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She had spent her whole life running and the thought of it alone fills her with the coldest feeling ever, ‘fear’ but who would have thought that she would need her most hated skill now? Vanilla could hear her own harsh breath and the loud thump of her feet as she ran, glancing back occasionally, unable to make sense of the monstrous creatures chasing after her, 'what the hell are those?' she screamed in her mind.

Not one, not two, but three large creatures the shapes of wolves were after her, Vanilla had once thought darkness was terrifying, but she was wrong, these creatures were daunting. “Get her!” she heard one of them growl in an inhumane voice and dread filled her to the bone as she quickened her pace. ‘No! No! This must be a dream, animals can't speak’ she muttered in disbelief. “Don't let her get away!” Fearing they would catch up to her and she might end up dead without a body, her pace increased.

“Please… no.” Her breath turned harsher as the sound of paws drew closer. Now, she didn't care about getting hurt and attracting darkness, neither did she care about the purpose she had gone to the Lost Shroud for, all she wanted was to get out of there. To safety. Vanilla knew that as long as she found the guiding door, she would find civilization. However, her thoughts were interrupted when her hair caught a tree branch, Vanillan didn't have the luxury of removing her hair gently, so she yanked it back and the hair snapped. However, she was unable to escape either.

Vanilla was pushed from the back and she found herself flying in the air, her scream died out in her throat as she fell on her side with a loud groan, the ground was wet, hard and filled with rocks. “You run fast little muse.” One of them jested. Pain engulfed Vanilla, and her breath left her as she rolled on the floor, she didn't try catching her breath, instead, she pushed herself up and tried to run again, but it was too late, they has already surrounded her.

She scanned around, trying to find an escape route, and when she found one, she didn't bother thinking of it before she stood up and ran straight for the open space, but she was too slow, one if them caught unto her and a hand dragged her hair back. “Where do you think you are going?” A deep human voice spoke, making Vanilla scream and thrash around, but his grip was unexpectedly strong, no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't get her hair out of his grip. She tried kicking him or turning around, but her efforts only hurt her Instead of helping.

“Let go of me!” Vanilla screamed. “Let me go.” His reply was to pull at her scalp and drag her back by her hair, she was thrown to the ground, right in front of two large creatures, Vanilla turned back to look at the one who had grabbed her, only to see two large scars like claw marks across his face.” Why are you doing this to me? I don't even know you! Let me go.” She demanded,Yet the man said nothing, instead, he strided over to her, that was when Vanilla realized that… he was naked.

Her lips parted, as she slowly crawled back, hand searching for anything to protect herself, determined not to let him do whatever he had in mind to her. “Stay away from me.” her hand caught a larger stone, and she gripped it with all her strength. However, before he got to her, he paused, then he frowned.

“ Darren, Do you hear it?” One of the creatures spoke, its fur was black and it had a limp a slightly unnoticeable limp.

“It must be Darkness. Go on, we will finish here.” the other one with white fur added. Vanilla had no time to wonder who darkness was, her mind was filled with calculation on how to escape them

“This one is a fighter, be careful with her.” The one called Darren said, then he turned back and ran twoards the woods. The strange thing was that, he was too fast for a human being. Just when Vanilla wanted to also make a run for it– she witnessed something that made her body refuse to move, the man… the man who had just grabbed her hair with his hand turned into one of the monsters. Vanilla couldn't take her eyes off where he had disappeared to, she had thought it was strange. But what was this?

“Ethan, Pick her up.” The black one with the limp told the white one.

“Alright, the dirty work is always mine to do.” It was only then Vanilla came back to her senses, ignoring the pain at her side, she threw the stone in her hand into the eyes of the one called Ethan, she heard him curse as she made a run for it again, Vanilla's speed wasn't as fast as she expected, but she still persisted, knowing she needed to escape them, she didn't get far, because Ethan caught her again, and this time, she was caught in his teeth, then she swung her up and she was thrown on his back. Before Vanilla tried struggling, she was thrown off balance from Ethan's speed. “Race you to the castle.” He told his companion.

“Put me down!” Vanilla hissed, struggling against his back, yet he refused to listen to her, instead he increased his pace and continued running in an inhumane speech, he was so fast that Vanilla could barely see anything. “Put me down you beast.” She hollered.

“Yeah, I am a beast indeed, now stay still before I choose to carry you in my mouth instead.” Her curses and screms were ignored as she was carried deeper into the woods, leaving behind where she could have escaped. Now, all she could do was hope that whatever laid before her would not be the end of her. The deeper they went into the woods, the darker it got. Vanilla got dizzy from the constant speed and a particular smell, the smell was strange, both comforting and terrifying, it that had been lingering in the air since she entered the Lost Shroud.

She had been warned, she had been told not to go there and now here she was– dealing with the consequence. Instead of struggling, she choose to save her breath, there was still more to come… that was of she wasn't killed or eaten. ‘i just survive, I have to survive, I have been through worse than this.’ her heart was filled with determination, as long as she lived, she would bid her time to escape. The disturbing smell engulfed her till she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, exhaustion washed over her, and her eyes shut close.

~~~

Vanilla groaned as she sat up the cold, hard floor, the stale air made her sneeze. “Where am I?” She murmured. It smelled like mold and burning fire. She quickly stood up and tried looking around but It was dark, and the only light came from the outside of the room, or was it a store, her hand traced the walls and it was made of stone, a bar was placed right in front of her, just like… a dungeon, Vanilla's breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was thrown in a dungeon not killed. Her feet was not bound, neither was she tied up. They were underestimating her, and they were right to.

Just as she was about to sit on the ground again, she heard footsteps, not the footsteps of those creature, but of something even worse. Unhurried footsteps, as if the person had no care in the world. The same smell she had been smelling earlier filled the room– Vanilla instantly stepped back into the dark as she waited for whoever it was. The closer the footstep was, the harder her heart thumped against her chest– after what felt like forever– a shadow passed over the bar, then a man walked in.

The air around him was filled with dominance and his presence alone made her weak in the knee, not out of anything else but fear. Vanilla gulped. “So.” His voice was low, smooth and unhurried, yet filed with authority. “You are the one who bloodied Ethan's face.”

Vanilla didn't reply.

The man tilted his head back. “I heard your groans for survival, but now you are mute.” He steeped into the light, it was then she saw him fully, he was tall, not only in appearance, but his presence, shadows clung to him like a they were his to own. His hair was black, his eyes were unreadable, and something about the way he carried himself made her stomach twisted.

But what struck the most was his gaze, he wasn't looking at her, and she couldn't see what he was looking at either. “You run well.” he said. “Most of them run, scream, call for help or even search for dead. But you fought.”

“Who are you?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. This caught his attention, he turned his gaze to hers,

“ You may call me Darkness.”

Vanilla's lips trembled, she pressed herself deeper against the wall. “Are… you going to kill me?”

~P-Lia~