Chap 1- It begins

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Your POV:
The wind lightly blew the tree branches as I carried a bucket of apples to the horse stables. Ever since I started working with my best friend f/n (best friends name), I have had peace wash over me like a flood. The sweet scent of fresh flowers and wet lemongrass filled the atmosphere. Everything was amazing, finally getting away from the city helps me relax.

"Y/n?" I looked behind me, it was Landon, f/n's boyfriend. I turn to face him. "Wasn't F/n supposed to have gotten back an hour or two ago?" He asked with his hands on his hips.

"Um, now that you mention it you're right. She was supposed to be back like three hours ago." I say as I place the bucket on the ground beside me. "Do you think she's okay?" I ask with anxiety rising in my chest.

"I'm sure she's fine, we both know she can take care of herself, but let's keep an eye out.  I'm sure she'll come any minute now." I nodded my head in agreement and went back to work. Landon played a big part in F/n life since they've known each other for years. They were both raised on farms and have the same passion and love for all animals; they were the perfect couple! Unfortunately, I didn't have the same luck as them... Whenever I tried to get close to a guy it always ends up the same, him seeing a new girl and leaving me in the dust.  It didn't bother me too much though, I was used to being alone.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard someone walk the ranch pathway. 'Oh F/n is back' I thought, only to see a stranger.

"Excuse me, miss..." The man began. He was an older man who looked to be 50 or even 60 years old, he was suntanned and had a brimmed hat to shade his face. He ran his hands along the straps of his red overalls, pulling them a bit away from his white shirt.

"Yes?" I ask "How may I help you?"

"Well you see I was just passing down the main road through the forest and found a lady with a broken wagon, she pointed me in the direction of this here ranch.  Said it was hers.  I was wondering if you could go get her before the sun goes down." He explained, bashfully.

"Oh no!" I gasped, plopping the bucket on the ground.  "How far down the road is she?"  the man paused and seemed to think, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh quite a bit down the road I'm afraid, she said that someone from the ranch would eventually come to help but I wanted to make sure she was helped before dark!" The man said.

"Oh no worries, I'll head towards her right now. And thank you for your concern sir." I say giving him a warm smile. He smiled and nodded, tipping his hat before heading back down the path. I start heading back towards the stables to retrieve my horse Shadow, running my thumb across the white diamond between her eyes, almost shining against her otherwise black mane. I saddled her up and made my way out of the ranch but Landon called out to me.

"Where are you going?" He asked, an expression of concern that lasted on his face.

"An old man came by, apparently he saw f/n down the road a bit, said her wagon was broken.  I'm going to get her before it's completely dark" I explained, getting a nod from Landon.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked.

"No don't worry I got it" slightly shaking my head before giving him a reassuring smile.

"Okay then, be careful. You never know what's out there at night." He teased.

 As children, we were told never to go into a forest at night but here I am disobeying the rules yet again. I let out a light-hearted laugh then went on. I had to hurry if I wanted to find her before the sun went down completely.

●●●●●

About 20 minutes into my ride I saw nothing, worry starting to seep into my chest. The anxiety from earlier came rushing back, I cautiously looked around.  The darkness that was setting in also didn't help, I felt like I was being watched.  I can't think of anyone that likes going down this path at night; I ushered Shadow to go faster, but even she was skeptical.

 "Hey Shadow, it's okay there's nothing out here but some animals. Nothing weird or scary about this road at AlL." I soothed, trying to comfort her but the cracking was not helping.  I kept trying my best to convince her but she also knew I was scared. I sighed knowing that I was only kidding myself, I wasn't one to believe in ghosts but the stories of this forest was enough to scare you out of your skin.

Mainly the tale of "The Hunter" as travelers like to call him, most people say that's he's just an urban legend or simply a myth. I don't want to even think that its possible in the first place. 

A man bound to the land of trees and shadows, unable to step in the light of day.  Those who turn their backs to the sun and venture into the night shall become his prey.  A small mouse in a maze of cats has a better chance than the lost souls, doomed to become his toys before he tears them limb from limb, it's all in good sport.  Those who return are never the same, losing a chunk of themselves on the way, both emotionally, and physically.  Bodies are strewn along the paths to nearby towns, bleeding out before getting help.  Nobody knows if they escaped or were cruelly released.  Remember his smile, and if you hear his hyena laugh.

Run.

At least, that's how the story goes.  I used to laugh as my mother told me that tale, it seemed so ridiculous then.  Now not so much.

SNAP

I was instantly pulled out of my thoughts, my eyes dashing over to the sound, only to make eye contact with a deer walking by. I let out a huge sigh of relief, chuckling at myself a bit.  "Just a dear" I muttered. See everything is totally fine. I look forward again, and spot a glow from a lantern.

"F/n is that you?" I ask a loud. I see her pop up from behind the wagon.

"OH MY GOD Y/N!!!!" She yelled piercing my hear drums.

"Yup it's yours truly." I playfully say with a laugh, teasingly rubbing my ear.

"Am I glad to see you!" She cried letting out a sigh of relief.

"Where you scared?" I mocked,

"Uh. N-nooo." She responded with a shaky voice. I let out another little laugh and got off of Shadow.

"Don't worry, I was too" I smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"So what happened?" I asked, pulling away and looking at the wreck before our eyes.

"Welllll..... There was a rabbit and Boomerang got scared. Somehow he broke free of his reins and ran off back from where we came, so I've been stranded here for like the last 4 hours haha." She explained with a cheerful remark, rubbing the back of her neck.

"You know you could have walked." I respond as I look at the reins, they were old and worn out so this was bound to happen eventually. "Okay, I say we come get the stuff in the morning when we can see everything." I say as I walk back towards her. She nodded as we walked over to Shadow, only to hear a tune.

It floated through the air and echoed like the wind, someone was whistling a melody. I felt my blood chill as I turned to look at f/n, only to see her frozen in place.  I looked at the fear spark in her eyes as all color drained from her face.

It grew closer, a shadow creeping down the path towards us as it continued.  I stared down the figure, vaguely making out a tall, slightly slouched silhouette. I held my breath, knowing f/n was doing the same as we stared down the thing, it continuing to slowly approach.  I twitched my hand a bit, reaching out to f/n so I could drag her back to Shadow, but my movement was abruptly cut off as the man raised his hand.  

It was him.

The Hunter.


Hey guys its Jamie here! Um so as some of you may notice the writing style is different. Well its because I have a co-writer now. So for this story she is Rewriting some of the parts to make this clearer but it will still be the same story. The same plot lines will be followed so don't worry about the story changing that much. And also I would like to introduce her to you guys!!! Cat take it away!!

Hi guys, as Jamie said, I'm Cat!  I really excited to work with Jay on all  of her books!  I'm not too sure how many are going to get revamped, but I hope that everyone likes the work that gets done!  Also, just so the haters know, I am much more aggressive than Jay, so don't be bitter if you get called out on your shit. :)  Otherwise, I'm looking forward to this hobby and hope you enjoy my style, or at least don't hate it!

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