The woman's face wasn't a face, not among the ones I had seen throughout my eighteen years of life. Her skin was sunk deep into her bones, scales at its texture. Her eyes were swollen, red and upon me. Sharp canines escaped her mouth, overlapping her lips and when she smiled at me, I screamed again.
It was a creature.
A monster.
I darted away as soon as I could. The impulsion wore off and I was able to get on my feet. The woman began laughing, viciously and loud enough to tear my ears apart. She didn't chase me. I didn't hear her marching but instead heard my own screams of horror echoing through the woods that I believed were safe.
No one came for me that evening.
No one.
When I reached out of the woods, it was brighter and I finally felt as if a burden was off my shoulder. My face was drenched in sweat, my fingers trembling and my body cold as ice.
I continued walking. Blood dripped down my neck along with sweat and my right leg felt like it had been twisted. I placed my hand over my chest and the other one over a pole in middle of nowhere.
I could see people and cars but none of them stopped for me. They wandered where their night took them.
I pulled my phone out and called Mom right away. She was the first person that came into mind.
"Mom," I sobbed, holding the phone against my ears.
"Marissa. What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Someone attacked me." I didn't know who that woman was and I had never seen or heard her all my life. This all only started two days back.
After the night in dungeon.
"Who? Where are you right now? Tell me. Are you hurt?" She panicked quickly.
"Mom, no, I don't know. Some creature." My head fell over my shoulders and tears spilled onto the ground. "I don't know anything. I'm going to the police. Can you come there, please?"
"Okay, okay, darling, just calm down. I'll leave and be there immediately."
The police station was right in front of me. It was located a few minutes away from the woods that led to the outside of the town. I just had to cross a road. I could do it. I scooped up myself and went across the road before reaching the Hillford Police Station.
Whoever had attacked me was probably still in the woods, waiting for me to return or someone else. And she must've been the one harassing me for days. It had to be her.
Her laughs still echoed in my ears even when I stepped inside the police station.
Reaching the reception, I cleared my throat and said, "I want to report an attack that just happened minutes ago."
The officer looked at me, "Are you okay, miss?"
"I—I'm fine. I just need—there is someone in the woods, someone not among us. It a creature, a different kind." I stuttered.
The officer gave me a paper, "Please fill up the form and we will look into it."
"No!" I slammed my hand on the glass desk. "No, you need to send someone there now. That person—that animal is still in the woods."
"All right, miss, please calm down. Could I get your name?" The officer took the paper back and asked.
I sighed, "Marissa Mcpherson."
"Okay," He nodded. "I'll get Chief Officer right away. Please take a seat."
The officer walked out from the room and went into another one. The people inside the police station sent me wild glances as if I was crazy. I wasn't. Couple eyes narrowed at me and I snaked my arms over my shoulders and turned my head to the other side.
They wouldn't be looking at me like a psychotic person if they had seen what I did.
True horror.
And it wasn't a dream. It was all real and it was serious.
"Marissa Mcpherson?" A man said, glancing in my way.
"Yes?"
"Please come with me."
I followed him into the station and then into an empty room where they usually took statements. I hadn't been in a police station before, ever.
"Please have a seat." The man said, lowering down on one of the chairs.
I sat in front of him, my hands still wrapped around my shoulders. The same officer from the reception walked in and gave the other one a file.
"I'm Ronald Conner and I'll help you out with whatever problem you have," He said before turning the pages and reading the file. "I see you've reported two break in's, one just today morning and the day before. Is that right?"
I nodded.
He closed the file and moved it aside while placing all his attention on me. "What did you see in the woods?"
I shook my head, unable to describe the woman. "It was a creature, some kind."
"A rogue?"
"No." I shifted my sore leg over the other one. It was healing slowly.
"Then? Could you describe it to me? Was it a wolf? A human?"
"Neither. It was something else. It moved through the forest like a wind and when she showed me her face, it was devilish, and scary. Her eyes were red—"
"Her?" He stopped me midway.
"It was a female."
"How do you know that?"
"I heard her voice."
"Are you sure it wasn't a costume? Someone playing a prank on you?"
I grunted hard and wrinkles formed on my forehead. "No! It's nothing like that. The woman was real, the monster was real!"
"All right. When did this happen to be exact?"
"Just right now." Out of frustration, I raised my hand towards the door, gesturing to the woods outside the police station. "She's probably there. I don't know what she wants from me but she's troubling me a lot."
I couldn't shake the feeling off tonight ever in my life. Her face was going to mark my soul forever.
Mom walked in through the door and she quickly ran towards me before the officer could ask me anything else. "Oh God, you're bleeding."
"Did the woman, as per you describe, attacked you?" Officer Ronald asked.
"Yes. Just please, look into this, just send someone there into the woods and you'll see her!" I was tired of talking.
"We will need more than this to send out a patrol, Ms. Marissa and we need to file a report as well. Until then, we cannot do anything."
Mom snapped at the officer, "If my daughter wants you to look into something then you should, right away!"
"Maam, we are trying to cooperate—"
She threw a hand over my shoulder and I trotted in her embrace, keeping myself warm and safe.
"No. Someone barged in our house in the morning and managed to smear a rogue's blood over a mirror and now, my daughter was attacked. You need to look into this more seriously before something worse happens!" She yelled at the man.
"All right, please give us a moment." The officer stood up and headed for the door while I stayed close to Mom and held her more tighter.
She didn't ask me anything just comforted me till the officer returned. I hoped they had sent out a patrol to look into the woods but it was totally the opposite.
"We have called Mr. Barry and at his command, we will send out a group of wolves to search the woods for an intruder or a creature as you've told."
Fuck.
Not Dad.
Mom froze when she heard the officer take my Dad's name. She couldn't stand him around her and every time they met, things went wrong. I didn't want to see Mr. Barry either.
"This is fucking ridiculous!" I jerked up from my seat and yelled out of pure anger. "I was almost fucking killed. Is this a joke?"
"Miss—"
"Don't miss me!" I cut him off and scrambled out of the room while taking Mom with me.
We couldn't see him. Dad would just make everything worse. He'd fuck us up if he knew we were here and he loved that, he loved when he controlled us and the officer's just gave him a great chance.
"Miss, we can't let you go. You have wounds that we have to examine and statements we have to take if this is the truth." The same officer walked in front of me and stopped by the door.
"I don't care. Do whatever you guys want to do. I'm not staying here for another second. I asked for someone to help me, not someone to worsen things—"
"If you don't calm down..." there was a long pause before he continued. "We will have to restraint you."
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