She screamed and kept on screaming as she turned to face her attacker. Gemma's eyes widened in sheer horror as she found her self looking upon the most terrifying creature she had ever encountered in her 16 years. The skeletal hand that had snaked around her wrist protruded from a body, if one could call it one, which had no definite shape but seemed to be compiled of thousands of different shadows. These shadows would stretch from the horrifying figure with moans emitting from shape-shifting faces. A sharp gasp escaped Gemma's throat as she struggled against the monster's grip. It had neither eyes nor a mouth, only a gaping hole atop its 8 feet of height…where it's sole arm came from, Gemma could not comprehend. She attempted to run but her legs wobbled precariously beneath her. It was as if the creature had sucked all energy from her and all she could do was freeze in fright before it. The hole began to shift in its shadowy form and screeched horribly in a voice that was indescribably inhuman and full of malice and wickedness.
"Pretty one, we are coming. Pretty one, you shall be ours. Pretty one, the time is near. Pretty one, Pretty one…we have come!"
And with that the wraithlike beast flew through her, disappearing into the night and she was enveloped in a deep darkness.
Kartik's POV
The moon shone brightly in the star studded skies as Kartik made his way from his tent to the stream. The stream twinkled in the moonlight, reminding him of the endless depth of the eyes of a certain British girl. "Blast!" Kartik scowled to himself, he was somehow reminded of that annoying pest with everything he encountered. Pest, he smirked to himself, which was definitely what she was. Stubborn as hell and an irking ability to get under his skin…in a bad way, of course-Miss Gemma Doyle.
Shaking his dark curls, Kartik bent down and cupped some of the crystal water in his mocha hands. The water glittered in his makeshift bowl as he placed it to his full lips, lips that that girl had pressed her own to. It had sent a tingle down his spine as her warm lips had encountered his and Kartik found that he could not shake the unnerving feeling off. Brat. Yes, that was exactly the word that defined her…nothing else; she was just a pesky, annoying, and bratty task that needed to be accomplished.
Kartik drained the water from his cupped hands and shook of his wet hands as he stood in the grassy bank of the stream. The droplets sprinkled across the peaceful stream, creating small disturbances in its clear, yet blue expanse. Disturbances, just like Miss Doyle.
As Kartik studied the fading ripples in the water, he heard a scream in the distance. A very familiar scream, he thought to himself, as he pumped his strong legs across the grassy floor. He entered the forest, which in the moonlight looked fearsome in an ominous glow. As he raced swiftly amongst the imperious trees, Kartik heard an odd sound echoing off the ancient trees. And then there was silence. His heart began to beat a bit faster in panic as he sprinted with more ardor. His probing eyes investigated the forest floor as he ran, tracking Gemma's path. His breathing became more labored from the endless running, when he reached a clearing towards the heart of the woods. The moonlight shined upon it like a beacon, illuminating a sole body splayed across the plentiful dirt.
Kartik's heart choked in his throat as he surveyed the scene. "She better not be dead," he panicked to himself. Not that it mattered to him…it was just that his brotherhood would be severely disappointed, that's it. He approached the body cautiously and found that it was indeed Gemma Doyle.
She lay in an odd angle, with her arms raised by her head, as if to protect her from whatever had frightened her. Her skirts ballooned around her and some stray leaves decorated her dress along with some dirt. However, it was not the way her body was arranged that alarmed Kartik, but her eyes. They were open, widened in horror and, startlingly, unseeing. The electrifying green pair stared upon a fixed point above her, yet seemed to see nothing. Her mouth was parted ever so slightly and Kartik found himself being more scared then he had ever been. Did she suffer a vision? What had caused her to be so?
He brushed away all his trouble thoughts and turned his attention towards more logical ones, he needed to get her out of the woods. He could not return her to Spence in such a state, Kartik thought systematically, so he must take her back to the camp. Still somewhat spooked, Kartik scooped the frozen Gemma into his arms and strode back to his tent-averting his eyes from her horror-struck ones. Her body hung limp, and her facial features frozen in fear. Kartik marched more rapidly and warily glanced over his shoulder every now and then as he traversed upon the forest path. It was going to be a long night.
