A painful throbbing pulsed through her head like nothing she had ever experienced before. Letting out a low groan she slowly attempted to pull her heavy eyes open. What happened? Resting her palm against her forehead she managed pull her eyes open only to be welcomed with the suns blinding light. Squinting through the suns rays she scanned over her surroundings.
The sound of the morning birds echoed from above mocking her from a safe distance with their annoying shrills. Noticing the endless maze of trees that surrounded her she groggily pushed herself up into a sitting position. Everything that happened lastnight slowly seeped back into her memory.
The calm grogginess that she was feeling swiftly disipated to be replaced with panic. Her stomach made a somersault causing her throat to tighten and her mouth to salivate. Leaning over to the side her stomach emptied out what little of its contents that it had.
Her head pounded with each gag she made. This was a headache she had never felt so intensely before. In the back of her mind she wondered if this was what a hangover must feel like. Her parents were always complaining about a massive headache the day after they drank and she could only guess it must have felt a little something like what she was feeling now.
When her stomach was done protesting she looked around wildly trying to recall how she had ended up there. She was rested against a tall tree with thick black roots protruding from the ground around her. Pushing herself up into a defensive stance she slowly crept forward. She remembered she had stupidly ran into the forest lastnight to find Gabriel and had ended up finding herself lost in the dark.
She vaguely recalled becoming exhausted in her search but she didn't remember how she had ended up falling asleep against a tree. While in mid thought a stinging pain suddenly raced through the bottom of her foot. Hissing in pain she looked down to find she had stepped on a small jagged edged stone. She lifted her foot to examine the damage when it dawned on her that she wasn't wearing any shoes.
Blood trickled from the small wound in the middle of her foot where the rock had broke the surface of her skin. Cautiously she put her foot back down to the ground and walked on its tip toe.
While trying to make sense of the situation she softly whispered to herself as if the sound of her voice might bring her some clarity. "How far did I walk last night?" The birds from above had quieted without her noticing so she could hear herself clearly among the forests silence. How had it come to this? Here she was lost in the middle of the forest without shoes and Gabriel was still somewhere out there probably feeling as lost and alone as she was.
She had no clue what to do. She had never felt so lost in her life. Absently biting her bottom lip she hugged herself while looking in every possible direction she could head in. She wondered if Gabriel was still okay and if her parents had managed to make it away from the house safely. Had they decided she was as good as dead the minute she thoughtlessly raced into the forest?
Would her parents do that? She somehow didn't doubt it, especially since they had seemed so fast in leaving Gabriel behind last night. Still scared out of her wits she took one long last look at the tree she had been resting under. It was a amazing how old these trees seemed to be. Thick roots protruded from the ground threatening to rip from the very earth beneath her. Giving the creepy trees surrounding her a quick glance over she began a slow pace through the endless maze of forest mentally preparing herself for a lonely tiresome journey.
:::
Paige knew she must have been walking for hours before she couldn't ignore the painful throbbing in her feet any longer and stopped to rest. She wondered even more desperately now how it had come to this. She quite clearly remembered trying to stay on the outskirts of this wretched forest last night because she knew how easy it was to get lost.
Most of the trees looked the same so it was hard to figure out if she was making any progress in the direction she was going. The only thing that seemed to change in scenery as she kept forward were the bushes. Some of the bushes she passed were just a shrubbery of small leaves with yellow berries sprinkled in their green masses and others she spotted had long pointed oval shaped leaves with deep purple flowers blooming from them. There were alot of beautiful plants she would absently pass by. A few others were just bushels of odd shaped leaves and one bush actually had orange leaves with a pink tinge crawling down each of the leaves stems.
The orange one was the one that really caught her eye but she wasn't paying enough attention to stop and examine the plants she passed. Her feet were aching and her stockings torn from walking over pointed twigs and and through thorned bushes. Things would have been a lot easier if there was even just a small trail she could follow instead of having to fight her way through. Sitting with her legs crossed she tenderly rubbed her aching feet. She was beginning to get the idea that she should just rip some of the cloth from her pink dress and wrap it around her feet for protection.
She was sorta hoping it wouldn't come to that since she planned to make it out of that forest soon and how ridiculous would she look with a mess of tangled hair, her tattered dress, ripped stockings, and a bundle of pink cloth for feet. Whoever spotted her first would think she was a deranged homeless child descending out of the forest.
