Chapter 2

Elle drove through the streets toward her home. Although her house was only 25 minutes away, she made it in 15. The streets were all empty because it was a week day and everyone was at work. Except her.

   She finally got onto her street and parked in the driveway. She turned off the ignition and stayed sitting down in her car seat.

   After a few seconds, she wiped off the remaining tears off her face and steeped out of her truck.

   Elle walked slowly with her head down towards her front porch. She looked up from the floor to put the key in but stepped back for a second.

   There, on the front door, were claw marks. Not like a cat's or wolf's. More like a bear's.

   Where she lived, though there were forests, there weren't bears. Not even one. The only animals that did live in the forest near her were foxes, but those live deep in the woods. They never came out.

   Elle looked around to see if there were any more markings but couldn't find any. She felt something watching her, so she turned around. Nothing.

   Elle shuddered and unlocked the front door. As soon as she stepped in, she felt more at ease. Her home was her safe place. A place full of comfort and relaxation.

   She closed the front door and breathed in deeply. The scent of apple cinnamon filled her lungs. It reminded her of home. Something she'd never had. Well, not completely.

   Elle placed her purse and keys onto the wooden counter and headed for the restroom.

   When she got there, she looked in the mirror. It wasn't a pretty sight. Elle's eyes were a little bit swollen and red. Her tears had ruined the mascara she'd applied earlier. Now she had black streaks along her cheeks.

  She washed her face and went into her room. Elle opened the bottom drawer and got out a pair of jean shorts. She put them on and got a dark green tank top. When she finished, she looked around her room. There were still various articles of clothing and the things she pushed off of her nightstand on the floor. She kneeled over and picked up a picture frame. It was one she kept close to her heart.

   Elle remembered that day clearly. She'd just gotten home from her part-time job at Peppy's Pizzeria. Elle got on her laptop and was watching videos on YouTube when she got an email. She'd opened it up and read. Elle couldn't believe it. She'd gotten the job as a newspaper writer. Elle had applied and had gotten interviewed about two months back, but because she hadn't heard from them, she'd assumed she didn't get the job.

   Elle had told her friends and they all went to the club. The picture was of them celebrating her new job. That was about a year ago. Now she had no job and 5 of those friends stopped talking to her. It was astonishing on how much things could change in one year.

   She placed the photo back on the nightstand and continued with the other items. When she finished picking them up, she separated the dirty and clean clothes and placed the dirty in the washing machine.

   After that, she headed into the kitchen. Because she had skipped breakfast, she was starving.

   Elle looked around the kitchen, raiding the pantry and opening the cabinets, but she couldn't find anything appetizing. Elle thought and grabbed her phone.

   She typed 'Easy healthy food recepies.' She scrolled down and finally found one that looked good enough. Elle gathered the ingredients, materials and got to work.

   One hour and three burnt chicken legs later, Elle gave up and ordered pizza. She was never good at cooking anyways and obviously hadn't improved.

   A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Elle opened it and saw a tall, slim man who looked to be in his late twenties. He wore the bright yellow and red uniform the pizzeria required them to wear. She paid him, but instead of leaving, he stayed in the doorway.

   "Woah, look at those claw marks on your door. Are you already decorating for Halloween? It's barely September."

   "Uhh...no. No, the marks were there already. I don't know where they came from," Elle answered.

   His face morphed into confusion. "Those look like claw marks from a bear though. I went to Yellow Stone National Park last summer and one of the bears escaped. There was a lot of damage the next day. One of the cars had marks just like these. They look identical."

   "Well, I don't think it is a bear. There aren't any bears here, and I don't think a bear could have traveled this far without getting caught or seen at least."

   The man just nodded. "Well, have a good day," he said as he turned and got in his car. "You too!,"Elle said as she turned and closed the door.

  She sat on her couch with the drinks already ready and started to eat. Elle turned the television on and started to binge watch the crime show she'd recently found.

  A few hours later, the pizza box was empty and on the floor. The soda bottle was almost done. Elle poured the remaining soda into her glass cup and chugged it. She placed the now empty, glass cup on the wooden coffee table and got into a comfortable position.

   As the episode continued, her eyes started to droop. What time did she go to sleep at? 3 or 4 in the morning? Finally, they completely shut and elle fell into a restless slumber.

   Elle jolted awake and looked at her surroundings. The clock on her kitchen wall read 6:37. She yawned and got up to stretch, but as she stood up, she foot hit the coffee table. Crack!

  She looked down and saw shattered glass on the floor. The cup fell. It must've been on the edge of the table.

