Into the Forest
Prologue
The house is hot, too hot, causing my emotions
that are already in turmoil to burn even hotter.
Walking outside into the cool night air, I stand
on the porch and look into the
trees
toward my river. Why not? I think to
myself. I might as well take a walk. It may
help.
I walk into the darkness where the shadows of
the
trees tower above. They shelter me from
the wind that has stirred to life. The sliver of
moon in the starry sky barely filters through
the dancing leaves.
Despite the almost complete darkness, I do not
bother with a flashlight as I walk down the
familiar path to the river. I know this path;
every turn, every root, every stone…they are all
mine. They have etched themselves into my mind.
Then why do I feel uneasy? Why are the hairs on
back of my neck standing? I have lived here for
my whole life, almost twenty-three years; I know
this path. What is making me feel so
strange? I wonder to myself as I chew my
lip in thought and continue to walk. It
feels as if someone is watching me. I
realize with a start.
I shake my head and continue to follow the path;
walking through the twists and bends. However,
before I reach the river, I see from the corner
of my eye…a movement. Was it just a shadow or
was someone there?
"Hello?" I yell into the darkness of the fog
that is slowly creeping in.
"What in the world?" I exclaim quietly to
myself. "What kind of fog is this?" It is unlike
any other I have ever experienced. Instead of
being a caress against the skin, it is dirty and
stinky, the smarmy feel of the mist as it closes
over my head is almost stifling. I can feel it
pressing me down, trying to overtake my will.
Afraid, but knowing giving in to the fear will
not help matters. I take a deep breath and will
myself to walk; to ignore the clawing of the
mist.
Turning back does not even enter my mind.
My heart beats a heavy tattoo as I place one
foot in front of the other in the fog that
swirls around me in a whirling vortex.
I catch a glimpse of the river through the
thinning
trees.
Finally! I
sigh. At last I walk out of the
trees
and onto the riverbank.
I look around, startled, to find no fog on the
bank. It hovers only in the
trees
in dirty, thick patches.
"What is going on? Nothing is going right." As I
ponder the evening, the
trees
sway gently in the breeze that is playing with
my hair.
Standing there, a horrible idea creeps into my
mind. What if that is not a breeze?
Slowly, I turn, only to see a strange man
standing next to me. I do not think I had been
that deep in thought, but I did not hear him
approach.
I look at him and he looks back, capturing my
eyes and looking deep into them.
A startled scream freezes in my throat as I gaze
at him.
He is tall, taller than me by at least four
inches, which puts him just over six feet. He
has dark eyes and thick, dark hair worn to his
collar. His skin is so pale I wonder if he has
not seen the sunlight in many years.
"Who are--" I start to ask, but he opens his
mouth and whispers, "Melissa."
"How do you know my name?" I ask, beginning to
panic, I start to back away from him. "Who are
you?" I continue to back away, but for every
step I take, he takes one forward, following me
step for step.
Unexpectedly, I feel a
tree
against my spine; the rough bark digs into my
back.
I look for an escape route, but all I can see is
the dense grove of
trees. I start to swing around the
tree to run into the grove, but I am too late. The man grabs for me
just as I begin to move.
I see him lift his arm and poise myself for the
attack. I close my eyes tight to block out the
sight.
I feel his hand brush my hair as he places his
hand firmly on the
tree behind me, next to my head.
Wondering if he missed, I open my eyes and see
his face is close to mine.
I look into his eyes again, which was my
mistake. My eyes lock onto his and refuse to
look away from his mesmerizing gaze. His eyes
draw me in deeper and deeper. I cannot stop
looking into them; I don't have any desire to
stop looking. I feel as if I could swim in their
depths and I begin to lean forward toward those
eyes.
Again he says my name. "Melissa." His voice
shivers across my skin, as soft as a caress of
satin. He opens his mouth as he leans toward my
ear. When he leans toward me, our locked gazes
break and I can feel my own thoughts sinking
into my mind again.
My terror rushes back, and then I see them.
His teeth…his fangs!
He leans closer to me, tilting his head
slightly, and I realize he is going for my
neck!
