Washed Away

Chapter 1 - The Glowing Boy

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched under my feet as I walked through the forest. The crisp, autumn air stung my cheeks and I wrapped my scarf more snugly around my neck.

It has been exactly a year since I'd last been in this place, and so much had changed. New rabbit burrows had appeared , and a tall maple tree laid silently on its side, blown over by the strong wind. 

I carefully climbed over its rotting trunk and continued on my way. The only time I ever came to this forest was on the anniversary of my mother's death. This place held many distressing memories, so I preferred to stay away from it as much as I could.  

The sound of rushing water met my ears and soon I spied the river which ran through the forest and down the waterfall. Most people who wandered here would have been marveled by it's beauty, but that would never happen for me.

I stood at its edge and stared moodily at my reflection. My dark hair which I'd inherited from my Dad hung around my oval face, and my light blue eyes - inherited from my Mum -  pierced the water. I sighed and kicked a few stray stones into the river, distorting my reflection. 

Taking a few steps back, I sat down on a nearby, mossy rock and leaned my head in my hands. I often stayed in this position for hours, pondering what I could've done to prevent my mother's death.

Everyone kept on telling me it wasn't my fault, but I knew that they were just saying that to try and make me feel better. The accident had happened three years ago, but it still stung my heart whenever I thought about it.

*_*_*

"Elaina! Do you want to go to the Rickety Bridge?" Georgina asked, kicking her legs on the swing. It was a bright Sunday morning and I was playing on the swings in the park with my best friend. 

"You know we're not allowed to go there, Georgie!" I complained, scuffing the ground with my worn trainers. She rolled her eyes at me  

"Come on! We don't have to tell anyone!"  

"I don't know..."  

"Chicken!" She yelled, jumping off her swing and strutting around the park making clucking noises. My 12-years-old self was very proud and hated being made fun of.  

"Okay! Let's go!" I said, jumping off the swing the rushing over to join her.

*_*_*

I closed my eyes and winced at the memory. My first mistake was agreeing with Georgina to go to the Rickety Bridge. I had changed so much since that day. I was once so proud and didn't take any nonsense from anyone, but now I just let everyone walk all over me. I used to be the nosiest in the class and was always sticking my hand up to answer a question. Now, I just keep my hand down and shrink into my chair whenever a teacher asked me a question.  

My closest friends drifted away from me, including Georgina who now hung out with the 'popular group'. The only friend I had now was a geeky girl called Melissa who had big, square glasses and always had her brown, limp hair in bunches. I wouldn't even call us friends, she was just someone who I sat with at lunch and my partner in some lessons. Most of our conversations were mainly one-word based anyway. 

Rustling behind me snapped me out of my daydreams and I swivelled around on the rock to look behind me, but there was nothing there. I suddenly realised how dark it'd gotten and stood up, brushing off the moss from the back of my jeans. I heard more rustling, but this time it was from in front of me.

I straightened up and peered into the shadows, squinting my eyes. A deep, rumbling growl sounded from the depths of the forest, causing my heart to jump into my throat. Panic flooded through me and, turning on my heel, I sprinted away from the river and back into the trees. 

The shadows seemed to chase me as I scrambled back over the fallen maple tree and ran towards the road. My breath came out in gasps and all I could hear were the thudding beats of my heart and the pounding of my feet on the forest floor.

Another growl sounded behind me, which didn't seem that far off. The journey seemed agonizingly slow but just as my burning legs were going to give away, I spotted a bright light from between some trees. 

"It must be the street lights!" I thought to myself. Knowing safety wasn't far off, I got another burst of energy and my aching legs spurred me on through the thicket of trees and into the light. Instead of being met by a road and some street lights, I spotted a boy round about my age crouching down by a rabbit hole. 

Time seemed to slow down and I noticed he seemed to be giving off an eerie sort of glow and was dressed in nothing but loose cotton trousers and some sort of medieval sandals. The glow emitting from me strangely calmed me and, unless my eyes were deceiving me, the shadows were cowering away from it. The growls turned to screeches in pain and faded away into the distance, but I barely noticed as I was entranced by this glowing boy. 

His back muscles suddenly tensed and before I could blink I was lying on my back with his gleaming amber eyes inches from my blue ones. His eyes furrowed in confusion for a moment, before leaning back on his heels, straddling me. 

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" He ordered. I tried to keep my eyes averted from his extremely toned chest and swallowed. 

"My name's Elaina." I answered, my voice no louder than a whisper. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. His glow seemed to brighten and I went to raise my arm to cover my eyes, when it was suddenly diminished. I was now able take in his appearance and I noticed his light brown, tousled hair flopped over one eye, which had now changed from its burning amber colour to a soft hazel. 

"Why are you here?" 

"It's a personal matter." I answered. 

In the blink of an eye, he had a short, curved knife pressed against my throat. My eyes widened in fright. 

"Answer me!" 

"To visit the place where my mother died." I gulped, beads of sweat breaking out on my forehead. The fierceness in his eyes instantly vanished and was replaced with a look of sorrow. He stowed his knife away into it's sheaf and got off me, offering a hand to help me up. I gratefully took it and brushed the loose twigs away which had gotten tangled in my hair. 

"I'm sorry, I am not often like that. You scared me, that is all." He said, scratching the back of his head. "I hope I did not hurt you." 

"Don't worry." I squeaked, trying not to show how nervous I was. He gave me a crooked smile which made my heart skip a beat. 

"W-what's your name?" I stammered, trying to hide my shaking hands. 

"Ky." He answered, before the glow engulfed him again. I shielded my eyes with my arms against the blinding light, before letting them drop to my sides. 

He was gone. 

I went to call out his name, when I noticed the stretch of road I had been trying desperately to find. I grinned inwardly and sprinted out of the forest and back into the real world.

*_*_*

So, yeah, I decided to continue with this story! =D 

Hope you guys liked this chapter, but like I said before, updates are most likely going going to be few and not so frequent as I have a lot of school stuff coming up that I need to revise for. *Sigh*

-_-

Anywho, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment! =D xox