The Shadow of a Swan

Part 2

     She makes her way through the forest, everything is blurry and it is impossible to focus on anything ... everything is mixed up, and her mind is clouded ... but she makes her way further and further into the depths ... not knowing why, but her feet lead her deeper and deeper, where less and less light penetrates through the thick cover of foliage ... only silence envelops her and the periodic crunch of branches under her feet accompanies her steps ... her head is spinning ... she quickly leaned against a tree, everything went dark... she closed her eyes and for a minute it seemed to her that someone was watching her ... she quickly came to her senses and tried to go on, looking around ... but nothing was visible ... she was alone ... when suddenly a strange sound was heard from somewhere ... it was like crying ... the cry of a child, but from this sound fear penetrated Regina to the bones ... it was so sad and full of hopelessness ...

-"Damn it, Henry, with your horror movies..." she muttered under her breath... remembering movie nights with her son, and how he would persuade her to watch horrors.

     There was also such crying... but it didn't bode well... Regina remembered how she scolded the stupid heroes who went to check where this sound was coming from, maybe somebody needed help...

- "Run, idiots, it's clear as day that there's not a child there, it's a trap!" she shouted at them, but she herself didn't follow her own advice and decided to check what happened to the baby, that he was all alone in the forest... maybe he got lost... she reassured herself...

     She went further and further, and the sounds coming from the depth of the forest became louder... Regina quickened her pace to comfort the child and help.Suddenly she saw a silhouette hiding behind a tree. She slowly approached the child so as not to scare her... The girl was about a meter tall, her light, blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, she was wearing shabby pants that were too small for her height, but since she was very thin, they were just at her waist, her feet were bare and a large T-shirt, apparently a boy's, it fell off one shoulder, revealing a view of pale skin that was covered in bruises, which also continued their path all over her neck... Regina was horrified to see this, but that was not all... the T-shirt was very old and had holes here and there, but the worst thing was that there were blood stains visible on it... from which a lump appeared in her throat and the blood froze in her veins... she gasped in horror, raising her hands to her mouth to muffle the sound that escaped, but it was too late and the girl suddenly turned around, frightened.
     They looked at each other in shock for a while and neither of them moved... the girl had green eyes, but they were all flushed and swollen from crying, and fresh traces of tears were visible on her cheeks... Regina thought something was familiar in this face, but she quickly shook these thoughts out of her head when the girl suddenly started running and she quickly managed to grab her hand.

- "Stop, please stay! I won't hurt you! It's dangerous here! Please don't run away!"

- "Let me go! I don't want to go back there! Let me go!"

- "I'm not going to take you back anywhere, wait, just wait, please! I don't want you to be alone here in this forest, it could be dangerous here, there could be predators living here, and there's no food or water here, you'll die of hunger and thirst alone!"- Regina was trying to reassured her.

- "It's better to die than to come back! Let me go! I don't believe you!"- the girl continued to fight back.

- "Wait! You don't even know me! I'll help you! Please! Give me a chance!"

     The girl started crying again, and continued trying to break free, but not so fiercely.
 -"You don't understand!" sob... "I don't want to go there again" sob... "I can't do this anymore" sob... "Let me go, please..." sob... "Nobody ever needed me anyway..." sob... "He..." she stuttered because she started hiccupping "H-he... he w-won't leave m-me alone... I-I don't w-want to feel th-this any more..."