Frozen Summer

Chapter 5

Many thoughts were rushing through her mind after he had left her house, she had managed to keep her composure long enough for him to leave without suspecting her. " is he undercover to track and kill witches in another country ? They rarely operate alone so where are his allies ? Did someone in town suspect me and contacted hunters to get rid of me ? What if he was already watching the house and was stalking me many times already ? ". She started obsessing over it, fearing for her safety. She was now in a constant danger that he would approach her at any time and take her out without having the time to react. Feeling exhausted by all this mental stress, she went to bed, a ball of stress in her belly.

There he was, standing in the middle of the forest pass, she was running as fast as she could, he was chasing after her, his usual charming smile still on his face. As she arrived into a clearing she tried to gain back a normal rhythm, she turned around only to be tackled to the ground just a second later. Richard was standing over her, his hand was big enough to immobilise both her wrists, she was completely at his mercy, he leaned closer to her " you thought you could outrun me ? Now I've got you just where i wanted ".

She closed her eyes, strangely she wasn't afraid, why wasn't she afraid ? The next thing she knew, his lips were touching her lips, she wasn't resisting him, her hands were still restrained while his free hand was unbuttoning the top of her dress and uncovering her shoulders. He started going down from her lips to her neck, down her chest to her breasts. Suddenly she felt a burning sensation in her lower belly followed by a freezing sensation, she was afraid to move, when she finally mustered the courage to look, her white dress was as red as her hair, tainted by her blood.She looked at Richard in disbelief, " Rich- " was all she could say before he sliced her throat in the most swift and elegant gesture...

She woke up screaming and in sweat, what an horrible nightmare. She had been having this nightmare and fear of Richard ever since that day. 4 days had passed with no incident yet she was still feeling uneasy. She wasn't going outside further than her own garden, but she couldn't prepare all the required products if she didn't venture into the forest. Her livelihood was at risk if she didn't get the right ingredients but it wasn't worth losing her life. She thought to herself " it's not living, i'm just surviving this current predicament ".

She had a few options, she could lay low and try to disappear far away from here, going way north near the demi-human country of Elzerath, or go among the witches in Tzungstat. But she knew that living as a witch over there meant either be used for the war like a tool or be seen as a goddess and worshipped and she just wanted to be left alone. She could try to fight him but what if there were multiple hunters all as stealthy and fast as Richard ? She barely escaped the werewolf a few weeks back and she only defeated it because it had an actual weakness. Killing someone like a witch hunter is already known to be the most difficult task, to the point that witch hunters are often recruited as mercenaries when their countries aren't at war and are known to be the most amazing of swordsmen. A sudden knocking on her door got her out of her own head, she didn't have any appointment, who could this be ? She feared the worst, what if behind this door was Richard or another witch hunter she hasn't seen yet ? What if straight after opening the door she would receive a crossbow bolt straight between the eyes ? The knocking got more intense, the person on the other side was clearly getting impatient. She grabbed a knife and stood behind the door trying to see through the cracks who it was, all she could see was a large dark shape that looked like a dark armor plate. Suddenly the shape moved, the person behind the door turned around, she could see big burly hands while the man was putting his hands on his hips and tapping his heavy boot on the ground out of annoyance " is that bitch asleep or what ? ", it definitely wasn't Richard.

- " maybe she just isn't home " said a second voice that sounded way smoother, " look through the windows to check, do i need to remind you what will happen to us if the lady can't see the herborist ? '' the man said fidgeting nervously with a pendant hanging from his neck.