PROLOGUE

Onda Thorne

I don’t remember ever hearing birds chirping by my window whenever I wake up in the morning. And the air certainly wasn’t this chilly last night. I slowly open my eyes and the first thing I see is the bright blue sky high above me. I gather myself in a daze and sit up. This definitely isn’t my room.

Why am I in the woods?

What happened last night?

The trees surrounding me are thinner than the ones I know. The branches are bare and the ground is covered in freshly fallen leaves. I could’ve sworn that they were all brown yesterday.

Voices fill the air and I stand up as swiftly as I can. I’m either in the wrong woods or these people are lost. I follow the voices and they lead me to a large clearing that resembles an old village. How have I never seen this before? I turn around, frantically studying the unfamiliar environment. Men and women walk past me and little children run around, greeting me on their way.

“Morning Onda.”

“Hey Onda.”

I still don’t know where I am but everyone seems to know who I am.

Walking further into the village, everything looks the same. The huts look the same and I keep seeing the same set of people. It’s like I’m walking in circles. I hear the sound of a rushing river in the distance but the closer to it I get, the farther the sound seems. There’s something awfully wrong with this place.

“Excuse me, where is this?”

I try stopping people to talk to them but no one stops, they all just keep walking ahead. No one answers me.

I try walking even further into the woods but nothing changes. Same people, no replies. After a few minutes of running around fruitlessly, I sit at the bottom of a large tree to catch my breath. I search my mind to remember anything before now – how I got here, why I’m here, who all these people are.

Time passes by slowly and nothing happens, I don’t remember anything. I don’t even know how I got here. The atmosphere suddenly changes; something feels very off about this place and I don’t like it. I stand up and dust off my clothes. The villagers are still moving around but their movements seem rushed now, like they’re running. I walk to the middle of the grounds to see if I get anyone to talk to me again but it’s like they can’t even see me anymore.

The men rush past me with shovels and pitchforks in hand, all bumping into me with their shoulders. Next is the women, I try to dodge them but they all speed-walk past me and find ways to step on my feet in the process. The kids are last. They are all playing with each other, some hiding behind the dead trees while the others chase each other around. As they run past with sticks and twigs in hand, bloody scratches and scrapes appear all over my arms and bare feet. I try to manoeuvre my way around, avoiding them but they all seem to be coming from every angle.

Suddenly, a loud screech pierces through the woods. Everybody around me stops dead in their tracks. I slowly turn around and no one is moving. There is another screech. This time everyone turns to look at me. A chill goes down my spine. I back up against a tree and find a sturdy twig to use as a weapon in case it comes to that. Seconds go by before I realize that the people aren’t as many as they were a few moments ago. That’s when I notice that one by one, they are disappearing. Into thin air.

When the last person vanishes, I still feel a pair of eyes on me. I sharply turn around surveying the area with the twig tight in my grip.

“I’m back.” I chilling voice says into my right ear.

I turn around, swinging the twig aimlessly in the air. I spin a few more times but don’t find anyone or anything around. I aggressively toss the twig aside and slide my fingers into my hair ready to pull it out. Where the heck am I? And what exactly is going on?

“I found you.” I swiftly turn around to find a creature almost twice my size standing right in front of me. It’s dark, piercing eyes seem dangerously familiar. I stares down at me for a minute before breaking into a full sprint in the opposite direction with something in its grip.

My feet pound the ground as I run after the dark cloud-like creature that seems to have something of mine. I don't know what it is but I have a feeling it’s important. But something doesn’t feel right, the faster I try to run, the slower I go. My legs and lungs are telling me to stop but I can't; my mind keeps telling me to get back what it took from me no matter what. The creature stops, turns around and snarls so I can see its hideous face and what it has in its claws.

A gasp escapes me when I realize what it has in its grip, my mom. If I was angry before, now I’m fuming. I close my eyes and when they open, my blue-grey eyes turn red with rage. I charge towards it bloodthirsty. I push out my claws ready for combat, it tosses my mom to the side and just stands and stares as I sprint towards it. I jump on it and dig me claws deep into its eyes, taking them out and stabbing them again, repeatedly. The monster makes no move to fight back but I just keep on scratching. And then it just vanishes. I look around to be sure it’s no longer here.

Satisfied, I run to my mom and do a quick body scan to make sure she's okay. She only has a few bruises and she's panting heavily.

"He... he... he's here." She says between haggard breaths.

"What do you mean? Who’s here?" I ask.

"He's here. Run!" She says before she also vanishes just like the monster did.

"Mom, mom don't leave me again. Mom come back, I don’t understand. MOM!"

I hear twigs snap so I quickly turn around. The monster is back and this time it's three times bigger than it was.

"She's not coming for you but I am." It hisses and starts to charge at me.