She winced when she accidentally brushed over one of the cuts on her foot with the pad of her thumb. Inwardly groaning she grabbed for the end of her dress and began to tear off a large piece of cloth from the lop layer. Her dress was just a casual dress so it had only two layers. The thin cloth underneath the top was just a thin white fabric. She needed the thicker pink fabric if she was going to build herself some cloth shoes. Surprisingly the cotton fabric was easier to rip then she thought. The sound of the small threads tearing and her soft breathing were the only sounds that filled the air. She guessed since it was no longer morning all the birds from before had retreated somewhere into hiding. Hiding from what she didn't know.
After she had managed to tear off two large pieces of pink fabric she wrapped them around her feet giving them each three layers for protection. She then ripped off long thin pieces of the white fabric and tied the pink cloth to her feet. One around the ankle in a tight knot, two around the middle section of her foot and one around the toes. This would have to do until she managed to find her way back.
Standing up she tested out her new creation by walking over the leaves and twigs that decorated the ground. This felt much better then having her bare feet take the abuse. Wiggling her toes beneath the shabby pink shoes she managed a light smile. These had to be the most ridiculous shoes she had ever seen. Even though they were poorly made they did their job well. Her dress on the other hand was ripped in the front all the way to her bottom thighs yet still long in the back.
She imagined the way her mothers eyes would pop out of her head if she were to see the way Paige was dressed. She would be absolutely frantic, worried that someone might see her and recognize her as Roseanne Forrester's daughter. The thought of her mother's disapproval sent her recently light mood plummeting.
She was more homesick then she had realized. She actually missed her long dull lessons and the way her mom seemed to always hold such natural grace when she walked or spoke. And the way her dad was so strict with the rules he set in the house, Gabriel whining to her to take him outside. By this time she had half convinced herself that maybe Gabriel had gone back home and was safe back in her parents arms. Even though she knew it was wishful thinking it was the only thing driving her to truly want to make it back home.
Stretching out her arms Paige once again began to walk through the trees hoping beyond hope that she was heading in the right direction.
:::
The skin on her legs felt raw and her mucles were beginning to ache. She had never walked this much in a day ever. With each passing hour the shadows of the forest were growing larger, stretching over the land teasing her with there ever slow arrival. It was like they were purposely mocking her by signaling that day light would be over to soon.
The sun was already beginning to set behind the trees overhead leaving a fading orange light to guide her path. With only the sound of her soft footsteps and the rustle of the wind blown leaves to be heard it was easy for her to get lost in her thoughts. The eery silence that hung in the air was so thick it was hard for her to think of it as being peaceful.
She felt like if she were to just speak it would cut through the air sounding more like an obnoxious bellow. And she definitely didn't want to be unnecessarily loud if she could help it. The fact that through out the day she still hadn't stumbled across any sign of animal life disturbed her. There was just no way that that was normal. The birds she had heard that morning seemed more like a hallucination now instead of a recent memory.
There were no signs of small squirrels or birds in the trees, no fresh or aged manure to inspect on the ground. When she thought of this place the words empty or dead were the first to cross her mind. Of course the plant life in this forest was thriving everywhere she looked, constantly getting in her way as she continued forward.
She'd already had to battle a few bushes to get to where she was now, leaving small cuts to decorate her unprotected arms. By this time she knew that she had headed in a completely wrong direction. She was willingly heading deeper into the forest with each step she took, and what confused her more was she didn't feel compelled to turn back.
There was this lingering feeling inside her mind encouraging her with each step she took to continue forward. A feeling that she was getting closer to discovering what she was looking for. And because the only thing that she hoped to find in this forest was Gabriel, she continued forward without questioning what might happen.
No part of her felt inclined to fight this foreign force that lingered somewhere inside her mind. In all reasoning it was her fault that she was in this situation in the first place and what did she have to go back to if Gabriel hadn't made it back home? She suspected her parents would act as if Gabriel had died and she would still be forced to attend private school and marry like nothing out of the ordinary had happened this summer. Having this whole day to herself had given her a lot of time to think over the situation she was in and by the time she had realized that she should be turning back she decided that she didn't see a point.
Without Gabriel in her life she had no friends... She was alone in the world and she knew it. Of course she loved her parents very much but her love for Gabriel felt so much stronger. Maybe it was because she knew he was in trouble and needed her help or because some part of her knew that things would never be the same if she were to leave this forest now and Gabriel would be lost forever, but whatever the reasoning she knew she couldn't abandon him, wherever he was.
