The Arrow

Samantha opened her eyes slowly seeing a bright light through the tall trees above her. Her head felt better than how it did last night since there was no headache.

Finally when she gained enough strength, she raised her herself by her arms and looked around at her surroundings expecting to see more than what she did.

Last night she was in the alleyway, but she looked like she was within a forest this morning causing much confusion. The whole area was covered with trees but not the kind in the parks she usually took her morning runs in. She immediately rubbed her eyes thinking she was still dreaming, but nothing changed.

Looking at her attire, Samantha's face scrunched as she realized she was wearing medieval clothing similar to what Robin Hood wore in the cartoon she watched when she was a younger girl. But instead of the color green, her clothing was a mud brown color and it looked worn out with some holes appearing on her sleeves. She also smelled like she didn't shower in about two weeks making her want to throw up.

She then remembered the stabbing and checked her stomach seeing there was no damage or scarring. She traced her abdomen seeing if there were any sensitive spots but found none. Did she dream the experience? Was she so drunk last night and joined a cult?

Extremely confused, Samatha replayed the night's events making her wonder if she drank more than she thought and maybe it was altering with her memory. But the memory of the man stabbing her felt vivid making her shake her head in disbelief. There was no way she could make up such a disturbing scene.

Trying to stand and figure out what happened, Samantha checked her body to see if there were signs of assault. But all she found was a detailed snake tattoo across her left forearm when she lifted her sleeve. It was extremely interesting making Samantha wonder if she was so drunk that she went to a tattoo parlor, but she didn't feel any pain whatsoever. Wouldn't her skin be tender and somewhat red? What happened last night?

It also appeared as though she changed her shoes to some strange sort of flats that looked nothing like something sold in her generation. She also couldn't find her purse making her believe she could have been mugged!

"Where am I?" She asked no one in particular as she looked around the forest trying to find a pathway. There was no road nearby making her wonder if she got lost somehow and just slept on the dirt, but something felt very off.

This place did not smell like New York making her wonder how far she could have walked. If she was drunk, she wouldn't have been able to wander very far. But that city smell was no where near. In fact, it smelled fresh outside which was something quite new and somewhat refreshing to her nostrils.

"How did I put this on!" She mumbled to herself while bending to fix the legging like pants she was wearing. It was starting to glide up her leg making her uncomfortable.

A whistle sound came too quickly for Samantha to realize an arrow was aimed straight toward her. But she bent down the moment the soft sound past her ear. She straightened up with a worried expression immediately noticing the arrow piercing the tree right behind her. She stood frozen for a moment trying to understand what just happened!

"What the hell?" She said examining the arrow closely. It was very sturdy looking and had a red ribbon attached toward the end. But before she could study it further, another arrow came and barely missed her by a hair making the girl jump.

"Shit!" She yelped as she started running deeper in the woods. She had no idea where she was and had no sense of direction in this area. She could have been running in circles for all she knew!

Eventually Samantha glanced behind or a quick moment. She didn't see anyone and decided to hide in a bush to her right holding her hand over her mouth so her breathing wasn't too loud. She knew getting caught by these men would be a life threatening situation and she was not able to handle anymore surprises at the moment.

Samantha surrounded herself in the leaves and tried ignored the thorns piercing into her skin.

"Did you see her?" Came a rougher voice that had no gentle tone. "I think one of the arrows nipped her. She probably can't run very far if she was injured."

"Out of all of you, not one could aim the arrow toward her chest?" A baritone voice questioned.

The deep sound was extremely attractive to the girl in the bush, but she tried to keep her thoughts focused. She shouldn't be getting turned on at the moment! But for some strange reason, the voice was familiar to her making her feel some sort of weird sensation.

"Sorry General. She somehow dodged the first arrow. She is obviously well trained." The first man replied.

Scoffing, the deep voice let out a chuckle. "I feel like her scent is heading east. She is not someone I want to lose. Even though I'd prefer her alive, I'll accept her dead as well."

Without moving a muscle, Samantha waited out her time so she wouldn't accidentally face any of the men. There was a clinging sound as the men continued to leave but she didn't take any chance of looking at them due to the fear that they could notice her. She waited a couple minutes after hearing the last of the footsteps hoping they wouldn't return.

Slowly peering from the other side of the bush, she tried to grasp what just happened. Men were aiming arrows at her which didn't make any sense. Was she a part of some sort of sick hunting game?

And what the hell was that about her scent? Did she really smell that bad?

Taking a sniff toward her armpit, Samantha retracted her head with a disgusted face. She definitely smelled bad and he probably could smell her out.