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Run was all Grace could hear repeating in her head, run run run.
The Reason She was running so wildly was a letter... One letter to be exact, a letter with a black seal .Death Her best friend dead , Helios DuPont an amazing cheery sweet kind hearted boy gone , left in the clutches of death.
All she could see was the blurry outline of the trees in the forest by her home . Being inside felt suffocating all she could see was Helios everywhere, on the couch ,in the kitchen , even on the porch. It hurt her heart that he was no longer here . As much as he and her brother were never around she did care for them , with him and her brother gone there was nothing left to protect her from the harsh reality of the world.
Her parents had long since passed away and she and her brother were shipped of to their uncle's house ,it was awful, mostly for her though because her brother graduated within two weeks of moving in with their uncle and so was able to move out. She was stuck with her abomination of an uncle who would completely forget about her existence, and a brother who rarely visits home.
Thoughts raced through her head, almost like there were seven trains on four tracks narrowly avoiding each other.
Feet tripping over each other kicking up rotting leaves and mouldy twigs she continued following the strange light forwards. She thought that anyone would notice her presence in the forest with all the noise she was making.
She followed the light shining on the floor until, Suddenly she stoped thinking as she faced a gorgeous clearing, surrounded by trees. There were tents shining silver in the moonlight, she didn't like it one bit , it confused her and she disliked getting confused. She thought there was nothing wrong with exploring so she cautiously stepped through the silver glowing tents and slowly walked forwards.She was entranced by the beauty of the clearing, slowly she began to let her guard down.
Suddenly A loud crack found its way under her foot and before she could think her leg was yanked up into the trees dragging the rest of her with it.
How she hated getting stuck in trees.
Almost out of nowhere 20 girls walked out of the Trees? Bow's raised and ready to strike .
"Who are thee?"a girl asked from amidst their group? "I am Grace. Who are you?" But her question went unanswered as the girl stated to her companions " Let her down and take her to the Lady she may decide what becomes of her...
And Grace slowly followed thousands of questions buzzing through her head ,where was she , who was the milady the Hispanic looking girl mentioned , why did they have bows , Were they part of some cult and decided to kill her because she found them ? It was all utterly bizarre and terrifying .
"We are here" the voice cut through her thoughts abruptly.
She lifted her gaze from the floor and saw the Hispanic girl holding open a flap "Come" she ushered Grace through the flap and into the tent.
What she saw when she entered was not what she was expecting, a young girl around 15 sat on the couch staring at the entrance as if she knew they were coming.
"Zoé who have you brought here?" the young girl asked "A candidate Lady Artemis" the Zoé replied
"..........." Grace was speechless.The girl , Artemis apparently continued speaking , hesitantly that is " Do you hunt ?" was all she asked her.
"I am offering you a place in my ranks , mortal or not , being a huntress means you are immortal and never age ,you must swear to turn your back on the company of men and shall hunt amongst me and my sisters we will be your family ,you may choose but if you decline you must never speak of this to anyone."
Grace pondered the question.
"I..I.. what must I do to join ?" Grace asked , she thought thinking of a family finally,she never really did have one , this would mean she would be free from her past and all the awful boys at school and in her town . Another bonus would be she was finally able to get away from her uncle.
Artemis beamed at the your girl and stated " You must say :"I, pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt."" "I, pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the hunt." Grace stated firmly
"I accept the pledge" Artemis spoke softly After this a dim light surrounded Grace and you could see this slight silver layer cloaking her as it, the spell?, settled.
"Huntress this is Zoë Nightshade , she is my lieutenant whenever I am gone you listen to her," then she turned to Zoë , " please show her to her tent and arrange new clothes and a weapon for her , afterwards show her to the campfire." Zoé immidiately raised her hand to graces face covering her eyes.
The goddess vanished in a blink of blinding white light.
