Chapter 5

RISSA'S POV

My head was still throbbing painfully as I opened my eyes, awaken from my slumber. I rubbed my forehead with my palm in an attempt to ease the pain.

I must have slept for about 4 hours because when I woke up, the sun was directly overhead, indicating that it was noon. I didn't have any clocks or any time piece at all, so I have learned to use the sun's position to know what time of day it was.

There was a phone in my drawer that belonged to my mom, though. But it was very old and the batteries were long dead. Well, it's not like I have someone outside here to call anyways, so I didn't bother myself trying to get it charged. I didn't know my mother's family, and when I found my father's family in the city after my mum went missing, they spat in my face and threw me out telling me they didn't want to have anything to do with me. So yeah, I didn't have any need for a communication device.

After I woke up, I went outside to breathe in some fresh air and feel the cool forest breeze trickle against my skin. It was simply refreshing. One of the few benefits of living in the forest alone.

Peaceful Solitude! 

Suddenly, as my mind fully awakened from slumber, I realized that the pain in my head from slamming into the tree branch was much less. Then, all the events of the morning flashed in my memory. I was supposed to go to lunar dusk pack today.

Unfortunately, I couldn't go anymore because the journey to the lunar dusk pack was long and would take the whole day, especially since I was going on foot.

If I go now, I would end up being stranded in the thick of the forest in the middle of the night. I went to the back of my rickety shack to retrieve my hunting gear and my traps. Since I couldn't go out, I decided to go and place some traps and hunt for food for the day, seeing I didn't have any left.

I set out to the river not too far from my shack to first have my bath before I proceeded to hunting. My mom and I discovered the river some years back while we were roaming the forests searching for shelter. The river is near a cave and has a small waterfall above the cave that feeds into it before flowing out.

My mom and I lived under the cave for a while before moving out and building the shack. We built the shack at a somewhat close proximity with the river because of the water source.

I placed my hunting gear on the floor, and my small, black fanny pack on a large rock as soon as I got to the river and looked around to make sure the coast was clear before undressing.

The coast was clear based on my evaluation. The river was small and hidden, with large trees surrounding it. I highly doubted if anyone else had discovered it yet, except me and my mom.

I took off my shoes, shirt and bra, and placed them on a rock close to where my fanny pack was. Then I removed my pants and underwear, leaving me completely naked. I folded my pants before putting it on the rock.

I reached for my fanny pack and grabbed my bar of soap from inside, then I slowly walked into the river. It wasn't too cold because the sun was high up, but my body still shuddered as the water prickled my bare skin. I went in deeper, submerging my body halfway underwater.

I went in further until the water was just beneath my breasts. l lifted my feet off the ground causing me to sink down a few inches, relieving me of the weight of my breasts as their bouyancy made them lighter under the water surface. I brought down my feet and bounced up again. My body oscillated, switching between heavy and weightless as I jumped up and down in the river.

I played with the water a bit before rubbing the bar of soap on my hair and on my loofah. I finished washing my body completely, but as my body became more accustomed to the water temperature, the water became soothing, so I stayed a while longer.

After some time, I heard a rattling noise in the bushes. I jumped. Startled, I quickly turned my attention towards the direction of the sound.

Seconds later, a raccoon jumped out of the bush where the sound came from and ran away.

I was a bit relieved that it was only a raccoon, so I shrugged and eventually shifted my attention from the noise earlier. But for some reason, I was now uncomfortable. I felt like there were eyes peering into my skin from all corners of the river.

The self-consciousness made me feel uneasy, so I swam to river bank hurriedly. As soon as I got there, I quickly made for my fanny pack to retrieve my towel. I dried myself up and put on my clothes.

I couldn't see anything or anyone, but I just had this weird sensation that I was being watched. I picked up the rest of my stuff and started walking away from the river.

Some weird tension I knew not from whence it came suddenly enveloped me.

RUN!!!

I heard a voice in my head say as I began to move. I felt weird realization of danger coil in my chest, so I ran.

Numerous tree branches and leaves whipped against my skin as I ran away from– 'God knows what' I was running from. While I was running, I constantly kept looking over my shoulders to try and make a sense of what exactly was happening.

It was crazy, I know. But it was a very strong sensation I felt. It was like I could smell the danger lurking around me even though I didn't see anything.

After covering like half the distance to my shack, I started hearing the sound of rattling bushes and footsteps behind me that I was sure weren't mine.

I looked over my shoulder and I saw some figures, human-like chasing after me. I only caught a glimpse of it because I was running so fast and didn't want to bump into a tree.

"Stop there!" I heard a deep masculine voice order from behind me, confirming my hunch that I was indeed being chased by a human.

I turned around again, briefly, in my frantic evasion for dear life, and I counted three men in the bushes chasing behind me. Instinctively, I picked up the pace while pondering on who these people were and what they wanted from me.

I heard a strange yet familiar noise from behind me, different from the sound of rattling bushes and charging footsteps. So I turned around yet again, only to be greeted by a terrifying scenery.

Wolves!

Three of them!

Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was being chased by werewolves. Because I could swear that a second ago there were three men behind me, and now there were wolves.

There could be only one explanation.

My heart jumped out of my chest and my whole body turned cold as I subconsciously said my last prayers. There was no way I was getting out of this one alive.

As I returned my head to the front to focus on the bushy path ahead of me, it was too late. A large buttress root in my path stopped me in my tracks, sending me flying to the ground.

I looked forward, and I could see the silhouette of my shack behind the bushes in the distance, a little above 50 meters away.

While on the floor, I turned around to face the wolves that were now pacing towards me. I crawled backwards, closing my eyes as I waited for the moment when they would pounce on me and tear me to shreds.

"Its not him..." I heard one of them say. I opened my eyes to see three able-bodied men standing over me. They had shifted back into their human form.

Their gaze pierced through my skin as they stared at me creepily, with malicious intent written all over their faces.

One of them took a step closer to me and caught me by the throat.

"But she looks like free food." he growled and let out a creepy chuckle. "I think she's a rogue..." Another one commented after sizing me up for a while.

"Haha... Even better." the first one interrupted. "She's as worthless as a piece of rag." He added, with that sinister grin permanently glued to his face.

In the blink of an eye, he lifted me up, placed me on his shoulder, and made for my shack and the rest of them followed behind.

My heart was pounding intensively against my ribcage, as I realized the danger I was in.

I was surrounded by a group of three dangerous-looking men.

I was helpless!