the thirteenth | kim taehyung

chapter 7

ANABELLE'S POV

A weird sensation caused me to stir awake from my nap. I woke up and yawned, seeing Taehyung staring straight at me, as if in a trance. His piercing eyes seemed to see straight through me, lifting to the surface everything I had tried to conceal before. I gasped, frightened by his presence. My mind retraced what had happened and I suddenly felt a pang of sadness wash over my body. It was like seeing someone die before you and you couldn't do anything but watch them draw their last breath. I pulled up the blanket to cover half of my face, I didn't want him to see my cheeks turn pink from the embarrassment. Taehyung looked away, blushing as well.

"It's getting dark. You should return home, your parents must be worried." He said, taking off the fabric covering the windows. I nodded and slowly gathered my things with a frown plastered across my face. The knife in my pocket had been poking out from my jacket, and I didn't want Taehyung to think I was stealing from him. Although what he did was so inhuman, I wanted to comfort him. However, I knew he was capable of lashing out a knife at me at any second. I was making my way out of the shack when I heard a low and unfamiliar voice say, "But do come visit anytime, and remember. This remains a secret between the two of us." I looked back to see who said it, but the door was already locked. Weird, I thought. How could someone do anything that fast?

It was only 7:00, yet somehow the forest looked so dark, as if something had sucked every living thing in it while I was asleep. There were no animals to be seen, it was like I was a vicious predator that everyone and everything was hiding from. It didn't take me very long to figure out why the atmosphere was so silent. I heard a bang of a shotgun come from my left so loud that it practically drove me deaf. I knew danger was coming, so I ran straight ahead for about ten seconds and crouched behind a sycamore tree. I felt my left ear begin to swell up, obviously damaged or infected. Just then, I heard the faint sound of boots crushing down on dried leaves from my right. I pressed my back against the trunk of the tree, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible. I didn't even know who or what was approaching, but I could feel in my bones that they brought trouble with them. I thought my heart was going to escape my body, for it was beating so fast. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and my teeth were tightly clenched. I quietly counted to twenty-five before looking back at where the noise had come from. I felt my stomach churn at the sigh of a masked woman with piercing green eyes before me, only a few inches away. Before I could even blink, she had her gloved hands over my mouth and my hands were being tied to the tree. I tried to kick her, but the woman was already running away. On her back was a backpack with an odd logo, it looked like a triangle with a line down the center. Luckily, she didn't tape my lips together, so I screamed as loud as I could. The only response I got in return was the sound of branches swaying back and forth in the cold September wind.

I hollered Taehyung's name and cried for help for what seemed like several hours, but to no luck. I was doomed. My wrists were now raw and bloody from the multiple attempts of pulling on the thick rope. Just as I was beginning to give up and cry myself to sleep until the next morning, I saw a pair of eyes gazing at me from a bush. Hope filled up the emptiness inside of me, and I couldn't help but to smile.

"Please help me! I know you're there! I really need your help, if you could just untie this rope that's keeping me captive!" I desperately said to whoever was behind the bushes. There was a long silence before I saw a figure part it's way through the shrubs. What I saw gave me goosebumps all over my body and my throat suddenly felt dry. The figure was a girl, around my age. She wore a beautiful white dress that went to her toes, covering her shoes. Her hair was as pale as her clothing, and it seemed to glow in the pitch darkness. However, what left me speechless was the girl's face. It was covered in deep scars against her porcelain skin that looked as though they would last forever. She made her way towards me, and I tried my best not to let her sense my growing fear. I didn't want her to think I was rude and decide not to help me, and I was desperate to get out of the damn woods. Her thin fingers felt ice cold as they loosened the rope, setting my arms free. I didn't waste a single minute and got up, enjoying the ability of being able to stand again.

"Thank you so much! May I ask for your name?" I turned to face the girl, looking into her gray eyes. They say the eyes tell a lot about someone, and it's true. There was something about the dull eyes staring back at me that made me feel sympathy for her. They were sad and lacked in any signs of emotion, as if she has been living in the shadows her entire life. I expected her to answer my question but she took a step closer to me. I could now see a bit of her arms from beneath her sleeves, which were also covered with scars. I thought she was going to give me something by the looks of her body language but instead, the girl spoke in the most angelic voice.

"He's a dangerous boy, Anabelle. Be careful."