Chapter 16: Isaac

I hug myself as I walk in the middle of the forest. I have been walking for some time, but I don’t know where I am.

All I knew was that I jumped from the terrace and landed on the forest full of tall trees. My surroundings have also returned to darkness because I have left the place where there are many fireflies.

My feet are getting sore from jumping and sudden landing. Added by pain coming from my skin due to the beating of leaves and wind while falling.

I can also feel my body shaking because of the cold temperature. I was wondering why there’s no noise coming from animals such as insects of the night.

Maybe, this forest is too big for me to hear all of them. I sigh and continue hugging myself. I can’t pretend anything when my feet hurt this much.

But I don’t have a choice to endure everything until I get out of this place. And now that I’ve succeeded with my plan, I have nothing to think but delighted.

I jump up because of joy building inside my body, punching in the air, and generally laughing. I almost forgot about the pain earlier, but I still manage to celebrate this small achievement!

At last! My plan was successful! I gained victory on escaping from Reign’s colossal mansion, and this is just the start of my escape. What comes next is I need to get out of this forest. I need to achieve it before dawn.

I stop walking and feel something on my feet, but I just ignored the pain. I started to think of something.

Reign will be home after a week based on what Elliott said, and I don’t know what will happen if he comes back while I already escaped from his home. 

But does he care if I run away? He probably doesn’t care about it, especially for a person like me. He was rich, and yes, he saved me.

No, he did not save me. He bought me for unknown reasons and why he did that in the auction. I want to believe that he doesn’t have something to do with me and doesn’t care about me.

But, he spends a hundred billion dollars just to redeem me on that auction. No one would do that kind of thing and spent that much for some stranger.

Thinking about how people bid their money over a person at that time makes me look stupid. Why would I think that someone can’t spend money on a stranger when I already witnessed something like that?

I shook a few times. Importantly, I was already out of Reign’s hands. Right now, what I need to do is find an exit to this vast forest.

I don’t have to worry about other things because Reign will definitely not find me once I get out of this forest. I’m just a low-key type of person, and if he searches for me, it will take time for him to find me.

I rested my thoughts and started walking again. I stopped hugging myself and trying to adapt to the cold atmosphere. 

I had no idea what I was stepping on and going through because it was still dark around me. I just thought I was stepping on weeds and walking in between tall trees.

Every five steps I take, I blow air to get rid of the apprehension building inside my body. 

I was not afraid, but it suddenly occurred to my mind that maybe in the middle of the silence inside this forest, a wild animal was watching every step I take.

I slowly shook at the thought. I hope I can get out of here while nothing bad happens. I braced myself and removed everything nonsense inside my mind.

And walk along with the darkness. I could not think of anything, but it suddenly came to my mind where Thraia and I had talked about earlier.

When she accompanied me to the terrace under Elliott’s command because he has something urgent to do, I used this time to asked Thraia about Isaac.

When I heard that name, I really thought that Isaac was a person like me and got imprisoned by Reign. I have the wrong thought.

Thraia said that Isaac is a Siberian Husky and warned me about him. She just warned me about him without telling me any details except for his kind. I didn’t ask for more. 

Just like I did, Isaac escaped from his cage, fleeing away from Reign’s home without his presence. What if Isaac was inside this forest hiding behind those gigantic trees?

My chest throbbed fast at the thought. I slowed my breathing as I listened to the surroundings. I could not hear a single noise coming from the forest animals but only from the leaves being blown by the wind.

I can’t even hear my footsteps, but the beating of my heart was ringing in my ears. What if Isaac suddenly appears ahead of me? 

That’s impossible to happen. Elliott must have found Isaac with the rest of their men. They had been looking since noon, so they must have found Isaac. 

I don’t know what time it is, but maybe it’s about nine in the evening. I forgot to look at the clock inside Reign’s home.

Sad to say, but I don’t have a wristwatch. I don’t buy such things because I save every money I gathered. 

We can see and ask for time everywhere, ask others, or stop at a convenience or any kind of store. That’s how I managed my time every day than to buy something.

Why wasting money if you can ask someone? 

I think it’s almost two hours since I escape from Reign’s house and never stop walking in that period. I feel my feet getting numb, and my body was cold. 

The surroundings are getting darker with each step I take. What worse is that my stomach is twisting. This habit of mine. It feels like wanting to throw up but just plays on my throat.

I’m not sure if I should take a rest or continue walking between this forest and darkness. As I take another step, my body has begun to shake. It’s because the temperature is cooling down.

The place was so quiet, and when I stepped again, I heard violent crackles from behind that made me stop. 

My legs are frozen. A hot liquid suddenly condensed in my body, my heart was beating rapidly, and the air was fading. I can’t control my breathing. 

I could hear the crackling approaching, and even though I wasn’t sure, I tried moving my body in preparing to run.

I’m not sure, but I think someone was behind my back. It’s either a person or an animal. But the sounds are not applicable for humans to have.

Isaac? 

I secretly cursed when the thought entered my mind. I want to think more, but then I just felt someone running in my direction. 

Because of the violent steps rushing behind me, my feet automatically moved to run as well. 

My feet moved quickly to run. I couldn’t turn around because even if I look at who was chasing me, I could see nothing but darkness.

With a deep breath, I ran into the middle of the forest. Chasing my life out of danger. I’m not sure if a Siberian Husky was running behind me or something more dangerous. 

I didn’t stop running. A powerful tremor enveloped my body, but I keep on moving my legs. My legs are hurting, and I’m running out of breath. 

I can’t finish another lapse anymore, and this someone behind me doesn’t stop chasing me; over time, its legs seem to speed up while I’m running out of breath. 

I tried to turn around, but I suddenly fell. I didn’t know if it was a hole or a cliff, but my body rolled down while fattening intricate pieces of stuff. 

I just closed my eyes while dealing with the pain in my body. My body hits so hard when it stops rolling. I want to shout and cry because of the pain.

I feel like I’m going to faint, and I can feel some bruised hurting my flesh. I tried to stand up, and suddenly the whole place lit up. 

Fireflies are flying over my position. I followed where it came from, but I immediately held my breath. 

Tail hangs down from the back as he walks in my direction. His body was medium length with erected ears, growling mouth, and mad eyes.

Thraia didn’t mention anything about Isaac except for what he is. The one who’s chasing me was this Husky. I thought Huskies was friendly to humans.

Even if the place was dark, fireflies are enough to light everything in my eyes. Why is this Husky staring like he was about to eat me?!