The frost covered leaves crunched beneath undersized wellingtons as she ran, wide innocent eyes roaming the darkening woodland for a hiding place. Making sure to stomp in each muddy puddle she passed, the young girl soon became breathless with fatigue and stopped up short in front of the wide trunk of an oak tree. Its large roots were exposed, forming a hollow; a small space yet perfect concealment for a small child. Grinning with triumph at her choicest discovery, she crawled stealthily beneath the tree, her little mitten clad fists rubbing together in an attempt to fight off the cold Autumn air. She always won at hide-and-seek and intended this time to be no exception.

She amused herself for a while by breathing out billowing white clouds into the frosty air. But after five uneventful minutes had passed, the girl started to become impatient for a sign of her friends. Her keen ears detected no approaching footsteps, no sign of another living soul. She began to consider that maybe she shouldn't have chosen such an obscure hiding place, as the chill of the approaching evening was beginning to sink to her bones. The woods had already grown darker in that small while, and a feeling of unease was beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it was as though her surroundings were suddenly a little too silent. The casual scurrying of squirrels and the chattering of birds in the canopy above were no longer existent. Her position in the constricted space was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and she had just formed her decision to give up and find her friends, when she heard it.

The tell-tale snap of a twig alerted her to the fact that she was no longer in solitude. Sinking further back into the hollow of the tree, she waited silently with renewed excitement. She considered calling out in exasperation over how long it had taken them to find her, when the approaching figure came into her view. It was not one of her friends. The tall stranger looked weird, she thought. Their identity was concealed behind the hood of a long black cloak, trailing over the crisp fallen leaves slowly, with purpose. This hooded person whoever they were, seemed to be unaware that they had company, and instincts were telling the small girl not to reveal herself. Her eyes searched the approaching stranger with fearful curiosity, yet it was what she saw behind them that made her body freeze over in horror. Floating along unsupported was a small unconscious human body. Her friend's body.

The hooded figure and the unconscious girl weaved their way through the thickets of tall trees until they reached the clearing in front of her hiding place. She was unable to look away, unable to move as pure dread engulfed her. The stranger had stopped in the clearing, and proceeded to draw a large circle into the soil with a stick, and the unconscious airborne girl drifted slowly to the ground to rest at its centre. From beneath the cloak, they withdrew a dagger, with a blade which seemed to be formed from black glass. Kneeling down by their victim, words began to flow from beneath the hood like a chant. Strange words. The girl did not recognise them, yet she thought there was a kind of magic to them; a danger which rang out in the stillness. She wanted to run, to yell out for help but her legs were limp, and she supposed she would be caught in any case. So, she watched helplessly as though transfixed, as the dark figure finished their chant and drove the blade into their victim's chest.

Unable to stop herself, the girl let out a terrified screamed and made as if to run from the scene. The hooded face looked up calmly, locating the new source of disturbance, and uttered more unfamiliar syllables. The small girl suddenly found herself paralysed, by fear or magic she didn't know, but what she did know was that her friend on the ground had begun to writhe viciously. ''Foolish child,'' sighed the coldly amused voice, ''you ought to have remained silent''. Heart pounding wildly in her chest, she saw the body on the ground become abruptly motionless. With an air of resigned indifference, the stranger spoke another unrecognisable word, and to the girl's horror, the body rose slowly from the ground. Blood was no longer leaking from the stab wound, but it was instead oozing a black tar-like substance. Revealing a pair of completely black eyes, she launched herself at the motionless screaming girl.

Bay awoke with a start, breathing as if she had just run ten miles. She flicked on her bedside lamp, squinting slightly at the sudden brightness filling her small bedroom. It was already half past seven according to the alarm clock perched on her chest of drawers. 'Fucking great,' she thought resentfully, for she had never been a morning person. With an effort, she dragged herself out of her warm bed and crossed to the window, scowling down at the busy London street. The sky was beginning to lighten as she watched several hard core partygoers stumbling along the pavement below, but her mind was elsewhere. She supposed the gruesome dream was just a side effect of binge watching A Game of Thrones last night.

An elaborate hand mirror rested on the windowsill where she stood. It was unlike anything else in the poorly furnished bedroom, for its handle and frame were carved beautifully from mahogany in the shape of ivy vines. On many examinations of the mysterious object, she had noticed what looked like runes carved at the base of the handle, but she had been unable to interpret their meaning anywhere. She was unsure of how such a beautiful and mysterious item had come into her possession, for she had had it for longer than she could remember; even before her adoption at age three. Bay picked it up to inspect her tired face, and frightened herself for a second by imagining that she had seen a pair of completely black eyes reflected on the glassy surface. Shaking away her overactive imagination, she saw that the tired eyes peering back at her were dark green. The slim freckled face looked to belong to a girl of about eighteen years, several piercings lined her ears and a small stud decorated the side of her nose. Bay let out a frustrated sigh at the sight of her extreme case of bed-head and attempted to drag a brush through the abomination of pastel purple hair.

The phone on the bedside table buzzed loudly and crossing the room, Bay smiled when she found it to be a text from her mum. Despite growing up with a police officer for a parent, her upbringing hadn't been as strict as most people seemed to imagine. Her mum behaved more like her best friend, and they had a good relationship. Preparing herself for the embarrassment of seeing her mum's attempt on slang, the smile quickly slid of her face to be replaced with a look of horror as she read;

'Hey gorgeous, I was called 2 office early 2day so just letting u know that I won't be back until L8 2night. A little girl has been found dead in the woods in Watford. C u L8r and have a nice day in college xx.'

-Author notes

This is my first story so thanks so much for reading! sorry if it's a little meh. I have a rough idea of where the story will go but nothing is set in stone yet. Please feel free to review, it would be nice to hear your thoughts on Bay and the plot so far, constructive criticism and ideas also welcome :)