I lift my arms and place my hands on his chest
and the chill of his skin seeps into my bones.
Wanting to be away from this strange man, I give
him a hard shove. Not expecting it, he steps
back a few paces, almost falling. But before he
can regain his balance, I run as fast as I can
into the
trees, knowing they are my only hope.
I've lived in these woods my whole life. I know
them like the back of my hands…and so I run. I
run as if the Cyn Annwyn, the
hellhounds, are on my heels. I rush up an
embankment close to the river. I twist around
for a quick look to see if the man is following
me, but there is no one in sight.
Where he went, I don't have a clue, but I do not
have a chance to wonder, because the swirling
fog begins to close in on me again, swallowing
the trees whole.
I continue to scurry up the embankment, but my
breath begins to come out in short gasps as my
panic and the run itself begins to wear on my
body.
As I reach the top, I press forward despite
wanting to take a brief rest; I can't allow
myself the luxury. What if he is still
behind me? What if he catches me?
The words ‘Can't stop, can't stop. Gotta keep
going. Can't stop.' Cascade through my mind as I
head back in the general direction of the house;
following the instinct that tells me to get the
hell out of the woods.
Intent on getting out of the woods yet still
listening for the sound of feet chasing me, I
lose track of where I am. Suddenly, I realize
that somewhere along the way, somewhere in this
dense fog, I zigged when I should have zagged.
The knowledge that I am completely lost falls
heavily on my mind and my feet drag to a stop.
Hopelessly lost in this fog, my only comfort is
that if I cannot find my way out because of the
fog, that man cannot find me either. Or so I
hope.
Placing my hand against the nearest
tree
and leaning against it, I stop for a moment to
catch my breath and gather my bearings.
A lot of good catching my bearings does me
considering I have no clue where I am…suddenly
the forest that has sheltered me my entire life
has taken on a menacing tone.
I look around in hopes of finding something,
anything, which will tell me where I am.
But there is nothing.
Nothing that is, until I see a glow through the
fog.
Curiosity begins to play with my panic as I try
to figure out what else could happen tonight.
I slowly and carefully make my way toward the
light.
As I get closer, the flickering light grows
stronger as the fog thins.
The fog continues to thin so I can tell I am on
the edge of a large clearing where I see a woman
dancing around a fire clad only in a red cloak.
In her hands, she holds a picture and a dead
chicken. Blood covers the picture and the light
reflects off the few clean parts of the glass to
show only parts of a picture, just enough for me
to tell who the picture is of.
I gasp, "Dad!" As I raise a hand and place it on
my chest.
I look at the woman through the tendrils of fog
playing here or there. Curiously enough, no fog
is around the fire or the woman; it forms a
perfect circle in the clearing. As I watch the
woman holding the gruesome picture of my dad,
she turns enough that the light from the fire
reflects on her face and I look on her with
growing horror.
I know her! I know who she is!
Feeling the panic that has settled on my mind
rise to a frantic pace, I turn and silently
scream the one question raging through my mind.
What is going on?
As I turn, my head smacks on a low-hanging
branch. The incredible blow causing stars to
dance before my eyes and my ears to ring.
I try to continue forward, but my knees crumble
beneath me. My vision is growing gray with dark
spots floating across my sight line.
I can only hope the woman did not hear me and
does not know I am out here.
"I have to get up." I whisper as I fall
on the hard ground. But as I fall to my knees
with a jarring thud, and my back comes to rest
against the tree…
Then darkness.
I hear a groan from a distance and it is not
until I opened my eyes that I realized the groan
has come from me.
The faint beams of light from the moon piece my
skull and I close my eyes with another groan.
I try to open my eyes again to look around, but
even that slight motion causes everything to go
black once more.
A faint sound
penetrates the fog that surrounds my mind.
I crack my eyes open as far as I can to see what
is going on, but not wide enough to let in any
light. "What happened?" I whisper, the sound
shooting through my head like tambourines.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot remember what
I am doing out in the middle of the forest
sitting on the hard ground.
I try to sit up, but a wave of dizziness
overcomes me and I collapse against the tree
again.
Sitting as still as possible, I realize I can't
remember anything!
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