Letting out a long drawn out yawn she tightly stretched her arms outward trying to ease her muscles out of being stiff. It took her a minute to pay attention to where she was heading before she finally noticed that she was walking straight towards a large oddly twisted tree. She slowed her pace, but still kept forward wanting to get a better look at the contorted tree.
Its thick dark bark twisted up from the ground causing its weight to lean in an odd direction. No leaves decorated its branches leaving it looking dead compared to all the other trees she had seen. No plant life grew anywhere near or around it as if being repelled by some unseen barrier. Its long naked branches were thrust in every direction, entangling themselves with one another leaving them looking like an unnatural gigantic tumbleweed resting atop of the tree.
As she stepped into the large clearing and approached the tree she squinted her eyes trying her hardest to see through the huge balled up mass of branches. She found when she was in arms reach of the bark all she could see was darkness and the outline of more branches behind their exterior. The thought that passed her mind as she brushed her fingertips over the rough bark made her pull away as if she had been shocked.
It did kind of look like the mass of tangled branches were big enough to have something large trapped in the center, or like the branches could untangle at any minute. Shaking her head she backed away from the creepy tree while beginning to hug herself with her slender arms. Cautiously she turned away and began heading in the direction she had before.
The crack of a twig snapping suddenly stabbed through the silence startling her into making a very loud yelp. She jumped about two feet from where she was standing looking around wildly for the source of the sound. It immediately dawned on her when she looked at the ground that she had just stepped on a stick that now lay broken in half.
Letting out the breath she had been holding her shoulders sagged forward with relief. She stared at the broken stick that rested on the dirt by her feet before glancing up at the dead tree that still towered over her. Just being in the trees presence gave her the chills. Turning away again she sprinted in the other direction of the tree until she felt she was a good few yards away and was once again surrounded by the different assortments of thriving plant life.
She softly smiled at the green very much living trees that surrounded her before slumping her weight against a tall healthy looking tree and closed her eyes. She had been wandering through this forest all day without any food or water and god what she wouldn't do for a cold glass of water right then. Her lips were beginning to feel chapped with each time she ran her tongue over them and her throat ached for the feel of something cool to wash away her growing thirst.
The trees overhead swayed in the wind leaving their shadows to dance across her inner eyelids. The headache she'd felt that morning had thankfully dulled to a slight ache so wandering around all day between periodic rests hadn't been complete agony. It suddenly dawned on her what a fool she was for allowing her shoes to be ripped off by the grass when she had been running from that officer. This mission she had threw herself into was proving to feel more impossible with each passing minute.
And not being able to remember how she'd fallen asleep still irked her. And where had that excruciating headache come from? Maybe stress was affecting her body much more than she thought it was. With her thoughts ringing with unanswered questions the calm sound of the breeze blowing through the trees overhead lulled her into a sleep she hadn't known was coming. As she fell into a light sleep her questions slowly faded away.
When she suddenly awoke she noticed the sun had long since retired leaving the faint glow of the moon to light up her surroundings. Everything around her was outlined in a gray filmy light not giving her much to observe. Pushing herself away from the tree that she rested against she slowly stepped forward. She hesitantly scanned over the outline of dark bushes and trees in the distance before deciding whether she should keep moving.
Last time she had wandered this deep into the forest she'd been attacked by a couple of crazed men and by that demon with wings. Her brow furrowed at the memory of being pinned against a tree by that silver haired creature. He had laughed at her then. Probably because she had seemed so puny to him he couldn't even think of her as a threat. He was the reason for everything that had happened to her family, the reason Gabriel was missing. Her blood boiled with loathing. She hated that creature more then she had ever hated anything. If it weren't for him she wouldn't be in this mess, she wouldn't be alone in the world.
With her hands clenched at her sides she stiffly began to walk forward. Without much light to guide her path this place was definitely five times creepier and just the thought of breaking the thick silence seemed like a cry for trouble. As she continued forward she began to hear the faint muffled sound of what sounded like a low growl in the distance. Without being able to see five feet in front of her it took her a couple minutes to decipher where the sound was coming from.
