The Vessel

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The looming gray clouds covered the bright cerulean blue sky. It felt cryptic to stand in the middle of the forest unknown to Abby. She sucked a deep worried breath that filled her senses with the scent of musk. Nothing else seemed to be around except the deafening silence that hung in the air.

How did I get here,was the coherent words that formed in her muddled mind.

Although it was unclear how she got there, the girl remembers her dislike for pathless expeditions and the uneasiness being in woods gave her.

Unfamiliar, yet familiar. The next thought that came to her. She felt like she had been in this thick sea of greenery. But something is blocking her mind like the forgotten words stuck at the tip of her tongue.

She glanced around again, but she could not find a single structure or landmark she recognize. There were only endless mass of trees with branches bent in her direction looking like grossly misshaped appendages, threatening to grab her from where she stood. A shiver ran down her spine, and instinctively she knew that there was an entity out there with her.

"Who is there?" She mouthed but not a single sound came out. The girl clutched her throat as panic set in, her heart bringing forceful thrust against her chest. Something was wrong, her instincts persuaded her. Automatically, her feet started moving.

The crunching sound of dead leaves under her feet was unnerving to her ear as she started to walk. Every step she took longer than the latter, and before she knew it she was already running. The sordid cold air whipped her face. Despite that, beads of sweat started to form on her body that made her shiver when it made contact with the air.

Frightened of the unseen and the uncertainty of where to go, the girl kept running. The forest looked the same everywhere. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was still following. And whatever it was was keeping up with her movements in complete silence.

Terrified of the unseen stalker, she ran even faster, faster than she could ever remember. Everything became a blur, a mere mixture of colours as she cuts through the forest. With all her might, she pushed forward, with the resolution to never look back.

From a distance a small patch of light started to grow. The exit! She exclaimed in her mind in a hopeful tone.

Like a moth to the flame, she followed it the source. Her legs pumped harder, and her strides grew longer.

Realizing that the clearing was not getting any closer despite her desperate attempt, tears started to form in her eyes. Anxiety started to grow in her chest invading her lungs and making it harder to breathe. Her eyes darted everywhere as she tired out and her pace slows down.

The pursuer was gaining on her, she could tell because it's finally making its presence known by the crunching of the dead leaves that echoed in the forest.

There was a thickness in her throat from the lack of water. Her legs screamed painfully that every step she made was agonizing.

Oblivious to the protruding root, the girl tripped, falling to the earth. Every inch of herself exhausted, and had no energy to make any movement. As she laid down on the ground, she watched the patch of light diminish, smaller and smaller, until it was gone. There was only darkness now, the small light coming from the setting sun cast long insidious shadows on the leaf plagues ground.

There was silence, and then came the sound of crunching leaves, again. The sound bounced around the forest, making her cover her ears, her eyes strained in the darkness.

Where was it coming from, she asked herself in frustration.

Scared to death, the girl crawled inside the nook of a massive tree. She fit there perfectly like ot was carved out for her. However, it provided little to no comfort.