Whisper of the Woods

•26•

Blake

I tugged at the sleeves of my thin grey sweater, tucking my hands under my arms. Droplets of water occasionally dripped from my damp hair. I shiver went down my spine at the chill fall breeze.

The sky was painted with a beautiful ombre of orange, fading into a cotton candy pink. It wasn't long until the beautiful canvas would be completely dark. I had to find some type of shelter, quick.

I held my stomach at it's violent grumble and there was absolutely nothing I could eat. Nothing. I found myself reminiscing back to when that piping hot bowl of soup sat before me. Each step I took, I could feel myself growing weaker. 

I immediately stopped in my tracks when I spotted a baby rabbit with big black beady eyes and a sandy brown fur coat sat stone still near a tree.  I stood still in my spot not wanting to startle the little thing.

Kill it, my mind urged.

I try to ignore the inexorable thought, but I just couldn't shake it. Blake. Kill it. Desperate times cause for desperate measures.

If that was so, then this has to be the most desperate measure I've taken. I try not to attract too much attention to myself as I unzip my duffle bag. Taking Jace's pocket knife in my hands.

I neared the fury little rabbit with a skeptical look worn on my face. Keeping in mind the rabbits sharp senses, I make sure not to step on anything that would make the slightest sound. I used my index finger and my thumb to carefully flip up the blade.

In half a second, the rabbit senses my presence and scurries off deeper into the forest.

I instantly straightened my back from my slightly hunched over position. Snapping the pocket knife back into place. I never had the heart let alone the guts to kill it anyway.

The sky is dimming by the minute now, or at least thats what it feels like. I stopped walking abruptly when I heard a snap behind me. I whipped my head around. . .to nothing.

Again.

Sometimes I feel like it's all in my head. I can't count how many times I've slapped my neck in need of killing a non existent bug.

But I try to keep my optimism up and often remind myself that it's all worth it.

*

This is so not worth it. I'm going to die out here. I'm not going to make it.

It's dark. Thick, pitch black darkness. The silhouettes of the tall trees are the only thing that I can make out. A symphony of crickets and other rattling noises echo throughout the forest. The crisp air felt refreshing on my skin as I took longer strides.

I'm petrified and starting to hate myself for watching scary movies. Terrible scenarios fill my mind the more steps I took. Bears and other predators come out at night. My stomach twisted into knots.

There's no place I felt comfortable resting at either. Therefore, I'll just have to keep walking until the sun breaks. I don't need sleep anyway.
I furrowed my brows and slowed my pace when something caught my eye.

A cave.

A slight glow came from the large opening. Fuzzy green algae and other plants were adorned on the wall of rock surrounding the opening. I stood there, not knowing if I should go in or not.

I went against all the warnings going off in my head like alarms and entered the cave.

Immediately, I'm hit with a warm air from a going fire farther in. The deeper I got, the more my heart thumped against my chest. Animal bones were scattered around the fire. Some had meat remaining on them, some were clean. A tan beat up messenger bag was also leant up against the wall.

I knitted my brows together. "What the he-"

Suddenly, the back of my neck is being yanked back, resulting in my bottom hitting the hard ground. My breath hitched and eyes bulged. A girl with a grey tank and army green cargo jeans stood over me. Holding me at gunpoint.

"Who are you?" She gritted, inching the gun closer to my face.

Strangely, the more I examined her facial features, the more they seemed. . . familiar?

No. It cant be.

My mouth fell agape and suddenly the blood flowing through my veins ran cold.

"Annalise?"

She clicked the safety lock off. "How the hell do you know my name?"

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A/N > OO FIRST PLOT TWIST + A CLIFFHANGER

Ik some of you may have expected that, but I still hope it came as a shock haha.

I hoped you enjoyed :)

Votes/Comments, are much appreciated xx

-kya h. ∞