Prolouge: On a dark and stormy night
"Keep going!". That was the only thought that ran through Hannah Reed's mind as she raced through the woods that night. "Keep going! I have to keep going! I can't let it catch me!". She drew a sharp breath as she forced herself to speed up. Thunder clapped above her as the lighting illuminated the forest for a split second. In that split second though, she had seen its shadow. It's long, dark, and huge shadow seemed to sallow the entire forest. She dared not look back at it, that would slow her down. She knew her best chance of survival was to keep looking ahead, and keep moving. She pushed away tree branches away from her face as she continued her frantic pace through the woods. She could her it's footfalls behind her as it pursued her relentlessly. It didn't sound to far away, but she was sure if she kept going she would outrun it. That's when it happened, the mistake that would end her life. She went down hard, and fast without any warning. She had missed seeing a tree root in front of her, and had rolled her ankle on it. She quickly went to get up, but it was already to late by then. It had caught up to her, and it was all over. Hannah tried with all her might to fight back, but it was fruitless as it easily got the better of her. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded with it to spare her. She could feel it's hot breath on her face as it got close to her. It's cold hands stroked her face as if it was trying to comfort her. Hannah's last ditch move was to scream for all she was worth, but even she knew it would do her no good. As the unheard screams echoed through the woods, the thing brought its hands together, and brought them down hard on Hannah's skull. Soon Hannah's world went black, and all was silent.
Ethan Jay could not believe how drunk he had gotten last night. Right now he was waking up on his friend Hannah Reed's kitchen counter with a killer hangover. How he got on the counter he probably didn't even want to know. Ethan quickly looked around the room to make sure they hadn't done permanent damage to the house. He did not want to have to face Hannah's parents and attempt to explain why they had even had alcohol that night. They knew it was illegal for 6 sophomore high school students to be drinking, but Hannah could be very convincing sometimes. Nothing seemed out of sorts, so next he went to see where everyone was. The first person he found was Brett, on of his good friends. Brett was a short, and scrawny kid who you could tell by looking at him he was a bookworm. He had short brown hair, and blue eyes. The funny thing about Brett was that he was super funny, but he was also super shy. It had taken a long time for him to even begin to open up to the group, but eventually he warmed up to them. Next was one of Ethan's best friends in the whole wide world Adriana Clarkson. She too was a little short, but had a more average build. She had long brown hair down past her shoulder,and hazel eyes. Adriana was what she considered the "life of the party", which by her standards meant the first one to get drunk. She was currently passed out on the couch with her head hanging off the side. Ethan smiled as he pushed her head back onto the couch as he continued his search. Next up was Ethan's girlfriend Ellen Hatfield. Ellen was average height for her age, and had an athletic build. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She had attained her athletic body from the years in dance. She was know for having a very silly personality just like Ethan, but she could also be very sarcastic. She was currently hanging out in the reclining chair over in the corner of the living room next to the glass siding door, which was curiously open. Ethan quickly walked over, and shut it before it got to cold in there. "Has that been open all night?" Ethan thought to himself as he went over to see the fifth member of the group, Reagan. Reagan was shortest of the group with fiery red hair, and blue eyes. She was extremely athletic her favorite sport though was sword fighting of all things. She was usually the first one in a fight, and usually the one to finish them too. Ethan continued to search through the entire house looking for their final friend, Hannah Reed, but she was no where to be found. Ethan had searched literally everywhere, and there was sign that she had ever been there last night. "Guys, Guys wake up" Ethan shouted as he raced back into the living room. He quickly yet around shaking everyone awake, and with a lot of complaining from everyone they all did. " What the hell is the matter with you Ethan. Aw jeez I have raging headache" Adriana complained as she looked at Ethan as though he was the devil for waking her up. "She's gone! I looked everywhere but she's gone. None of the cars are gone so she didn't leave that way. Where could she possibly be?" Ethan said in a panicky voice as he began to pace around the room. "Ethan...you're not making sense. Whose gone?" Ellen, his girlfriend was next to speak up. "Hannah! I've looked everywhere, but she's not here. The sliding door was open last night, do you think she went to the woods?" Ethan practically yelled. "Look, we'll look around the house again while you just sit down, and take a couple minutes to relax. The rest the grouped quickly began to look around the house, their hangover sickness seemed to fade as the fear of their friend not being there set in. It was just as Ethan had said, Hannah Reed had disappeared. They all tried texting, and calling her to no avail. Eventually Ellen decided to call the police. It took some time, but the police eventually arrived. They quickly began a search, and then took each of the kids statements. The police said that they had found some footprints leading into the woods, but they suddenly stop. It was there where they found their next discovery. At the place where the tracks stopped was blood, and not a little blood, there was a lot of blood. Ethan felt his entire body go numb as they said the word blood. Was Hannah all right? Why had there been blood on the scene? Was she attacked, and if so by who? He didn't have time however to contemplate the answers to these questions before the officer came back. "Are we allowed to go home yet?" Brett asked in a small voice that he usually had around strangers. "Not yet...we need to ask all of you some more questions down at the station." " Why?" Ellen asked in a nervous voice as she stood next to Ethan who had his arm around her in a protective manner. "Because you all have become suspects in the kidnapping/potential homicide of Hannah Reed"
Authors note- And there you have it! The first chapter of Dark Hallow is now completed. Yaaaayy! (Throws some confetti in the air) Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work, and if you like what you se, and want me to continue please leave me a comment. Also please leave me. A review with ideas on how to improve, but please don't flame. Again thank you so much, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!
See you soon,
Portalmaster2