Chapter 1

The night's sky was very picturesque. The large moon filled the clear sky with its luminous light. Behind the moon were colorful twinkling stars that provided the perfect backdrop. The deep and soft hooting sound filled the night making it calm. The night was tremendously perfect. But the air was still and tension soon filled the surrounding. Throughout a small village, the lighting was bright. The laughter of young children could be heard throughout the distance. The playing of music filled the night. The villagers danced happily celebrating the return of their loved ones. While others wept and moan the loss of a close relative or family member.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

A slender joyous girl approached a man who seemed to be in his fifties. Her eyes brightened when the man stooped down opening his arms for her. She quickened her pace opening her arms widely to hug the man. A broad smile formed on his lips but they didn't quite reach his eyes as he admired her features as if seeing her for the first time. She fell in his warm embrace. He engulfed her with a big warm hug.

His eyes drifted behind the slender girl where a younger one with freckled cheeks and big blue ocean eyes that could calm a man's grieving soul. Her jet black silk-like hair swayed down her hips. Her skin is as smooth as glass and freed from blemishes. Her smile could compete with the sun. Indeed she was beautiful and resembled a white delicate flower against a bouquet of red roses. The young girl gave off the aura of young, sweet, and innocent. She was indeed innocent but unlike any other female her age, she was fine-boned. She was a six-year-old girl but she looked even more mature. She acted like an adult would. Thus she was intelligent and asked questions even an adult did not know of. She was indeed a keeper. The man's green orbs bubbled with excitement. He was overwhelmed with joy to see his beautiful princess, the apple of his eyes again after being away for six months.

At her right side stood a lady who seemed to be in her early forties. She was the spitting image of the little girl. She stare down at the man embracing her eldest daughter and a cheeky grin formed on her face. The little girl clinged to her arm and trembled, Ella knew she was scared of something.

But why was she scared?

She watched the little girl's eyes widened before they became teary. She stopped dead in her track and pointed towards a sacred place made of board and surrounded by candles the pig was killed and tied upside down and drained of its blood. Its eyes were lifeless and beady. The girl felt sorry for the pain the poor animal had to endure. Her blue orbs pricked with tears but she didn't cry. The villages people crowded the sacred place in a matter of seconds hiding her view of the animal's corpse. They chanted some words the girl was unable to distinguish.

"Aurora is everything alright dare?" Her voice was filled with concerns she stooped down in front of her daughter.

"That was an innocent animal." She said folding her arms across her chest. "He didn't deserve to die."

"It's not a matter of innocence my darling but a matter of survival." Her dad approached holding the little girl's hand.

"I have lived in this village for six years mamma and there has been not one attack from the forest monsters." She diverted her gaze towards her mother. She never believed in their village's traditions and customs. But instead saw them as an urban myth.

"Watch your mouth young lady not one more word from you. Where did you get those silly ideas of yours?" The lady scolds her daughter for her silly thought. She looked around frantically before gripping the girl's hand lightly and her dress in the next. They strode on slicing like a knife through the crowd of cheering villagers. The young girl could sense the woman's unease state but she glued her lips shut not wanting to upset her any further. She wondered why her mother was upset though.

Was it something she said?

She shrugged off the thought and pushed her legs to move faster. The woman was walking briskly and her palm was becoming clammy.

Auroras feet ached slightly from all the walking they did. Their village wasn't enormous but instead small. But their home was quite a distance. They were closer to the woods and only had one neighbor. The villagers were scared of the forest monsters thus they lived quite a distance from the forest and built their houses close to each other. They believed they had a greater chance of warding off the forest monsters.

"Where did you get that silly idea from Aurora?" The woman placed both hands on the young girl's shoulders. "If the villagers heard those despicable words of yours we would be looked down on. I cannot have our small family brought to disgrace."

Aurora was flabbergasted by her mother's outburst. She felt a slight ache in her chest. Her big blue orbs were clouded by disappointment. Her mother dared to call her silly when she was being naive. The girl was no fool and no amount of convincing could let her believe in the forest creatures.

"Ella there is no need to be hard on her Grandma Ellis will explain further."

Aurora looked behind her where her father stood with her older sister clinging to his arm as if her life depended on it. Unlike Aurora, the girl was a spitting image of her father with his alluring green eyes. Her skin was subtle and smooth and her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders. Unlike Aurora, the girl was gentle and loving. She was loved and cherished by every living thing that sets eyes upon her.

"Grandma is coming by tonight, I always enjoyed her stories," Violet said in a squeaky voice.

Aurora rolled her eyes in annoyance. She knew the villagers were brainwashing them to believe in the mythology. Her parents were however oblivious to what was taking place. But she on the other hand was a tough nut to crack open and it would have to take more than Grandma Ellis to have her convinced.