Shadows Of The Past

Chapter One

Welcome to a peek inside my wild, creative mind! First, I'd like to thank you for clicking on this story and for giving it a chance. Writing has always been a massive passion of mine. I hope you enjoy the story, and I appreciate every comment, like, and follow.

*Trigger Warning*
Explicit mature scenes, graphic violence, and non-consensual touching (not by the main love interest).

Disclaimer: All ideas and characters are my own, so please respect my work; no copyrighting is allowed.

Copyright © 2024 Emily Rose @creativemindxo All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or any other methods, without the prior written permission of the author/publisher/copyright holder.
_______________________________

Running.

I'm running through the woods. Panicked breaths shatter my lungs, effectively giving away my location. Bruises and cuts damage my skin as I run through branches in my path. I need to reach him. I need to warn them of the impending threat. These are the only thoughts cycling in my brain as I push my body past its breaking point to reach the castle I can make out through the trees when a gust of wind hit me from the left. The impact knocks me into a nearby tree, and pain explodes through my side. I clench my teeth and brace myself with a hand supporting my stomach as I pull myself to a stand.

Further in the forest behind me came a nasal voice taunting, "Can't have you warning him, can we?"

***

I jolted up in bed, sweating from another dream in the worn-down cabin. "Shit," I muttered while raising my hand to rub away the impending headache I get after these dreams. Six months. It's been six months since they started and a year since I wandered out of that creepy cave and into a werewolf community with zero memory of who I was.

"Knock, knock," came a quiet voice outside the only bedroom in this cabin.

"Come in," I replied hoarsely from sleep.

In stepped Dahlia, who took me under her wing after I showed up lost. She became a quick friend and helped show me the ropes of this new, confusing world. She was currently carrying a tray with wonderful-smelling eggs.

"Thought you could use a pick me up after sleeping and thrashing around all night." I slowly sat up. I was preparing for my side to hurt, but realized it was just a dream.

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't keep you up?" Since there's only one bedroom, Dahlia nicely let me share it with her, which means she also must deal with my dreams.

"It's all right. What was this one about?" I nervously picked up the bread she gave me. It made me nervous to share them with others, as if they were somehow personal to me even though they were not.

"She was running through the woods desperately trying to get somewhere until she got hit with some intense magic, and I woke up."

Dahlia took a moment to mull over my dream description before humming quietly and responding, "I wonder where she was headed."

"I briefly saw some castle in the woods before she was hit." She now looked puzzled.

"There are no castles anymore, especially in the woods."

"Look, it's just some dream, right? Let's forget about it."

"Are you sure they're not your actual memories?"

"They're not."

"How do you know?"

"Because something about them feels...older. The outfits they wear, and the structures are like one hundred or more years ago."

"It could be a past life?"

"I doubt it. Look, forget about it, and let's go. I promised your uncle that I would practice with him today."

"Another bow and arrow lesson?" I smiled fondly, thinking about the older man who almost no one from our village could stand because of his ornate attitude.

"He doesn't treat me like I'm fragile."

***

Eyes closed—steady breathing. I forced control over my body like I'd been trained to. Focus on the sounds around you. I stayed still and prepared myself. The slightest change in the breeze told me they were coming from the east. The sudden stillness of the surrounding forest spoke they were close by. The crunch of the leaves behind me was just before they reached my position. Pivoting just in time to dodge the first punch, and quickly followed it up with a kick to the threat's stomach. From a quick glance, I saw a man about six feet tall, well-built, with dark hair. The man winced from the blow before regaining his senses. Only the last six months of practice kept me on her feet when the man was able to land a hit to her side. I grunted from pain and used it to fuel myself forward. We continued to land and dodge hits and kicks until we both laid exhausted on the forest floor. ​

"You're getting faster." The older man grunted between breaths.

​"Or you're just getting slow in your old age." I smiled at him before jumping and offering him my hand.

​"I'm not old, you little shit. I'd still be considered a spry young man if I were human." He ignored her hand and stood on his own. ​

"I don't think they would even consider you a young man, Manson. Maybe a spry old man? You're lucky shifters age slow." Turning away, I began the long walk back towards their village. ​

"Haven't I taught you to respect your elders, Cassia?" He asked, offended, while rushing to catch up.

"You've tried." I shrugged before ducking under a low-hanging branch. Manson and I continued to jest as we made the trek home.

In all truth, Manson didn't look old by any standard, but I couldn't resist an opportunity to nettle him. He was Dahila's uncle and caretaker and became like an uncle to me. Manson may be seventy in shifter years but looked no older than forty in human years. And yes, shifters existed. When I woke up in the middle of a random ass cave six months ago with no memory of who I was, I freaked out when Manson and Dahlia informed me about this world.

Our world has four main factions of creatures: the humans, the witches, the wolf shifters, and the Lycans. Each group has mostly kept to itself since the Great War, but occasionally, paths cross. Only the Elders of each clan know the true story of how the war happened, and each one has a different version. The consensus is that there was once harmony before chaos reigned.

Humans are the same as ever–always turning on one another while being overcome with greed. Then there are the shifters. Their bodies change form into wolves and no ordinary wolves either. Even the smallest of their kind is double the size of an average wolf. They're stronger, faster, and more intelligent than the average human. This is why a section of humans eventually turned to black magic to combat the shifter's abilities. And witches were created.

Then there were the Lycans. Savage beasts that were more powerful beyond the wildest imagination. Lycans were the deadliest of the four and had been at the top of the food chain until the Great War. Little knowledge is known about what happened during or after the war, but after the dust settled, they were gone as if they never existed. Many believed they had died out along with the Lycan King, and chaos ensued for many years until the three remaining factions came together to develop an extremely tentative alliance. An alliance that's now slowly crumbling. It was a shock to my system when I discovered I lived in a monstrous world with no memories to help until the dreams started.

_________________________
Hi friends!

Let me know if you like this idea! It's been bouncing around in my mind for a while and I finally decided to write it out. Please add to your library, vote, and comment your predictions and thoughts!

Thank you for reading,
Emily Rose 🥀