Chased.

I woke up with a start. My face swelled and beads of sweat decorated my forehead, running down my cheeks to the hollow of my neck and finally to my chest area, where it seemed all the water pulled. My night dress was drenched in sweat, and it clutched to my chest like my second skin.

I shivered uncontrollably and had to wrap my hands around myself to keep my emotions at bay.

I just had a dream. It was more of a nightmare. 

I kept seeing people chasing me about in a forest. No matter how frantically I ran, they refused to give up. Then, they caught up with me and kept asking about the thing. When I didn't say anything, I was beaten up. Just as quickly, the dream changed to me hiding behind some sort of desk. A man stood close to the place where I hid. He had a knife in his hand... a knife that was dripping with blood.

As much as I tried to control my emotions and find a way to wake up, I couldn't do it.

The nightmare morphed and I saw myself in the room of the man that molested me. The scene where he tried to have his way with me and how Damon saved me kept replaying. Finally ending with when the bottle landed on the man. The look of horror at realizing his life was coming to an end haunted me more than anything else ever had. 

The scene shifted again. This time, it was Damon that came on, with a whip in his hand. The moment he lifted his hand in the air, I screamed and woke up. There was no way I would pass through emotional and physical damage from the man even in my dream.

I shot out of the bed, unable to stay in the room any longer. I needed some fresh air, a way to know I was still alive. So, I made my way outside. I walked through the night, only illuminated by the half-moon visible in the sky. 

As I walked through the forest, I was reminded of how I arrived at this pack. The way Damon had scared the hell out of me, to the point that I fainted.

"Such a cruel man," I told myself. I sighed and resumed my walking. 

The night was peaceful. Only the sound of the air whooshing and the crickets and other animals sound made a melody. It made me feel at peace also and the heaviness in my heart began to disappear. What wouldn't I give to just sit still and listen to the silence...

Wait a second. It was no longer silent. 

I stopped walking as I heard another footstep sounding in the distance. No, it was not just a footstep. It was footsteps. The sounds I was hearing had to belong to at least two people.

What were they doing out in the woods by that time of the night?

As the footsteps kept approaching my direction, I looked around frantically until my eyes fell on a tree large enough to cover my body frame. Luckily for me, the dress I wore blended perfectly well with the night. I raced to where the tree was and hid there. I watched from my biding spot as three men came out into the clear spot of the forest and paused.

"I'm telling you that we can execute the plan perfectly if we played our cards right." One of the men said. 

"I believe we should still wait for a while. We've been planning this for a long while now, it wouldn't do if we mess it up with impatience." The second man opposed.

"We just have to plan everything accordingly. The man is becoming more vigilant after he came back from his stupid trip to the seaside. So, I believe we should just take our chances now." The first man said again.

I tried to know who they were talking about but my brain could not pick on anyone in the pack who would be the receiver of these people's evil plotting.

I strained my eyes to see if I would recognize any of the men present but I couldn't see their faces very well. Also, none of the voices of the two men who spoke sounded familiar to me.

"Eric, that's the problem I always have with you. You are bever patient about anything. You always end up ruining things for us." The second man said, clearly reprimanding the first one.

"Chris, what do you suggest we do?" The first man asked.

Judging by the way they've been interacting, I could tell that the third man that hasn't said a word was the one bearing the name Chris.

Who were these people and what do they want?

My mind must have been distracted because I moved back a little and my legs stepped on a branch. The sound it made as it split into two made the three men train their eyes on me or rather in my direction.

"Who is there?!" The third man that had been silent all the while barked. His voice was a deep baritone that could never be forgotten once you hear it.

At the mention though, his voice or their voices was not my business. I knew I had to escape from them, otherwise, I would be dead in only a matter of minutes since it was obvious they didn't want anyone to listen in on their conspiracy.

"Show yourself now!" The third voice commanded me. Footsteps began to move closer to me. I knew that if I stayed there, I would be a complete goner. So, I did the next best thing I could ever think about.

I ran.

I ran back in the direction I came from. As I ran, I heard the men running after me. Their running steps came from both sides of me and behind me. I could tell they were trying to surround me, so I would have nowhere to run to.

Why the hell do I always put myself in trouble?

Help me, Damon. Please help me. I cried in my head, despite knowing that it was futile. There was no way he would hear me and absolutely no way he would come to my rescue even if I cried at the top of my lungs.

I wasn't even going to think about why he was the first and only one I bought of asking from help from. What was my top priority was to get away from the monsters chasing me.

A hand grabbed me suddenly and I let out a shriek.