Crash!
Bang!
"Ouch…."
My mouth shrieked in pain as soon as my body bumped into the harsh cold grassy earth, falling from the sky. I felt a headache hitting me with nausea churning in my belly.
My hands grabbed any object near me to help support my body as I tried to get up. But my effort ended up futile; my body flipped and my stomach kissed the ground.
I lifted my face which was half-covered by my curly long red hair and watched my surroundings. My eyes squinted at the strange views around me; this place seemed unfamiliar to me for I had never been here before.
No matter how far my eyes traveled, I only met with the black towering trees with their foliage that canopied the earth. I saw neither houses nor huts. I was in the middle of the forest; I bet.
I looked up above at the stars that even hid their faces behind the black night. I was only greeted by the wet weeds which had soaked my thin dark dress.
"Where am I?" My heart asked; fear started intimidating me as the quietness created a horror atmosphere; I spotted no human beings in this forest.
My lips grimaced, enduring my headache as I attempted to wreck my brain to dig up the memory of what happened to me.
The last thing I could recall was that I ran away from the crowds of the villagers who wanted to burn me alive. They suspected me of getting involved in a black magic ritual my mother – a famous witch –did.
I had no idea where my mother was when they came to our residence with their torches and called us out. I was sleeping when the throng of people besieged our hut and attacked it with stones.
Realizing that I was in jeopardy, I escaped from the back door as soon as I rolled out of bed. Their torches had surrounded my house but I was lucky enough that I still had a chance to run away.
I snuck out and walked slowly toward the jungle, following my intuition in fear and panic. They finally sensed my absence and tracked me.
Followed by the haunts of their shoes behind me, I struggled to save myself from their hunt. Their shoutout which broke the night still lingered in my head.
"Chase her," one of them yelled, giving an order that successfully fueled the fire of the villagers' energy to run after me.
"Catch her," their yell sounded closer and closer; I couldn't stop. With no destination to go, I kept going, ignoring the mosquitoes and other night insects that danced on my skin.
Under the moonlight of the eclipse, I sprinted as fast as I could to avoid demise. Those villagers could end my life in a minute if they managed to capture me.
At the end of the road, I saw something mysterious, a white light toward which I headed. That glow that turned into darkness devoured me.
I screamed as the spiral waves rolled my weak torso and tossed me to the freezing grassy ground, somewhere in a place darkened by the foliage of towering trees that hovered in the ashen sky.
"Ouch…."
The pain smashed my head again every time the memory of that bad tragedy slid into my mind. My face could only cringe, fighting against the headache and stomachache I felt.
I forced my body to move; it tortured me to lie on my stomach. Finally, I managed to sprawl with my back flat on the earth, numb. My lips winced as I moved my painful broken limbs; my hands tried to reach for anything to help me sit.
"Ouch…."Groans erupted through my mouth at every inch my body shifted aside.
My elbow shoved the soil to lift my back but it only resulted in pain; not even a single move I made. My teeth dug into my lower lips, enduring the pang.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that it was a nightmare and I would wake up on my warm wooden bed as soon as my eyelids jolted open.
It didn't change anything even if my eyes jerked awake. I was still in the same spot where I was. The breeze stung my bare legs as my knee-length dress didn't reach my thighs.
I gave up on my fate now for nothing I could do in this situation but pray. The face of my mother popped up; it was useless as she would never hear me even if I shouted her name now.
From afar, I heard something which made my hair stand. The growl and howl of the bizarre creatures reached my ears which got louder and louder amidst my reverie, indicating their short distance from my sprawling torso.
"It is a dream, only a dream," I murmured, instilling that doctrine in my head.
With my palms pressing on the soil and a cringe on my face, I yanked my body up. As soon as I could sit on my arse, my eyes stared in horror at the ape-like critters walking on their paws toward me with their reddish-yellow orbs piercing at mine.
Four aliens with the same description as I read in the fantasy novel welcomed me with their craned necks; growls erupted out of their snouts.
Four werewolves howled at me, getting closer and closer. I was in despair as no one could rescue me from those monsters. I shut my eyes in resignation while letting my back meet the soil; if those werewolves devoured me today, I didn't have to face the outrage of the villagers who hated my mother and all her descendants including me.
After a few minutes, I no longer caught the growls and the howls of the werewolves. Was I safe or dead already?
In fear, I slowly opened my eyes and it surprised me that I saw four handsome men with muscular towering bodies. One of them, the black-eyed man with dark hair squatted near me, checking if I was still alive while the others stood a few feet behind him with their intent gaze on me.