AN: Hello my pretties~! I'm glad to see the reviews that were left, and I'm glad that you guys are liking this story so far! As much as I would've liked, I couldn't update this sooner, and I'm sorry for that. But since the weekend is here, I've been writing almost nonstop since I got home from school today XD

One thing I edited is the rating of the story; bumping it up to M for gore that will happen a little later on, as well as some course language X33 I'm sorry if this chapter comes off as boring; it's kind of...filler. For now. I'm not sure how long it will take to get this story rolling, but I'm trying my best~!

Remember to R&R~! 3

Chapter 1

I idly listened as the TV turned on downstairs, the sounds fading in from incoherent murmurs to clear, loud voices in the silent house.

"…Seven year old Eliza Woodson, reported missing just yesterday, has been found dead inside Thompson Woods. Police reports say she was killed sometime around one in the morning, the murder weapon being unknown as of now, and there were no apparent signs of a struggle. Police are searching for any evidence that will give them a lead, but so far nothing has been found…"

I shuddered, rolling over and snuggling deeper into the covers of my bed, staring blankly at the wall. Darkness engulfed my room, aside from the bright red numbers on my alarm clock reading six thirty, turning the walls and bedsheets red. Very cautiously, I looked around, my eyes scanning for any sign of movement. Without realizing it, I had reached over to my bedside table and grabbed a small flashlight, clicking it on and shining it around the room, letting out a sigh.

Untangling myself from the warm comforter, I sat up and stretched, my back popping as I did so. With the flashlight still on, I stood up and quickly jumped over my bean bag chair, hitting the light switch and leaning against my door. Okay, seriously. There's nothing in here, I scolded myself. Shaking my head, I proceeded to my small, bedroom window, pushing aside the dark curtains and shining the light outside. The thick snow was bright, and contrasted against the dark tree trunks that stretched up, the branches thinning out and spiking like claws before disappearing into the sky.

I shone the light around all the trees within seeing distance, slowly dragging my gaze across every tree trunk, looking closely at every shadowy spot, before finally, I leaned back inside, shutting the window and clicking the light off. Nothing was out there.

To be honest, I did feel a little childish, being fifteen and having a crippling fear of the dark. I don't really know what caused it; as far as I could remember, I had always been terrified of it. My mother had sent me to therapists constantly, to see if they could figure something out, but again, nothing came up. Maybe it was just one of those things, like arachnophobia? Whatever it was, it baffled therapists that they couldn't find a source.

In my opinion, it only unsettled them because they wouldn't get any more money out of us, because my mother came to her senses and decided to pull me out of therapy. Which I didn't really care for either way. I was still young; just gone into the first grade, actually. So really my only concerns were missing recess and so on.

Turning around, I was staring at my reflection in the mirror, cocking an eyebrow. My long, jet-black hair was a tangled mess of bed head, my unusual brownish golden eyes dull with lack of sleep. Yep. The face of imperfection right there.

I grabbed a hairbrush and dragged it through the tangles, wincing as tears formed in the corners of my eyes. God I hated brushing my hair…

"Sierra? It's time to get up!" I jumped as my mom banged her fist on the door, wriggling the doorknob.

"It's not locked!" I grumbled, opened the door. Like I could even lock it. My doorknob was old and rusty, and looked as if I didn't even need to turn it to open the door. Just a push and the whole thing would fall over. My mom stood in the doorway, fixing her hair up in an untidy ponytail. She blinked in surprise and opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.

"You're up early…" she commented finally.

"Couldn't sleep." I replied, turning my back on her. I felt her gaze on my back for a few moments later, before she shuffled her feet away down the hall towards the staircase.

"Well alright then. I've got a meeting today at work, so I won't be back until around midnight." She called over her shoulder.

"Okay." I mumbled back, grabbing a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt and quickly dressing. Nothing new to me, considering my mom didn't usually get back from work until around eleven thirty or so. She was a business woman, but I didn't really know what she sold…she seldom talked about work here at home. I don't know why, but I'm fine with that. I hardly talk about school, or anything else.

As I slipped into my dark blue hoodie, a sudden sense of foreboding hit me like a wave, quickly followed by a sense of paranoia. Straightening up, I looked around nervously, tapping my right hand against my thigh; one of the nervous ticks I had. I turned very slowly and jumped, gasping in surprise.

