sense of direction.

I was completely out of my element at this point and found myself walking aimlessly in one direction, further into the woods.

Hours could have passed without my knowledge.

Clouds had formed in the sky and the light from the moon grew dimmer, eventually leaving me in complete darkness.

At that point, I was unable to continue.

I had no shelter, no food, and no way of telling if I was even headed in the right direction.

My damp clothes stuck to my skin like an extra layer of skin, hardly keeping out the cold at that point.

I needed to find shelter, and quickly.

Many who had ventured into these woods, had perished from hunger or cold, especially at this time of year.

"I did not think this through at all..." I muttered to myself, fumbling around blindly in the dark.

Finding a place to rest, preferably in shelter from the wind and cold, was my number one priority.

The hunger did not bother me too much and I knew that food was the least of my worries at this point, so I kept on moving, hoping that eventually I would stumble upon something useful.

I soon reached an area that seemed to be densely packed with trees, but without much ability to see, I relied solely on my other senses.

I held my arms out in front of me to avoid walking into the many trunks and branches, silently praying that I would not stumble and fall in the process.

After a while, I reached what seemed to be a small clearing and I took a moment to rest.

I was leaning against the large trunk of a tree when I spotted something lurking in the dark ahead of me.

I stiffened.

I squinted in a sad attempt to improve my night vision, but all I could see was a dark shadow.

"Hello?" I called out faintly.

No response.

I called out again, a little louder this time.

"Hello? Is somebody there?"

Still nothing.

Suddenly, the shadow seemed to move, eventually disappearing into the darkness behind it.

A strange feeling crept up on me and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise warningly.

I raised up my hands and began to move towards the spot where the figure had appeared only moments ago.

Surely it was just my mind playing tricks on me, but one could never be too careful.

The sound of branches breaking behind me caused me to freeze on the spot.

I only managed to make out the faint outline of a large figure in front of me as I turned around, and quickly came to realize that it had not been my imagination.

I was not alone.

As my eyes fought to adjust to the dark, the clouds began to pass, allowing the moonlight to shine slightly through the treetops.

The figure in front of me was not moving, but stood completely still and silent, which honestly freaked me out a bit.

I managed to make out some sharp facial features, short raven hair and a pair of dark murky eyes, which I soon realized belonged to a man.

His eyes were cold and observing in an eerie manner that made my blood run cold.

My initial instinct was to run, but my body betrayed me and left me standing where I was, rooted to the ground.

I was petrified.

The man slowly began to move closer to me, his movements smooth and calculated, like a predator going in for a kill.

My heart began pounding in my chest and I felt my throat tighten, restricting my breathing.

A feeling of panic started welling up in me as he got closer to me.

Was that it?

Had I come this far only to lose my life? or worse, be dragged all the way back to the village, only to be locked up in an effort to keep me from leaving again?

My thoughts came to an abrupt end as the man started speaking to me.

His voice was low and threatening.

"You're a long way from home..."

He paused a few feet away from me, but he was close enough for me to make out more features.

The look on his face was one of slight contempt, yet he did not seem as threatening up close.

There was something familiar about him.

He had a pleasant if not handsome appearance and bore himself in an almost royal manner.

His chin was slightly lifted as he looked down at me with his dark eyes, the color similar to dark murky waters during a storm.

As I looked back up into his eyes, I suddenly felt faint.

The world around me started spinning and I became nauseous.

An overwhelming tingling sensation started spreading from the back of my neck to my chest, fingertips and toes, leaving my arms and legs numb within a matter of seconds.

I could not move and the darkness seemed to intensify, my vision becoming blurry for a moment before I was blinded.

The last thing I heard as it all went dark, was the man frantically yelling my name.