Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it💜




"She's alive!" The asian girl cried out, her beady eyes looking over at the dying girl.

"It's no use, she's going to die anyway", Luca said, his face grim.

The girl opened her mouth, trying to say something but she choked on her blood, her eyes looking up at us in desperation.

I shook my head silently, she's a lost cause.

Her arms laid beside her detached from her body and a dagger was embedded into her stomach. It's a wonder she isn't dead yet.

"Move!" Ani said, her African accent thick in that one word. I moved out of her way, she had been sobbing earlier and Alex had to press his hand over her mouth from the fear of getting caught. The said guy was sitting on the trunk of a tree with his back turned to us, his dog beside him.

Ani bent beside the girl who had completely gone stiff now, wide grey eyes still looking up at us. She whispered something like a prayer then reach over to cover the dead girl eyes.

"At least, let's take her with us to bury her", Hoang chi said, her question directed towards Alex.

"No". Was the single reply that came from the emotionless statue.

"She deserved one", Ani said, standing up, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

I kneeled in her stead, muttering a quick sorry to the dead girl before reaching to remove the dagger out of her stomach, grimacing as it made a soft squelching sound. Chi gagged.

I quickly hid it in my tattered cloak before Alex could turn around, giving Chi a pointed look but she just arched a brow at me.

Alex turned around then, his face stained with mud. "No", He said, before he start walking towards the shelter. Serpent looking back once at us before following him.

"He's so heartless", Ani said, looking at the dead girl with pity before following him.

I stepped up beside her. "That's not new", Chi and Luca followed behind us, listening on our conversation.

"Is he always like this?" She asked.

"Ever since I've knew him", Luca replied quietly.

We kept silent after that, the leaves crunching under our feet the only sound in the forest. Luca stood at our rear, no doubt looking out, if ever the beast tried to pop out of nowhere. I sighed, thinking about the girl, looking up with desperation in her eyes, they are always desperate. Desperate to live in this hell hole called a life, my gloved hand felt the dagger over the hard clothing of my cloak. The beast left his dagger in the body of the victim, it's very unlikely. From the little information I gathered from others, they always carry their weapon with them.

We reached the shelter in no time, just a small dingy hut we found three days ago. We couldn't stay at a place for a long time, for the fear of the beasts finding us. Alex knocked on the door once waiting as the door opened revealing a Mexican girl, her clothes dark with dirt. Louisa let us in, quickly closing the door and bolting it, though I doubt that would stop the beasts, the door looked like it would broke off its hinges with just a push, Raine appeared behind her, quickly taking in our grim faces.

"What happened?" She asked, moving to Alex with concern flashing in her eyes, she placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to look into his eyes for a reaction but expecting a reaction from Alex is like us running from the beasts. It's impossible.

Alex did not reply in his usual Alex self. Shrugging Raine's hand off, he slide down a wall to sit down, serpent sitting beside him. A flash of hurt passed across Raine's face but it was gone as quick as it came.

"We found a girl", Luca explained, cutting through the tension.

I frowned, I'll never understand the dynamics between Raine and Alex. Leaving Luca and Chi to explain what had happened, I went to sit beside Josh, his brown hair piled on top of his head and his broken glasses sliding off his face. He's dozing off, I could really use a sleep too but I was starving.

"Look what I found Ani", Luisa said, sitting down on the only bed in the hut, covered in furs. Ani quickly followed her, sitting beside her, only for the thing to collapse in a pile of fur and sticks. They both grimaced.

Well, there goes my wish of sleeping on something closer to bed tonight.

"Got any food?" I asked, startling Josh beside me, his glasses slid off his nose as he snapped his head up in surprise, only for it to hit the wall behind him.

"Ow!" He cried out.

He's just prone to accidents, so we don't really mind him.

"Oh you are back". He said, squinting his eyes at me. "I think I may have a concussion". I chuckled at him

"We found some rice in a sack", Raine said. "Louisa cooked them".

Luca let out a snort. "I bet my ass they are almost spoiled".

"Actually..." Louisa glared at him. "They are  better than those we usually found, the person who owned this hut preserved it well".

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Chi said. "I'm starving."

When the rice was placed in front of me in a wooden bowl they had found in the hut, I looked at it warily, it looked mushy and brownish.

