Chapter Two

6 Years Ago

Fae was ten years old. She was walking down to the field to fly a kite, a couple miles from her house in the country, with her parents' permission, of course. She saw the familiar trail as she skipped down to the field, the trail that led to the Woods. The trail was forbidden. Last year, a girl whom Fae had played with, wandered down the trail into the Woods, and was never seen again. They never even found her body. She was just gone. Some people thought that she was kidnapped, others, the older folks, talked of something strange being out there. They talked of faeries. Not the good kinds of faeries though. The bad ones. The evil faeries. When Fae had asked what those were, her parents had shushed her out of the room and would not speak to her about it. Her parents were very superstitious. They believed in faeries and goblins and ghosts. They thought it would be good luck to name her Faerie - Fae for short, to please the little people. Fae thought it was dumb. She had not believed in those kinds of things since she was young. Come to think of it, she had never believed in those kinds of things, in all of her ten years of living. She had never believed in faerie rings or faerie tales or anything of that sort.

Fae plodded on the trail, her little mini converse making a squelching noise in the mud. She didn't really want to think of the girl that disappeared in these woods, Chelsea. She wasn't sure why she was out in the Woods, she was just bored. Maybe she wanted to prove her parents wrong, to show them that there weren't any faeries out there.

"Stupid faeries," She muttered under her breath, kicking a mushroom aside. "they always ruin everything for me."

She heard a twitter of a squirrel up in the tree branches, the trickle of water in the small stream a few feet away. She had wandered far. The sun barely streamed through the thick green canopy of trees overhead. She shivered, although it wasn't that cold. A cloud moved over the yellow orb hanging in the sky. The forest had grown a little darker, casting a shadow over the ground. There was a rustle in the bushes nearby. Fae crossed her arms together, trying to warm herself from the sudden cold.

A girl stepped out of the bushes and shrubs, appearing almost out of nowhere. She appeared to be Fae's age, maybe younger. She seemed very familiar. She was dirty, wearing a tattered dress and barefoot. She looked weary and exhausted.

"Help me," She said weakly to Fae, her eyes lost with fear. "Help me," She repeated, louder this time. "HELP ME!" Fae recognized the girl. She was Chelsea. The girl who disappeared the year before, although she looked the same as she did the last time Fae had seen her, wearing the same dress.

Chelsea was crying out to ten year old Fae for help, yet Fae didn't know what to do. The girl stepped closer towards Fae. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the rain came pounding down over the dense array of trees. Fae shivered. Chelsea took another step towards Fae. Lightning flashed through the now dark sky. Thunder came not long after. The two girls were standing face to face with each other. The whole forest went pitch black. Then, what was recorded to be one of the biggest lightening strikes ever to hit in the United States came down over the field next to the Woods. Thunder sounded at the same time. Then everything went dark again. It was as if the sun had been turned off. Fae couldn't see anything, but she could hear voices. Whispers in the wind. They were human, yet unhuman.

"We should take the girl…" One of them hissed. An evil sound in its voice.

"No, we already have one pet for you, you don't need another. People have been getting suspicious." Another more kind voice said gently.

"She's pretty. I want her." Yet another voice said. A child's voice.

Then Fae heard no more.