The Dawn

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Phoenix and Aurora woke up to see that it was only 1 o'clock. There were at least 2 more hours before Izel came home. They were sick of sleeping and staying like lazy pigs so they decided to do something productive; like sneak out of the house and hike in the forest.

"But what if dad sees us?" Aurora asked when her sister proposed this idea.

"Sis, we are experts in the field of doing things without getting caught," Phoenix responded.

" I think there's a word for that," Aurora said, thoughtfully.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"Look, what if Dad is in the living room when we go downstairs or if he randomly appears to be in the garden? What are we going to tell him?"

"We'll just say we left something and we came to get it. Simple."

"Well, yeah, but if you have forgotten, we were supposed to be grounded in our room."

"Oh...Right. But still, there's only like 25 per cent chance of that happening. Let's take the risk. That's what we do."

Aurora seemed unsure about the idea at first, but she finally agreed. Phoenix took the photos and stuffed them in her pocket so that they could ask Izel about it, once she comes home.

Phoenix and Aurora slowly opened the door of their room and checked if the coast was clear. With no sign of their father, they slowly tiptoed down the stairs, keeping their ears pierced for any source of noise. They managed to get downstairs without any sign of their father. There was no one to be seen in the living room. The door which led to their garden was in the living room so they would be able to go out of the house without getting noticed. Phoenix peeked outside from a window in their living room which gave a view of their garden, to see if their father was there. Fortunately, there was no sign of any living soul in their garden except a couple of Fauna's animal friends. Phoenix and Aurora were positive that those animals wouldn't snitch on them, so they proceeded outside.

The woods were a couple of meters away from their house, so it wasn't long before they arrived at the forest boundary. Unlike their last visit to the woods, this time the woods looked as happy and welcoming as they usually were, providing a home to various kinds of creatures.

As Phoenix and Aurora entered the woods, they could feel the cool breeze of the forest touching their skin and the sweet sound of nature. It was peaceful. Now, Phoenix and Aurora weren't the type of girls who sat in a garden surrounded by birds, rabbits, squirrels and many more animals as movies usually portrayed girls. They preferred chaos and action. But after having quite a lot of chaos in their everyday routine, it was nice to feel what peace felt like once in a while.

Phoenix and Aurora walked on the small trail in the forest, hoping that it would lead them to something exciting. Their hearts were dying to go explore and have an adventure, but they were strongly advised to not leave the trail as either side of the trail was bordered by large trees which provided home to many poisonous snakes and other carnivorous animals who would love to have them for lunch.

As they were forbidden to explore the forest, they had nothing to do in the forest. They didn't exactly enjoy hanging out with animals and plants as Fauna and Flora did. Fauna and Flora were surprisingly allowed to go explore the forest. Well, not exactly "allowed", but their sisters had always tried to point out to their parents that Fauna and Flora explored the forest and touched dangerous animals like snakes. But their parents refused to believe them and usually ignored them. Over time their sisters had given up on the idea of convincing their parents about it.

A reason why Phoenix and Aurora liked the woods in addition to its peacefulness, was its mystery. Despite the woods being warm and welcoming, the heart of the woods did not have the same aura. There had been various tales and myths made up by people about the heart of the woods being home to some supernatural creatures. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were fortunately intelligent individuals who didn't believe in such tales and allowed their daughters to go to the forest. But they didn't allow them to go to the heart of the forest because they agreed that there could be dangerous animals there.

The heart of the forest was a place that almost all of the Gardener children yearned to go. They've read stories of mysterious and exciting things happening in the hearts of the forest. Whereas their parents didn't believe in the myths about the forest, the garden children were more than happy to believe and come to crazy conclusions about it, except Kiara.

After walking for a few minutes, Phoenix and Aurora arrived at a small waterfall on the right side of the trail. It wasn't typically a waterfall, but they called it one cause it looked like one. It wasn't large or tall. The water just fell from a small stream flowing through the higher land area in the forest to the lower land area near the trail. The place where the water fell was decorated with rocks, stone and pebbles making it look beautiful when the crystal clear water fell over it.

The girls decided to rest a bit near the waterfall, so they sitted themselves on some rocks near it which happened to serve as a great stool.

"So... What's our plan?" Aurora asked her sister.

"Hmm... A plan of what?" asked Phoenix who had been staring at the waterfall in silence.

"We plan to ask Izel about the picture," Aurora explained.

"Well, we just walk up to her and talk I guess," Phoenix replied, distractedly.

Aurora realised something was up with Phoenix. She was abnormally quiet which was a very bad thing. Aurora was going to ask Phoenix what was wrong when they heard something moving in the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Aurora asked.

"Yea... Maybe it's just a rabbit or something. Don't worry," Phoenix responded, trying to convince her sister that it was all right.

They were silent for a moment and upon hearing nothing, they agreed that it might be an animal. They were going to move on with their conversation when they heard some leaves crunching from the opposite side of the forest. The footsteps couldn't be of some animal cause they sounded quite human. The footsteps got closer and closer. Someone was walking towards them.

Phoenix and Aurora stood up and looked around them to see if there was any human in the forest beside them. There was no one to be seen near the mini-waterfall, so someone was probably coming towards them from inside the tress. They tried to peek within trees but couldn't because the trees had grown so close together that there wasn't much space between one tree and another. The light was quite dim among the trees because the branches blocked most of the light.

"Should we leave?" Aurora asked her sister.

Phoenix considered this option for a while and replied, "No, we go find out who it is."

Phoenix and Aurora walked slowly towards the trees. The footsteps suddenly stopped as if the person was standing still without moving. Phoenix and Aurora stopped at the trees and peeked around the barks, hoping to see who it was. Firstly, they couldn't see anyone, but once their eyes got adjusted to the dim light, they saw a figure standing behind the trees. The figure was fully black with a black hood covering its face. The figure stood still as a statue, and its eyes which they couldn't see, were staring directly at them.

For a moment they stood there, staring at one another in silence. The warm welcoming aura of the woods, seemed to suddenly transform into a cold, and still one. Everything in the woods seemed to stand still, awaiting for something to happen. The trees suddenly seemed to whisper among themselves, plotting to do something. 

Phoenix and Aurora's muscles froze, as their blood ran cold. The unseen eyes of the figure seemed to hold something, that the girls wanted deep within. The figure seemed to beckon them to come closer and get what they wanted. The sight of it, replayed something in the girls' memories. The cold and still presence of the figure, seemed disturbingly.... familiar.

The figure observed them closely, and reached for something inside its cape. The girls' couldn't quite make out what it was. The shiny object reflected the restricted light within the trees. It's sharp end gleamed with a dark red liquid, which dripped as it was taken out.

 Phoenix and Aurora's dumb brains finally got the message that they were in danger and managed to give their muscles the signal to RUN. Phoenix and Aurora some how managed to make their frozen muscles move. They turned and darted on the trail which led them back home, not risking to take a glace behind them to see if it was following them.