Page 6 of The Fae Girl 1

I shut my eyes. Pausing. Surely it couldn’t hurt to take a diversion? Surely it wouldn’t add that much time? Besides I had all day to walk the lake. All day to loop back.

I took a step. Then another. My feet already making the decision for me and as the coolness of the shade enveloped me I didn’t look back. I just kept going.

Around me the forest was quiet.

Almost eerily so.

I could hear every step I took, every tiny snap beneath my feet. There had to be animals, insects, birds who lived here but in this moment it felt empty.

Like I was the only person in existence.

For the briefest of seconds I smiled. For the briefest of seconds it felt like I’d found some sort of sanctuary. As though this whole forest was here, simply for me.

And then behind me I heard a noise that made me spin in terror.

Sebastian.

He was running right at me. Growling. His face contorted with fury.

And in his hand, he held what looked like a weapon.

My eyes widened. My head screamed at me to run, to flee. I tossed my bag, spun back around, racing as fast as I could. I jumped over a log, darted between tree trunks. My feet were heavy in the damn welly boots I’d so happily accepted, and more than once I stumbled because of them.

But every time I did Sebastian seemed to gain more ground. I could hear him, panting, smashing at the ferns, smashing at the undergrowth as though it too offended him.

I kept going, pushing my body harder, pushing myself further into the darkness. I no longer cared for where I was. All thoughts about my nice little walk were lost as my fear engulfed me.

I clambered over a trunk, squatting behind it. Hoping that just maybe, if I lay here hidden, Sebastian might not find me.

I held my breath.

I covered my mouth with my hands fearful that I might whimper and give myself away.

Why he attacked me I had no idea but right now it was all I could do not to lose myself in my fear. Not to become Scared Alice. Pathetic Alice. Cowardly Alice.

As the minutes pass I still waited. There’s nothing but silence again. No sounds of footsteps. No sounds of an angry rampaging man. I wait, listening as my heart still thumps wildly. Perhaps it was a trap. Perhaps he too had concealed himself and was waiting for me to make a move.

I couldn’t stay here. I had to move eventually.

There was only one way to find out. One way to know if Sebastian was there. I braced myself. Burying the thoughts, stifling the cowardice, and slowly got back to my feet.

Around me there was nothing but the thick undergrowth. I had to be right in the thick of the forest now. I didn’t even know which way would lead back out and which would lead me further in.

I listened, my ears alert for any sign, any sound that would give a hint of where Sebastian was.

A shriek echoed.

My heart jumped in response. My entire body jumped too.

I stumbled, even as my head told me it was just a bird, but my footing was gone, my balance lost, and I fell right into a muddy swamp.

* * *

I don’t knowhow long I lay there. On my back. The mud caking me. Claiming my boots, half claiming my lower body too. I hadn’t been hit and yet it felt like I’d fallen unconscious.

As though I’d been asleep and had just woken up.

I lay still. Feeling the clammy wetness of the earth sticking to me. I could smell the soil. Smell the moss. I could hear animals now. Birds singing, only I didn’t recognise the calls. They were like no bird songs I’d ever heard before.

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