❝Her secret will destroy them all❞
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Celeste Allen has secrets that are continuously threatened, all the while attempting to be another average American girl trying to graduate High School. The problem? Celeste isn't normal; she's not supposed to...
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DEEP SCARLET FLASHED BEHIND MY closed eyelids, a shiver crawling up my spine as the back of my neck prickled with heat. My body stiffened, slowing my steps until I was still. The birds that were once chirping, bees humming, and air brushing against my skin, all halted all at once.
Something was watching me.
My eyes flew open, scrambling over and through the thick layer upon layer of trees. The greenery seemed as if it went on for miles, growing darker and never ending. Except it did end, and I knew it did. I was just in the dead center of it, with nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
Right where he wanted me.
I was treading on thin waters; where I went, he followed. He was hunting me now, doing my father's dirty work. Taunting me, teasing me, hunting me. It was as if I was in his territory now, but I could feel it where I stood: his power; his commanding authority; his dominance spread out, through and over the entirety of this town. Over me.
He was the predator, and I was his prey.
Inching one foot in front of the other, I dared a step forward. As my foot came down, brushing against the grass, a low growl sounded at my back, vibrating my spine with its force. Its power.
I froze, and swallowed a lump building in the back of my throat. I let my foot rest fully on the ground, and hesitantly turned my head over my shoulder. No other noises resonated through the forest. No animals, insects, or even the bristle of trees. Just my low, unsteady breathing, and the erratic thump of my heart beating against my chest and ears.
Blinking, I focused my eyes on the scenery behind me, waiting for something-- anything to move, but nothing did right away. The forest remained still, as if hesitant to move for the monster that lurked within itself. The one that was stalking me, and the thing that was lurking close enough for me to feel its presence. Its strength.
A rustle to my right alerted me, my body jolting as my head jerked to the scuffle. A flash of movement caught my eye, but my gaze couldn't keep up with the speed of its movements. I recognized the size and shape of the blur from my accident. It was the same.
Hellhound.
A twig snapped to my left, and as my body shifted to look, the beast came flying at me. His wolf-like paws reached out for my horrified stricken face, jaw open, canines white and sharp, aiming for my throat.
My throat seized, a scream lodged in my lungs as my eyes made contact with the beast. Blood red irises clashed with mine, gazing through me as if it knew exactly who I was, what I was, where I was at that moment-- and it terrified me more than death itself.
The shriek finally released itself from my throat, and everything went black.