"Ew!" Ani said from the pile of furs. "I kind of preferred the fruits than this".

The others hummed their agreement except
Alex of course.

"You don't like it?" Josh whispered beside me.

"I.. I don't think I can eat it", I said pushing the food to him.

"More food for me then", He shrugged. When he reached out to take it, he somehow managed to tipped his food over his body. It was hot so he jump in surprise, knocking off my bowl of rice. I quickly stood up, narrowly missing the food as it flew everywhere.

"Good God. Josh, not again!" Raine groaned, from where she's sitting.

"It's not my fault!" He cried.

"That's what he always says," Luca mumbled, digging his wooden spoon into his mouth. I frowned in confusion, wooden spoon, wooden bowl. So unusual.

"Where did you guys get that?"

"What?" He asked. I looked pointedly at the spoon he was holding. "Oh this? I don't know, Louisa gave me".

"We found it here", Raine replied. "Looks like the owner of this hut knows how to preserve things well".

I nodded, the hut is truly different, though it is small like the others, it has many more things than the huts we've encountered. Yesterday we found a map of the forest and it resurrected our dying hope, no one knows how to read a map except for the clumsy Josh.  Inching away from Josh to avoid accidents, I sat beside Chi. Josh pouted, scurrying over to Ani when she invited him into the pile of furs to share food with him.

"You do know we are not eating anything again for the rest of the day right?" Chi murmured as I sat beside her, her voice tainted with worry.

"Don't worry about me", I replied.

"I'm not worried", She lied. "I just don't want to be the one who will carry you when you pass out tomorrow."

Luca snorted

"Something funny dipshit?" Chi glared at him.

"Dip..." Luca grinned mischievously. "That's new, asshole is the only swear word you knew. Who taught you that one. Louisa? Josh? Rain..."

"Do you guys always have to bicker? My ears are already hurting". I complained.

Louisa raised her head from the pile of furs, grinning. "You haven't seen anything yet, they reminded me of my grandparents, those two always bicker like teenagers but they love each other like crazy".

"Ew!" Luca and Chi said at the same time.

That only makes Louisa grin widened. "And they also happened to say the same thing at the same time. Proof that they are destined to be..."

Luca threw his spoon at her and she disappeared back into the furs, the echo of her laughter at her wake. Chi, on the other hand was blushing furiously, I nudged her with my elbow and she looked at me with a killer glare. I chuckled, raising my hand in mock surrender.

"Guys eat your food", Raine chastised, even though there was a smile playing on her face.

We stopped after that, Luca and Chi quietly talking so that Raine won't hear them, hushed whispers and giggles can be heard from the pile of broken bed and furs. I sighed, resting my head against the wall, my eyes catching Raine and Alex form. Raine had moved beside Alex, one hand on his shoulder but Alex shrugged it off, ignoring her and when she tried to put it back again, Serpent let out a low growl. I watched discreetly as Raine heaved a sigh, she stood up and sat across him, leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes, my eyes locked back onto Alex, he was pushing his plate in front of Serpent, the dog did not hesitate to wolf it down. He frowned, his hand weaving into Serpent's furs. My eyes widened in surprise, that's the first expression I've ever seen on him but my shock was shortlived, the frown disappeared back into his blank face quickly as if it wasn't there before, the hand in Serpent fur stilled and slowly he raised his head, looking straight into my eyes.

I blinked but did not take my eyes off him, my heart beating furiously in my chest, the hand that stilled went back to motion as his eyes bored into mine.

Emerald. They look like emerald orbs, blank and bland as if they were lifeless. I shuddered, quickly taking my eyes off him. Is that what he's feeling right now? Lifeless? I sighed,my eyes moving back to Raine, she was the oldest here and the most experienced here yet she's no different from us.

Miserable. Hopeless. Lost

My mind drifted to Asia. Does she remember me? Does she thinks I never wanted to see her again? Is she angry at me? Is she... sad?

My stomach sank, tears brimming in my eyes. Sadness isn't one of the many things I wanted for Asia but I know she would be alone and sad without me there, mom and dad never cared, all they care about was their work and business trips, even with her nanny there, Asia craved for attention and when people don't give her what she wanted, she tends to think it's because of how she is. My fist tightened in my dirty dress, mostly made out of leathers. I reminded myself that she's fine and that Kid is going to be with her.

