The Mortal Path

Chapter 1

Cold... dark... empty... and dreadful.

These are the words that young Gracie Carter would describe her surroundings when she woke up in an unfimiliar place.

No light, no sound, not even ground... she just floated in an empty void that continued forever.

Yet...

She didn't feel alone in this empty abyss.

She began to look around for any sign of life. Her eyes darted in diffrent directions as they tried to look for someone.

Finally, her eyes landed on a woman in the distance.

She was tall, she wore her hair in a messy bun, and dressed as a teacher.

The longer Gracie stared, the more she felt... afraid. The woman had her back facing her, yet she felt her eyes were on her. She felt a dangerous aura from her. She felt unsafe and felt she had to get away from her.

All of a sudden, she felt herself drawing closer to her.

She panicked, she tried to move but she was frozen. She couldn't move and with each passing second, she got closer to the woman.

Finally, she stopped.

She was only a few feet away from her, yet the lady seemed unbothered by her presence.

Even with this in mind, she still felt unsafe with her. She tried to move once more yet to no avail.

Just as she thought she was safe... she heard something cracking.

She looked up to the woman and felt her blood run cold, as the woman began turning her head to face Gracie.

As her head kept turning, her face became more clear.

She had an inhuman smile, her eyes were glassy, and her skin was shiny and cracked.

She faced the woman as the woman faced her.

Only silence could be heard. It felt like forever as they stood there just staring at each other.

Gracie wanted to scream, but nothing could be heard from her. She was scared, she couldn't move. She hated this feeling.

She wanted to run, scream, something other than nothing.

She felt helpless.

The woman began to open her mouth as a horrifying, inhuman screech began to form from her.

It began to become deafening as it grew louder.

Finally, Gracie screamed.

She jolted up as she began to hyperventilate.

"Gracie dear, what's wrong!?" She turned to the direction of the voice and sighed, "Ah... it's you." She fell backwards onto the blanket, remembering where she was...

On a small picnic with her mother.

"Yes? It's me...? Sweetie, is something wrong?" She asked, moving Gracie's hair from her face.

Gracie sighed, "Yeah, it's fine... just a bad dream." Gracie reassured, smiling. She sat up and rubbed her eye while her mother answered a call.

"Hello?... Now?..." Her mother sighed, "Okay, I'll be there shortly." She said, putting away her phone, "Sorry sweetie, I have to go."

"Again!?" Gracie shouted, looking at her mother. Her mother nodded, "I have a case I need to get to." She explained.

Gracie sighed of dissapointment.