"We did, yes. But it wasn't abandoned. We saw signs indicating that a couple lived there previously. That's when we knew that we needed to find you. So we started searching for clues about where you might be hiding out.""Turns out there wasn't too much to find. All we needed to do was search for people who knew the area. It's not like anyone would suspect that you'd run off somewhere. We just couldn't stay there any longer.""Every night I'd come home exhausted from searching for you but the next morning I'd feel guilty because I realised that I should be doing more for you than that. So the next night I went out on another search. When I returned, you were gone." He paused again, sighing deeply. "It took a lot of convincing and threats, but eventually I agreed to let you go to live with us. And you have to promise me that you won't ever try to leave us."Serena nodded. "I promise.""Good, because you can't just run away every time things get bad. If you had done that, we never woul
She stares at her feet as she walks down the path leading to the hospital, trying hard to keep herself focused on her surroundings. Even though she knows that she isn' t going to get far without someone noticing her. She glances to her side every now and then, glancing at the clock on the wall. She knows that she needs to hurry but she also doesn't want to leave her mother. Not right now. She still hasn't gotten any word from her father yet. She has no idea whether or not he's going to wake up at all. He could die, she thinks to herself. He could die and she won't even notice. She shakes her head furiously, trying to stop those thoughts from running rampant through her mind. She needs to focus on finding her mum so that maybe she can help him. She can't afford to lose herself thinking about her father. She has to find her mom.Eventually, the building that's in front of her comes into view and she decides to turn her attention towards it instead of her worries. Her eyes land on the
"You look familiar. I think I may have seen you around town."She nods. "I work at the cafe near the hospital, remember?"His brow furrows as he continues to stare at her."Do I know you?" He asks.She smiles lightly. "I think you're forgetting who I am. My name is Serena."His eyes widen. "Oh yeah, sorry."She giggles softly. "Don't apologise. I'm just glad that we ran into each other.""I guess I owe you an explanation, huh?" He says."Sure thing, what did you want to tell me?"He takes a deep breath. "I know that you know about me."She looks up at the sky again, suddenly feeling a little shy. "A couple of weeks ago I found out that my father was ill and he told me that he would tell me more once he felt better. Unfortunately, he never woke up again. He died yesterday afternoon, and now I'm left wondering how I'm meant to take care of myself now. How do people live like this?""I'm sorry, Serena." He says sincerely. "This is definitely not the life for me either. I'm only doing thi
"I was always scared. I hated the woods. But every time I returned home, after I had eaten and drank and watched the stars, my parents would still be waiting for me.""They made me feel safe. And then one summer...my parents decided that I shouldn't come here anymore. One day, they said goodbye to me and drove off, leaving me all by myself. I ran for miles and miles and I ended up here.""I tried to find my way back to England, but I lost track of where I was and eventually, I wandered around aimlessly in the forest for three days. By the time I finally managed to find my way back home, it was completely dark and I couldn't even see my feet in front of me anymore.""The next morning, I realised that I was so tired that I couldn't even move properly. I thought that I had died or become a ghost or something. So instead of going back home, I decided to sleep for a while. When I woke up, everything looked exactly as it usually was except for one thing.""There were five people in the clea
She looks around and sees a small rock. She picks it up and sits down on the ground in front of him. She takes a deep breath and looks up into his eyes."Remember when I told you that the spirits were the ones who killed your family, right? Well, what you saw last night..." She pauses for a few seconds. "That's a part of it. A part of the spirit's revenge. But I also know something more than that. I know that the spirits are suffering. Their bodies are decaying, but they' re still alive inside, but they' re trapped somewhere, unable to move on, unable to die.""But if they' re trapped somewhere, how do you know that they're still alive?" "Because my friend, my brother, has lived in this forest for almost thirty years. He knows that things here are different, that it isn't normal to walk around and have no memory of the past twenty years. That's why when I first arrived here, he warned me that this place is dangerous and that I should never enter. It doesn't matter how dangerous it m
His gaze falls upon her and he watches as she stands up and walks towards the man, who tells her that she needs to hurry because it's very possible that he'll lose the woman that he's looking for. He then tells her to meet back up with him outside the village."Is everything alright, miss?" He asks her.She smiles, giving him a polite nod. "Everything's fine. Thank you for asking."She turns around and begins walking away from the crowd, heading straight for the exit. Before leaving the clearing, however, she stops. She looks at the people standing around, wondering whether she should try to talk to someone or not. Eventually, she decides to stay behind, knowing that talking would probably lead to trouble anyway.Sergio and Thomas watch as she disappears through the gate."She really seems like a nice girl."Louis shrugs. "Maybe.""She's beautiful!""I agree."They look into the distance and smile at each other, knowing that they could never be like that. Not in any way that matters.
