(Prequel) 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕤

Part II

(Reader's POV)
-----

I was already getting tired. I panted as I dragged my sore feet across the forest floor.

"Just a small break..." I told myself and leaned against a fallen log. I didn't care that it was mossy or dirty, I was exhausted.

I rubbed my face but heard something loud. It sounded like footsteps. Of a young deer. It was stepping through a small bush and seems relatively calm because of it's steady heartbeat.

Wait.

How did I know that?

I looked around but didn't see it. I heard it again and squinted my eyes to see further. In the distance, I saw the small white tailed deer and my face contorted into one of puzzlement. "How could I have possibly heard that?"

Surrounding it, was a green area floating above it's head while it grazed on a nearby bush. "What the...?"

Something spooked it and it ran off before I could confirm the reason of the green aura. I could hear every little movement around me to the point that it was too loud. The birds, the squirrels, the trees, all of it was too loud.

I covered my ears, hoping to block out the noises. It gradually returned to normal and I sighed. "What was that?"

I heard a rushing sound. A stream?

I followed the sound and found a river. I hurried down to it, careful not to slip. I knelt down beside the shimmering surface and looked at my reflection.

Long, uncut h/c hair. Dull e/c eyes. My skin seemed a little paler than what it should be and my cheeks were sunken. It was probably because I was in that place for who knows how long.

"That's me..." I lightly touched my face with my hands while I examined my features. Turning and tilting my head as I did.

It was then that I realised something.

"Who am I?" My eyes widened and I fell onto my rear when the realisation kicked in. "Why... Why can't I remember?!" I tried to recall anything, anything at all but couldn't.

I looked at my shaking hands with panic present in my eyes. "Who am I?!" I pulled at my hair and breathed quickly. "No... No no nonono!" How could I have forgotten? What exactly am I? Why was I in that place?

After crying for a few moments, I wiped my eyes and stood up. "There's no use in crying about it now. I have to find a way out." I looked up, past the trees. The sky was beginning to become dark. "I should set up a camp for now." I walked for a short while until I found a spot where I could start a fire.

I sighed as I sat down beside my newly made campfire. I had collected a few twigs and dead branches I found lying about. It wasn't much but it did the trick. I shivered a little and moved closer to it and laid down flat on my back, staring at the trees above me.

"Hopefully I can leave this place soon..." I was about to close my eyes when I heard a strange shifting sound. I sat up and stared into the darkness. "Hello?" I said, unsure and a little afraid.

A shadow moved from the corner of my eye and my eyes darted to follow. I was met with a black mass, about my height if not shorter, with two rows of pure white teeth. It had no eyes that I could see, though. Its crooked teeth made the creature appear to be grinning.

I was already standing when it began to slowly approach me. "S-Stay back!" I screamed at it and it revealed it's sharp claws. It hissed, it's tongue rolling from it's jaws. It didn't have legs, only two long front arms and four claws each. Below it's torso was just a tail and as it runs to the tip of it, it becomes translucent. The thing's whole body was black apart from it's teeth.

It lunged for me and I narrowly avoided it. I tried to run away from it and stumbled at first but quickly uprighted myself.

I ran but the thing was fast. It bolted towards me but I kept zigzagging between the trees when I realized it wasn't very good at maneuvering between them.

With one lunge, it slashed at me and in my attempt to avoid it, I accidentally slipped and rolled down the side of the hill I didn't notice in the darkness.

I rolled to a stop and felt something cold beneath me. There was a shallow stream of water rushing below me. I tried to stand but winced and fell onto my knee. I threw my wet h/c out of my face and saw that my ankle looked red and swollen.

"Oh no..." I heard a high pitched roar and gazed up to see the pitch black creature bounding towards me. I forced myself to continue and hid behind a nearby tree.

The monster lunged forward and dug its claws deep into the bark and I scrambled to the next tree. It realised this and lunged towards me again. This time, it dug it's huge teeth into it and I watched in horror as it tore the tree out of it's roots. Despite it's size, it was extremely strong.

I noticed that it was struggling with something. It's teeth were stuck into the tree. I took this opportunity to run again. Unknowingly, I ran back to my camp and panted to stand beside the fire, gazing into the darkness behind me. Searching for any signs of that monster.

I heard another roar and my breath hitched. I frantically searched my surroundings for anything to use against it but there wasn't anything. I heard loud repetitive thumping and saw it bounding towards me again.

In a panic, I grabbed one of the branches in my fire and pointed it towards it. It abruptly stopped in front of me and hissed as it backed up.

"I found your weakness!" I laughed but the fire spread until just before my hand and I dropped it as it began to burn. It hissed and leapt but I ducked to the side in time.

I stumbled but fell again, my ankle finally giving in. "No! Please!" I pleaded while it growled and slowly moved towards me, like a predator with it's sights set on easy prey.

I held my hands up before me and screwed my eyes shut. Next thing I knew, nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I opened my one eye to see it hissing at the sky.

"Huh?" Suddenly, it dissipated into thin air, leaving a small cloud of black dust behind. The sky became a little brighter and I realised it was finally morning.

I released a breath of relief and slumped slightly. "I'm so... Tired..." I felt my eyes droop as the adrenaline began to wear off. I fell onto my back from my spot and closed my eyes as I fell into a dreamless slumber.

=========