Slowly she crept to her right making her way towards the distant sound while trying to make as little noise as possible. Curiosity and adrenaline over rode what fear she probably should have been feeling allowing her to move closer to the sound fearlessly. As she approached the growing sound she realized that it didn't really sound like a growl at all but more like a deep grunting. This didn't put off her curiosity at all. She continued creeping forward listening intently to the growing sound that must have been coming from only a few yards away. Controlling her shallow breathing she dodged any bushel of leaves that might have brushed her skin so she wouldn't alert whatever it was of her presence.
When she approached the familiar opening that led back towards that contorted dead tree from earlier, she froze. Uncertainty kept her feet grounded into the floor. The deep muffled grunting sounded clearly from a few feet away from the bushes she was now next to. She just wanted to get a quick glance at whatever was making that noise, it could just be an animal. And seeing an actual live animal might give her some reassurance that she wasn't the only living thing in this forest.
But what if it was that thing that the trees branches had been holding? Assuming that there was a thing and it was a dangerous blood thirsty creature that somehow had broken free. The image of tall gangly figure with razor teeth and long claw like hands flashed through her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut while violently shaking her head. She was being absolutely ridiculous. Whatever it was she just wanted to sneak a peak to prove to herself that it was just an animal. Cautiously creeping forward she slowly got down on all fours and began to peak her head out from behind the bushes.
Scanning over the empty clearing her eyes traced over the looming dark shape that was the dead tree before finding themselves attracted to a dark shape huddled just under the tree. Squinting her eyes at the dark form she risked creeping forward a little more to study the animal. Whatever it was its attention was on something over there. Loud gurgling noises filled the air like it was drinking water greedily. The thought that she might have missed a small pond of water suddenly popped in her head. Excitedly she crawled out from the bushes and chanced getting a better look.
As the outline of the animal grew more clear she realized that the dark shape she had been watching had wings. They were large dark wings drawn into its back. Her breath hitched in her throat when the thing with wings made another loud gurgling noise and grunted. She froze in place suddenly wishing she hadn't come near this creature at all. She silently stared at it allowing her eyes to adjust to the light around them. When they did, she realized to her horror that the winged creature was hunched over a body. A human body.
Foolishly without thinking she sprang up into a stance and rushed forward. "Stop! What are you doing?"
The winged creature swiftly spun around before she could continue her hysterical yelling. She froze when her eyes met the pure black ones of a man that now watched her. He looked like a pale demon under the light of the moon with dark liquid messily dripping down his chin and onto his bare chest. Slowly her eyes trailed down his form to the small body laying behind its crouched form. She drew in a sharp breath at the sight of messy blonde hair and a mangled boys body lying stiffly on the ground. Tears she hadn't known were coming suddenly leaked down her cheeks. Focusing her attention on her brother she lunged forward to take hold of him and shield him from the demon that was now staring at her.
"YOU MONSTER!" She shrieked, her face contorted with pain.
Before she could reach her brothers limp form the creature let out a loud snarl and lunged its body at her, swiftly pinning her to the ground underneath him. She struggled violently underneath his heavy body but nothing she did seemed to phase it. It let out a deep growl before adjusting its hold on her wriggling arms to get a better grip. When it had her arms pinned above her head with one hand and his legs pinning down her thighs, it slowly leaned forward and licked the side of her throat smearing the blood that was on its chin onto her neck in the process.
This demon wasn't the same one from before. Its hair was shorter and was colored a dark black and its features were hard like that of an older mans rather than the young features of the one that had tried to kill her brother. Uncontrollable tears washed down her cheeks as a growing feeling of helplessness raked through her body. She shrieked writhing back and forth underneath him trying to break free but it didn't seem to notice her struggle. A deep malicious chuckle vibrated from his chest when she felt the sharp sting of its fangs grazing across her skin.
It had moved from the pulse on her neck along the skin to her cheek. Without being able to move Paige did the only thing she could do, she sobbed. She knew there was nobody around to hear her cries which allowed another wave of helplessness to wash through her body. Even though crying loudly was pointless she just couldn't find it in her to try and stop. Her whole body ached and she just wanted to get over to her brother to check if he was still alive.
