Taken

Prologue

     The wind howls in the distance, and the clouds start to block the weak moonlight filtering through the branches. Twigs and dried leaves snap in the silence.
     A tall figure noiselessly shadows the little girl that stumbles around, breaking more twigs and leaves that cover the forest floor.
     The girl's head of black curls moves shakily, towards the left and the right. She stops abruptly, and slowly, ever so slowly, turns around. The figure towers above her, and her slight body starts to tremble.
     The figure extends a long arm towards the young girl, and she staggers back fearfully. The figure leans forward threateningly, and grabs the little girl's arm.
     Immediately, she starts screaming and yelling, but she isn't able to break free. Her screams radiate through the forest, but there's no one to hear her. No one but the silent figure.
     When her throat turns coarse, she stops screaming, and falls into her knees, sobbing. She looks up at the quiet figure with hot tears running down her cheeks.
     "Let me go", she mumbles with a quaking voice. The figure crouches down and looks her into her eyes. It lifts its other arm and wipes the tears away with its hand. The girl flinches away, and pulls on her arm fruitlessly.
     The figure then stands up and starts to walk farther into the eerily calm forest, dragging the little girl behind it. She struggles and attempts to escape again, to no avail.
     She starts to weep again, and tries to pry the figure's fingers off of her arm. The hand tightens and lifts her off the ground, her legs kicking around, trying to touch the ground again.
     "Let me go!", she screams, "please, let me go!" The figure mutely continues into the forest, with the girl still dangling off of the ground. After a while, she loses her energy and hangs limply. The figure then softly cradles her miniature body in its arms.
     The girl looks up again, and the moon shines brightly at the figure's face. Fear grips her heart, and color leaves her face.
     Two ghostly white eyes watch her wearily from a smooth face, a face devoid of both emotion and features.
     Her mouth opens, but no sound escapes. The figure trails a long finger down the girl's chubby cheek, then places a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
You are safe now, child.
     The girl jerks at the cold voice in her head, and starts to hyperventilate.
No one will be able to take you away.
     She shuts her eyes and starts to shake all over.
You will not remember what happened to you before.
     The figure places a cool, smooth palm on the side of the girl's head, and her eyelids slowly pull up. She stares, paralyzed, into the figure's deep, soulless, white eyes.
You are safe.