In The Woods

Chapter Two: My Knight In Shining Armour.

I was pulled away from the boundaries of the quicksand by those two strong arms. When I peeked open my one eye I saw that my knight in shining armor was already looking at me. As soon as I away from the risk of falling again he let go of my waist. I smoothened out my clothes and stood up straight. I could not clearly make out his features due to the faint light but I could tell he was fairly handsome.

"Thank you for uh, saving my life." I said looking up and meeting his eyes. His pupils were dilated, and the irises were of a light shade. I removed my eyes from his face and looked down. Even my boots looked interesting right now. Not very good at conversing strangers, I am.

"The pleasure's all mine, love." He replied smoothly. I face reddened a bit, he called me 'love'. He may be cute I give him that but he might be a weirdo for all I know, so I'd better be going. I looked up again offered him a smile and started to walk away but he followed. Looks like I'm not done here, I thought.

"Do you mind telling me what you are doing in the woods at this hour of the night?" he asked. I had started to feel a little uneasy under his questioning stare. I was not getting anywhere without replying, so I might as well answer his question. "Uh, I was out for a walk. I just- I just lost track of the way that's all." I stuttered.

"You do know that this land is part of the castle territory, right?" It seemed as though he believed me but carried on with his questioning anyway. He has pursed his lips in a thin line.

"Castle grounds? Oh my, I had no idea. Are you one of palace guards?" He gave me an amused look as he asked me "You don't know who I am, do you?" Am I supposed to? I looked hard at him. He had dark and disheveled hair, an oval face cut with a broad rounded nose. He was almost 5 feet and 7 inches and looked about my age, maybe a year or two older. He did not have a defined jawline but he was charming.

He looked quite familiar but I could not exactly place my finger on where I'd seen him before. "I don't think I do, but you do look familiar."

"Oh, I wonder why." He smirked. "It's very late, almost 1, I guess. So let's just get you home, okay." He might not be a weirdo after all. He seemed like a kind person and I think I could trust him, he was from the palace after all.

"Okay." I agreed. We continued to walk side by side each other in silence. After about twenty minutes I could see a better lit forest, the part of the forest that I had grown accustomed to.

"So you live in the palace?" I asked trying to make conversation. I glanced at him sideways.

"Yep I do. Is your house in the central kingdom or near the forest boundaries?" Okay, he lives in the castle, he can't be a guard then. The king has made a separate mansion for the guards and the servants working in the palace.

"I live just at the end of the forest pathway." I answered.

I decided to ask him the question that had been nagging me for a while now. "So, how did you did know where I was?"

He paused for a split second and glanced at me. "There was a speck of bright white light, I am not sure what it was but it led me to where you were."

That's curious. It must be what I think it is then. I couldn't possibly be hallucinating, because he saw it too. "How did you get there?" he added.

If he has told me then I can too right? I am not the only one who has seen it."The same, I saw a tiny ball of white light, followed it any there I was... I think be both just encountered a wisp. I really didn't think they really existed, ju-". "Just thought it as some old legend being passed on for centuries?" He finished for me. "Yeah."

After a long walk we were walking on the usual path I took to home. I could also see my humble dwelling from here. The house was painted a light brown color and the roof was tiled with red bricks. There were four windows, bordered dark brown on the house front. The entrance door was painted white and had a small plate hanging on it that said: 'Olsen Residence'. It was a compulsion for everyone to put up their family names on their house doors according to the orders of the king.

When both of us were in the front of the house the boy next to me said, "Nice place you got." My aunt was not filthy rich but we were still well off than many people of Canarra. Our house was neither too small nor very big, it looked nice because Molls, Jasper and I had painted and decorated it ourselves.

"Thanks." I said. "And Goodbye." I added. He smiled then gently took my hand and placed a kiss on top of it. If it had not been for the clouds covering the moon he would have seen my face redden and look somewhat like a tomato when he did that.

"Goodbye. I will see you later..." "It's Rose." I finished for him. I was smiling like a goofball the whole time, while he standing there and talking very coolly. "It was nice meeting you, Rose." "You too." With that he turned around and sauntered towards the woods. I was standing in front of the house watching his retreating figure.

When he was about few feet away when I called out "What did you say your name was again?" He turned around smiling and said "I didn't." and then disappeared in the woods. Mysterious much?

I turned and advanced towards the house when I saw light coming from the window of the living room. I did not think Molls would wake up, but I guess she did. I ran towards the left side of the house which had a window leading to my room. It was about 3 meters above the ground. Whenever I sneaked out of the house and my aunt woke up, the oak tree next to the window of my room aided my entrance in the house without her knowing.

I was going to do the exact same right now too. I searched for an uneven swell in the tree trunk and when I did find it, I firmly placed my foot on it and started climbing. It was an old tree and hence was a strong one as well. When the window was level with my head I, with a steady foothold on a branch, lifted my upper body and close to the wall and then smoothly opened the window. I ducked my head, placed one leg in the room followed by the other. One skillful tree climber, aren't I?

When I heard footsteps approaching my room, I pulled the cloak off me at super speed and pushed it under the bed. I could now see a shadow from the crack under the door. I swiftly pulled the covers off the bed and got in and pulled them over my body. When the door opened I slowly shifted to face the side towards the door and closed my eyes, to look like I am in a very deep sleep. When I slightly opened my left eye I saw Jasper standing on the door and smirking. I huffed and sat on the edge of my bed.

"What do you want?" I groaned. "Oh nothing, I was just checking if my dear cousin was sneaking out of the house again or not." "Thanks for the concern dear cousin, but you may go now..." I replied in a sickly sweet voice. The stupid smirk on his face just got bigger. Urgh. "Okay, goodnight then, and do close the window you don't want to get sick, do you, it's very cold outside but you'd probably know right?" Alright, this boy was getting on my nerves. He has caught me sneaking out of the house many times now.

I got out of the bed and kicked him out of my territory -just kidding I merely pushed him outside. Once in the hallway, I heard him say "Do take off those muddy boots before getting into bed, otherwise you'd have some explaining to do for Aunt Molly; she washed them only yesterday." "Yeah, yeah whatever." I whisper yelled so he could hear me.

I then shut the door and fell on the bed, feeling very tired now. I placed my head on the soft pillow and drifted off to sleep with a goofy smile on my face, thinking about the boy I had met today who even consumed the thoughts about my encounter with the wisps.

________________________

A.N: The picture above is of Mysterious Boy.. who is he, will be discovered in the following chapter..

Twitter: _NachoCheese_

Vote & Comment.

Loads of Love. :)