Shadow Bite || WATTYS 2017

Chapter Three

Enjoy ;-)

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The golden, scarlet and orange leaves hang lazily above me from the branches, forming a thick canopy with the multitude of vibrant hues. I blink once, then again. I'm back in the forest. I'm sure I went back to the house, though. The sketchpad is gone, and so are the charcoal pencils. So I did go back, but why did I come out again?

The night finishes settling and the cold overtakes me as I shiver, going to pull my jacket around me. I gasp when I find nothing. I am standing barefoot, completely bare; besides my pyjama bottoms and a short sleeved t-shirt. The goose bumps rise on my arms and I rub them forcefully, trying to gain some warmth from the biting frost. I turn around, and my eyes go wide.

What the hell?

The house is gone. My home is gone.

"Mum? Dad? Mary," I shout frantically, feeling fear overcome me. As I try to step forward I collide with - nothing. It's as if an invisible force is pulling me deeper and deeper into the dark woods. I take a step and wince when the branches crack underneath my feet; probably leaving sharp dents in my skin.

"You should go. Before it's too late." I spin around and the dark skinned man is approaching me fast. Now that I look more closely, I can see that he can't be more than a few years older than me, with hard features underlining his attractive face. I can decipher his muscular build beneath the tight black tee shirt. All of the boys around me seem to be attractive these days. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

I'd consider myself lucky - if they weren't all dickheads.

"Didn't you hear me?" He takes long strides and grips my chin, hard, lifting it up. "Go." I have no idea why, and I can't seem to stop it, but involuntarily a tear rolls down my cheek as a shiver passes through me, turning my insides to ice.

I am going to be so sick. How great.

"Cami? Is that you?" The man lets go and his eyes go wide as he takes a step backwards. I scoff; is the big bad man scared of little five-year-old girl?

"Mary," I exclaim, going to pick her up. But just as I'm about to reach her she evaporates into thin air and my fingers penetrate emptiness. "Mary? Mary! This isn't funny!"

"She's gone," the man's cold voice states from behind me. I freeze. "And you should do the same."

"I don't want you to die Cami. Please come back." The undeniable sadness in Mary's voice is enough to make more tears flow down my cheeks as I try to battle free from my spot and her faint voice fades around me like a whisper. I'm fixated in the same exact position, and as hard as I try, my feet are glued to the ground. A howl erupts around us, extremely close, and the man and I both freeze.

"Run," he yells with a sudden surprisingly strangled voice, "We can't control ourselves. You'll die!"

"I can't," I shout back, panic overtaking me as another deadly howl followed by a menacing growl reaches my ears. But this time, the growl comes from the dark man. I watch with horror as his eyes turn completely golden, and his fingernails turn into claws.

"Why aren't you running," he asks, his voice turning to something so much more different, so much more fatal and animalistic.

"Because I control her." I didn't say that. Fear grips hold of me as an unfamiliar voice penetrates the shadows and a lean figure steps forwards, golden eyes blazing in the moonlight. The dark man takes no notice of the other presence and transforms completely into something horrifying. A soundless scream erupts from my trembling lips as he lunges forward, claws extended and canines bared.