I was staring at myself in the mirror.

Flushing red with embarrassment, even though I was alone, I sighed and sat down on the bed again, pulling a pair of fur lined snow boots towards me and slipping them on. Stupid…I thought to myself, closing my curtains and leaving the room. It was just your reflection. Thank god that didn't happen at school…The sense of paranoia hadn't left, and I tossed a nervous glance over my shoulder as I crept down the creaky stairs.

Downstairs, only two lights were on; the kitchen light that was always left on to serve as a night light so people didn't trip up on things when needing to use the restroom, and the light filtering from under my mom's door. The TV was still on as well, again on the subject of that Eliza's death.

I felt a pang of sadness as I walked into the kitchen and grabbed some poptarts out of the cabinet. I knew Eliza. Maybe not as well as some of the other kids in the neighborhood, but I still knew her. She had been a very happy, nice little girl, unlike her older brat siblings. She had a light coating of freckles on her cheeks, pretty pale blue eyes, and gorgeous dark ginger hair that curled near the end.

When she was first reported missing, the whole neighborhood was devastated and began to search, myself included. The search efforts were told off, though, as we came up to Thomson Woods. Personally, I was relieved. The forest was the only other thing that scared me.

Looking away from the TV, which had moved onto the weather forecast, I put on my coat and slung my backpack onto my shoulder.

"I'm leaving!" I hollered as I left the house.

"Have a good day!" I heard mom's voice through the door as I pulled it closed behind me. With my breath puffing out in front of me, I wrapped my coat around me tighter and started to walk.

The streets had been cleared of all the snow, leaving it to pile up on the sidewalks, and I reluctantly trudged through it, getting soaked from the shins down. Glancing around the neighborhood, which was just beginning to stir, I couldn't help but look around at the forest, staring for a while as I walked before looking at the path ahead of me again. It terrified me, yes, but it also piqued my interests. Why was I scared of it? It surely wasn't because of Eliza's death; I've been terrified of it since I was small. God knows why. Maybe it was the way the darkness seemed to go on and on, down twisting paths and-

I stopped suddenly, tightening my grip on my coat. The paranoia, which had faded since I crept down the stairs, was back, hitting me harder than before. I looked around nervously, my eyes scanning the opposite side of the street, the path ahead of me and behind me. Nothing. I looked ahead again before shooting a glance towards the forest again.

My feet felt frozen to the ground as my heart sped up in terror.

Someone was there. They were a ways away, so I couldn't make out that many details, such as his face; it was hidden by shadows, as far as I could tell. He was wearing a sharp looking suit, charcoal black, with a crimson tie that stood out considerably. The person's arms were folded behind their back (as far as I could tell), and the person looked considerably tall…

In fear I stumbled back, tripping over my feet and, with a cry of surprise, I tumbled backwards into the snowdrift. I could feel cold sinking in my pant legs and soaking me, but that was the last thing on my mind. I sat up straight away, eyes wide, panting with fear, expecting to see the figure again.

But it was gone.

I sat there, completely motionless, hardly daring to breath, as I searched the tree line, trying to keep from hyperventilating. It was nothing, I tried to reassure myself, hands shaking. Probably just my imagination, or-

"Sierra!"

I jumped as someone called my name from down the street, and jerked my head around to see someone running towards me. It took me a few minutes to realize who it was, and I scrabbled up to my feet as she reached me. I didn't even say anything as a flood of questions came from the girl; I grabbed her backpack, yanked it open, grabbed a flashlight, and shone it around at the trees again.

Still, nothing. The person was gone.

"Sierra! Will you PLEASE listen?!" I turned and looked at the girl again, her dark eyes bright with worry. "You're scaring me! What the hell happened? You looked as if you'd just seen a ghost or something!"

Deep down, my subconscious knew it was something far worse than a ghost; knew it was far more dangerous than anything I'd ever seen or heard of. I shook my head, grabbing the girl's arm and tugging her forward, wanting desperately to get away from that spot.

"I'll tell you in a minute." Was my only response, and I again ignored the questions and worry pouring from the girl.