Winterspell

Tess let her umbrella fall, ”No, ” her eyes looked pass him and on the body hed left in his wake.

”Why? ” Tess asked still more in shock than anything else her voice quivering.

”I have no obligation to explain myself to you, ” the man replied.

”Why? ” Tess asked again.

The man narrowed his eyes and sheathed his katana. ”So this one snapped, ” he said without much expression.

Without much of a warning his right fist connected with her abdomen and she fell unconscious over his arm.

His objective wasn to have her dead but instead alive.

He sensed something different with the higher-ups, they seemed too eager to send him on a such a low ranking mission and even though he was taught not to question his superiors the thought that something was wrong persuaded him to check it out.

He tossed the unconscious Tess over his shoulder and stepped back his image distorting until it vanished completely.

Alice…

My eyes opened to a lighter darkness and the sound of the river. The pain had subsided and I could move a little.

Water…

I reached out and took hold of the first rock I touched, pulling my self to the river but the rock just came loose.

My lips felt dry. The cold air stabbed at me.

I felt hungry and at the same time, thirsty.

Even then weakness had sunk deep inside me and I had no way of refusing it.

Water…

I decided to try again, this time taking hold of a larger rock. I pulled myself forward a little.

Come-on don just give out on me, I thought, my arms barely had enough strength to pull myself forward and at this rate I wasn gonna be getting water anytime soon.

I thought of calling out, but decided against it, no one helped me before so why would someone help me now?

And it would probably take all I had just to call out.

A distant howl cut through the night.

Ha…

If Im lucky I just might be food for some other poor creature.

I might even still be alive then.

I couldn help it, I was barely holding on. How many times was I supposed to die already?

No…

How many times have I come out of dangerous situations unscathed? I can give up.

I reached for another rock and pulled forward and again and again until my fingertips touched cold water. I pulled myself closer until my face was over the slow moving stream.

The moon shone against the waters surface turning it into a soft dim mirror.

My face seemed different somehow, my hair was disheveled, lips appeared to be chopped and white and my eyes seemed like that of a wild animal, intense, piercing

And blue? Maybe it was only my imagination.

I attacked the reflection and splashed the cold water on my face. Before drinking some.

After a while I could sit up. I knew that the best thing to do was to find somewhere I could rest until the sun came back out or at least to get a little warmth but getting out of this damn Forrest was all I could think of .

My knees hurt too but I couldn just sit around, thats just like waiting for someone I come and finding me.

The chances of that happening are slim so sitting around won help in the least.

Slowly I stepped forward, and breathed a small sigh, it wasn that hard.

I continued…

The moon was full and with it came a soft glow , the sky was littered with thin

wil-o-wisp clouds that avoided the moon completely. The landscape was filled with rocks, smooth and of various sizes some I had to climb over.

The river-bed got smaller and smaller until trees were almost at the waters edge. Because of that I has to start navigating through the trees once again. My wound didn hurt anymore and the fear that they had put something in me continued to grow .

Every now and then Id feel a small pinch. I wanted to know how bad it was but the moonlight wouldn do the inspection much justice. So I simply

Continued…

|_____________||________||__________|

”Mrs. Baker you said that your daughter was kidnapped? ” a man in suit with an uncouth appearance queried.

(Stubble and uncombed hair.)

”No but that might be a possibility, ” stated the lady, a seemingly older version of Alice.

”Right. ” The man replied scribbling in his miniature note book.

The setting was the living room at Alices home the man sitting in the long armed sofa, while Mrs. Baker sat in the one diagonal to it her legs crossed.

”Your daughter is Alice Baker and shes 6 feet 2 right? ” He asked still writing.

”Yes, ” the woman replied in a softer tone.

”Do you have a picture we could identify her by? ” The man obviously a detective asked. She handed him the picture she had in her hand. Which he reached out to take.

This may have been a simple mistake or an intentional action but as he reached to take the picture the edge of his jacket pulled back ever so slightly and momentarily revealed a marking on his wrist.

She knew what it was, what it meant, what it represented.

”I was afraid of that, ” the man said.

For a second she held her breath. Did he see her see it?

”A similar incident happened yesterday, a girl about the same age went missing, ” he stated.

She breathed an internal sigh of relief.

”Her name was Tess Pember, do you know her? ” He asked.

”Tess? ” She knew her because of the incident a couple years back involving Tess and Alice, no one could forget something like that.

”No, ”she answered and then ”the name doesn sound familiar. ”

He looked at her for a minute and then, ran his fingers through his hair breaking eye contact by closing his eyes while doing so. ”Alright, ” he said getting up. ”Ill contact you. ”

Why is one of them here?

What does he plan to do?

”Ok, Ill see you out ” she replied getting up herself.

Did they find out about, Alice or maybe her father?

If that was the case then she would probably have to get moving, it meant that it wasn safe here anymore.

|___________||_____||_____||__________|

Alice…

The river went down. It was a waterfall, and I had to turn back, I sure as hell wasn gonna jump off it.

And the night didn seem to have any intension of lifting soon. The trees were thick and the path narrowed I didn want to go back the way Id come so I only had the option of taking the path of trees.

Suddenly something hard hit the tree ahead of me a stinging sensation dominated my cheek. The wet on my hand proved that I was no insect bite.

An arrow!?

I backed away.

”No way! Thats dangerous! ”

Then something hit me hard a little under my right shoulder blade pushing me to the ground, the force rolled me twice before I could even attempt to stop myself.

Agh!

”No stop Im a human being,you can do this! ” I tried to reach for whatever had lodged itself in my shoulder.

A-ghahh!

It hurts.

”Run… ” A voice said.

Run.

Run!!!

I scampered to my feet and charged left of where I was heading. Run? Why am I running? This mustve been a mistake, no one would do this.

Still I couldn stop my self from running my breathing heavy and my movements slowed, my back wet with I could only guess what.

But don stop I told myself, run and don look back.

Ahead my path was blocked by bushes, don stop!

Push through!

As I did I felt the open air and the absence of a path.

I fell face forward. Frantically I grabbed for something.

But there was nothing to hold onto.

No…

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