𝐓 𝐇 𝐑 𝐄 𝐄 𝐖 𝐎 𝐑 𝐃 𝐒 ༼ ᵃᵖᵖˡʸ ᶠⁱᶜ

𝐓 𝐖 𝐄 𝐋 𝐕 𝐄 ᪥ @ml_nad9 ✓

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𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓, 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒, 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓

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A vast forest of pine trees. Pine trees that loomed above you, casting a heavy shadow upon anything below. Adding to the eery feeling are the twigs and broken branches scattered aimlessly on the earthy ground, causing a loud snap to be heard in the quiet of the trees.

And in the midst of all this, is a girl. A girl who is most definitely lost, as she looks around in fear, her neck nearly cracking like the sticks at her feet.

Lost. Not the most positive of things. Although, if the girl was being honest, she'd rather be lost than trapped in a farmhouse, threatened and tortured.

Like she was before. She shivers at the thought, wiping her eyes furiously so she doesn't start sobbing.

And possibly alerting Him.

The girl takes some shaky breaths, trying very hard not to relive the past few hours, but her feeble attempts do nothing.

~

She's walking home from the shop, clutching her bag of fruits, fruits her mother specifically requested.

She's shivering, only covered with her turtleneck shirt and cargo trousers. She regrets her decision of not taking her bomber jacket with her.

Lost in her thoughts, she rounds the corner, and bumps into somebody. That snaps her out of her daze.

"Sorry." She speaks, her lips moving slowly due to the cold.

And then she looks up at whoever she bumped into, noticing they haven't moved.

However, she doesn't have time to see the person, as a cloth is shoved onto her nose, and she breathes in a sickly smell, her mind beginning to black out.

But not before she hears the words:

"Just who I was looking for."

~

She breathes heavily, tears streaming down her dirty face. Making a decision, she clings onto the tree bark with one hand, and then lifts herself up, taking a few, unsteady steps before she's walking the best that she can.

The girl doesn't know where she's going, but she does know which way is away from the farmhouse.

She continues walking, nearly tripping over the roots of a tree. All she does is walk. Walking to a safer place. Walking to her home. Her mother.

But then, she realises she's made little progress. Is this what she was going to do? Walk until her legs gave way. Walk until she died of starvation or thirst.

She gulps, closing her eyes for a brief few moments.

And when she opens them-

Light! Light is flying around her, swarming her like bees. The girl thinks, is she dying? And then her eyes focus more clearly on the light, and she notices a little head.

Fireflies! Fireflies are flying around her, bringing her warmth and hope, a new burning sensation in her stomach.

And then, this hope clears her mind. She notices that there aren't just fireflies around her, but there's a whole string of them, creating a path through the forest.

A path she would take. A path that could stop her being lost.

Determined, she begins to jog, following the fireflies as they guide her through the forest. Again, she nearly trips, but she picks herself up just as fast and continues jogging even faster.

And then-

It's everything the girl wants. The forest of pine trees comes to an end, making way for a town.

A town, which is just as empty as the forest, but unlike that, she knows this town. She's lived in this town her whole life.

The girl doesn't even need to think, her legs are automatically pushing her towards the police station.

She knows her torture is finally all over when she sees the signpost. A signpost which was so hard to miss, big words flashing on it, words she couldn't quite read right now, but she still knows exactly which signpost it is.

The girl begins to run, and she runs into the building, as bright white lights flood her vision. A lady at a reception desk lifts her head up, and then her eyes widen in recognition. She presses a button, which causes an alarm to be spread throughout the building, and then rushes over to the girl.

"It's okay. You're in safe hands now."

These words make her immediately collapse, and begin sobbing like she's never cried before in her life.

~

The radio is turned on, the classic jingle signifying that the news was about to be read.

"Hello there everybody, it's Mike Halton, today, with some very happy news. The 12 year old girl, found to be raped-"

The radio is turned off immediately, and then her mother comes towards the girl sat at the dining table, enveloping her in a hug.

The mother begins to sob. "My dear girl."

Her tears wet the girl's hair, as tears of her own fall down her face, and onto the dining room table.

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𝐂 𝐑 𝐄 𝐃 𝐈 𝐓 𝐒 - ml_nad9

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