Expendable | Horror story

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I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was eight years old; it was a freezing November night, the snow was at least 30 inches deep, each breath felt like a razor blade in your throat, your eyelashes would be covered in ice, nose red and hands numb.

I lived in a large manor in the forest with my father, and we'd go on hunting trips together. Hunting was a cherished activity for him. I'd always go with him, even though hunting wasn't an appealing activity in my opinion. Preferably, I'd play with my dollies and figurines rather than kill unfortunate animals for fun.

As for my mother, I've never met her. Father says she died of frostbite, but I'm not sure. I don't see her grave anywhere, and whenever I tried to ask him about her, he'd always change the subject and gloss over it as if it was nothing.

⌏↪ ᓚᘏᗢ ↩⌎

The girl strode past an ancient oak tree covered in deep snow and moss; its trunk had some patches of ripped-off bark, and it had a hole between its roots, big enough for a ten-year-old child to take shelter inside; but not too deep. A chilly gust of wind hit her in the face, but that didn't stop her. She kept walking and walking until she reached a wooden bridge that crossed the gorge that separated her from the rest of the forest. The moon shone white like a pearl, always elegant in contrast to the pitch-black sky. Her hair appeared almost white in the shimmering light, her sky-blue eyes sparkling in the dark.

Out of the blue, a branch snapped, swaying and dropping to the ground in a loud, dreadful thud in front of her. The little girl let out a shriek, eyes widening in bewilderment. There was an axe. Someone threw an axe. A few heartbeats later, she heard a girl humming, sweet but somewhat perturbing, from time to time singing softly in a language that she didn't understand. The melodious humming stopped abruptly, and a girl appeared in front of her, with a spine-chilling smile. She stared at her, scrutinizing her body, and realized that she had burn marks, alongside cuts and bruises, and she was dirty, her mahogany hair was soiled, and her clothes were filthy with mud, some parts ripped off. Her olive-green eyes were dull, lifeless, yet she stood there, with a creepy smile. She vanished in thin air. She was gone.

Like the Cheshire cat, even though she had already disappeared, the girl let out an eerie laugh, echoing in the woods and ringing in the little girl's ears.

I can see you from behind, you can hear me in your mind, run so fast as you can go, time will catch you before you know. The little girl, startled, didn't think twice, she spun on her heels, and fled through the woods, in anguish.

Are you afraid of the dark? Are you scared? She let out a quivering breath. You know, I am you. She was trembling, a creepy smile tugging at her lips.

The fair-skinned girl kept running and running, the foliage rustling loudly as she ran over it, visibly panting as she ran out of breath.

She could feel the adrenaline in her veins, swift and unrelenting steps pursuing her, close behind her, and the frosty wind drying out her eyes as she rushed past the trees, dodging and veering. Now she knew what is was like for the animals to be hunted.

She slowed down, looking over her shoulder to make sure that she wasn't being followed. It seemed that the strange girl had lost trace of her, so she stopped to catch her breath, surveilling her surroundings as she tensed her muscles, ready to run in case the girl showed up again. Nothing happened. She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. Just a second ago she was being chased by a very scary girl, yet nobody was there. Could it be that she had just imagined it?

She turned her head around to keep walking when she found herself face-to-face with the mahogany-haired girl. Her heart skipped a beat. The child was smiling with her head tilted to the left in the creepiest way you can think of, and her olive-green eyes had a wicked, vicious undertone. She let out a yelp out of sheer panic and darted away as fast as her little legs could take her. The 50-inch-deep snow wasn't helping her either. She saw a hollow tree, and without thinking twice she got in it. She felt as if her heart would come out of her chest at any moment, the way it was bumping against her ribcage, gasping for air as quietly as she could so as to not be discovered. She heard the humming from before, but this time it had a more unnerving melody. She bit her lip in fear.