Her ragged breathing echoed through the frigid evening air as she clutched the ends of her tattered coat. She struggled to stay upright, to quiet her panicked gasps, to keep herself from wincing as she leaned heavily against rough wood.
Something was lurking within the shadows.
Something was following her.
Her blue eyes darted restlessly, scanning the darkness in fear, her corn-coloured tresses whipping across her face. A spine chilling growl resonated through the woods, causing her legs to tremble and quake.
Her breath hitched as she caught sight of oh so sinister eyes glowing in the distance, staring deep into her soul.
A bolt of lightning seemed to pass through her, shocking her limbs into action. She sprinted like a spooked rabbit running away from a wolf.
She shouldn't have strayed from the worn dirt path. She shouldn't have left it to be forgotten deep beneath the sea of foliage.
The leaves rustled as the wind blew though them, seemingly whispering, pleading.
Run!
Hide!
She did not know where to go. There was nowhere to hide. As the ground began to hiss and tremble and shadows grasped at her heels, she whimpered. Falling hard on the ground, her hands grasped for purchase but were met by empty air.
There was nothing.
Nothing to save to keep her alive.
The darkness seemed to envelope her very being, gripping her limbs, her face, her very soul, pulling her into an endless abyss.
Her eyes met its glowing red orbs and she let out a muffled cry.
The air stilled. The wind was hushed. No struggle, no pleading, no more tears.
All was quiet once again.
The full moon shone, its light a pale wraith white. Its beams cut through the tangle of branches below, setting the forest aglow.
On the grass lay a lone red shoe.
Adrien woke up soaked in cold sweat as he lay still, his hands gripping the immaculate white sheets with so much force that they seemed to tear. His mouth felt dry, his throat sore from his silent screams. His heart beat like a million drums and his breath was unsteady. Staring at the darkness of his ceiling, his lips twisted into a grimace.
Their wails were deafening in the soundless room, still echoing in his mind long after he had awakened. He could hear them—as he closed his eyes, as he slipped into slumber. Even in wakefulness, they haunted him.
He remembered the talks he heard from the servants in his household, the tottering gossip as he passed by. About how the woods took people who wandered too far. About how their gnarled wooden claws would snatch people away, never to be seen again.
"They're just rumors," he muttered to himself, pressing his trembling palms on his face.
You know they aren't. You've seen them with your own eyes. Touched them with your own hands.
But it was not the woods that took them. It was not the wooden claws that snatched them away. No. It was much more sinister than that.
The duke, his father, had simply stood idly as citizens were taken. Not even the pitiful pleas of their families thawed that man's stone cold heart.
He was supposed to protect them. To keep them safe. Yet he had left them all to die, never to be seen again.
But Adrien…Adrien was different. He wouldn't simply watch them all disappear. He couldn't.
The bed sheets shifted as he stood, discarded his soaked bedclothes, snatched up a dress shirt and buttoned it on quickly. He on his heavy cloak and slung a satchel over his shoulder.
Slowly, he took his sabre in hand. In one swift motion he unsheathed it, letting the moonlight glint off of its sharp solid iron blade.
If it was not the woods that took them, he would find out what did.
The people were missing. Not dead.
Or are they?
He shook his head and climbed up the windowsill.
Today would be different. He would not fail this time. Only one thought lingered in his mind as he leapt into the cloak of darkness.
The damn screaming would stop once and for all.