The wind howled as Ann made her way through the forest. She had always liked walking through the forest but this time was different. The leaves crunched under her feet as she followed the same path as always. The sky was dark above and the trees looked foreboding.
As she crept past the trees she watched. Her little world was changed.
Ann stopped when she heard a twig snap. Her instincts kicked in, before she could stop herself she was on the lowest branch of the closest tree. As her eyes scanned the ground she saw what had made the noise: a dark haired teenage boy.
Some stupid teenage bet, she thought as the boy slowly made his way to the place she was standing only moments before.
The boy's face was full of fear. As it should be, Ann knew why the kid came to this forest. Some stupid friend of his told him he wasn't brave, and of course he had to go to the creepiest part of town and prove them wrong. But what Ann didn't know was whether or not she should scare him off and get back to figuring out what was wrong with her forest or if she should let him go and pretend to be the big hero when he left to find his friends waiting for him just outside the forest limits.
Ann watched the boy suddenly stop, he started looking up and Ann instantly hid herself from sight. When she looked back where the boy had been standing, he was gone.
Ann's eyes scanned the forest so quickly it was unnatural. She moved through the tree without making a sound. After a minute she knew she wouldn't find him. Her blood boiled at the thought someone could get away from her. Not once in the time she was in the forest had anyone stepped out of her sight for one moment.
Before she knew what had happened, she found herself on the hard forest floor. Her mind whirled as she tried to recover herself. She got to her feet and faced her attacker.
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"No one," she said in that special voice.
"No one?" the boy asked smugly. Ann stayed quiet as the boy made a circle around her. She was slightly confused, but once he looked away for a moment it was his turn to eat dirt. "Oof"
When he was on the ground she pressed her foot on the back of his neck. She wanted to say something like, "Why are you here?" or "Tell me where you're from!" but she knew the answers to those questions. So she just waited for him to beg for mercy.
A thunder clap broke through the air before he could say anything. Darn it! Ann's anger washed over her, but she wouldn't be a slave to it. What could she do? He'd seen her face, she couldn't leave him here.
She bent down just enough to grab a stick from the ground. The boy twitched like he was going to try and wiggle out of her grasp, she didn't give that much of a chance. When she had the stick in hand she wacked him over the head.
Ann dropped the stick as the sky cracked with another burst of thunder. I'm coming. She whistled loudly and a black horse came to her. She put the boy on the horse's back and quickly made her way through the ever changing forest.