Prologue
"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the man crooned, laughing quietly. "I don't bite." He laughed again, finding himself terribly amusing.
The girl shivered, covering her bare arms. It was a cold night, especially for August, and the trees had begun to turn colors that past week, coating the ground with yellow and orange leaves. At night, however, everything was too dark for her to see the bright colors. She closed her eyes, trying to breathe as quietly as she could.
"Where are you going to go?" he laughed, shaking his head. "There isn't anywhere to go! I'm going to find you! Do you hear that? I'm going to find you, my dear."
She opened her eyes, darting them back and forth, searching for a way out. She couldn't find one, however. It was the middle of the night, and she was stranded in the forest. Her lips mouthed the words to a silent prayer as tears slid down her cheeks. Of all the ways she'd ever pictured herself dying, this was not one of them.
He rounded the tree, towering above her crouched form. She closed her eyes, clutching her hands together, repeating the same phrase over and over. "Prayers don't scare me," he told her, grinning.
There was a flash of teeth, a spray of blood, and it was over.