Among the trees

Chapter 1

The forest was silent, nothing stirred, not even a bird could be seen soaring through the night. In a clearing lay three children their arms sprawled out as if they were reaching out to one another their fingertips almost touching. Their faces showed serene looks, as if they had just fallen asleep, but the blood trickling down the side of their faces suggested otherwise. They weren't breathing. Deep in the forest, far away stood another set of children. They were breathing, for now.

These children wore mistrustful looks upon their faces and were glaring around suspiciously. Not just at each other but into the depths of the forest as if they thought something was lurking there, just out of sight – watching, waiting. The trees were gnarled and loomed down on the children, their leaves dark, concealing the moon. The sky was black and cloudless, the moon was full – its beams stretching down trying to make contact with the three isolated children, trying to show them that light can prevail even in the darkest of nights but its beams did not reach the children, they did not feel it's reassuring glow, instead they felt alone – marooned with strangers in an unknown location, their hairs standing on end as they felt a watchful eye upon them. An evil eye.

The children stood half concealed in darkness, their eyes gleaming - at a stalemate. Eventually, a girl with jet black hair, dark even than the gloom engulfing them with a lilac highlight complimenting her dark locks, stepped forwards – palms raised in a gesture of peace. "We can't stand around here all day, anyone got any plans?" The boy looked stunned at her matter-of-fact attitude and then a look of desperation settled on his face, his eyes immediately darted to the other girl, sizing her up. She was just shorter than him, chubbier too, and had rounded features with a nervous look in her sage green eyes – she appeared only around 10 years old – her hair was around shoulder length and chocolate brown. She wore a pure white hoodie and shorts of a dark green shade, her white adidas shoes matched her hoodie giving her a ghostly look. The boy seemed to decide that she wasn't a threat and instead glanced over his shoulder once more as if he had a hope of finding something, or someone, amidst the trees. To this day we still don't know who or what put them in this forest, who watched their progress – who watched them suffer.

The tall, thin girl managed to strike up a fire which illuminated her features. She had a sharp chin and her dark hair was long and messy. She wore a zip-up hoodie, the exact same shade as her highlight – a pastel lilac colour – over a black t-shirt. Faded, blue jeans clung to her unhealthily slim legs and she wore black Nikes with purple laces. Her light blue eyes seemed to pierce the boy as she gazed appraisingly at him.

The boy also had sharp features and messy hair, although his was a platinum blonde colour and rather shorter than the girls. They looked around the same age, 13, although he was shorter. His eyes were amber, contrasting with his pale skin. He too wore a black t-shirt and blue jeans, although his were less worn out, black fingerless gloves protected his palms. The mood was tense as the trio sat around the fire, the youngest hugging herself – curled up in the foetal position, her eyes reflecting the warm glow of the flames. None of them seemed truly warmed by the embers. The tallest looked apprehensive and on alert, routinely checking the surrounding gloom and the boy watched her with a grave expression marring his face, eventually they fell into an uneasy sleep – their dreams punctured by misshapen figures lurking just out of sight.

The break of dawn illuminated the children's features casting them in a blood red light that made them look like they were emitting a scarlet glow. The sunlight threw the dark bags under their bloodshot eyes into greater detail. The children seemed to have grown a great deal overnight – their faces no longer donned looks of desolation, they seemed wary – an air of caution hung around them. They exchanged only a few words that morning – confirming that each of them was not the cause of their predicament and discovering the others' names, the youngest was called Ophelia, the boy went by Cozbi and the black-haired girl name was Cecilia. Soon after they set off, Cozbi volunteered to scavenge for food but only returned with a handful of nuts – seeing the look on Ophelia's face he swiftly surrendered his portion to her. They marched quickly on, each more desperate than they cared to admit to escape this forest.