But as usual, he failed, and she was now left alone with him, trying her hardest to ignore how quiet it seemed to be in the room."This doesn't make sense," he suddenly says, staring at the page for a couple of seconds before slamming the desk with his fist. "Nothing!"She sits on the sofa across from him, staring at the papers scattered all over the floor. "There has to be something here." He says, standing up and going over to the window.She follows him and leans over his shoulder, peering at his notes."If it's not here, maybe we should check something else." She suggests.He sighs. "Yeah, yeah. You may be right." He pauses for a second. "Do you think you could find something else?"She furrows her brows. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"He shakes his head. "Because if you search the library instead, you will find more than anything else that we could possibly need. But you wouldn't find the same things if you searched the archives."She frowns. "Why do you need me for that? Do you
"I told you that you would disobey me, didn't I? And you proved me right. You can't even speak properly yet." He spits out. "But that's fine. At least now I can torture you the way I wanted to."She feels him grab her by the hair and push her head upwards. She closes her eyes tightly and waits for whatever he will throw at her next. "Now, I'm gonna teach you how to talk properly." He whispers.He pulls her to her feet, causing her to stumble forward."Your mother used to say that you were quite good at talking, that you talked well." He smirks. "It took you two hours after each sentence before you could form complete sentences. But since you can't speak anymore, maybe that makes me stronger."She feels herself being dragged through the hallway and down the stairs, toward the living room where the others are sitting in silence, looking worried. It hurts to breathe."Daddy!"The moment that Anna sees her father appear in front of her, she opens her mouth, ready to yell for help. But
"It sounds like your husband was really great." He remarked. She nodded slowly, not saying anything in response.Julian knew that she probably needed to process what happened before she could continue talking to him about it. He waited patiently.After a few moments, she took a deep breath and lifted her head."Do you remember when I said that my mother passed away a year ago? Well, it wasn't actually a death. It was a suicide." She revealed quietly. "We had just moved here after that." Julian nodded. He remembered the day perfectly. He had taken her to visit her mother and she had shown them around the house. They had visited the cemetery and Serena had talked about her mother for the entire time.She seemed happy. It was obvious how fond of her mother she was. Julian smiled slightly at the memory."Well, she did it. I think that my father may have been responsible. After he found out, he got violent. And he didn't take it well when she killed herself." Serena explained. She shrugg
The sound of soft footsteps alerted Julian to the presence of another person entering the room. He turned around and gave his visitor a weak smile."Hi" He whispered. She returned the gesture with a soft smile of her own."How are you?" She asked concerned, moving to sit down next to him. He glanced at her briefly and shrugged."I'm alright. Tired. I think I caught a cold. I feel pretty gross, too. My throat is hurting." He answered honestly. She chuckled."That happens sometimes when you get sick. Have you eaten anything?" She asked him. He shook his head. "I can cook you something.""No, no. I can eat when I have the chance." He protested."You shouldn't. It can cause more harm than good." She told him. He sighed quietly."I know. But I'll eat anyway. If it means that I won't starve to death, I'll eat." He insisted. She laughed again."Okay" She agreed after a beat.Silence fell between them as they both stared blankly at the wall opposite of them. After a few minutes of silence, h
"I see…" She paused for a moment before she spoke again. "Can I ask you something though?" She inquired. Julian nodded absentmindedly. "What happened?" "Why did you have that conversation with her?""Because…” He started explaining vaguely. “Because…" He trailed off as he tried to find the words to explain to her. It was true that he didn't want to burden her with anything concerning his relationship with Serena. However, he knew that he couldn't hide things from his family forever. If he did, then eventually they would discover that something was wrong with him. He sighed heavily as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration."Dad, can you give me a minute? I'll be right back" He whispered. Without waiting for his father to respond, he ended the call and went back inside the room. He stood behind the couch for a few moments as he listened to the soft sound of Serena's breathing. He could barely make out any sounds from the living room.He approached the sleeping girl slowl
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” She smiled reassuringly, hoping that her boyfriend would believe her. Julian smiled back at her.“Alright then” He said in response. He leaned forward and pressed another tender kiss onto her lips. A few seconds later he released his fiancée from his embrace and turned to open the horse carriage. Before leaving the parking lot he glanced at his wife once more. “Stay inside, all right? No wandering around alone.” He added.“Sure. Don’t worry.”“I don’t care if you stay inside the whole time, I will still worry.”“Okay” She laughed and waved at him as he drove away. She waited until he disappeared from view before returning to sit down on the sofa once again. She was silent for several minutes, pondering what he had told her before. As she sat there and stared ahead at nothing particular, she suddenly felt like she was suffocating.She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she found herself sitting there sta