  Elle carefully walked around the broken glass, trying not to get cut, and went to her storage room. She grabbed the broom and headed back to the living room.

   When she finished sweeping up the glass, she took it to the trash can, but it was full. She took the full bag out of the tin and and replaced it with a new one and emptied the glass in there. Elle tied up the bag and went to the front door. Her boots were there and she slipped the on.

   Elle stepped out of her house and onto the front porch. She climbed down the stairs and placed the bag into the dumpster.

   She turned and looked up at the sky. Various colors blended together and made the sky look like a painting. The air was fresh, for autumn was rolling in

   Instead of going back inside, she decided to take a walk in the forest behind her house to relax a bit more. The forest was one of the main reasons why she moved in.

   When she was a little kid, Elle had always dreamed of exploring the world. Obviously, she couldn't do that by herself because it was too dangerous. The fact that she was an orphan made it worse.

   When Elle was a week old, she mysteriously appeared on the front steps of Mary Lu Jane Orphanage. As she got older, rules got stricter and she didn't have much free time.

   When she was 7, she went on a school field trip to the local park. She'd gotten lost. Elle had never been there before, so naturally, she didn't know where to go. She looked around and was overtaken by a feeling of excitement to explore a new place. That's were the love and desire for exploration sprouted.

   Elle walked into the forest, following the dirt path. She walked aimlessly, reviewing today's events. It had all happened so fast.

   After thinking for a while, Elle looked up at the sky. It was close to dark. Very. She turned around to walk back and gasped.

    There, standing at an astonishing height of approximately 9 feet, was a bear. His red eyes pierced right through Elle's soul. His claws were as long as standard ruler.

   Elle let out a scream. She spinned around sprinted down the path. She approached the end of the dirt path, but didn't stop. She could still feel the bear chasing her.

   She could hear him catching up. Suddenly, she felt a sting on her arm. She looked down and saw a big slash. Blood was starting to gush out. She couldn't stop running though.

   Elle tripped over a branch and tumbled down a small hill. She layed there for a second then got up. She couldn't hear any steps coming from behind her, so she looked behind her. Sure enough, there was nothing in sight except for trees.

    Elle scanned her surrounding, trying to recognize any place, so she could return home. She saw a gleam in the distance. Curiosity got the best of her, and she started walking towards it.

   As she got closer, she started to distinguish what it was. A sword?

   A sword was stuck into a rock. It's hilt was made of red leather with a blue diamond engraved onto it. The blade was silver with foreign words on it. Elle felt a magnetic pull towards it. It was like it was calling her. She walked up to the sword and grabbed the handle. She pulled and it came out with ease.

   The gem started to glow faintly. Elle touched it and the light grew brighter. She squint her eyes to see what was happening. The light dimmed once more, and she looked back at it. Elle took a step back.

   In front of her, was a fairy. She was roughly five inches. She had blonde hair tied to into a braid. She wore a strapless, short blue dress.

   Elle felt light headed and was close to fainting. What was happening? Was she in a dream? Was this real?

   "Hello Elodie, my name is Willow and I'll be your guide," she said, with a bored expression.

   Elle was stunned. "What the hell is happening? Who are you and what are you doing? And how do you know my name?"Elle asked.

   Willow rolled her little brown eyes. "Like I said before, my name is Willow and I'm your guide. Now if you'll follow me, we'll get there faster."

   Elle looked at her suspiciously. "So are you a fairy?"she asked.

   Willow rolled her eyes again. "Jee, let me think. No, i think i might be an ogre. Now let's go." Willow turned around and started to fly away. Elle pinched herself. It hurt. This wasn't a dream. But then again, this fairy was only 5 inches tall. She was so tiny. Elle could defeat her easily. Right? She followed Willow, headed who knows where.

   A few silent and awkward minutes later, they arrived at a clearing. Thought it was dark, Elle could clearly see a statue of a man in the middle. As they got closer, she noticed he wasn't just a man, but a warrior.

   He was dressed in a uniform and was in the position of swinging a sword. It was the same sword as hers.

   "Here we have our greatest king. His majesty was one of the greatest warriors and will forever go down in history," Willow said with a grim face.

   "What was his name?"asked Elle. Willow looked slightly offended. "King Henry Eugene Arder." The name rang bells in Elle's mind, but she couldn't pin point where from.

   Willow looked back at Elle. "Now insert the sword into this stone and pull it down like a lever. Elle did as she said. "What does it do?"

   Instead of answering, Willow just counted down. "3...2...1."

   The ground split in two. Elle tried to jump out of the way, but the gal was too big and she fell in anyways. All she could see was endless black.