Heiress

Chapter 1 - A Cold Start

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The wild plain soaked up water as the sky dumped a heavy mist upon it. Jessica walked deeper into the tall grass, fingers dragging along the tops, collecting drops with an upturned hand.

The sky rumbled with thunder. Looking into the distance she caught a glance at lighting fizzle across the sky. Jessica looked up at the darkened sky and she wiped a few strands of loose wet hair from her brow. As she brushed her hair back with her hand she smiled, feeling content, a little at peace. Then the feeling was yanked away.

An abrupt blast of wind made cold rain droplets strike her back. Her damp hair whipped into her face giving her an unpleasant sting to follow.

The weather had turned for the worst, the sky opened up and pelted her skin with sleet. Her brows pinched together, flustered and confused at the abrupt weather change. What was happening?

When she stepped back she gasped, panicked eyes focused on the ground, then danced all around her. The lush field was starting to brown and curl at her feet. Every step she took the death spread.

Another smack of cold air made her shiver and rub her arms, trying to keep feeling in her chilled limbs. She shuddered out a breath of white mist, the cold had settled, and the damp wasn't helping.

Over the sound of the sleet, she caught the sound of something in the distance. Something odd, something repeating. Her head turned toward the treeline, past the field. She squinted, trying to see anything she could recognize in the distance.

Jessica swallowed the nervousness that was building in her throat. The uneasy feeling slipped down her throat as easily as cotton. Upon arriving at her stomach it wriggled like an eel. Her mind frantically buzzed trying to piece together the noise. As if in sudden recognition, her eyes widened in panic, her breath was sucked out of her lungs. Those quick beats were that of something running, running toward her.

A sudden smack of hail to her face broke her out of her trance. She turned and ran for the forest on the opposite end of the plain. She ran fast as her numbing feet could take her.

The thumping was getting louder. No matter how fast she ran the noise seemed to get louder, thundering in her ears.

She reached the forest and took sharp turns, making sure not to follow any specific path she saw. She was trying to lose whatever or whoever was chasing her as she abandoned where she had started.

Trees grew wild as she went deeper into the wood. They grabbed and clawed at her clothing and skin, her lungs burned. She pushed through the brush, her adrenaline was the only thing that kept her feet moving. She kept running, petrified of what was behind her, even if she didn't know what it was. That unknown only seemed to increase her fear.

The sleet and hail came down in an unrelenting volume, blurring her vision from the forest floor beneath her. It was suffocating.

Her foot snagged on an upturned root and she hit the ground hard, rolling at the impact. She slid to a stop, covered in the cold grunge of the forest floor. She rose to her knees, hot tears of distress started to well up in her eyes.

When she paused to listen, her guts twisted.

Nothing, just silence. The hairs on her neck rose as she felt a presence at her back. Her head slowly started to turn, her jaw clamped shut unable to speak, to call for help.

There was blackness, a suffocating mass of squirming blackness. It lunged.

Jessica gasped and shot up from her bed panting, in a cold sweat. She reached over and flicked on the bedside light. Confirming she was in a familiar room she rested her head on her palms and let out a tiered, frustrated sigh.