He smiled gently and leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his fiancée's forehead. She chuckled quietly and moved her hands to hold the back of his head. They stayed like that for a few moments before Julian pulled away."I need to go check on something." He announced getting up from the couch.Serena watched curiously as her husband headed towards the kitchen. She tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms in front of her chest."Do you think that he might be cheating on me?" Serena whispered to herself.Suddenly the sound of footsteps caught her attention. She looked behind her and spotted Julian leaning against the door frame watching her."Hm?" She hummed. He shrugged his shoulders."Nothing. I guess you should come with me." Julian told her as he gestured towards the hallway."Where are we going? And why?" Serena asked."I'm checking if my mother and father are home and if they have any guests." Julian answered as he walked toward the closet to retrieve his jacket and t
After another minute or two he started moving his hand slowly. He caressed her side slowly, enjoying the feeling of his thumb brushing against her tender skin. He pressed a gentle kiss to her inner thigh and started teasing her.“Please….please don’t….stop” Serena begged breathlessly, her eyes still closed. The prince smirked and continued to stroke her thigh slowly. He reached the peak again, but hesitated. Just as he was about to push inside her and make her come, there was a knock on the door.Serena froze and tensed in his lap.“Are you expecting anyone?” Julian asked calmly as he continued to stroke her inner thigh slowly. The princess shook her head no and slowly slid off of his lap.“No, it can’t be my parents. They aren’t home yet." She muttered worriedly. Julian furrowed his eyebrows. Something doesn’t seem right. He looked over to his wife and noticed that she was staring intently at the door. There was fear evident in her blue orbs. What could it possibly be.“Go answer t
“I love you so much Serena.” Julian said placing a few quick pecks on the girl’s lips. He heard some gasps around him and saw that everyone else were looking at him weirdly. He frowned and pulled away from the girl. “We have to pay for these groceries so let’s hurry up okay?” He said before grabbing the shopping basket from her hands.A few minutes later they were leaving the grocery store and Julian couldn’t hold back the huge grin on his face. This is definitely the best day of his life and he wouldn’t change any minute of it. He finally proposed to his beautiful queen and got a yes from her."I am so happy." He thought happily.He looked over to Serena who was walking next to him and noticed that she was also smiling like a fool. As soon as they got in the carriage, he reached out and held her hand. "So many things happened yesterday. Our parents came, I proposed to her, she said yes, she said yes to marrying me and I kissed her." Julian laughed and squeezed the princess’s hand
“You look cute today.” His girlfriend said while looking at the prince who is smiling at himself while wearing his blue coat and holding his hand. “How can I look cute when you are wearing the prettiest thing on earth?” His boyfriend said kissing the redhead’s hand.“You are lucky I love you then.” Serena chuckled taking the boy’s hand and heading towards the exit of the park, the prince couldn’t stop smiling.They arrived at the ice rink where they usually meet each other. Their friends is there already waiting for them and they went to the ice skating rink together. This is where Serena found her boyfriend. He was wearing a red robe with scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, gloves and long coat. The boy was smiling brightly like a mad man while trying to keep his balance on the slippery ice, he looked adorable."Do you like it?" Asked Julian while looking at her. The princess was busy admiring her boyfriend, her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest and she felt herself blu
Suddenly, the dragon let out a deafening roar. It echoed throughout the entire pier and caused many people to yelp in pain and fright. Several people started crying and clutching onto their friends' arms tightly as if they would fall apart at any moment. Serena couldn't take her eyes of the terrifying beast which was now standing proudly right before them, roaring and snorting menacingly. It was impossible to tell how many people were trapped inside those gigantic jaws, as the darkness prevented them from seeing. But judging by the loud growls coming from the creature, they must've been close to death.After a few seconds the roaring sound gradually decreased until it eventually disappeared, leaving behind an eerie silence. The crowd was dead silent. Everyone remained motionless, except for the tears streaming down their cheeks and the shudders that wracked their bodies. No one made a peep or uttered a single word. Everyone was glued to the horrifying creature in front of them, a