Crimson and Furs

Chapter One: Pain

I've never wanted this life for myself—this life filled with perils and evil. It's like a dream I can never escape from—a dream which I'm forever stuck in. Heh, no one ever wanted this life or ever wished for it. You'd be either insane or extremely evil to wish for this kind of life—the life where you don't have a choice over anything—the life where you're bound by your deepest desires.

I never wanted to enter into the supernatural world. I never wanted to come across the Crimsones[1], Lycanthropes[2], demons and the rest. I never wanted to be involved in anything pertaining to the dark and supernatural world. I had always yearned for freedom and not servitude. But of course I was wrong all along. I had been delusional, thinking I'd be able to escape it all—to escape from fate. I never knew I would be pulled into this mess, becoming one of those dark creatures which roam about in the ungodly night. I never wanted to be a merciless predator who was also a prey to another predator (what a food chain!).

But all is good. No matter what I shall not alli myself to degenerate into a heartless monster who only knew how to tear flesh, spill blood and break bones. I cannot allow my desires to pull me down. I cannot be corrupted by the abyss!

My name is Daniel Stark and what I'm about to tell you is a real life horror. I don't know what you call horror or romance or fantasy but this story I'm about to tell you, you need to listen attentively and not miss a bit of information. This is my story—one beginning with pain.

~

Rumble!

There was a roar of thunder as lightning flashed, illuminating the dark and creepy woods.

Pat! Pat! Pat!

Drops of rain streaked through the air, dropping ferociously as if they had been forced to do so. The leaves, the ground and everything was wetted by the torrential downpour which seemed to continue for ages. The dark trees which seemed like humanoid figures swayed to the raging wind, their branches seeming like extended arms—arms which would grab at you from the shadows. Down here in the woods it was very dark, so dark that only tiny bits of light rays could penetrate at the brightest afternoons.

This was the Crimson Woods, a woods rumoured to have ungodly creatures roaming here and there. Wild tales spread like fire, filling the hearts of the residents of Crimson Springs with fear—fear borne out of the natural instinct to avoid danger and not from wild imaginations. It was said there were creatures with dark red hypnotizing eyes and fangs which sucked the blood of people, creatures like wolves which mauled people, creatures in form of water which drowned people, ghostly creatures which possessed people and many more! All these wild tales pointed to one thing: Danger! These creatures spelt danger to the people. So no one dared to wander into Crimson Woods at all. The brave ones usually went in groups or carried weapons with which they would defend themselves. But against who? Against what? Spirits? Ghosts? That was sure vanity.

And at this very afternoon, a kid was running through this same woods chased by a group of bullies. It was as if they had never heard the tales and wanted to bet their precious lives on them.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The kid ran very quickly, panting as he dodged the scary looking trees. He kept looking behind him occasionally to see if the bullies were still chasing and was disappointed to find out they actually were. The bullies were actually very relentless in catching him. Earlier at school they had threatened to beat him at school when it was lunch time. To avoid that he had immediately made a run for it when the bell rang for closing. Who knew they would chase him into Crimson Woods.

As he ran he would occasionally see figures receding into the darkness. He would see countless red eyes staring at him from the shadows, an ungodly presence wavering over him. Of course he shrugged all these from his mind, thinking that they were all as a result of extreme hallucinations. He needed to escape from the bullies!