FATED MATES

CHAPTER 20

I'm in the usual forest, but something is wrong. It feels wrong. The air is heavy with thick fog, and I can barely see three feet in front of me. I wander in the direction I know the clearing to be in, picking my way over fallen tree branches and dense pockets of fallen leaves. My feet are bare, and the sensation of the crunchy leaves against the soles of my feet is unpleasant.

I finally reach my destination, but my wolves aren't there. I sit on the stump and wait for them to show. They always do. An indeterminate amount of time passes, and my wolves are nowhere to be seen, and the fog is only getting thicker, making it hard for me to breathe. I close my eyes and will myself to wake up, only it isn't working. I open my eyes, but it's a white out. Like when there's so much snow you can't see anything in front of you. All I see is white and it's surrounding me. I can feel the fog against my, now drenched, skin and clothes.

I start to panic because the fog is literally starting to suffocate me. Every breath is a challenge, and I grasp my throat in a futile attempt at getting air. I'm at the verge of blacking out when I hear a noise. It almost sounds like a laugh, but that can't be because I'm alone. Right? I frantically look around, not seeing anything but white. I close my eyes, willing my ears to pick up any odd noises.

There. I blindly walk toward the sound, my eyes still closed. As I move forward, breathing becomes easier, and the fog gets lighter. I keep moving until I can't feel the fog against my skin anymore. I stop and take a huge breath in, holding it for a moment before releasing it. I take another breath, this one through my nose, and the smell hits me. It smells like rotting flesh. My ears pick up a soft cackle. I crack an eyes open. The forest looks normal again.

I look around, but I don't see anything. I can still hear the slight noise, and smell that disgusting stench, but my eyes aren't picking up anything unusual. I make a full turn, when suddenly a figure pops into my peripheral, causing me to jump and let out a little squeak.

I turn to see who it is, and am instantly frightened. It's the same woman as before, her red hood covering her face from view. My heart beats erratically, and my whole body shakes from fear.

"Wh... who are you? What do you want?" I ask her. She cocks her head as she regards me. At least that's what I think she's doing since I can't see her face. I want to reach over and rip the hood away so I can finally see what we're dealing with. I look around, sure that my wolves will be here any minute, but they're nowhere to be seen.

"They aren't coming, deary, so don't get your hopes up. I'm keeping them away." Her voice is unpleasant, and sends shivers down my spine. It reminds me of the wicked witch from The Wizard of Oz, and it's confirmed when she cackles. She throws her head back when she does, and the hood falls back against her shoulders. I rear back from the disgusting, and terrifying sight.

Skin drips off her face as though it was made of plastic and someone set fire to it. Her eye sockets are dangling down her cheeks, making her eyeballs look like stark orbs sunken into the sockets. Teeth are rotting in her mouth, the ones she actually has are black as night. The little hair that exists on her head is shock white and frizzy. It's easy to tell where the horrific smell originates from.

I physically recoil away from her, eyes scanning my surroundings, searching for the quickest exit. All of a sudden thorn filled vines grow from the ground and block all possibilities, and my sense of fear grew exponentially when I realize there's no way I'm getting out of this. I close my eyes and once again will myself to wake up from this horrific dreamscape.

"Oh no, deary. You aren't getting away from me that easily." I refuse to open my eyes and look at her, instead standing very still and hope the guys can feel my fear and help me out of this situation.