        

             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another heavy sigh left his mouth, the veins on his head popping out in concentration, a sweat trickled down his dirty brows and into his eye. He jerked, managing to trip over the damaged table and it broke off completely. Raine pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, muttering curses under her breadth. Ani and Louisa giggled.

"I thought you said you knew how to read a map," Raine murmured angrily.

"And I'm reading it," He protested, standing up and dusting his already dirty clothes.

"We've been here for thirty minutes Josh. How long does it take you to read a map?" Raine asked.

He scratched the back of his head and gave us a sheepish look. "Hours?"

We all groan, except Alex, retreating away from him.

"If it tears. You tear after it," I heard Raine threaten him, Ani and Louisa giggling as they disappeared into their pile of furs.

"That's if he doesn't drool on it first." Luca mused, situating himself in the far end of the room and closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the wall. A clear indication that he need to be by himself. Chi pouted, stomping off to join Ani and Louisa in the pile of furs. I went over to Raine who was laying on her back and lay down beside her.

"Hey". I murmured.

She glanced at me for a second before returning her gaze back to the roof. Silence flowed between us for a while before she spoke out, her voice soft. "We are never gonna get out".

My lips pressed together as I mulled over her word, taking in her side features, her dirty blonde hair was greasy and messy, just like everyone else's here. The last time I took my bath was the night before I appeared here although we found rivers on our way and rain fall very often, nothing is better than soaking in a hot bath. Her face was dirty, a deep scar on her cheek, she won't say where she got it though I'm pretty sure Alex knew about it. "Why would you say that?" I whispered.

She make a snort like sound at the back of her throat. "What do you think I'm doing all this while I'm here? Trying to escape of course but it's all pointless, there's no way out".

"You never found a map then, we are making progress", I tried to say.

She turned her head at me, her features hard as her brown eyes study my face carefully. "You don't know what we found", Her eyes strayed to Alex for a split second so fast I would have missed it if I wasn't watching her carefully. She sighed and turn her head back to the roof, closing her eyes and easily ending the conversation. I keep watching her until I felt a pair of burning eyes on my skin. Turning my head slightly, my eyes met green ones from across the room. He's watching us intently especially me, his face blank as usual. I frowned at him but he doesn't back down his gaze, he's watching me...like he's figuring me out???

I give up. You can never know with Alex. I return my eyes to Raine, the soft snore escaping her tells me she's asleep already. I watched her closely, my eyes fixated on that scar on her cheek. Raine has always been someone I looked up to ever since I'm here, she's the anchor of our group, someone that always look after us and ensure we are okay even though we are not.

None of us is okay.

My eyes still on her scar, I wondered how she got it, she never talked to us about her past but I heard from Luca that she and Alex are the only one that escaped from their gtoup when a beast attacked them, leading them to find Luca and Louisa, then Chi, then Josh, then Me and finally Ani, the girl that comes from Nigeria.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep, all the while feeling a pair of burning eyes on me.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



My head feels heavy.

I blinked.

My heart pounded furiously in my chest.

What is that? Fear? Shock?

But I can't seem to feel any emotions.

I looked up,

Forest.

Where are the others?

I looked down,

My legs were covered in leather,

They seems extremely large.

I held my hands in front of me,

They were cover in grey leather,

They were large.

This is not my hand.

I looked up,

Suddenly in front of a mirror,

My head was covered in leather,

My body unnaturally large.

This is not my body.

This is not me.

I know who this is...

I screamed.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I jerked awake, my eyes wide in horror as I took in my surroundings. For a minute, I was still in that forest, my body covered in leather.... I blinked, my head spinning. I feel like I could retch my intestines out. I sat up slowly and look around, the hut was darker than usual but I could make out the sleeping form of the others especially Josh, drooling on the map. I closed my eyes, pressing my palm on the sides of my head trying to rein I'm my pounding head but a growl make my eyes flew open.

Serpent was on his feet, ears perked up, growling. I panicked, Serpent doesn't growl... except if a beast is near.

Creak. Creak.


I froze.

This is not good, A beast catching us in a hut meant death.

A trap, with no way out.

We are dead.


AN: Unedited. Feel free to point out the mistakes. Chapter two coming next week. I hope this is up to your liking.



Poll_lyn💜







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