A Taste of Death

Chapter Two

The landscape was dark and colorless, the wind neither warm nor cold, but howled all the same. Nova found herself running, panting as she pumped her arms and legs, trying not to trip as she ran through the darkened woods. Something, no, someone was chasing her, an intense sense of fear coursing through her as she tried to listen for other footsteps beyond her labored breathing. A shadow moved to her right, she veered left. The same silhouette suddenly came at her left, she veered right, but not before hearing an amused chuckle. He was chasing her, catching up. Wait- who's 'he'?

Nova didn't get to spare any thought to the figure before she was roughly shoved. The world stilled as she landed face first on the ground, the breath knocked from her lungs. She groaned as she raised her head and torso up, supported by her sore arms and looked at the scenery around her. It wasn't long til realization hit her.

Nova Scott woke up, sitting up in bed, panting and looking around, eyes wide as the remnants of fear slowly faded and her heart settled. She shakily got out of bed, grabbed a glass of water and went back to her room, setting the glass down after a good long sip to clear her sleep fogged and slightly panicked mind from the nightmare she witnessed, only to notice a hauntingly familiar detail. The picture she had sworn she threw in the trash was on her desk, sitting perfectly on top of her closed computer, uncrumpled and unmarked.

She quickly looked around, checking her room with worry before she hesitantly picked up the photo, fear increasing as she realized she knew this photo. The monochromatic forest in the photo was the one that haunted her dreams just minutes ago. She took a few deep breaths and sat down on her bed, running her hands through her dark locks. "Calm down, Nova, it's just a photograph, just because it was in a dream or whatever doesn't mean anything." However she tried to console herself, she knew it was just a lie to cover up her fears, she felt something was off. With a shake of her head she pushed the thoughts back. This wasn't a horror story, the picture, the dream- must be a coincidence. Then again, that's what everyone thought.

She sighed and made sure to rip up the photograph thoroughly and threw it in the trash once more and looked at the clock. 5:00 AM. She groaned and set to getting ready for school as she'd have to get up soon anyways. Pulling on a sweatshirt over her tank top and some sweatpants, she brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail, taking her phone and glass of water and walking downstairs to get some cereal, yawning.

As she poked and lazily ate her cereal, she mindlessly scrolled through her feed on various social medias, not really seeing anything, her mind constantly thinking about her dream. She eventually sighed and set her phone down, opting instead to look around as she finished, rinsing her dish and finishing getting ready, going out to her stop to wait for the bus. She looked up to see the bus stop in front of her and her half awake friends waving at her. She smiled, scooting into a spot next to them. "Morning sleepyheads." Nova teased. Rosa snorted. "You're not much better." She teased back. Casey yawned. "Ya'll, I'm too tired for this." She complained, then grinned, showing she too, was participating in the friendly banter.

After getting off the bus, Casey rushed to the cafe, practically dragging the other two behind her. "Hey! Careful or ya going to tear my arm off, Case!" Rosa commented, Nova laughing. "Come on, I just want to see if there's anything good!" The other retorted. The blonde then stopped and huffed. "Ooh! Pizza!" She grinned, and grabbed a slice. "Hungry much?" Nova teased. Casey rolled her eyes. "Always!" Rosa and Nova grabbed their pieces and the trio went over to a booth in the corner eating in comfortable silence before Rosa sparked up. "Oh, so in photography Mr. Merier assigned us to do a collage of sorts with different landscape photos fitting a certain theme-" She pulled out a small folder and flipped through the contents, pictures of varying landscape photos and scenes.

Nova looked interested, oohing over some of the photos. "I haven't quite decided yet but I'm so excited." It was at that moment that the ravenette's blood ran cold. It was only a glimpse but she saw it again. The same photo from last night, and the night before. The same forest, the same monochrome trees from the same dream. "Nova?" The call of her name brought her back to attention, her two friends looking at her with slight concern. "Are you okay-?" Casey asked quietly. Nova nodded. "Uh- yeah! Just a lot of things on my mind today." She responded, smiling lightly. Rosa went to say something but the bell rang, saving Nova from having to explain any more. She didn't want to seem crazy. Maybe it was a coincidence.

The day continued on, however the mysterious photo would grant Nova no rest. Whenever she thought that she was imagining things, it was there, be it in an article, a photo collage, a picture on a bulletin board or otherwise, it was always the same picture, the same forest. When she would go home, there she would find the picture she destroyed previously on her desk, perfectly fine as if nothing had happened to it. No matter what she did, it always came back, even in her sleep. Nova grew restless, the dreams creating a lack of sleep, her thoughts racing as she desperately tried to figure out why this was happening to her. Her change in behavior didn't go unnoticed by her friends and they soon confronted her about it.

"Hey, Nova, we need to talk." Rosa approached her, grabbing her arm and leading the dark haired female to a secluded area, Casey following behind. "What's up?" Nova asked, hands in her pockets. Casey furrowed her brow and Rosa crossed her arms. "You!" Rosa replied. "Yeah- you've been quiet, you look super tired and you rarely eat anything anymore- what's wrong?" Casey inquired. Nova shook her head. "I'm alright." She tried brushing the question off. Rosa gave her a knowing look. "Come on, Nova, something is clearly bothering you. We want to help."

Nova was silent for a moment. "It's...this photograph.. It's not even that special. A black and white forest." She bit her lip after, sure she sounded ludacris. "Coincidence-? I mean there are a lot of forest pictures..." Casey asked quietly, looking worried. Nova looked down, rubbing her arms gently. "I thought so too but the pictures are everywhere. Every time I think I've destroyed one, another appears. And to add to that, I keep having these dreams where I'm running from someone in the forest in the pictures." She looked up at her friends. "That's...freaky...but we'll figure it out, okay?" Rosa gently placed a hand on Nova's shoulder and Casey gave her a small hug.
The rest of the day proceeded as normal with a few more sightings of the forest photo. However, things would change when she found the same photo she'd been seeing for two weeks now, on her desk. Now, there was something new, a word scrawled in neat calligraphy on the bottom frame of the photo. She picked it up and examined it, reading 'Vashnaheil'. She frowned. "Vashnaheil-?" She wondered out loud. She placed the photo down, wondering what that was when the photo starting glowing, turning her room a beautiful shade of royal purple as it expanded, the image turning into a glowing beam, enveloping Nova in it's rays, then soon diming, leaving the room the same as it was, now empty of the mysterious picture...and the one who spoke its name.