Her loud sobs were quite suddenly cut off when the monster on top of her brought its mouth over hers forcing its cold tongue into her warm mouth. She choked on the metallic taste of blood that lingered on this creatures lips. She wanted to die knowing that this was her brothers blood inside her mouth. A deep grunt that she suspected was meant to be a groan vibrated from its throat. Her stomach twisted with the horror that this thing on top of her was kissing her. Its tongue continued to explore her mouth as his lips moved against her stiff ones. Cold tears streaked down the side of her face while she began to continue her useless struggle beneath him.
When it finally lifted itself up from her mouth she spit out all the lingering blood it left behind. It laughed as it watched her spit out the blood and cold taste of the man that had just forced itself on her. Before she was done gagging on her own spit it leaned down again this time to her neck and sank its sharp teeth into her soft skin. She began to scream when a sharp burning sensation engrossed all of her senses. Never in her life had she felt a pain like this one, a deep seering pain racked through her body over and over. Her body began to convulse into shock as pain reverberated from the tips of her toes the back of her scalp. She could feel the blood inside of her being drained with each drink the monster took. A few minutes must have passed before her struggling ceased and she became paralyzed in a state of shock. She could feel her heart began to slow as her body made sudden sharp jerks. This was it, this was how she was going to die. Who would have known. With that last thought her body shut down allowing her to fall into darkness.
xx
With a sharp jerk Paige sprang to her feet letting out a choked sob. Breathing harshly she placed a hand to her chest and looked around wildly. The sun was still out letting its orange glow light up the day. Cold tears suddenly ran down her cheeks falling onto her tattered dress. Briskly she brought her hand to her throat checking for a bite wound but only felt smooth skin underneath her fingers. She whirled around taking in her surroundings to find that she was still next to the tall tree she had stopped to rest against.
Taking slower breathes she slowly fell to her knees, squeezing her eyes shut and nibbling at her bottom lip while her mind raced with adrenaline. It was all just a dream. It was just a dream Paige, get a hold of yourself. It was just a dream, its not real, Gabriel is still alive. That monster didn't really kill him it was just your imagination running wild. Get a hold of yourself... it didn't really happen. A loud sob escaped her lips as she tried to slow down her ragged breathing. Even with these words ringing through her head her heart raced inside her chest like it had been real.
It took Paige about ten minutes before her heart slowed to a steadier rhythm and she felt calm. Slowly standing up she dusted off her dirt caked knees. Panic now resided inside her chest because she feared for when night time fell. Letting out a loud sigh she ran her fingers through her bangs since her orange hair was still up in a tight bun. She didn't know how long she had been asleep for but it couldn't have been long because the sunlight seemed to be just as bright as it was when she fell asleep.
That had to be the most vivid dream she had ever experienced in her life. It had felt so disturbingly real. How could her mind torture her like that? Taking another deep breath she looked in the direction leading towards the oddly twisted tree and then began a steady stride in the opposite direction. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and that tree as she could.
After countless minutes of mindless wandering and the cold sweat that she had broken into had dissipated the sound of her footsteps and soft breathing weren't the only sounds that occupied the air. Straining her ears to hear clearly she listened intently to the unmistakable sound of water in the distance. Her dry mouth and forgotten thirst suddenly made itself known. Without much thought other then the hope of finding fresh water she sprang forward into steady sprint towards the sound.
Maneuvering her way around thick trees and over fallen branches she reached the newly discovered river in less than a couple minutes. It was a lot bigger then she'd expected. It must have stretched to about ten feet wide and the tide seemed strong with how fast the water was flowing. Stepping out into the clearing that surrounded the river, she cautiously took in her surroundings before deciding to put her guard down by drinking from the water.
Thick green trees swayed in the wind above while fallen leaves brushed by her feet in the direction that the water was flowing. From what she observed she was definitely alone. The dirt underneath her feet felt cold and was much softer than the hard dry ground behind her. Her cloth shoes quickly absorbed the moisture in the ground leaving her feet damp. Slowly she made her way over to side of the river and crouched down beside it. She reached both of her hands into the water savoring the feel of the cold water against her skin.
The water felt wonderful against the small scrapes and cuts that scathed her hands and wrists. Bringing her cupped hands back up she placed the heel of her hand to her lips and allowed the water to spill into her mouth and along down her chin as she took deep gulps. She repeated this about five more times before her thirst was finally quenched. Sitting back with her legs crossed in front of her she watched the strong river flow wildly. The swift water swept through aggressively filling the air with its loud roar. She didn't know how deep the water went since she couldn't see the bottom but her guess was it probably went to at least her chest.