Chapter 10:Lost in the Woods

Time flew by and two weeks were gone since Jasmine came to live in the mansion. Her training was going well though Deimos never went easy on her. Even on the days he was not at the mansion, he would make sure to assign her a task for which she had to complete before his return. Jasmine had thought of leaving but she kept motivating herself. She was not one to give up. Her father had taught her everything but giving up. 

It was evening just after twilight. Today was one of the days when Deimos was not around. She had spent the whole day learning to ride a horse. She was already perfect in swordsmanship thus Deimos was focusing more on her physical strength when he was around. He would her make run for hours nonstop, and only when her legs were sore and she could not walk anymore would he let her rest for an hour or two. 

Jasmine walked back to the empty mansion. As expected, the servants had already left. She headed straight to her room. After a hot bath, she went back down for dinner. This was her daily routine. A whole day of training, a short lunch break, back to training, dinner and then sleep. She thought Deimos had forgotten about her duty of serving him. He had never asked her to do anything as his maid. His only emphasis was on her training.

When Jasmine was done eating, she decided to take stroll outside before sleeping. She had become familiar with the mansion and it was not that scary anymore. Her first night there was a nightmare but it felt like it was all a dream. Since that fateful night, she had never seen anything abnormal.

She walked out and was heading to the garden. She had been there a couple of times and it had become her favourite place. It was the only lively place. There were different kind of flowers and plants, but that was not what attracted her. It was the blossoming peach tree in the middle of the garden. She felt a rare peacefulness sitting there gazing at the sky.

Tonight the sky was dark with neither the moon nor the twinkling stars. She felt as if the sky was screaming its loneliness to her.

A sudden scream broke the silence alarming Jasmine. She looked at the direction from where the sound came from. It came from inside the woods that were behind the training ground. She had never gone beyond the training ground so she was a bit reluctant to go take a look.

Jasmine calmed her beating heart as she stood from the ground. Her legs led her to the woods slowly and warily. Just as she had stepped inside, the same scream came again, and this time, she found the voice was a bit familiar. She hurriedly walked following the echo after the voice died down.

"Who's there?" she asked holding her silk-made white dress.

"Help," a faint sound whispered making Jasmine more anxious.

She ran avoiding the trees until she came across a barbed wired fence. She stopped to listen to the voice and for sure, it came from the other side of the fence. She held her dress on one head and parted the barbed wire to a space she could go through, which she did.

"Who's there?" Jasmine's voice echoed in the dark forest.

She could hear some rumbling not far away so she started walking slowly her guard fully activated. She was about to increase her pace when a quite familiar voice made her halt.

"So gullible you are, little Jasmine."

It was Cora, the young maid who worked in Deimos' mansion, and whom she had befriended the past two weeks. She was standing before her, smiling strangely and wickedly. Her eyes were shining oddly making Jasmine shiver remembering the creature she had seen before.

"Cora? What... are you doing out here? It was you calling for help. Did you get lost in the woods?" Jasmine asked nervously having a bad feeling about everything.

Cora burst into a hysterical laughter scaring the wits out of Jasmine. She did not feel like the innocent Cora she knew. She seemed different, very different.

"Jasmine, Jasmine. How innocent you are," her voice sounded different too, and a bit dangerous.

"What are you talking about, Cora. Let's get away from here," Jasmine said ready to walk away.

"We are not done here. Why are you in a hurry?"

Jasmine stopped hearing Cora's words. She could sense Cora was up to no good. She got ready to defend herself if anything untoward happened.

"Who are you?" Jasmine asked narrowing her eyes towards Cora.

Cora walked closer to her leaving a little space between them.

"You should be asking what am I," Cora said and her eyes shone brighter with a golden colour.

Jasmine gasped and staggered backwards, terrified. Her forgotten fear of that night came rushing to her mind. She could not believe she was stuck in the same situation again.

Cora laughed satisfied with her reaction. She lifted her hand and trailed her fingers on her face.

"Oh dear Jasmine. You are more than you think. Everyone around you is a foe. EVERYONE!" she exclaimed as she leaped forward and grabbed Jasmine's neck.

Jasmine shivered terribly struggling to breath. Her eyes were wide open enough to see Cora's fangs.

"Farewell my dear friend," Cora said and was about to sink her fangs on Jasmine's neck, but she suddenly froze.

Her grip on Jasmine's neck loosened and Cora's lifeless body fell to the ground.

Jasmine was gasping for air. Her head was spinning and her body shaking. She froze when a hand touched her shoulder. Her eyes closed expecting the worst.

"It's me, Jasmine."

Jasmine opened her eyes abruptly when she heard that voice. She almost cried seeing Deimos in front of her. She threw herself on his arms and held him tightly, crying.

Deimos frozen unable to think what to do next. He let her hold him until he felt her even breath. He patted her back but she did not move.

"Jasmine," he called her but there was no response, and just like that, Jasmine had fallen asleep in Deimos' arms.